As I wrote this, I
was constrained by forces and I was unable to finish the article. Kindly pardon
me for the missing quotes or any controversial opinion that didn't have an explanation to it. I promise to explain them in the future, when God's will allows it. But I can assure you that what I say is trustworthy
and true. God is my witness. Amen.
Why I’m troubled.
Ladies and gentlemen, a lot is happening in our world today.
In the midst of strife and pain I proclaim to you today that there is someone
who cares… That is Jesus Christ who lived among us, died and resurrected. He
has sent us The Holy Spirit through whom we may have victory day by day.
There is in the world today a dramatic conflict raging
between Christ and Satan for the allegiance and influence of souls. I’m
troubled because some of my own relatives and friends have shunned the call of
God’s mercy. If this controversy is of no interest to you then I fear that you
may be under the Dark One’s influence; he prefers a disinterested and cynical
population that shall scorn and ridicule any talk of spiritual warfare in the
heavens, or of Principalities and rulers of this dark age and their works and
intentions (Ephesians 6:12). He wants you frozen in the ice of indifference or
worse, burning with the flames of fanaticism. But worry not, for we have a
saviour who has never failed to heal an afflicted soul. If you are in the
darkness, I have good tidings. The Light of the World, Jesus is available.
Christ cared; enough to be killed and nailed to a tree for
our sake. I believe if you do have a conscience, this will stir the depths of
your soul and move you into contemplating just how much was sacrificed and
availed to you: Freely I might add. Christ says,” Behold, I stand at the door
and knock. If any man opens I shall enter and dine with him and him with me.”
Revelations 3:20. I fear that with my generation, the TRUE Gospel of Christ has
been replaced with the lie of humanism veiled as Christianity. Many have fallen
trap to this lie, and the few that do have the truth seldom get audience. One
characteristic of the true Church during the end times is it will be unpopular.
The cliché goes, popular things aren’t right, and right things aren’t popular.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like you to fearlessly read what
I’m about to reveal to you. In the greater scheme of things you are either on
Christs’ side or on the Devils side. That boundary was made distinct by Christ
when He said “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not
with me scattereth abroad.” Matthew 12:30. This verse frightens me. But He was
as clear as he ought to be. However, I’m comforted and encouraged by the
following which shows that the redeemed are many:
·
“For when the Gentiles, which have not the Law,
do by nature the things contained in the Law, these, having not the Law, are a
law unto themselves.” (Romans 2:14).
·
“For in their moment of ignorance God winked,
but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
·
“I tell you many shall come from the East, the
West, the North and the South and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, in the Kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 8:11, Luke 13:29).
·
“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, and palms in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9).
Brethren, there are people who lived upon this earth and
never knew Christ; before, during and after his walk on earth. They never saw
him or heard of him. There are those who were born and raised in adverse
circumstances, where the Gospel may not have reached or was not given in
quantities sufficient to convict and lead them to conversion. But with the
little light of virtue, knowledge, wisdom and righteousness availed them, they
did their very best and God, who searches hearts, shall reward them abundantly
when the time comes. Those are the people that God shall have mercy upon and to
whom in most part these scriptures apply.
Let no one conclude from this that it is better to remain
ignorant of eternal truth. Condemnation will fall upon those who have refused
to come to the light for fear of being reproved for their evil deeds. John
3:19-21 says, “And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved. But he that doe’s truth comes to the light, that
his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” This fear of
being corrected is pointless because it is that light that will save. We in the
world today have substituted the knowledge of God for the deductions and customs
of man. That needs to change.
We who live in this day and age have a lot of answering to
do. In an age of Google, iPads, Tabs and smartphones we stand utterly condemned
to have been indecisive. To whom much is given, much is expected. Then again, with
the advent of these innovations came a corrupting influence. People live online
and on social media. The media, through these devices, have diverted our
attention to mundane worldly affairs. Beloved, the enemy wants to occupy,
influence and ultimately control you; long enough so that the door of pardon be
shut and you be found in sin. He wants to occupy your thoughts and feelings
such that Christ will not be thought of or desired. He knows his inevitable
doom and wants to die with as many people as possible. Revelations says,”Woe
unto you inhabitants of the earth, for the dragon comes down with great fury,
to persecute those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ.”
As we have it, we have a formidable foe. But how did all this
happen? How did Lucifer, now Satan, turn into the enemy? Why did God create him
yet he knew he was going to fall? Where did Good and evil come from? Who
started all this mess...? I attempt to answer these questions in the paragraphs
below.
The Origin of Evil.
It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give
a reason for its existence. Yet enough may be understood concerning both the
origin and the final disposition of sin to make fully manifest the justice and
benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil. Nothing is more plainly
taught in scripture than that God is in no wise responsible for the entrance of
sin; that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine Grace, no deficiency in
God’s divine government, that gave occasion for the uprising of rebellion. Sin
is an intruder for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious,
yea, unaccountable; to excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found,
or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. (Ellen G. White)
Sin is, as the Bible puts it, ”The transgression of the law”.
It is the outworking of a principle at war with the great Law of love, The Ten
commandments, which is the foundation of God’s divine government. This Law is
of love because the statutes governing relationships between God and man and
man to man are exercised out of love. For example: If I loved you, I would
neither steal from you nor covet your property. If I loved you I would not
commit adultery with your wife, husband, daughter or son. If I loved you, I would
not lie to you. Such was the universe before the entrance of sin. A place where
everyone loved and respected one another and God above all. But Lucifer had a
different opinion.
Free-will and the
originator of sin:
Since God is Love, He desires from all his creatures the
service of love; homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of His
character. God takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all He grants
freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service.
But there was one who chose to pervert this freedom. Sin
originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honoured of God and who
stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Before his
fall, Lucifer was the first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. In
Ezekiel 28:12-15 God said of him,”Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and
perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious
stone was thy covering. Thou art the anointing cherub that covereth; and I have
set thee so; thou wast upon the Holy Mountain of God; thou hast walked up and
down in the midst the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the
day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”
Lucifer, at the time before falling, remained in favour with
God, beloved and honoured by all the angelic host, exercising his noble powers
to bless others and to glorify his Maker. But, says the prophet,”Thine heart
was lifted up because of thine beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason
of thy brightness.” (Verse 17).
Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge a desire for
self-exaltation. ”Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.” “Thou hast
said, ‘I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the
Mount of congregation…. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will
be like the Most High’”.(verse 6) also Isaiah 14:13,14.
There was one problem with his grand coup. The Law of God
dictated that they serve no other God but God. To win the allegiance of angels,
he had to convince them that the foundation of God’s government is flawed.
Well, the knowledge and application of God’s Law and His
statutes is the highroad to perfect harmony and peace. However, in man’s fallen
state, he is unable to live out this standard in his own power. The influence
of sin upon the human race has weakened him over the ages. The body is
desperately wicked and corrupt, always inclined to sin and self-destruction.
Well, there’s good news!!! God looks upon man with a pitying
tenderness, an overflowing mercy that pen cannot portray, nor tongue
describe. His heart is moved by our affliction. He is touched by our
infirmities. He has watched with patience the fall of mankind from the pedestal
of perfection He had created. He longed to see man restored to his proper
state. He is a God that takes action and does not sit idly by as Satan has his
way. God intervened by sending His only son Jesus Christ to ransom us.
Jesus (What he was
like as a man)
God in the flesh, lived as a man. From childhood to
adulthood. He was well acquainted with Human ways, human customs and their
capacity for love or hatred. Sin had entered the world and he could see the
physical, mental and spiritual decay this curse brought about. He knew he was
the messiah. He longed to save us. And indeed He did!
The record of Christs’ early life is brief. “The child grew,
and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon
Him.” In the presence of God’s countenance, Jesus “increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:52). As a child, Jesus
manifested a peculiar loveliness of disposition. His willing hands were ever
ready to serve others. He manifested a patience that no one could disturb, and
a truthfulness that would never sacrifice integrity. His life revealed the
grace of unselfish courtesy.
God’s Law
Gods Law has been the centre of the great controversy
between Christ and Satan.I mean ALL of the ten commandments, including the fourth one, which says 'Remember the sabbath day to keep it Holy'.
The Sabbath day was hallowed and blessed by God not just in
the book of exodus, but right from creation when God rested and blessed it.
Also note There is a difference between THE SABBATH day and the
‘Sabbath days’ that the apostle Paul talks about. Let us look at his words in
context. And remember scripture never contradicts scripture.
“Let no man judge you because of a Sabbath day…”
Paul has no authority to annul that which God wrote with his
own finger on two tablets of stone on mount Sinai. Paul would not dare undo
scripture, nor add or remove anything from it. So the only explanation is that
Paul was not talking of THE Sabbath and was referring to the Sabbath feasts and
religious ceremonies that had so long burdened new converts; they were rules
and regulations that were a foreshadowing of Christ upon the cross. These feasts and sacrificial systems foretold/foreshadowed the
coming of the messiah.
1.
The Passover.
2.
Sin offerings
3.
Feast of tents
etc
If THE Sabbath day was a relic of the ceremonial law that
was done away with and was part of the rituals foreshadowing Christs sacrifice,
then I pose this question. What was the Sabbath day foreshadowing if indeed it
was to be rid of???........
The answer is simple. It was not a foreshadowing of
anything.
"There are many who try to blend these two systems, using the texts that speak of the ceremonial law to prove that the moral law has been abolished; but this is a perversion of the Scriptures. The distinction between the two systems is broad and clear. The ceremonial system was made up of symbols pointing to Christ, to His sacrifice and His priesthood. This ritual law, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be performed by the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings were to cease".{PP 365}
The Law of God, written on stone by his own finger still stands
today. They are the Ten Commandments, and the Bible says of them,” Not one
tittle or the crossing of a ‘T’ shall pass away from the Law till heaven and
earth pass away.” I’ve heard numerous
explanations from across all denominations about why we don’t keep the biblical
Sabbath. They range from, “Paul said….” To “Sunday was the day Jesus resurrected”
to “The Pope said so” to “It’s for the Jews.” I understood their reasons and
they were sincere in their understanding of things;but as sincere as one may be, they may be sincerely wrong . However dear
brethren, there can only be one truth out there regarding this issue. We can’t
have multiple people saying that they have the absolute truth yet in the back
of our minds we know only one party is telling the real truth. God’s commands
are clear and concise to them who earnestly seek The Lord in prayer and are
willing to let The Holy Spirit guide them into all Truth. With all these varied
interpretations, we cannot deny the hand of the enemy in causing such
confusion.
I pray and hope that you will bear with
me, seeking The Lord for guidance and wisdom in prayer.
What is the truth?
The diligent student of God’s word will be rewarded with
clear revelations of truth. Jesus said, “Thy word is truth”. Daniel was an
example of such a student. He studied The Word, and sought earnestly to
understand their meaning. God answered him; and he was given this knowledge in
such great measure that his mind could not endure.
Who is Babylon and
why is it important to know this?
Babylon is the
conglomerate of religions and denominations that shall unite to form a one
world religion, headed by The Roman Catholic Church, in apostasy against God.
There is plenty of biblical evidence to support that, I’m just constrained by
time. As diabolical and radical as it sounds, it is now coming to pass though
Pope Francis, not that he is the antichrist himself, but he sits in his seat. This
is a very hard gospel to teach my friends because I’ve lived and worked with
people from across the board and I loved them. We have nothing against people,
but we have everything against institutions that enslave people. So Ellen
White, Martin Luther, Wesley and Calvin were right. The reformers of the church
away from the enslaving and idolatrous practices of the catholic church, all
came to the same conclusion. Here, look what they all had to say:
John Wycliffe
"When the western church was divided for about 40 years between two
rival popes, one in Rome and the other in Avigon, France, each pope called the
other pope antichrist - and John Wycliffe is reputed to have regarded them as
both being right: "two halves of Antichrist, making up the perfect Man of
Sin between them." -Ibid
Martin Luther (Lutheran)
"We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true
and real Antichrist...personally I declare that I owe the Pope no other
obedience than that to Antichrist." (Aug. 18, 1520) Taken from The
Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 2., pg. 121 by Froom. (In response
to a papal bull [official decree]): "I despise and attack it, as impious,
false... It is Christ Himself who is condemned therein... I rejoice in having
to bear such ills for the best of causes. Already I feel greater liberty in my
heart; for at last I know that the pope is antichrist, and that his throne is
that of Satan himself." --D'Aubigné, b.6, ch. 9.
Cotton Mather (Congregational Theologian)
"The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the
Christian Church: and in the Pope of Rome, all the characteristics of that
Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any who read the Scriptures do
not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them." Taken from
The Fall of Babylon by Cotton Mather in Froom's book, The Prophetic Faith of
Our Fathers, Vol. 3, pg. 113.
John Wesley (Methodist)
Speaking of the Papacy he said, "He is in an emphatical sense, the Man
of Sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too,
properly styled the Son of Perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless
multitudes, both of his opposers and followers... He it is...that exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped...claiming the
highest power, and highest honour...claiming the prerogatives which belong to
God alone." Taken from Antichrist and His Ten Kingdoms by John
Wesley, pg. 110.
Ellen G. White: Seven Day Adventists
"This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the
development of "the man of sin" foretold in prophecy as opposing and
exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a
masterpiece of Satan's power--a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon
the throne to rule the earth according to his will.
Thomas Cranmer (Anglican)
"Whereof it followeth Rome to be the seat of antichrist, and the pope
to be very antichrist himself. I could prove the same by many other scriptures,
old writers, and strong reasons." (Referring to prophecies in Revelation
and Daniel.) Taken from Works by Cranmer, Vol. 1, pp. 6-7.
Roger Williams (First Baptist Pastor in America)
He spoke of the Pope as "the pretended Vicar of Christ on earth, who
sits as God over the Temple of God, exalting himself not only above all that is
called God, but over the souls and consciences of all his vassals, yea over the
Spirit of Christ, over the Holy Spirit, yea, and God himself...speaking against
the God of heaven, thinking to change times and laws; but he is the son of
perdition (II Thess. 2)." Taken from The Prophetic Faith of Our
Fathers by Froom, Vol. 3, pg. 52.
Why not then believe all else that the great reformers and
Adventists are trying to say? What if they ACTUALLY have the true gospel in a
world riddled with false ones?
When a church heeds the ecumenical call of Pope Francis to
unite and be ‘one’, I’m afraid it is apostate.
“Come out of her, my people
Revelations 18:3-5 says,""For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality." 4I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 5for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.…"
Why I thank God
I’m troubled.
I’m ever privileged to go through troubles and trials of all
kinds. Jesus did. My dear brothers and sisters, so will we. But be of good
cheer! God will save us through our troubles, not from them. God saved Jonah
through the belly of that large fish, not from it. God saved Daniel through the
experience of the lions den, not from it. God saved the Hebrews; Shadrack,
Meshack and Abednego; through the fiery furnace, not from it. God saved Joseph
through betrayal and imprisonment, not from them. The end result of friction,
hardship and strife is a beautiful character. Strength can only be developed
from resistance. Patience can only develop through waiting. Peace can only be
fully appreciated after war. Courage can only be developed after having felt
fear. If the secret rapture is real and we will indeed poof and disappear
before the time of trouble and strife that is to come, then I’m afraid we might
have some half-baked characters in heaven. The Bible says in James 1:4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you
may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
1 Peter 4:12-14 says, ”Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trials which is to try you, as though something strange
happened unto you. But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s
sufferings
so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."
I'll leave you with this:
“Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches whichconstitute Babylon, the great body of Christ’s true followers are still to be found in their communion. There are many of these who have never seen the special truths for this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with their present condition, and are longing for clearer light. They look in vain for the image of Christ in the churches with which they are connected. As these bodies depart farther and farther from the truth, and ally themselves more closely with the world, the difference between the two classes will widen, and it will finally result in separation. The time will come when those who love God supremely can no longer remain in connection with such as are ‘lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” - Great Controversy pg 390.
Never have I encountered resistance this ferocious while
writing an article. Someone somewhere doesn’t want this story told. I have
suffered many griefs just putting this information down. I pray that you
treasure each and every word that I have typed because with each paragraph, I
encountered a different temptation
before this article could materialize. I have no fear anyway, because I know
whom I serve. The God of heaven and Earth who created all things. To Him be
Glory, Majesty, Dominion and Power. Forever and ever. Amen.
