Spiritualism In Adventism
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Spiritualism in Adventism
Note to the reader The purpose of this tract, is to look into the three phases of spiritualism: The Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet. The first phase of spiritualism is introduced in the Garden of Eden with the Dragon, who is represented by the serpent (Rev 12:9) and Eve, who is carrying the two seeds, Cain, the seed of the serpent and Able, the seed of the woman. These represent two classes, two organizations that would continue until the end of the world. If we look back to AD 31 at the cross, the Jewish nation looked like God‟s people, but were they? NO, for they had divorced themselves from the true Vine by killing their Lord and Saviour. They were the branch that was cut from the true Vine, Christ. They had become an off shoot, a new organization, but to the naked eye and in their minds they would have said, God Forbid, for they still truly believed they were God‟s chosen people, when in fact they were left in the outer court to continue with their useless sacrifices.
The commencement of the second phase of spiritualism, which is the beast power, begins immediately after the first phase is brought to an end and continues up until the fall of the Papacy in 1798. Under the second phase many a man were fooled by the Papacy, (the Beast) but few understood the truth for that time. Those who understood the truth and followed it were known as the Church in the wilderness, the Holy City, (Rev 11: 2) the branch of the true vine, Christ. But many did not continue on in the truth and fell a prey as did the Jewish Nation, for when the Elijah message came, represented by the Millerites, the majority did not follow on in the truth and were subsequently left in the Holy Place, this branch that was engrafted in was now cut off from the true vine, and were Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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led by Satan to be used as instruments in the last phase of Spiritualism and became the final phase of the dragon the False Prophet. Under the third phase of Spiritualism, which constitutes the work of the false Prophet, we will demonstrate that the Adventist Leaders are working actively in establishing a new organization, another off shoot church through ecumenism. We will repeat the same history as above where a large class who once rejoiced in the truth abandon their position and join ranks with this new organization, ecumenism. Jesus says to us : “I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman; Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.” John 15:1. Now which stand will you take? Will you remain attached to the true vine which is rooted in the testimony of the scriptures or will you join ranks with this new organization? “The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded” {1SM Book 1 p205} Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Spiritualism - Part 1. Eden
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hose who oppose the teachings of spiritualism are assailing, not men alone, but Satan and his angels. They have entered upon a contest against principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places. Satan will not yield one inch of ground except as he is driven back by the power of heavenly messengers. The people of God should be able to meet him, as did our Saviour, with the words: "It is written." Satan can quote Scripture now as in the days of Christ, and he will pervert its teachings to sustain his delusions. Those who would stand in this time of peril [EDEN] must understand for themselves the testimony of the Scriptures” (The Great Controversy, pp. 559-560). For Satan, as in Eden will again bring doubt in the testimony of the Scriptures with the words “yea hath God said”. The scriptures says, “But when the Comforter is come… He shall testify of Me.” (John. 15:26) The testimony of the Scriptures is the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy. The spirit of prophecy is “the spirit of truth” which men lost in the Garden of Eden in the Genesis. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:4-5). The testimony of the scripture is no different today than when it was first uttered in Eden. In Genesis the testimony of Jesus Christ uttered a warning against the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The spirit of prophecy which is the testimony of Jesus Christ or the testimony of the scripture are all synonymous expressions implying God‟s vision. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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The thoughts that are in his mind, His Word which is spirit, the spirit of truth, (John. 6:63, 16:13) prophesy that the day that man eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil man should die. This testimony was the vision of God, the Holy Spirit, that man should have embraced, for the consequence of not doing this is death - spiritual death, which leads to physical death. The same line of thought is taken up in the Revelation under the 3rd angel‟s message: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God” (Rev. 14:9-10) The same warning given in Eden about the tree is here proclaimed. Therefore, the same penalty is pronounced in the wrath of God because the vision of the beast and his image (which is spiritualism) is substituted for the vision of the testimony of the Scriptures (which is the Spirit of Prophecy). Therefore the book of Proverbs says, “where there is no vision the people perish” (Prov. 29: 18). Thus, in Genesis, Satan perverted the testimony of the spirit of prophecy. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5). By the utterance of spiritualism, Satan substantiated his delusion and changed the vision of God, which is the testimony of Jesus, the spirit of prophecy in man. “And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat” (Gen. 3:6).
“A tree to be desired to make one wise”
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By partaking of the spirit of spiritualism, Eve came to view matters in the same light as Satan. She “saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired and to make one wise.” (Gen. 3:6). Her vision was changed. Now, the everlasting gospel was proclaimed in Genesis 3:15 as a solution to restore the Spirit of prophecy, the vision of Christ, God‟s Word, the thoughts that are in His mind, the seed of the woman that brings enmity with those who have the vision of Satan, (spiritualism), the thoughts that are in Satan‟s mind, his word, his seed. Hence, Christ states in Matthew 10:34 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Satan, foreseeing the warfare that Christ would wage against spiritualism, devised subtle means by which the delusion of spiritualism would be gradually accepted in the place of the seed of the woman. In the substitution of the false for the true, spiritualism for the testimony of Jesus (which is the spirit of prophecy), Satan divided spiritualism into three phases - namely, the dragon the beast and the false prophet. The spirit of prophecy, in commenting on the three phases of spiritualism refers to them as three persecuting powers. The first persecuting power is represented by the dragon itself; in heathenism there was open alliance with Satan, and open defiance of God. In the second persecuting power, the dragon is masked; but the spirit of Satan actuates it, the dragon supplies the motive power. In the third persecuting power, all traces of the dragon are absent, and a lamb-like beast appears; but when it speaks, its dragon voice betrays the satanic power concealed under a fair exterior, and shows it to be of the same family as the two preceding powers” (The Great Controversy (1888), p. 680). John the Revelator describing the final battle with spiritualism wrote, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Eden
the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17). “So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures.” The purpose of this tract is to trace this war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent down to its final stage where the counterfeit will be subtly passed off as the true in God‟s remnant church. . On this point, Ellen White wrote in The Great Controversy: “The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. “Satan will work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness to personate Jesus Christ; if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect. Now if the counterfeit bears so close a resemblance to the genuine, is it not essential to be on your guard, that no man deceive you? Christ enforces His warnings, saying, "Behold, I have told you before" (Matt. 24:25) (Selected Messages, bk. 2, p. 88). In tracing the three phases of spiritualism the logical place to begin is in the Garden of Eden where spiritualism was first uttered, the first lie through the medium of the serpent. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen . Man‟s vision changed at this point and in order to restore God‟s vision, Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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which is the faith of Jesus, the everlasting gospel was proclaimed in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.” In The Great Controversy, God declares: “This enmity is not naturally entertained. When man transgressed the divine law, his nature became evil, and he was in harmony, and not at variance, with Satan. There exists naturally no enmity between sinful man and the originator of sin. Both became evil through apostasy. The apostate is never at rest, except as he obtains sympathy and support by inducing others to follow his example. For this reason fallen angels and wicked men unite in desperate companionship” (p. 505). Of this union, the Bible states in Genesis 11:3-4: “And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth”. At this point, after the flood, the religion of paganism was born which is biblically symbolized as the dragon or spiritualism, it being the thoughts of Satan, his vision, the very image of Satan, which was upon the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that was governing man in this unholy project at Babel. As in Eden, this religion of self-exaltation is the means by which he accomplishes his boast, stated in Isaiah 14:13-14: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” ” The Lord‟s response to this satanic project at Babel is stated in Gen. 11: 7-9. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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“Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, [place division - ENMITY] that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language [ENMITY] of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” Spiritualism (the Dragon), through the religion of paganism continued to govern the succeeding kingdoms placing in them the spirit of intolerance towards the religion of Christ. In the first phase of this power it is this line of thought that God traces in the prophecies of Daniel, beginning with Babylon through to Rome. In tracing through the history of the religion of spiritualism God wishes the student of prophecy to recognize the three successive phases adopted by this deceptive religion in its attempt to pass itself as the true. As mentioned earlier the Spirit of Prophecy refers to the religion and spirit which govern the successive kingdoms as three persecuting powers. . “The first persecuting power (Babylon, Mede Persia, Greece and Rome) is represented by the dragon itself; in heathenism there was open alliance with Satan, and open defiance of God. In the second persecuting power, (the roman church, the beast) the dragon is masked; but the spirit of Satan actuates it,--the dragon supplies the motive power. In the third persecuting power, (apostate Protestantism) all traces of the dragon are absent, and a lamb-like beast appears; but when it speaks, its dragon voice betrays the satanic power concealed under a fair exterior, and shows it to be of the same family as the two preceding powers.” {GC.88, 680} The reader should observe in the above Spirit of Prophecy quote, that under the first phase of spiritualism “there was open alliance with Satan, Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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and open defiance of God” (The Great Controversy (1888), p. 680). One example of this persecuting power in its first phase can be seen in the account of Elijah and the false prophets at Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal were in direct opposition to the prophet Elijah though they all offered the same sacrifices upon the same altars. But their respective gods were different with a clear distinction between the counterfeit and the true. Under the second phase of Spiritualism, “the dragon is masked; but the spirit of Satan actuates it, the dragon supplies the motive power” p.680. Spiritualism cloaked itself in Christian garments under the Roman church but her works during the Dark Ages showed that “the spirit of Satan actuates it, the dragon supplies the motive power.” “The dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (Rev.13: 2) Perhaps the most deceptive of all three phases is the third phase of the dragon (spiritualism). We are told in the above statement “All traces of the dragon are absent, and a lamb-like beast appears; but when it speaks, its dragon voice betrays the satanic power concealed under a fair exterior, and shows it to be of the same family as the two preceding powers.” John in the Revelation, commenting on the rise of the Lamb-like beast, the third phase of spiritualism, wrote: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live” (Rev. 13:11-14). Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Eden
By examining the image to the beast under spiritual Babylon (the Roman Catholic Church) in the light of the Image set up by Nebuchadnezzar under literal Babylon and then comparing these to the image that man was changed into in the garden of Eden, our conclusion can only be that all three images are the result of Satan replacing God‟s vision with his, which results in the setup and worship of a false image. Remember, the testimony of the Scriptures - which is the thoughts that are in God‟s mind, His Word, His Image (see Heb.1: 3) - is the spirit of prophecy, who is the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, who is God‟s Vision, the vision man had when the Holy Spirit dwelt in him before it was substituted with the vision of Spiritualism, „ye shall not surely die,‟ or you can sin and live. The following scriptural passage is God‟s vision given in a dream to Nebuchadnezzar: „...fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men...‟ “In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise” (Dan. 2:1, 28-40). As in Genesis, Satan sought to change the vision that God gave to Nebuchadnezzar leading him to doubt the unchangeability of God‟s Word the thoughts that are in His mind the testimony of the scriptures with words such as “yeah hath God said” or “Is this not Babylon that I have built?” So successful were these words of spiritualism that God‟s vision was changed in man, which lead to the setting up and worship of the vision image of Satan. “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up” (Dan 3:1-5). The safeguards against the setup and worship of the false image was the warning given in Genesis 3, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Gen. 3:2-3). Does this tree still exist in the midst of the garden today? Well, we are told in 1Corinthians 15:46 “Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual”. The tree is, therefore, spiritual today. Then what is this knowledge of good and evil that leads to death if spiritually eaten? The answer is the knowledge of evil mingled amongst God‟s word that speaks the wages of sin is not death; that the Law of God cannot be kept by man; that Christ nailed it to the cross; that man cannot be perfect. “The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). Now, we see the tree in the midst of the garden to be none other than the dragon the beast and the false prophet referred to in Revelation 16:13 as three unclean spirits like frogs. But, do we see the serpent‟s medium through whom the dragon--spiritualism speaks to the seed of the woman today? For we are told in 2 Cor.11: 14-15: : “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”Of this medium through whom the dragon - spiritualism wars against the seed of the woman (see Rev.12:17), we are told in Genesis 3:1
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“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” What minister of unrighteousness in our midst is so subtle that it is able to make us touch these unclean spirits contrary to God‟s Word and partake of its fruit? “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6: 17-18). “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins [vision of spiritualism], and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities” Rev. 18:4-5). “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb” (Rev. 14:9-10) . Who are these ministers of unrighteousness that are so subtle that the final phase of spiritualism, the false prophet, the unclean spirit can speak through them to the remnant of the woman‟s seed uttering the same words of doubt, “yeah hath God said ye shall not [join hands with spiritualism, the false prophet]”, leading them to abandon “the testimony of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of prophecy, to clasp hands with Spiritualism and by partaking of that spirit come to see matters in the same light? What ministers of unrighteousness say, you shall not surely die if you continue in sin, and are leading us to a union through ecumenism with the false prophet? Do you now see the result of changing the vision which the testimony conveys? It is the set up and worship of the false image. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Eden
According to the Spirit of Prophecy “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy [image of the beast]” (The Great Controversy, p.445). WHAT IS ECUMENISM?
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t is “leading churches uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common”. Why is the false prophet, the leading churches, bent on bringing us into this union “upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common?” It is because these common points of doctrine are spiritualism‟s vision, as in Eden, working to substitute the false image for the true image of God (see Heb.1:3). Notice what the Spirit of Prophecy has to say on this matter: “It is true that Spiritualism is now changing its form, and points of doctrine, veiling some of its more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise. But its utterances from the platform and the press have been before the public for nearly forty years, and in these its real character stands revealed. These teachings cannot be denied or hidden” Even in its present form, so far from being more worthy of toleration than formerly, it is really a more dangerous, because a more subtle deception. While it formerly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now professes to accept both. But the Bible is interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect. Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism making little distinction between good and evil. God's justice, his denunciations of sin, the requirements of his holy law, are all kept out of sight. The people are taught to regard the decalogue as a dead letter. Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the senses, and lead men to reject the Bible as the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verily denied as before; but Satan Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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has so blinded the eyes of the people that the deception is not discerned” (The Great Controversy (1888), p. 558). Can we unite on such points of doctrine as are held by them in common? “The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.” As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power” (The Great Controversy, p. 588). “Marvelous beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this generation. Thousands reject the word of God as unworthy of belief and with eager confidence receive the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics and scoffers denounce the bigotry of those who contend for the faith of prophets and apostles, and they divert themselves by holding up to ridicule the solemn declarations of the Scriptures concerning Christ and the plan of salvation, and the retribution to be visited upon the rejecters of the truth. They affect great pity for minds so narrow, weak, and superstitious as to acknowledge the claims of God and obey the requirements of His law. They manifest as much assurance as if, indeed, they had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell-- as if they had erected an impassable, impenetrable barrier between themselves and the vengeance of God. Nothing can arouse their fears. So fully have they yielded to the tempter, so closely are they united with him, and so thoroughly imbued Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Ecumenism
with his spirit, that they have no power and no inclination to break away from his snare. Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden: "Ye shall not surely die." "In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4, 5. Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached in the last remnant of time. Says the prophet:"I saw three unclean spirits like frogs; . . . they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Revelation 16:13, 14. Except those who are kept by the power of God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept into the ranks of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled to a fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God” (ibid. pp. 560-561). Under the third angel‟s message there is a revealed pattern that spiritualism follows. In that pattern lies the very purpose of spiritualism, which is claiming independence from God and leading men and angels to do so by the substitution of the false for the true. According to the Spirit of Prophecy, “So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested” (p. (p.594). Under the works of the mystery of iniquity, a new organization resembling the true always emerges, seeking to replace the true. This was the case in heaven when one third of the church fell to this strong delusion. The Church in Eden also fell to this delusion. As Eve partook of spiritualism, she came to see matters in the same light as Satan and the seed of the new organization was sown which would have materialized there and then had not God intervened. Prophesying to put enmity Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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between the two seeds or two church organizations, which later manifested itself between Cane and Abel and the obvious church organizations that they belonged to by the testimony of their respective altars. From this point on, the mystery of iniquity continued in order to fulfill his boast made plain in Isaiah. 14:13: “I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” “…mount Zion, (the church of God) on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” Psa. 48:2. The substitution of the false for the true has been the issue in every battle of the church since the days of Cane until now and many are the lessons to be learnt at every stage, but for now we will focus on the triple application of Elijah to further illustrate this issue and to complement the previous thoughts on the three phases of Spiritualism - namely, the Dragon, The Beast and the False Prophet who are in direct conflict with Elijah in the substitution of the false for the true. In the history of literal Elijah it is quite obvious that this substitution was the issue at Carmel, where the false prophets were in open alliance with the dragon--spiritualism. Therefore, we will not dwell on that history here but move on to the second Elijah, John the Baptist. In the history of John the Baptist, the issue is less obvious, particularly as it relates to identifying where the church and its leaders had fallen away and were in open alliance with the Dragon (Rome) as the false prophets were at Carmel. A NEW organization - „offshoot?‟ A new organization springing from God‟s church was here developing which would go on to kill the Lord. By human reasoning, this was the church that God had brought out of Babylon, which was to prepare for Christ‟s coming. However, this was an offshoot church made to look like the true through spiritualism. The confusing thing to many is it was a branch attached to the Truth, the Vine (Christ) but many interpreted the church to be the vine--the truth. Hence the term offshoot describing Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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churches which sprang from an established church. However, the church was a branch attached to the vine. Many, today, are making the same mistake. As Christ said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away” (Jn 15:1-2). Which branch was to be taken away? Well the apostle Paul wrote: “Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest he also spare not thee” (Rom. 11:18-21). Did the prophecies under the Levitical system point to this church under the as the true in which would be fulfilled prophecies like that given in Daniel 9:24 and Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet.?” They obviously point to the branch that John the Baptist and his disciples constituted as they were growing from the Vine of prophecy, the Truth, which is Christ. By human perception they were a new movement. But, the Word of God made them a movement whose connections go back to the beginning. Therefore, not new, but continuing and abiding in the Vine identified in John. 15:4. “...As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me..” Now, under the phase of the Beast, Spiritualism is repeating this history. The Roman church starts off as a faithful branch attach to the Vine, Jesus. But Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 spoke of that church falling away like the Jewish branch. Jesus in Revelation 2:14 employed the story of Balaam and Balac, implying that the Roman church fell (as did the prophet Balaam) because of her union with the kings of Europe. The spirit which actuated this church lead to the separation of the Protestant churches from her. From a human prospective, the Protestant churches were new organizations and therefore could not have been the true. However, it should be noted that the Church is a body of faithful souls moving through time, (see Acts of the Apostles, pp. 11) distinctly marked out under the seven churches by Jesus in the Revelation – each of the seven churches representing a different phase in the history of the one true Church. Therefore, Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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during the 1260 years of the papal domination, Jesus (the Vine) referred to the Protestant branches in Revelation 11 as Elijah, Moses, and the Holy City Jerusalem, indicating it was not a new, but a continual flow of the Church attached to the true Vine of prophecy. These branches fulfilled His will during the period of the church named Thyatira. During this time, the Roman church is named Jezebel by Jesus (Rev. 2:20), thus identifying that Church as an offshoot branch in Him that was to be cut off under the repeat of the history of Jezebel and Elijah during the 1260 days of drought. Notice there are two branches brought to view.
“...he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit..”
At the end of the 1260 days (years), the third phase of spiritualism, the False Prophet (a branch in Jesus about to be cut off) is entering upon the stage of battle with the prophet Elijah, the messenger of the 1st and 2nd angel‟s messages. This Elijah represents the continuation of the Holy City, the true branch in Jesus spoken of in Revelation 14:6 as having the everlasting gospel. This is the same gospel uttered in Eden about the remnant of the seed of the woman (Elijah) and the seed of the Serpent (the False prophet) in Revelation 12:17. Regarding the knowledge of this battle, Daniel was told to seal it up until the time of the end (Dan. 12:4). At the time of the end this much-needed increase of knowledge was to be given to Elijah to prepare him to stand in this battle. On this subject, the Spirit of Prophecy states that: “The book that was sealed was not the book of Revelation, but that portion of the prophecy of Daniel which related to the last days. The Scripture says, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Dan. 12:4). When the book was opened, the proclamation was made, "Time shall be no longer." (See Revelation Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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10:6). The book of Daniel is now unsealed, and the revelation made by Christ to John is to come to all the inhabitants of the earth. By the increase of knowledge a people is to be prepared to stand in the latter days” (Selected Messages, bk. 2, p. 105).
“...The book that was sealed was not the Revelation, but that portion of the prophecy of Daniel..”
Let us examine this increase of knowledge, which determines the destiny of Elijah, the church, in the light of the above statement by the spirit of prophecy; the portion of the prophecy of Daniel, which he is asked to seal until the time of the end begins with the words “in the time of the end” dan.11.40. This verse speaks of two events that were to transpire in the time of the end: the king of the north, the roman church, received a deadly wound by spiritual Egypt--France in 1798 and in the second part of this verse the roman church was to return in 1989 from this wound and conquer spiritual Egypt which was at that time the Soviet Union. In both 1798 and 1989 the false prophet is the player on the stage of battle securing converts for the roman church. The time of the end beginning in 1798 and concluding in 1844 when Michael stood up requires further attention in the light of the 1st and 2nd angel‟s messages which marked out the predestinated path of the church. When the churches abandoned these messages, all but a remnant became the false prophet in 1844. By human reasoning, the protestant churches began as the holy city (Rev.11:2). The question may then be asked, if this is so, how did this new Seventh-Day Adventist (sda) church become the holy city? The S.D.A. Church was not a new church but the church of Christ continuing on the predestined path of the three angels‟ messages. Whereas, the protestant churches, setting aside the path of these messages, became new church organizations and were therefore taken away from the true Vine at Christ‟s coming in 1844. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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At that moment, the wise virgins went into the most holy place with him and the door was shut. In reference to these events and their completion in 1844, the Spirit of Prophecy stated that the sealed book of Daniel was now open. “When the book was opened, the proclamation was made, "Time shall be no longer." (See Revelation 10:6.) The book of Daniel is now unsealed, and the revelation made by Christ to John is to come to all the inhabitants of the earth. By the increase of knowledge a people is to be prepared to stand in the latter days. {2SM 105.1}” “The Ten Virgins, five wise, five foolish..”
“...Will you end up being one of the five foolish virgins..” Now keeping in mind that both 1798 and 1989 the false prophet is the player on the stage of battle, securing converts for the roman church. And that the time of the end beginning in 1798 and concluding in 1844 when Michael stood up, represents a path of an increase of knowledge symbolized by the 1st and 2nd angel‟s messages which the foolish virgins should have but did not follow thus a new church organization, the false prophet was setup. In like manner the time of the end beginning in 1989 and ending with Michael standing up in Dan.12.1, represents again a path of an increase of knowledge symbolized by the 1st and 2nd angel‟s messages which the foolish will once again abandon and follow the false prophet who are again seeking converts in the SDA Church to join them through ecumenism in the setup and worship of a false image. All who through a lack of the increase of knowledge of this path, join this movement are becoming offshoots, branches, branching off from the predestined path will soon be cut off. In Romans. 8: 29, were told, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” notice then, in the conclusion of the above spirit of prophecy statement we read that “By the increase of knowledge a people is to be prepared to stand in the latter days.” Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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“...Or will you end up being one of the wise virgins..” The False Prophet is an offshoot branch that sprang from the “holy city” (Rev. 11:2). Of this final battle we are told “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. 12:17), which is “the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10) given to “thy brethren the prophets” (Rev. 22:9).
“...Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing..” Rev. 3:17
Going back to the thoughts expressed at the start of this study, the battle is about changing the testimony of the Scriptures, the thoughts that are in God‟s mind, His image (Heb. 1:3), His vision, which is the Spirit of Prophecy given to the “brethren the prophets” that they may be wise to the Serpent‟s voice of spiritualism in making void the law of God among those who keep the commandments of God. and because some receive not the love of the truth concerning the mystery of iniquity, God shall allow strong delusion to come upon them that they would believe the lie concealed under ecumenism that they would be among the dammed who setup and worship the image of the beast. The brethren the prophets – namely, the 3rd Elijah – have the testimony of Jesus, the Spirit of Prophecy, because it unmasks the false prophet and those who become her mouth piece in the SDA Church as being members of the same family as the two preceding powers (the dragon & the beast). The 3rd Elijah shows them to be of the “Many who will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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"If thou hadst known," said Christ, "even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes” (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 409). “God commanded Elijah to anoint the cruel and deceitful Hazael king over Syria, that he might be a scourge to idolatrous Israel. Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, Peace, peace," when the Lord hath not spoken peace. I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 77).
“...Willow Creek, Pentecostal mega-church, Adventist are trying to emulate..”
The following quote is concrete evidence that establishes the fact that the SDA Church is making movements to join the ecumenical movement through the World Council of Churches. As established, this is contrary to God‟s will as we are told: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” 2Cor 6:17. Never has the Lord told his people that to win souls, we must join their ranks and enter into their schools of Philosophy to learn from them i.e. Willow Creek. “By Beholding you become changed” and it is a false view to believe that Adventists can freely enter upon the grounds of the false prophet and be Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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unharmed. “God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Gen 3:3 We are commanded not to touch the unclean thing and the Word of God describes the False Prophet which makes up one third of Babylon as being unclean. (Rev 18:4, Rev 16:19) As the pen of inspiration informs us: “By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light.” GC 608. It is by partaking in the acts of the False Prophet that will lead to a new organization being formed separating them from the true vine. Adventism a Prophetic Movement The Seventh-day Adventist Church stepped upon the stage of history-so Adventists firmly believe-in response to God's call. Adventists believe, it is hoped without pride or arrogance, that the Advent Movement represents the divinely appointed instrument for the organized proclamation of the "eternal gospel," God's last message, discerned from the prophetic vantage point of Revelation 14 and 18. In the focalized light of its prophetic understanding, the Seventh-day Adventist Church sees herself as the eschatologically oriented "ecumenical" movement of the Apocalypse. She begins by "calling out" God's children from "fallen" ecclesial bodies that will increasingly form organized religious opposition to the purposes of God. Together with the "calling out" there is a positive "calling in" to a united, worldwide-that is, ecumenicalmovement characterized by "faith of Jesus" and keeping "the commandments of God" (Rev. 14:12). In the World Council of Churches the emphasis is first of all on "coming in" to a fellowship of churches and then hopefully and gradually "coming out" of corporate disunity. In the Advent Movement the accent is first on "coming out" of Babylonian disunity and confusion and then immediately "coming in" to a fellowship of unity, truth, and love within the globe-encircling Advent family. Quote taken from: http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/other_documents/ other_doc3.html Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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The Web of Lies Web of Lies: Are you caught in the trap of ecumenism? This is a question you need to ask yourselves. In this tract it will be made plain for all who read that indeed we are caught in a web of lies. Don‟t miss out , this is a must have if you are to break free from the web of ecumenism!
Ezekiel 9 The Shepherds Rods: Most of us know that their theology is designed by angels expelled out of heaven , but in this tract we will discover how their part has a much more sinister role to play than what meets the eye, how in fact they are but smoke screens for today's modern day Scribes & Pharisees in leading the people to resist the 3rd angel‟s message and embrace the ecumenical movement.
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Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden: "Ye shall not surely die..." Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism... When Satan has undermined faith in the Bible, he directs men to other sources for light and power. Thus he insinuates himself. Those who turn from the plain teaching of Scripture and the convicting power of God's Holy Spirit, are inviting the control of demons. Criticism and speculation concerning the Scriptures have opened the way for Spiritualism and Theosophy - those modernized forms of ancient heathenism to gain a foothold even in the professed churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. {GC 586.2 & Ev 591.4}
Due to the signs of the time in which we live, many of these tracts have, and are distributed free of charge. Therefore all donations are welcome for the furtherance of the Gospel.
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Note to the reader The purpose of this tract, is to look into the three phases of spiritualism: The Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet. The first phase of spiritualism is introduced in the Garden of Eden with the Dragon, who is represented by the serpent (Rev 12:9) and Eve, who is carrying the two seeds, Cain, the seed of the serpent and Able, the seed of the woman. These represent two classes, two organizations that would continue until the end of the world. If we look back to AD 31 at the cross, the Jewish nation looked like God‟s people, but were they? NO, for they had divorced themselves from the true Vine by killing their Lord and Saviour. They were the branch that was cut from the true Vine, Christ. They had become an off shoot, a new organization, but to the naked eye and in their minds they would have said, God Forbid, for they still truly believed they were God‟s chosen people, when in fact they were left in the outer court to continue with their useless sacrifices.
The commencement of the second phase of spiritualism, which is the beast power, begins immediately after the first phase is brought to an end and continues up until the fall of the Papacy in 1798. Under the second phase many a man were fooled by the Papacy, (the Beast) but few understood the truth for that time. Those who understood the truth and followed it were known as the Church in the wilderness, the Holy City, (Rev 11: 2) the branch of the true vine, Christ. But many did not continue on in the truth and fell a prey as did the Jewish Nation, for when the Elijah message came, represented by the Millerites, the majority did not follow on in the truth and were subsequently left in the Holy Place, this branch that was engrafted in was now cut off from the true vine, and were Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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led by Satan to be used as instruments in the last phase of Spiritualism and became the final phase of the dragon the False Prophet. Under the third phase of Spiritualism, which constitutes the work of the false Prophet, we will demonstrate that the Adventist Leaders are working actively in establishing a new organization, another off shoot church through ecumenism. We will repeat the same history as above where a large class who once rejoiced in the truth abandon their position and join ranks with this new organization, ecumenism. Jesus says to us : “I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman; Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.” John 15:1. Now which stand will you take? Will you remain attached to the true vine which is rooted in the testimony of the scriptures or will you join ranks with this new organization? “The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded” {1SM Book 1 p205} Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Spiritualism - Part 1. Eden
T
hose who oppose the teachings of spiritualism are assailing, not men alone, but Satan and his angels. They have entered upon a contest against principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places. Satan will not yield one inch of ground except as he is driven back by the power of heavenly messengers. The people of God should be able to meet him, as did our Saviour, with the words: "It is written." Satan can quote Scripture now as in the days of Christ, and he will pervert its teachings to sustain his delusions. Those who would stand in this time of peril [EDEN] must understand for themselves the testimony of the Scriptures” (The Great Controversy, pp. 559-560). For Satan, as in Eden will again bring doubt in the testimony of the Scriptures with the words “yea hath God said”. The scriptures says, “But when the Comforter is come… He shall testify of Me.” (John. 15:26) The testimony of the Scriptures is the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy. The spirit of prophecy is “the spirit of truth” which men lost in the Garden of Eden in the Genesis. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:4-5). The testimony of the scripture is no different today than when it was first uttered in Eden. In Genesis the testimony of Jesus Christ uttered a warning against the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The spirit of prophecy which is the testimony of Jesus Christ or the testimony of the scripture are all synonymous expressions implying God‟s vision. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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The thoughts that are in his mind, His Word which is spirit, the spirit of truth, (John. 6:63, 16:13) prophesy that the day that man eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil man should die. This testimony was the vision of God, the Holy Spirit, that man should have embraced, for the consequence of not doing this is death - spiritual death, which leads to physical death. The same line of thought is taken up in the Revelation under the 3rd angel‟s message: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God” (Rev. 14:9-10) The same warning given in Eden about the tree is here proclaimed. Therefore, the same penalty is pronounced in the wrath of God because the vision of the beast and his image (which is spiritualism) is substituted for the vision of the testimony of the Scriptures (which is the Spirit of Prophecy). Therefore the book of Proverbs says, “where there is no vision the people perish” (Prov. 29: 18). Thus, in Genesis, Satan perverted the testimony of the spirit of prophecy. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5). By the utterance of spiritualism, Satan substantiated his delusion and changed the vision of God, which is the testimony of Jesus, the spirit of prophecy in man. “And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat” (Gen. 3:6).
“A tree to be desired to make one wise”
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By partaking of the spirit of spiritualism, Eve came to view matters in the same light as Satan. She “saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired and to make one wise.” (Gen. 3:6). Her vision was changed. Now, the everlasting gospel was proclaimed in Genesis 3:15 as a solution to restore the Spirit of prophecy, the vision of Christ, God‟s Word, the thoughts that are in His mind, the seed of the woman that brings enmity with those who have the vision of Satan, (spiritualism), the thoughts that are in Satan‟s mind, his word, his seed. Hence, Christ states in Matthew 10:34 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Satan, foreseeing the warfare that Christ would wage against spiritualism, devised subtle means by which the delusion of spiritualism would be gradually accepted in the place of the seed of the woman. In the substitution of the false for the true, spiritualism for the testimony of Jesus (which is the spirit of prophecy), Satan divided spiritualism into three phases - namely, the dragon the beast and the false prophet. The spirit of prophecy, in commenting on the three phases of spiritualism refers to them as three persecuting powers. The first persecuting power is represented by the dragon itself; in heathenism there was open alliance with Satan, and open defiance of God. In the second persecuting power, the dragon is masked; but the spirit of Satan actuates it, the dragon supplies the motive power. In the third persecuting power, all traces of the dragon are absent, and a lamb-like beast appears; but when it speaks, its dragon voice betrays the satanic power concealed under a fair exterior, and shows it to be of the same family as the two preceding powers” (The Great Controversy (1888), p. 680). John the Revelator describing the final battle with spiritualism wrote, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17). “So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures.” The purpose of this tract is to trace this war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent down to its final stage where the counterfeit will be subtly passed off as the true in God‟s remnant church. . On this point, Ellen White wrote in The Great Controversy: “The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. “Satan will work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness to personate Jesus Christ; if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect. Now if the counterfeit bears so close a resemblance to the genuine, is it not essential to be on your guard, that no man deceive you? Christ enforces His warnings, saying, "Behold, I have told you before" (Matt. 24:25) (Selected Messages, bk. 2, p. 88). In tracing the three phases of spiritualism the logical place to begin is in the Garden of Eden where spiritualism was first uttered, the first lie through the medium of the serpent. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen . Man‟s vision changed at this point and in order to restore God‟s vision, Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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which is the faith of Jesus, the everlasting gospel was proclaimed in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.” In The Great Controversy, God declares: “This enmity is not naturally entertained. When man transgressed the divine law, his nature became evil, and he was in harmony, and not at variance, with Satan. There exists naturally no enmity between sinful man and the originator of sin. Both became evil through apostasy. The apostate is never at rest, except as he obtains sympathy and support by inducing others to follow his example. For this reason fallen angels and wicked men unite in desperate companionship” (p. 505). Of this union, the Bible states in Genesis 11:3-4: “And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth”. At this point, after the flood, the religion of paganism was born which is biblically symbolized as the dragon or spiritualism, it being the thoughts of Satan, his vision, the very image of Satan, which was upon the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that was governing man in this unholy project at Babel. As in Eden, this religion of self-exaltation is the means by which he accomplishes his boast, stated in Isaiah 14:13-14: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” ” The Lord‟s response to this satanic project at Babel is stated in Gen. 11: 7-9. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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“Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, [place division - ENMITY] that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language [ENMITY] of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” Spiritualism (the Dragon), through the religion of paganism continued to govern the succeeding kingdoms placing in them the spirit of intolerance towards the religion of Christ. In the first phase of this power it is this line of thought that God traces in the prophecies of Daniel, beginning with Babylon through to Rome. In tracing through the history of the religion of spiritualism God wishes the student of prophecy to recognize the three successive phases adopted by this deceptive religion in its attempt to pass itself as the true. As mentioned earlier the Spirit of Prophecy refers to the religion and spirit which govern the successive kingdoms as three persecuting powers. . “The first persecuting power (Babylon, Mede Persia, Greece and Rome) is represented by the dragon itself; in heathenism there was open alliance with Satan, and open defiance of God. In the second persecuting power, (the roman church, the beast) the dragon is masked; but the spirit of Satan actuates it,--the dragon supplies the motive power. In the third persecuting power, (apostate Protestantism) all traces of the dragon are absent, and a lamb-like beast appears; but when it speaks, its dragon voice betrays the satanic power concealed under a fair exterior, and shows it to be of the same family as the two preceding powers.” {GC.88, 680} The reader should observe in the above Spirit of Prophecy quote, that under the first phase of spiritualism “there was open alliance with Satan, Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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and open defiance of God” (The Great Controversy (1888), p. 680). One example of this persecuting power in its first phase can be seen in the account of Elijah and the false prophets at Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal were in direct opposition to the prophet Elijah though they all offered the same sacrifices upon the same altars. But their respective gods were different with a clear distinction between the counterfeit and the true. Under the second phase of Spiritualism, “the dragon is masked; but the spirit of Satan actuates it, the dragon supplies the motive power” p.680. Spiritualism cloaked itself in Christian garments under the Roman church but her works during the Dark Ages showed that “the spirit of Satan actuates it, the dragon supplies the motive power.” “The dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (Rev.13: 2) Perhaps the most deceptive of all three phases is the third phase of the dragon (spiritualism). We are told in the above statement “All traces of the dragon are absent, and a lamb-like beast appears; but when it speaks, its dragon voice betrays the satanic power concealed under a fair exterior, and shows it to be of the same family as the two preceding powers.” John in the Revelation, commenting on the rise of the Lamb-like beast, the third phase of spiritualism, wrote: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live” (Rev. 13:11-14). Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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By examining the image to the beast under spiritual Babylon (the Roman Catholic Church) in the light of the Image set up by Nebuchadnezzar under literal Babylon and then comparing these to the image that man was changed into in the garden of Eden, our conclusion can only be that all three images are the result of Satan replacing God‟s vision with his, which results in the setup and worship of a false image. Remember, the testimony of the Scriptures - which is the thoughts that are in God‟s mind, His Word, His Image (see Heb.1: 3) - is the spirit of prophecy, who is the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, who is God‟s Vision, the vision man had when the Holy Spirit dwelt in him before it was substituted with the vision of Spiritualism, „ye shall not surely die,‟ or you can sin and live. The following scriptural passage is God‟s vision given in a dream to Nebuchadnezzar: „...fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men...‟ “In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise” (Dan. 2:1, 28-40). As in Genesis, Satan sought to change the vision that God gave to Nebuchadnezzar leading him to doubt the unchangeability of God‟s Word the thoughts that are in His mind the testimony of the scriptures with words such as “yeah hath God said” or “Is this not Babylon that I have built?” So successful were these words of spiritualism that God‟s vision was changed in man, which lead to the setting up and worship of the vision image of Satan. “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up” (Dan 3:1-5). The safeguards against the setup and worship of the false image was the warning given in Genesis 3, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Gen. 3:2-3). Does this tree still exist in the midst of the garden today? Well, we are told in 1Corinthians 15:46 “Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual”. The tree is, therefore, spiritual today. Then what is this knowledge of good and evil that leads to death if spiritually eaten? The answer is the knowledge of evil mingled amongst God‟s word that speaks the wages of sin is not death; that the Law of God cannot be kept by man; that Christ nailed it to the cross; that man cannot be perfect. “The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). Now, we see the tree in the midst of the garden to be none other than the dragon the beast and the false prophet referred to in Revelation 16:13 as three unclean spirits like frogs. But, do we see the serpent‟s medium through whom the dragon--spiritualism speaks to the seed of the woman today? For we are told in 2 Cor.11: 14-15: : “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”Of this medium through whom the dragon - spiritualism wars against the seed of the woman (see Rev.12:17), we are told in Genesis 3:1
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“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” What minister of unrighteousness in our midst is so subtle that it is able to make us touch these unclean spirits contrary to God‟s Word and partake of its fruit? “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6: 17-18). “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins [vision of spiritualism], and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities” Rev. 18:4-5). “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb” (Rev. 14:9-10) . Who are these ministers of unrighteousness that are so subtle that the final phase of spiritualism, the false prophet, the unclean spirit can speak through them to the remnant of the woman‟s seed uttering the same words of doubt, “yeah hath God said ye shall not [join hands with spiritualism, the false prophet]”, leading them to abandon “the testimony of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of prophecy, to clasp hands with Spiritualism and by partaking of that spirit come to see matters in the same light? What ministers of unrighteousness say, you shall not surely die if you continue in sin, and are leading us to a union through ecumenism with the false prophet? Do you now see the result of changing the vision which the testimony conveys? It is the set up and worship of the false image. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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According to the Spirit of Prophecy “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy [image of the beast]” (The Great Controversy, p.445). WHAT IS ECUMENISM?
I
t is “leading churches uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common”. Why is the false prophet, the leading churches, bent on bringing us into this union “upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common?” It is because these common points of doctrine are spiritualism‟s vision, as in Eden, working to substitute the false image for the true image of God (see Heb.1:3). Notice what the Spirit of Prophecy has to say on this matter: “It is true that Spiritualism is now changing its form, and points of doctrine, veiling some of its more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise. But its utterances from the platform and the press have been before the public for nearly forty years, and in these its real character stands revealed. These teachings cannot be denied or hidden” Even in its present form, so far from being more worthy of toleration than formerly, it is really a more dangerous, because a more subtle deception. While it formerly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now professes to accept both. But the Bible is interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect. Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism making little distinction between good and evil. God's justice, his denunciations of sin, the requirements of his holy law, are all kept out of sight. The people are taught to regard the decalogue as a dead letter. Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the senses, and lead men to reject the Bible as the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verily denied as before; but Satan Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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has so blinded the eyes of the people that the deception is not discerned” (The Great Controversy (1888), p. 558). Can we unite on such points of doctrine as are held by them in common? “The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.” As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power” (The Great Controversy, p. 588). “Marvelous beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this generation. Thousands reject the word of God as unworthy of belief and with eager confidence receive the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics and scoffers denounce the bigotry of those who contend for the faith of prophets and apostles, and they divert themselves by holding up to ridicule the solemn declarations of the Scriptures concerning Christ and the plan of salvation, and the retribution to be visited upon the rejecters of the truth. They affect great pity for minds so narrow, weak, and superstitious as to acknowledge the claims of God and obey the requirements of His law. They manifest as much assurance as if, indeed, they had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell-- as if they had erected an impassable, impenetrable barrier between themselves and the vengeance of God. Nothing can arouse their fears. So fully have they yielded to the tempter, so closely are they united with him, and so thoroughly imbued Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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with his spirit, that they have no power and no inclination to break away from his snare. Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden: "Ye shall not surely die." "In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4, 5. Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached in the last remnant of time. Says the prophet:"I saw three unclean spirits like frogs; . . . they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Revelation 16:13, 14. Except those who are kept by the power of God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept into the ranks of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled to a fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God” (ibid. pp. 560-561). Under the third angel‟s message there is a revealed pattern that spiritualism follows. In that pattern lies the very purpose of spiritualism, which is claiming independence from God and leading men and angels to do so by the substitution of the false for the true. According to the Spirit of Prophecy, “So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested” (p. (p.594). Under the works of the mystery of iniquity, a new organization resembling the true always emerges, seeking to replace the true. This was the case in heaven when one third of the church fell to this strong delusion. The Church in Eden also fell to this delusion. As Eve partook of spiritualism, she came to see matters in the same light as Satan and the seed of the new organization was sown which would have materialized there and then had not God intervened. Prophesying to put enmity Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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between the two seeds or two church organizations, which later manifested itself between Cane and Abel and the obvious church organizations that they belonged to by the testimony of their respective altars. From this point on, the mystery of iniquity continued in order to fulfill his boast made plain in Isaiah. 14:13: “I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” “…mount Zion, (the church of God) on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” Psa. 48:2. The substitution of the false for the true has been the issue in every battle of the church since the days of Cane until now and many are the lessons to be learnt at every stage, but for now we will focus on the triple application of Elijah to further illustrate this issue and to complement the previous thoughts on the three phases of Spiritualism - namely, the Dragon, The Beast and the False Prophet who are in direct conflict with Elijah in the substitution of the false for the true. In the history of literal Elijah it is quite obvious that this substitution was the issue at Carmel, where the false prophets were in open alliance with the dragon--spiritualism. Therefore, we will not dwell on that history here but move on to the second Elijah, John the Baptist. In the history of John the Baptist, the issue is less obvious, particularly as it relates to identifying where the church and its leaders had fallen away and were in open alliance with the Dragon (Rome) as the false prophets were at Carmel. A NEW organization - „offshoot?‟ A new organization springing from God‟s church was here developing which would go on to kill the Lord. By human reasoning, this was the church that God had brought out of Babylon, which was to prepare for Christ‟s coming. However, this was an offshoot church made to look like the true through spiritualism. The confusing thing to many is it was a branch attached to the Truth, the Vine (Christ) but many interpreted the church to be the vine--the truth. Hence the term offshoot describing Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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churches which sprang from an established church. However, the church was a branch attached to the vine. Many, today, are making the same mistake. As Christ said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away” (Jn 15:1-2). Which branch was to be taken away? Well the apostle Paul wrote: “Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest he also spare not thee” (Rom. 11:18-21). Did the prophecies under the Levitical system point to this church under the as the true in which would be fulfilled prophecies like that given in Daniel 9:24 and Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet.?” They obviously point to the branch that John the Baptist and his disciples constituted as they were growing from the Vine of prophecy, the Truth, which is Christ. By human perception they were a new movement. But, the Word of God made them a movement whose connections go back to the beginning. Therefore, not new, but continuing and abiding in the Vine identified in John. 15:4. “...As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me..” Now, under the phase of the Beast, Spiritualism is repeating this history. The Roman church starts off as a faithful branch attach to the Vine, Jesus. But Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 spoke of that church falling away like the Jewish branch. Jesus in Revelation 2:14 employed the story of Balaam and Balac, implying that the Roman church fell (as did the prophet Balaam) because of her union with the kings of Europe. The spirit which actuated this church lead to the separation of the Protestant churches from her. From a human prospective, the Protestant churches were new organizations and therefore could not have been the true. However, it should be noted that the Church is a body of faithful souls moving through time, (see Acts of the Apostles, pp. 11) distinctly marked out under the seven churches by Jesus in the Revelation – each of the seven churches representing a different phase in the history of the one true Church. Therefore, Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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during the 1260 years of the papal domination, Jesus (the Vine) referred to the Protestant branches in Revelation 11 as Elijah, Moses, and the Holy City Jerusalem, indicating it was not a new, but a continual flow of the Church attached to the true Vine of prophecy. These branches fulfilled His will during the period of the church named Thyatira. During this time, the Roman church is named Jezebel by Jesus (Rev. 2:20), thus identifying that Church as an offshoot branch in Him that was to be cut off under the repeat of the history of Jezebel and Elijah during the 1260 days of drought. Notice there are two branches brought to view.
“...he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit..”
At the end of the 1260 days (years), the third phase of spiritualism, the False Prophet (a branch in Jesus about to be cut off) is entering upon the stage of battle with the prophet Elijah, the messenger of the 1st and 2nd angel‟s messages. This Elijah represents the continuation of the Holy City, the true branch in Jesus spoken of in Revelation 14:6 as having the everlasting gospel. This is the same gospel uttered in Eden about the remnant of the seed of the woman (Elijah) and the seed of the Serpent (the False prophet) in Revelation 12:17. Regarding the knowledge of this battle, Daniel was told to seal it up until the time of the end (Dan. 12:4). At the time of the end this much-needed increase of knowledge was to be given to Elijah to prepare him to stand in this battle. On this subject, the Spirit of Prophecy states that: “The book that was sealed was not the book of Revelation, but that portion of the prophecy of Daniel which related to the last days. The Scripture says, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Dan. 12:4). When the book was opened, the proclamation was made, "Time shall be no longer." (See Revelation Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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10:6). The book of Daniel is now unsealed, and the revelation made by Christ to John is to come to all the inhabitants of the earth. By the increase of knowledge a people is to be prepared to stand in the latter days” (Selected Messages, bk. 2, p. 105).
“...The book that was sealed was not the Revelation, but that portion of the prophecy of Daniel..”
Let us examine this increase of knowledge, which determines the destiny of Elijah, the church, in the light of the above statement by the spirit of prophecy; the portion of the prophecy of Daniel, which he is asked to seal until the time of the end begins with the words “in the time of the end” dan.11.40. This verse speaks of two events that were to transpire in the time of the end: the king of the north, the roman church, received a deadly wound by spiritual Egypt--France in 1798 and in the second part of this verse the roman church was to return in 1989 from this wound and conquer spiritual Egypt which was at that time the Soviet Union. In both 1798 and 1989 the false prophet is the player on the stage of battle securing converts for the roman church. The time of the end beginning in 1798 and concluding in 1844 when Michael stood up requires further attention in the light of the 1st and 2nd angel‟s messages which marked out the predestinated path of the church. When the churches abandoned these messages, all but a remnant became the false prophet in 1844. By human reasoning, the protestant churches began as the holy city (Rev.11:2). The question may then be asked, if this is so, how did this new Seventh-Day Adventist (sda) church become the holy city? The S.D.A. Church was not a new church but the church of Christ continuing on the predestined path of the three angels‟ messages. Whereas, the protestant churches, setting aside the path of these messages, became new church organizations and were therefore taken away from the true Vine at Christ‟s coming in 1844. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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At that moment, the wise virgins went into the most holy place with him and the door was shut. In reference to these events and their completion in 1844, the Spirit of Prophecy stated that the sealed book of Daniel was now open. “When the book was opened, the proclamation was made, "Time shall be no longer." (See Revelation 10:6.) The book of Daniel is now unsealed, and the revelation made by Christ to John is to come to all the inhabitants of the earth. By the increase of knowledge a people is to be prepared to stand in the latter days. {2SM 105.1}” “The Ten Virgins, five wise, five foolish..”
“...Will you end up being one of the five foolish virgins..” Now keeping in mind that both 1798 and 1989 the false prophet is the player on the stage of battle, securing converts for the roman church. And that the time of the end beginning in 1798 and concluding in 1844 when Michael stood up, represents a path of an increase of knowledge symbolized by the 1st and 2nd angel‟s messages which the foolish virgins should have but did not follow thus a new church organization, the false prophet was setup. In like manner the time of the end beginning in 1989 and ending with Michael standing up in Dan.12.1, represents again a path of an increase of knowledge symbolized by the 1st and 2nd angel‟s messages which the foolish will once again abandon and follow the false prophet who are again seeking converts in the SDA Church to join them through ecumenism in the setup and worship of a false image. All who through a lack of the increase of knowledge of this path, join this movement are becoming offshoots, branches, branching off from the predestined path will soon be cut off. In Romans. 8: 29, were told, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” notice then, in the conclusion of the above spirit of prophecy statement we read that “By the increase of knowledge a people is to be prepared to stand in the latter days.” Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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“...Or will you end up being one of the wise virgins..” The False Prophet is an offshoot branch that sprang from the “holy city” (Rev. 11:2). Of this final battle we are told “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. 12:17), which is “the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10) given to “thy brethren the prophets” (Rev. 22:9).
“...Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing..” Rev. 3:17
Going back to the thoughts expressed at the start of this study, the battle is about changing the testimony of the Scriptures, the thoughts that are in God‟s mind, His image (Heb. 1:3), His vision, which is the Spirit of Prophecy given to the “brethren the prophets” that they may be wise to the Serpent‟s voice of spiritualism in making void the law of God among those who keep the commandments of God. and because some receive not the love of the truth concerning the mystery of iniquity, God shall allow strong delusion to come upon them that they would believe the lie concealed under ecumenism that they would be among the dammed who setup and worship the image of the beast. The brethren the prophets – namely, the 3rd Elijah – have the testimony of Jesus, the Spirit of Prophecy, because it unmasks the false prophet and those who become her mouth piece in the SDA Church as being members of the same family as the two preceding powers (the dragon & the beast). The 3rd Elijah shows them to be of the “Many who will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much. Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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"If thou hadst known," said Christ, "even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes” (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 409). “God commanded Elijah to anoint the cruel and deceitful Hazael king over Syria, that he might be a scourge to idolatrous Israel. Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, Peace, peace," when the Lord hath not spoken peace. I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 77).
“...Willow Creek, Pentecostal mega-church, Adventist are trying to emulate..”
The following quote is concrete evidence that establishes the fact that the SDA Church is making movements to join the ecumenical movement through the World Council of Churches. As established, this is contrary to God‟s will as we are told: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” 2Cor 6:17. Never has the Lord told his people that to win souls, we must join their ranks and enter into their schools of Philosophy to learn from them i.e. Willow Creek. “By Beholding you become changed” and it is a false view to believe that Adventists can freely enter upon the grounds of the false prophet and be Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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unharmed. “God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Gen 3:3 We are commanded not to touch the unclean thing and the Word of God describes the False Prophet which makes up one third of Babylon as being unclean. (Rev 18:4, Rev 16:19) As the pen of inspiration informs us: “By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light.” GC 608. It is by partaking in the acts of the False Prophet that will lead to a new organization being formed separating them from the true vine. Adventism a Prophetic Movement The Seventh-day Adventist Church stepped upon the stage of history-so Adventists firmly believe-in response to God's call. Adventists believe, it is hoped without pride or arrogance, that the Advent Movement represents the divinely appointed instrument for the organized proclamation of the "eternal gospel," God's last message, discerned from the prophetic vantage point of Revelation 14 and 18. In the focalized light of its prophetic understanding, the Seventh-day Adventist Church sees herself as the eschatologically oriented "ecumenical" movement of the Apocalypse. She begins by "calling out" God's children from "fallen" ecclesial bodies that will increasingly form organized religious opposition to the purposes of God. Together with the "calling out" there is a positive "calling in" to a united, worldwide-that is, ecumenicalmovement characterized by "faith of Jesus" and keeping "the commandments of God" (Rev. 14:12). In the World Council of Churches the emphasis is first of all on "coming in" to a fellowship of churches and then hopefully and gradually "coming out" of corporate disunity. In the Advent Movement the accent is first on "coming out" of Babylonian disunity and confusion and then immediately "coming in" to a fellowship of unity, truth, and love within the globe-encircling Advent family. Quote taken from: http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/other_documents/ other_doc3.html Advent Times P.O. Box 52280
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Spiritualism in Adventism
The Web of Lies Web of Lies: Are you caught in the trap of ecumenism? This is a question you need to ask yourselves. In this tract it will be made plain for all who read that indeed we are caught in a web of lies. Don‟t miss out , this is a must have if you are to break free from the web of ecumenism!
Ezekiel 9 The Shepherds Rods: Most of us know that their theology is designed by angels expelled out of heaven , but in this tract we will discover how their part has a much more sinister role to play than what meets the eye, how in fact they are but smoke screens for today's modern day Scribes & Pharisees in leading the people to resist the 3rd angel‟s message and embrace the ecumenical movement.
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Spiritualism in Adventism
Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden: "Ye shall not surely die..." Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism... When Satan has undermined faith in the Bible, he directs men to other sources for light and power. Thus he insinuates himself. Those who turn from the plain teaching of Scripture and the convicting power of God's Holy Spirit, are inviting the control of demons. Criticism and speculation concerning the Scriptures have opened the way for Spiritualism and Theosophy - those modernized forms of ancient heathenism to gain a foothold even in the professed churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. {GC 586.2 & Ev 591.4}
Due to the signs of the time in which we live, many of these tracts have, and are distributed free of charge. Therefore all donations are welcome for the furtherance of the Gospel.
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