Everybody wants to feel good. There is certainly nothing wrong with feeling good. Americans have created many electrical and mechanical gadgets to assist in the feel good arena. Even drugs play a role in the feel good game.
Many Americans spend 90% of their time trying to find ways to feel good. Perhaps that morning coffee, extra strength...or maybe a cigarette. While we're at it, a shot of whiskey would do in a pinch. Many also must find that pill that calms their nerves or helps them loose weight while still eating like a pig. And the list of feel good ideas could go on add infinitum.
What about discipline? When we find that we have areas in our lives that need to change what do we do? Many today are going to seminars and learning the skill of pretending that they are partially some kind of god or goddess. They are taught that they are in control, not God. In otherwards, those who have gone to these philosophical cults come back saying: "If you force yourself to feel confident, get the attitude that you can do anything, nobody can stop you! Then you will succeed."
Or they say: "Simply believe in your-self!" I have always wondered what this means. Does it mean that I must idolize a make believe image of myself and that I have some special power? Am I to stop believing in God and simply believe in my-self? Believe in my fallen and imperfect nature? My Bible does not tell me to believe in myself or in my own strength. Instead my Bible says:
"...put no confidence in the flesh." [Philipians 3:3]
And as far as trusting in yourself my Bible instead reads;
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him [God], and he shall direct thy paths." [Proverbs 3:5,6]
The hardest thing for a person to do is place their complete trust in another. Can I or should I give my complete life over to another? Wow! Yet this is exactly what God asks us to do. He asks us to die to self, not believe in self, but to die to fallen human nature and to place complete trust in Him!
This belief goes completely against human nature. We are greedy and needy!
Another trap that some Christians fall into; "Well, God wants you to feel good about yourself!" Really? So what does this involve? Can I make up my own standards and rules to live by? Can I take drugs, smoke, eat like a pig, cheat a little...etc. I mean, God does want me to feel good with myself, right?"
I mentioned earlier, what about discipline? Does discipline always "feel good"? Does growing up always "feel good"? Hhhhhmmmmm. It seems that many Christians want Jesus to be their Saviour but not their disciplinary because gues what...that can hurt! You mean a God that has moral boundries? A God that asks you to stay in His word to find all truth and not read Carl Jung or listen to Oprah Winfrey? Come on man...thats torture.
Here we see one of the main problems with Christianity. Many Christians stop reading God's word. They say; "Well, I already read the book and I go to church. End of story." So if God tells us that He speaks to us through His word and you stop reading it and going to the Bible for your answers...where are you turning to find answers? Self-help programs and books that tell you to simply believe in your-self. The New Age movement tells people to tap into their "Higher-Self". Some call it the "God-self". Why not? As god I can make up my own rules...no discipline needed!
Should our confidence be in ourselves or in the Christ that works within the true Christian? As true Christians our confidence is in our God! He is the Almighty, I am just His child! The Bible says that: "A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident." [Proverbs 14:16]
As a matter of fact, people fear "failure" today more than they fear God! This leads to many other errors. Some who look for answers in human behavior or the study of human behavior say things like: "My faith is no longer blind. I only trust in what I can see." Well, then it's not really faith. Biblical faith is not blind but it is also not "all knowing".
Christianity is not a religion of "self". It is a relationalship religion. First, we are put in right relationship with God. That means we go through Christ Jesus alone. That means we put God's commandments, ways, and thoughts before our own or anybody elses. True happiness is in falling in love with God and His word. True love is trusting in God's word even if somebody says something different. If you truly love God you will want to believe in Him and His ways..not in your selfish desires.
Those who go to church for singing and ritual believe that they have made up for their disregard to obedience to God's commands. These type of so called Christians live mostly for themselves instead of for God. These type often perform religious rites. It at least makes them feel better.
You see, basically psychology is in the buisness of rephrasing the gopsel into selfist terminology. If you talk to a so called "Christian Psychologist" one of the first things that he might ask you is; "What do you want? How can I make you feel better?" Their idea of the gospel is proclaimed as "self-esteem".
So todays religionists cry out; "Give me some of that feel-good religion!" Why? Because no discipline is involved, no hurt in the growing process, no pain for true gain! One Christian author has rightly stated: "Christian psychology is an attempted balancing act, with one foot upon the solid Rock, Christ Jesus, and the other on the sinking sand of humanism."
So many people that I have talked with that claim to be Christians have attacked God's word by their continual and popular excuse: "So many denominations say different things about prophecy and Biblical interpretation....so get on with your self-righteousness." What they are really saying is that God must be some how messed up. He must have not been clear to the children that He supposedly loves and died for in the person of Jesus Christ. This really is an excuse not to study God's word. As a result of this attitude many will spend thousands of dollars studying Carl Jung and or Sigmund Freud.
Yet Jesus says to "remain in His word" and promises us that "there we will find the truth". So is Jesus a liar? Sadly, He is, to many supposed Christians floating around the globe who have their head stuck into the intellectual pit of despair. These type will mouth off the most recent dirty joke. Or tell you how they figured out a way to cheat on their taxes. The next sunday they will sit in their church and say a prayer or two. Perhaps do a ritual or two and head on home to catch the next football game. Across the room on their shelf sits a dusty old Bible which they claim that they have already read and know what it says. On the coffee table sits their favorite book titled: "Human Psychology..understanding human conscious...the key to success!" And in Heaven Jesus looks down with a tear in His eye and says; "They don't get it..they just don't get it."
Today I would ask all true Christians to pray for those caught in the psychology game. Pray that they come back to their Father's word and to the Saviour Jesus Christ. There is where we find our true hope, stength, wisdom, knowledge, and rest.
By Eric W. King
Febreuary 23rd,2008
For more truth visit:
"The Adventist Way of Life"
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Accusers of the Brethren - Response to cult bloggers
-This article is addressed to those people who think that they are Christians and make it thier duty to "fault find". They point to growing Christians who have had years of living in the "world" and are in the process of Biblical sanctification. They try and find all the sins of the person and then begin to tear him apart.
In the Bible Satan is called; "The accuser of the brethren". Some so called "christians" have taken this role upon themselves. They must not fully understand the power of sin in their own personal lives. God only knows what is going on in the minds of these individuals. Perhaps they have "arrived" and have no more "impure" thoughts. Perhaps they claim Christhood.
The sad thing about these people is their anger. Every act and word is an attack. They are paranoid individuals. Their attack process follows that of Satan. A friend sent me the following outline of this satanic-process with Christian weapons to fight back:
First: The Deceiver Satan's target - your mind; his weapons - lies; his purpose - to make you ignorant of God's will; your defense - the inspired Word of God.
Second: The Destroyer Satan's target - your body; his weapon - suffering; his purpose - to make you impatient with God's will; your defense - the imparted grace.
Three: The Ruler Satan's target - your will; Satan's weapon - pride; Satan's purpose - to make you independent of God's will; your defense - the indwelling Spirit of God.
Four: The Accuser Satan's target - your heart and conscience; Satan's weapon - accusation; Satan's purpose - to bring an indictment by God's will; your defense - the interceding Son.
One individual comes to mind as I write this article. He has a BLOG and it contains nothing but sarcastic and rude attacks on Seventh Day Adventist Christians. If an 18 year old Seventh Day Adventist Christian girl eats a "gummy bear" he condemns her to hell. He accuses the entire Seventh Day Adventist Church as being "Satanic". The millions of true Christian Adventists are praying for this self-righteous individual and all who fall into his cadegory.
He never once talks about the love of God. He instead plays the role of his idea of God and as judge he begins his satanic judgment. Tearing away at growing souls and those trying to understand true Christianity. How sad and evil!
I live in the mountains. I use a chain saw and do other physical tasks. All the mountain men I know work hard for a living, they don't sit around and attack Christians. One story comes to mind. In the town that I live in a young bully kept making rude comments and attacking those who had weaker wills. One day a person came into town and saw what this individual was doing.
Words were exchanged, the bully tried to fight the man. The man beat the bully up. Two weeks latter the "used to be" bully was in the SDA Hospital repenting of his sins. God knows how to humble the proud. It is a shame that the poor bully had to learn the hard way but the Bible says that God corrects those whom He loves. God loved the bully.
We can only pray that these "spiritual bullies" will learn to love others and come to Jesus Christ without their self-rightous pride, before it is too late.
E.W.King [February 16th, 2008]
In the Bible Satan is called; "The accuser of the brethren". Some so called "christians" have taken this role upon themselves. They must not fully understand the power of sin in their own personal lives. God only knows what is going on in the minds of these individuals. Perhaps they have "arrived" and have no more "impure" thoughts. Perhaps they claim Christhood.
The sad thing about these people is their anger. Every act and word is an attack. They are paranoid individuals. Their attack process follows that of Satan. A friend sent me the following outline of this satanic-process with Christian weapons to fight back:
First: The Deceiver Satan's target - your mind; his weapons - lies; his purpose - to make you ignorant of God's will; your defense - the inspired Word of God.
Second: The Destroyer Satan's target - your body; his weapon - suffering; his purpose - to make you impatient with God's will; your defense - the imparted grace.
Three: The Ruler Satan's target - your will; Satan's weapon - pride; Satan's purpose - to make you independent of God's will; your defense - the indwelling Spirit of God.
Four: The Accuser Satan's target - your heart and conscience; Satan's weapon - accusation; Satan's purpose - to bring an indictment by God's will; your defense - the interceding Son.
One individual comes to mind as I write this article. He has a BLOG and it contains nothing but sarcastic and rude attacks on Seventh Day Adventist Christians. If an 18 year old Seventh Day Adventist Christian girl eats a "gummy bear" he condemns her to hell. He accuses the entire Seventh Day Adventist Church as being "Satanic". The millions of true Christian Adventists are praying for this self-righteous individual and all who fall into his cadegory.
He never once talks about the love of God. He instead plays the role of his idea of God and as judge he begins his satanic judgment. Tearing away at growing souls and those trying to understand true Christianity. How sad and evil!
I live in the mountains. I use a chain saw and do other physical tasks. All the mountain men I know work hard for a living, they don't sit around and attack Christians. One story comes to mind. In the town that I live in a young bully kept making rude comments and attacking those who had weaker wills. One day a person came into town and saw what this individual was doing.
Words were exchanged, the bully tried to fight the man. The man beat the bully up. Two weeks latter the "used to be" bully was in the SDA Hospital repenting of his sins. God knows how to humble the proud. It is a shame that the poor bully had to learn the hard way but the Bible says that God corrects those whom He loves. God loved the bully.
We can only pray that these "spiritual bullies" will learn to love others and come to Jesus Christ without their self-rightous pride, before it is too late.
E.W.King [February 16th, 2008]
Friday, February 8, 2008
"Remember" means it already happened!
If I started out a sentance with the word "remember"....does that mean that I am asking you to think back about an event? Sure it does. So when God asks us all to "remember" the Sabbath day it would be to remember an event that cannot change.
We cannot change the past. Can we? The fourth commandment asks us to "remember" an original and unaltered event. So we know that God cannot be asking us to remember "sunday" if Saturday is the true Sabbath, the historical and unchangeable event!
In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve laws to live by. He loved them and cared for their moral development. We see that after they took the fruit they were told not to and lied to God they became sinners. They knew God's commandments.
We see that God's fourth commandment, the Holy Sabbath, was given in Genesis chapter two.We see Cain and Abel practicing sacrificial laws in Genesis but the sacrificial laws were not yet written out. Why was there already the shedding of blood in Genesis? Because the Moral Law had been broken.
Sin is the transgression of the Ten Commandments and without the shedding of blood [sacrificial law] there is no atonement.We see that even before all the commandments were written on stone after the Egyptian exile that God chose Abraham “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, [God said] and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” [Genesis 26:5]
We see that even before the Ten Commandments were written out on stone God was reminding Israel after pulling them out of bondage of the Sacred Law. God said to them before they reached mount Sinai; "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" [Exodus 16:28] How could God charge them thus had they not known beforehand? "And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seeth that ye will seeth; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until morning." [Exodus 16:23]
Here we notice God telling them, or reminding them, of His Holy Sabbath before mount Sinai. Why did God ultimately have to remind them and re-write the commandments out for them on stone? Because during their bondage and 40 year wandering in the wilderness a generation had been lost.
"And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed." [Numbers 32:13]
So here we are in the Church Age and a generation or so has again forgotten the Ten Commandments of our Lord. Let us learn from history!Remember, Jesus only promised to build one church, therefore, the rest of the churches that are here today were started by men, not by God.
The way we can be sure the church we are in is the church Jesus built is to look at the characteristics. We find the last-day characteristics of God's church listed in His word, the Holy Bible.
Look at these two important and foundational characteristics:Rev. 12:17: "And the dragon [the Devil] was wroth [angry] with the woman [church], 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. 19:10 "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit [gift] of prophecy."
Written by Eric W. King [Written on February 8th,2008] Some material from this article taken from and early article of Eric's
We cannot change the past. Can we? The fourth commandment asks us to "remember" an original and unaltered event. So we know that God cannot be asking us to remember "sunday" if Saturday is the true Sabbath, the historical and unchangeable event!
In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve laws to live by. He loved them and cared for their moral development. We see that after they took the fruit they were told not to and lied to God they became sinners. They knew God's commandments.
We see that God's fourth commandment, the Holy Sabbath, was given in Genesis chapter two.We see Cain and Abel practicing sacrificial laws in Genesis but the sacrificial laws were not yet written out. Why was there already the shedding of blood in Genesis? Because the Moral Law had been broken.
Sin is the transgression of the Ten Commandments and without the shedding of blood [sacrificial law] there is no atonement.We see that even before all the commandments were written on stone after the Egyptian exile that God chose Abraham “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, [God said] and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” [Genesis 26:5]
We see that even before the Ten Commandments were written out on stone God was reminding Israel after pulling them out of bondage of the Sacred Law. God said to them before they reached mount Sinai; "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" [Exodus 16:28] How could God charge them thus had they not known beforehand? "And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seeth that ye will seeth; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until morning." [Exodus 16:23]
Here we notice God telling them, or reminding them, of His Holy Sabbath before mount Sinai. Why did God ultimately have to remind them and re-write the commandments out for them on stone? Because during their bondage and 40 year wandering in the wilderness a generation had been lost.
"And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed." [Numbers 32:13]
So here we are in the Church Age and a generation or so has again forgotten the Ten Commandments of our Lord. Let us learn from history!Remember, Jesus only promised to build one church, therefore, the rest of the churches that are here today were started by men, not by God.
The way we can be sure the church we are in is the church Jesus built is to look at the characteristics. We find the last-day characteristics of God's church listed in His word, the Holy Bible.
Look at these two important and foundational characteristics:Rev. 12:17: "And the dragon [the Devil] was wroth [angry] with the woman [church], 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. 19:10 "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit [gift] of prophecy."
Written by Eric W. King [Written on February 8th,2008] Some material from this article taken from and early article of Eric's
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Response to the "Ed White" group.
Here is yet another false Seventh Day Adventist "ministry". The website known as the "Ed White" website touts itself as an authentic SDA website with an "Historical Adventist" message. [He has no relationship to the Ellen White family, thus he is a deceiver not to mention this on his website] This guy has called true Seventh Day Adventists every name in the book, in my opinion. His messages are full of arrogance as if only his view of Adventism is correct.
He and his ministry are NOT true Christian Seventh Day Adventists! He denies many of the 28 fundamentals of the true church. He falls into the "cult" category in my book. He calls the General Conference and over all ministry of the true Seventh Day Adventist Church "liars" and "deceivers". So this makes him "God".
If you have had any contact with this arrogant ministry and have questions, send them to me. We can discuss his claims using God's word. Remember, as I have pointed out in my other articles of the SDA off-shoot cults, they have called the church of Jesus Christ "Babylon the Great". This makes them fake and false. The only thing that these type of ministries want is ego-centric glory.
Written by; Eric W. King [January 31,2008]
He and his ministry are NOT true Christian Seventh Day Adventists! He denies many of the 28 fundamentals of the true church. He falls into the "cult" category in my book. He calls the General Conference and over all ministry of the true Seventh Day Adventist Church "liars" and "deceivers". So this makes him "God".
If you have had any contact with this arrogant ministry and have questions, send them to me. We can discuss his claims using God's word. Remember, as I have pointed out in my other articles of the SDA off-shoot cults, they have called the church of Jesus Christ "Babylon the Great". This makes them fake and false. The only thing that these type of ministries want is ego-centric glory.
Written by; Eric W. King [January 31,2008]
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Church not built on Ellen G. White!
Once again, I find myself responding to false accusations against the Christian Seventh Day Adventist believers. I recently recieved a letter telling me: "Destroy Ellen White and you have no church." Wow! First off this person assumes that Seventh Day Adventist Christians are Biblically illiterate . All true Chirstians know that the Christian church is built on Jesus Christ.
If you are a Seventh Day Adventist and know of any publication by our church that asserts that we believe that the Christian Church was built on the person of Ellen White please show me that publication.
What Adventist Christians do believe is that God has given the "spirit of prophecy" or "gift of prophecy" to some of His children. New Testament prophets are not above Scripture! Again, if you can show me from any SDA publication that we believe Ellen White's writings to be above that of the 66 canonized books, then please show me the publication.
I want to look at these three attacks sent to me on the Christian Adventist Church by this person I wish not to name and then give a sound response:
Attack One: One of the commandments is "thou shall not steal" and "thou shall not lie". (bear false witness) It seems to me EGW was doing both with her writings. As well she made all kinds of prophetic statements that failed and yet claimed divine inspiration for them. Would that be called lying or fortune telling?
Response: First, you are assuming that Ellen White stole something. You are referring to the charges of plagiarism.
Second, you claim that she made false prophecies and then you show me none. Have you even read her in context?
So let's deal with your false charges of plagiarism.
Did you know that in the Bible itself we find different authors such as Isaiah and Micah saying word for word the same thing? God showed two different people the same vision and they wrote it down. The apostle John's book of "Revelation" has many visions comparable with both the pre and post exilic prophets of the Old Testament.
So can we "prove" that the prophet Micah plagiarized from the prophet Isaiah? I suppose we could make this claim if we wished to not believe in what they said.
Do you believe that a person can receive a vision or a prophecy from God in this time of the Church Age? The Bible speaks about "the gift of prophecy" for New Testament believers. As a Seventh Day Adventist Christian I believe in the "gift of prophecy" and that God can share thoughts and visions with one who has the gift.
Now in doing so God may share with others, who have not had the gift of prophecy, things that they may have been trying to understand. Say many Christian's were writing information out that had a lot of Truth but they were not all correct in some of their understandings due to carnal human nature and reasoning. Could God share the correct information that had been written with a Christian who has the "gift of prophecy" and alow that person to re-write the information in the right manner, without the misunderstandings and without ever showing the person the other writtings?
I believe God could do that and as a matter of fact I believe that God did do that through the person of Ellen G. White. Ellen G. White has been accused of plagiarsim because many of her writtings contain similar and even some word for word information that other Christians had written.
My question to other Christian's is; Why can't you believe in a modern miracle? Why is it so hard to believe that God can do great and wonderful things?All true Seventh Day Adventist Christians realize that she sometimes used other literary sources, as God directed her. She admitted she read and used the works of others. How is this a lie?
We also believe that Ellen White's use of literary sources and assistants finds parallels in some of the writings of the Bible.
Now, what about the Bible itself? Here is something to consider; Did you know that scholars are now trying to prove that the entire Bible itself is a work of plagiarsim?
There is a whole documentary online that "proves" it. The video states that much of Christianity, specifically Jesus, was copied directly from a Egyptian and Greek mythology, among others.It's from the documentary Zeitgeist. Interesting film. Here's a transcript (with sources) of the portion of the film :http://zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm The sources are there. So is it true? Read it and follow up. Is this simply another trick of Satan mixing Truth with error?
To dismiss it because it doesn't conform to your beliefs is just ignorance. The full documentary is longer than 28 minutes. The link to watch it can be found here: http://zeitgeistmovie.com/So have modern “scholars” “proven” that most all of the Christian Bible is a work of plagiarism? Take the flood story for instance.In Sumerian clay tablets dating from the third millennium BCE there is an account of a great flood whose hero is called Ziusudra. There is also a flood story in the second millennium BCE Babylonian legend of Gilgamish. In the Babylonian legend, preserved in much greater detail than that of Sumeria, the hero is named Utnapishtim.
All these pre-date the Mosaic texts that have been found.What about the fact that “word for word” passages are found in Isaiah and Micah? Who copied who? Did Isaiah copy Micah or visa versa?And what of “Mithraism”? There is much speculation that Christian beliefs were influenced by Mithraic belief.The worshippers of Mithras held strong beliefs in a celestial heaven and an infernal hell. They believed that the benevolent powers of the god would sympathize with their suffering and grant them the final justice of immortality and eternal salvation in the world to come. They looked forward to a final day of judgement in which the dead would resurrect, and to a final conflict that would destroy the existing order of all things to bring about the triumph of light overdarkness.
Modern scholars have found many of the Old Testament stories in religions that pre-date Jewish faith. Some found in ancient Egypt and Sumeria. When you say you can "prove" that people cannot be shown the same thing without plagiarism, guess what, you can't. What you are doing is questioning the authority and power of God. I can only assume you are doing this because you wish not to keep God's holy Sabbath day.
Attack Two: Even pictures in her books that she claimed were given to her in vision from God were direct copies from previously published books by other authors. This would be considered theft in any court of law.
Response: Wow! Did you know that some of the prophets of the Bible recieved the same visions? So what you are saying is that when God shows one person something He cannot share it through the power of the Holy Spirit with another person. Wow! So the "beasts" [the vision pictures that the prophet Daniel received] could not have been shown to John by the same Holy Spirit power in which they were shown the apostle John? Yikes! And I suppose if two people get the same idea in different parts of the world the one who got the idea first could claim that the other person is a liar and a thieve? Again...yikes!
Attack Three: As you know the SDA church rises and falls on the person of EGW. Remove her influence and there is no SDA church.
Response: No. I did not know that. And guess what, I am a Seventh Day Adventist. Again, what are you talking about? All Seventh Day Adventist Christians realize that the Church was built on the person of Jesus Christ. Are you saying that all those who came after Christ and spoke about Him or who received visions of Him, like the apostle Paul, after Christ came and left are fake? All Adventist Christians can hold to Biblical integrity without the writings of Ellen White. Her life and gift was a blessing to the Christian church.
As Seventh Day Adventist Christians we do not believe that the New Testament gift of prophecy add's anything to the teachings of the Scriptures and we believe that it cannot ever add anything to the completed 66 books of the Protestant Cannon.
Adventist author Ellen G. White states this very clearly in her own writings. Let's look at some of her statements;
"The word of God is sufficient to enlighten the most beclouded mind and may be understood by those who have any desire to understand it. . . . To leave men and women without excuse God gives plain and pointed testimonies, bringing them back to the word that they have neglected" (2T 454, 455).
"The written testimonies [Ellen's writings] are not to give new light, but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration already revealed" (ibid. 605).
Ellen White referred to her counsels as "a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light" (Review and Herald 80:15, Jan. 20, 1903)."The Spirit was not given--nor can it ever be bestowed--to supersede the Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state that the word of God is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested" (GC vii).
Her writings are a gift to the church to edify and uplift it. To encourage the body of Christ is why her gift of prophecy was given. Here we need to understand that no Seventh Day Adventist Christian need's the writings of Ellen G. White, John Calvin, Martin Luther, or any other reformer to teach what the Bible teaches.God has sent reformers and the NT gift of prophecy to help guide His church. The Holy Spirit alone is our ultimate teacher! And to this all true Seventh Day Adventist's hold!
So we see that you, like many Evangelical Christians have showed yourselves unlearned and un teachable. Perhaps you should listen more closely before you make your accusations. "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." [Proverbs 18:13]
And please, do not use such sorry excuses to ignore the Sabbath issue. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." [Proverbs 28:9]
Written by, Eric W. King [January 27,2008]
Continue a deeper look at the charges against E.G.White and plagiarism.
For more Truth please visit: "The Adventist Way of Life"
If you are a Seventh Day Adventist and know of any publication by our church that asserts that we believe that the Christian Church was built on the person of Ellen White please show me that publication.
What Adventist Christians do believe is that God has given the "spirit of prophecy" or "gift of prophecy" to some of His children. New Testament prophets are not above Scripture! Again, if you can show me from any SDA publication that we believe Ellen White's writings to be above that of the 66 canonized books, then please show me the publication.
I want to look at these three attacks sent to me on the Christian Adventist Church by this person I wish not to name and then give a sound response:
Attack One: One of the commandments is "thou shall not steal" and "thou shall not lie". (bear false witness) It seems to me EGW was doing both with her writings. As well she made all kinds of prophetic statements that failed and yet claimed divine inspiration for them. Would that be called lying or fortune telling?
Response: First, you are assuming that Ellen White stole something. You are referring to the charges of plagiarism.
Second, you claim that she made false prophecies and then you show me none. Have you even read her in context?
So let's deal with your false charges of plagiarism.
Did you know that in the Bible itself we find different authors such as Isaiah and Micah saying word for word the same thing? God showed two different people the same vision and they wrote it down. The apostle John's book of "Revelation" has many visions comparable with both the pre and post exilic prophets of the Old Testament.
So can we "prove" that the prophet Micah plagiarized from the prophet Isaiah? I suppose we could make this claim if we wished to not believe in what they said.
Do you believe that a person can receive a vision or a prophecy from God in this time of the Church Age? The Bible speaks about "the gift of prophecy" for New Testament believers. As a Seventh Day Adventist Christian I believe in the "gift of prophecy" and that God can share thoughts and visions with one who has the gift.
Now in doing so God may share with others, who have not had the gift of prophecy, things that they may have been trying to understand. Say many Christian's were writing information out that had a lot of Truth but they were not all correct in some of their understandings due to carnal human nature and reasoning. Could God share the correct information that had been written with a Christian who has the "gift of prophecy" and alow that person to re-write the information in the right manner, without the misunderstandings and without ever showing the person the other writtings?
I believe God could do that and as a matter of fact I believe that God did do that through the person of Ellen G. White. Ellen G. White has been accused of plagiarsim because many of her writtings contain similar and even some word for word information that other Christians had written.
My question to other Christian's is; Why can't you believe in a modern miracle? Why is it so hard to believe that God can do great and wonderful things?All true Seventh Day Adventist Christians realize that she sometimes used other literary sources, as God directed her. She admitted she read and used the works of others. How is this a lie?
We also believe that Ellen White's use of literary sources and assistants finds parallels in some of the writings of the Bible.
Now, what about the Bible itself? Here is something to consider; Did you know that scholars are now trying to prove that the entire Bible itself is a work of plagiarsim?
There is a whole documentary online that "proves" it. The video states that much of Christianity, specifically Jesus, was copied directly from a Egyptian and Greek mythology, among others.It's from the documentary Zeitgeist. Interesting film. Here's a transcript (with sources) of the portion of the film :http://zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm The sources are there. So is it true? Read it and follow up. Is this simply another trick of Satan mixing Truth with error?
To dismiss it because it doesn't conform to your beliefs is just ignorance. The full documentary is longer than 28 minutes. The link to watch it can be found here: http://zeitgeistmovie.com/So have modern “scholars” “proven” that most all of the Christian Bible is a work of plagiarism? Take the flood story for instance.In Sumerian clay tablets dating from the third millennium BCE there is an account of a great flood whose hero is called Ziusudra. There is also a flood story in the second millennium BCE Babylonian legend of Gilgamish. In the Babylonian legend, preserved in much greater detail than that of Sumeria, the hero is named Utnapishtim.
All these pre-date the Mosaic texts that have been found.What about the fact that “word for word” passages are found in Isaiah and Micah? Who copied who? Did Isaiah copy Micah or visa versa?And what of “Mithraism”? There is much speculation that Christian beliefs were influenced by Mithraic belief.The worshippers of Mithras held strong beliefs in a celestial heaven and an infernal hell. They believed that the benevolent powers of the god would sympathize with their suffering and grant them the final justice of immortality and eternal salvation in the world to come. They looked forward to a final day of judgement in which the dead would resurrect, and to a final conflict that would destroy the existing order of all things to bring about the triumph of light overdarkness.
Modern scholars have found many of the Old Testament stories in religions that pre-date Jewish faith. Some found in ancient Egypt and Sumeria. When you say you can "prove" that people cannot be shown the same thing without plagiarism, guess what, you can't. What you are doing is questioning the authority and power of God. I can only assume you are doing this because you wish not to keep God's holy Sabbath day.
Attack Two: Even pictures in her books that she claimed were given to her in vision from God were direct copies from previously published books by other authors. This would be considered theft in any court of law.
Response: Wow! Did you know that some of the prophets of the Bible recieved the same visions? So what you are saying is that when God shows one person something He cannot share it through the power of the Holy Spirit with another person. Wow! So the "beasts" [the vision pictures that the prophet Daniel received] could not have been shown to John by the same Holy Spirit power in which they were shown the apostle John? Yikes! And I suppose if two people get the same idea in different parts of the world the one who got the idea first could claim that the other person is a liar and a thieve? Again...yikes!
Attack Three: As you know the SDA church rises and falls on the person of EGW. Remove her influence and there is no SDA church.
Response: No. I did not know that. And guess what, I am a Seventh Day Adventist. Again, what are you talking about? All Seventh Day Adventist Christians realize that the Church was built on the person of Jesus Christ. Are you saying that all those who came after Christ and spoke about Him or who received visions of Him, like the apostle Paul, after Christ came and left are fake? All Adventist Christians can hold to Biblical integrity without the writings of Ellen White. Her life and gift was a blessing to the Christian church.
As Seventh Day Adventist Christians we do not believe that the New Testament gift of prophecy add's anything to the teachings of the Scriptures and we believe that it cannot ever add anything to the completed 66 books of the Protestant Cannon.
Adventist author Ellen G. White states this very clearly in her own writings. Let's look at some of her statements;
"The word of God is sufficient to enlighten the most beclouded mind and may be understood by those who have any desire to understand it. . . . To leave men and women without excuse God gives plain and pointed testimonies, bringing them back to the word that they have neglected" (2T 454, 455).
"The written testimonies [Ellen's writings] are not to give new light, but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration already revealed" (ibid. 605).
Ellen White referred to her counsels as "a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light" (Review and Herald 80:15, Jan. 20, 1903)."The Spirit was not given--nor can it ever be bestowed--to supersede the Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state that the word of God is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested" (GC vii).
Her writings are a gift to the church to edify and uplift it. To encourage the body of Christ is why her gift of prophecy was given. Here we need to understand that no Seventh Day Adventist Christian need's the writings of Ellen G. White, John Calvin, Martin Luther, or any other reformer to teach what the Bible teaches.God has sent reformers and the NT gift of prophecy to help guide His church. The Holy Spirit alone is our ultimate teacher! And to this all true Seventh Day Adventist's hold!
So we see that you, like many Evangelical Christians have showed yourselves unlearned and un teachable. Perhaps you should listen more closely before you make your accusations. "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." [Proverbs 18:13]
And please, do not use such sorry excuses to ignore the Sabbath issue. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." [Proverbs 28:9]
Written by, Eric W. King [January 27,2008]
Continue a deeper look at the charges against E.G.White and plagiarism.
For more Truth please visit: "The Adventist Way of Life"
Monday, January 21, 2008
Response to, "Presents of God Ministry" also known as, POGM
Note: Within the first five minutes that this article was posted "The Adventist Way of Life" received what can only be described, in my opinion, as "hate email" from the founder of POGM. I don't dare post the comments made by this person. I would ask that all "born again" believers in Jesus Christ pray for those stuck in cults. Thank you
_____________________________________
"The Adventist Way of Life", online Christian website ministry, fully supports the true Seventh Day Adventist Church and the General Conference. "The Adventist Way of Life" is in no way legitimately, legally, or officially connected with the Seventh Day Adventist Church nor is it officially endorsed by the SDA Church. This ministry also contains opinions that are not held by all Seventh Day Adventist Christians. That being said, please understand that I believe that the official SDA Church is the Church that Jesus Christ built and I currently worship at my local SDA Church.
Now, I start this article out with that statement to show that by this article I am not trying to say that "my way is the only right way". I simply believe that what I understand to be true is TRUE! So many ex-adventist Christians try and start a "new movement". They try and find something exciting and different to cause a chaotic controversy within the true SDA Church.
This is how the Davidian's got their start. This is how the CSDA group got it's start. And this is even how some "evangelicals" got their start, such as the "elite" ex-adventist evangelical movement. I have responded to some of these groups without response. The CSDA group did respond and I talked to some of the "ex-adventists" on the phone. We certainly did not change each others view points.
In this article I am yet responding to another off-shoot ministry of the true Seventh Day Adventist Church. This ministry in question is called, "Presents of God Ministry". It's founder was once Catholic. As a Catholic he taught in the Catholic church. He once held to the fallen churches beliefs. But one day he was introduced to the Truth as it is in Jesus.
He found that the SDA Church was correct in identifying the anti-christ power. He even saw much more than the standard Adventist Christian sees because of his background in error all those years. He became a Seventh Day Adventist. Along the way he recognized "Romanism" happening within the SDA Church. This troubled him and he began to speak out. So far no true Adventist Christian would see a problem with this man's concern.
But......but then he began to call the true Seventh Day Adventist Church "Babylon the Great". This basically amounts to calling God's church the "Church of Satan". This is the unfortunate mistake that many misinformed Adventists fall into. This is the same mistake that the CSDA group made and got them into the mess their in today.
This is the same mistake that starts almost all the Adventist Cults. Ellen G. White saw a tendency of fanatacism and false excitement demonstrated shortly after the "Great Disappointment" of 1844. This lead her to write out against this fanatacism and the movements it generated.
She also warned in her writings that some people would set out to look for "something strange" and or "exciting" in some new found doctrine. With this information she warned that they will cause a division in the church, or at least try to. Ellen White clearly stated that the true Seventh Day Adventist Church can never be called "Babylon" [a phrase of the false church]. She did say that the Church leadership of a certain time was in danger of being called a "sister" [not daughter] of fallen apostate Babylon.
So if she said that the SDA Church could never be called Babylon but that some of it's leadership could, would, and did fall into apostasy we are talking about apostasy and not Babylon. Wow! Seems simple. Any apostate can be likened to "babylonian". This is why Sister White pointed out the danger of becoming like a "sister" to but not a "daughter" of spiritual Babylon. In other words, some SDA local churches and their leadership would completely "fall asleep", become the Laodiceans in practice and worship. Jesus said that the wheat and the tares would grow together, in the Church He said He built and that would never fall. Never did Jesus call His own Church "Babylon the Great" and neither did Ellen White!
She agrees with the Bible and further states that the entire world and Satan will have his final conflict with "Seventh Day Adventists", not "creation" or "davidian" Seventh Day Adventist Christians. [see TM, p.37] And not with "Presents of God" people.
Though local churches have their problems because of "Babylonian" influences this does not make Christ's church "babylon". All local Christian churches have their problems...but they are not the "harlot" church. They could only become a Babylonian church in the "sister" sense, but never collectively a "daughter of the harlot".
As I said before, I will state again, God's church will have true believers and false believers in it up until the Second Coming of Christ. [Laodicean church: Rev. 3:14-22] But no Christian has the authority or the right or the power to judge in the sense of separating the "wheat" from the "tares". This is the work of Jesus Christ and His angels! [Matthew 24:31] These false movements claim to be full of wheat only, if not they claim that there is a "remnant" within the Remnant. Are we confused yet?
Jesus informs us that when the "purification" of the Church of God begins, He will send His angels to separate the "wheat" from the "chaff". He will not send "independent ministries" to do the separating. So those who start "new movements", and claim that there is a "remnant" within the Remnant are liars! Plain and simple!The true Seventh Day Adventist Church has missionaries all over the world and hospitals healing the sick and hurting. None of these "off-shoot" groups have any Biblical authority or "good fruit doctrine" for their claims or existance. We pray for them.
Ellen White stated that the church may appear to be falling through all this confusion but that it will not fall! No doubt that their are spiritual "babylonians" or "tares" within the true church. But the true SDA Church is still the true church. One problem with these Adventist off-shoot groups is that they take Ellen White's statements out of context. In 1911 she emphasized that "regarding the testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered."
As Herbert E. Douglass points out:
-"...in 1875 Ellen White wrote concerning the General Conference in session: "When the judgment of the General Conference, which is the highest authority that God has upon the earth, is exercised, private independence and private judgment must not be maintained, but be surrendered."
Why the difference in her position? During the late 1880s and 1890s, as the record shows in her letters and sermons, some of the policies of the General Conference officers were not ones that Ellen White could endorse. On April 1, 1901, the day before the General Conference session opened, she spoke these words: "It is working upon wrong principles that has brought the cause of God into its present embarrassment. The people have lost confidence in those who have the management of the work. Yet we hear that the voice of the conference is the voice of God. Every time I have heard this, I have thought that it was almost blasphemy. The voice of the conference ought to be the voice of God, but it is not." Obviously, times had changed and her observations changed accordingly.
But that 1901 General Conference session made significant changes in policies and personnel. Ellen White was pleased. Only two months after the changes, she became aware that her son Edson was quoting some of her pre-1901-session statements and applying them in the new, post-1901-session period. Times had changed--the statements of the 1890s no longer applied. She wrote to Edson: "Your course would have been the course to be pursued, if no changes had been made in the General Conference [1901]. But a change has been made, and many more changes will be made [in 1903, many more were made] and great developments will [yet] be seen. No issues are to be forced. . . . It hurts me to think that you are using words which I wrote prior to the Conference." -
So you see, it is true that "context controls meaning". How many more off-shoot, ex-adventist movements will arise before the Second Coming? Probably lots. This is unfortunate but it is the Signs of the Times. If you are currently attending a true Seventh Day Adventist Church stay with the "bride of Christ". Pray for the leadership. Pray for those who may be off in some wrong area of doctrine within the church. Show mercy for the bride that Christ is coming back for. She makes mistakes but God hates divorce! So stay faithful till the end.
God bless!
Written by, Eric W. King [January 21,2008]
_____________________________________
"The Adventist Way of Life", online Christian website ministry, fully supports the true Seventh Day Adventist Church and the General Conference. "The Adventist Way of Life" is in no way legitimately, legally, or officially connected with the Seventh Day Adventist Church nor is it officially endorsed by the SDA Church. This ministry also contains opinions that are not held by all Seventh Day Adventist Christians. That being said, please understand that I believe that the official SDA Church is the Church that Jesus Christ built and I currently worship at my local SDA Church.
Now, I start this article out with that statement to show that by this article I am not trying to say that "my way is the only right way". I simply believe that what I understand to be true is TRUE! So many ex-adventist Christians try and start a "new movement". They try and find something exciting and different to cause a chaotic controversy within the true SDA Church.
This is how the Davidian's got their start. This is how the CSDA group got it's start. And this is even how some "evangelicals" got their start, such as the "elite" ex-adventist evangelical movement. I have responded to some of these groups without response. The CSDA group did respond and I talked to some of the "ex-adventists" on the phone. We certainly did not change each others view points.
In this article I am yet responding to another off-shoot ministry of the true Seventh Day Adventist Church. This ministry in question is called, "Presents of God Ministry". It's founder was once Catholic. As a Catholic he taught in the Catholic church. He once held to the fallen churches beliefs. But one day he was introduced to the Truth as it is in Jesus.
He found that the SDA Church was correct in identifying the anti-christ power. He even saw much more than the standard Adventist Christian sees because of his background in error all those years. He became a Seventh Day Adventist. Along the way he recognized "Romanism" happening within the SDA Church. This troubled him and he began to speak out. So far no true Adventist Christian would see a problem with this man's concern.
But......but then he began to call the true Seventh Day Adventist Church "Babylon the Great". This basically amounts to calling God's church the "Church of Satan". This is the unfortunate mistake that many misinformed Adventists fall into. This is the same mistake that the CSDA group made and got them into the mess their in today.
This is the same mistake that starts almost all the Adventist Cults. Ellen G. White saw a tendency of fanatacism and false excitement demonstrated shortly after the "Great Disappointment" of 1844. This lead her to write out against this fanatacism and the movements it generated.
She also warned in her writings that some people would set out to look for "something strange" and or "exciting" in some new found doctrine. With this information she warned that they will cause a division in the church, or at least try to. Ellen White clearly stated that the true Seventh Day Adventist Church can never be called "Babylon" [a phrase of the false church]. She did say that the Church leadership of a certain time was in danger of being called a "sister" [not daughter] of fallen apostate Babylon.
So if she said that the SDA Church could never be called Babylon but that some of it's leadership could, would, and did fall into apostasy we are talking about apostasy and not Babylon. Wow! Seems simple. Any apostate can be likened to "babylonian". This is why Sister White pointed out the danger of becoming like a "sister" to but not a "daughter" of spiritual Babylon. In other words, some SDA local churches and their leadership would completely "fall asleep", become the Laodiceans in practice and worship. Jesus said that the wheat and the tares would grow together, in the Church He said He built and that would never fall. Never did Jesus call His own Church "Babylon the Great" and neither did Ellen White!
She agrees with the Bible and further states that the entire world and Satan will have his final conflict with "Seventh Day Adventists", not "creation" or "davidian" Seventh Day Adventist Christians. [see TM, p.37] And not with "Presents of God" people.
Though local churches have their problems because of "Babylonian" influences this does not make Christ's church "babylon". All local Christian churches have their problems...but they are not the "harlot" church. They could only become a Babylonian church in the "sister" sense, but never collectively a "daughter of the harlot".
As I said before, I will state again, God's church will have true believers and false believers in it up until the Second Coming of Christ. [Laodicean church: Rev. 3:14-22] But no Christian has the authority or the right or the power to judge in the sense of separating the "wheat" from the "tares". This is the work of Jesus Christ and His angels! [Matthew 24:31] These false movements claim to be full of wheat only, if not they claim that there is a "remnant" within the Remnant. Are we confused yet?
Jesus informs us that when the "purification" of the Church of God begins, He will send His angels to separate the "wheat" from the "chaff". He will not send "independent ministries" to do the separating. So those who start "new movements", and claim that there is a "remnant" within the Remnant are liars! Plain and simple!The true Seventh Day Adventist Church has missionaries all over the world and hospitals healing the sick and hurting. None of these "off-shoot" groups have any Biblical authority or "good fruit doctrine" for their claims or existance. We pray for them.
Ellen White stated that the church may appear to be falling through all this confusion but that it will not fall! No doubt that their are spiritual "babylonians" or "tares" within the true church. But the true SDA Church is still the true church. One problem with these Adventist off-shoot groups is that they take Ellen White's statements out of context. In 1911 she emphasized that "regarding the testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered."
As Herbert E. Douglass points out:
-"...in 1875 Ellen White wrote concerning the General Conference in session: "When the judgment of the General Conference, which is the highest authority that God has upon the earth, is exercised, private independence and private judgment must not be maintained, but be surrendered."
Why the difference in her position? During the late 1880s and 1890s, as the record shows in her letters and sermons, some of the policies of the General Conference officers were not ones that Ellen White could endorse. On April 1, 1901, the day before the General Conference session opened, she spoke these words: "It is working upon wrong principles that has brought the cause of God into its present embarrassment. The people have lost confidence in those who have the management of the work. Yet we hear that the voice of the conference is the voice of God. Every time I have heard this, I have thought that it was almost blasphemy. The voice of the conference ought to be the voice of God, but it is not." Obviously, times had changed and her observations changed accordingly.
But that 1901 General Conference session made significant changes in policies and personnel. Ellen White was pleased. Only two months after the changes, she became aware that her son Edson was quoting some of her pre-1901-session statements and applying them in the new, post-1901-session period. Times had changed--the statements of the 1890s no longer applied. She wrote to Edson: "Your course would have been the course to be pursued, if no changes had been made in the General Conference [1901]. But a change has been made, and many more changes will be made [in 1903, many more were made] and great developments will [yet] be seen. No issues are to be forced. . . . It hurts me to think that you are using words which I wrote prior to the Conference." -
So you see, it is true that "context controls meaning". How many more off-shoot, ex-adventist movements will arise before the Second Coming? Probably lots. This is unfortunate but it is the Signs of the Times. If you are currently attending a true Seventh Day Adventist Church stay with the "bride of Christ". Pray for the leadership. Pray for those who may be off in some wrong area of doctrine within the church. Show mercy for the bride that Christ is coming back for. She makes mistakes but God hates divorce! So stay faithful till the end.
God bless!
Written by, Eric W. King [January 21,2008]
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Traces of God's morality from Genesis to Revelation
Today most people have developed their own standard of "right" and "wrong". This makes them feel justified when things happen. They call this "Christian freedom". Wow! Christianity with no incentive to be challenged or grow!
When we look at God's immutible standards, the Ten Commandments, they draw us to our need for a saviour. Without the Law pointing to our imperfections we receive a false sense of "freedom". We must remember that true freedom is found in Christ Jesus. Freedom from what? From guilt!
Nobody want's to live in constant guilt. This is the sad condition of most Christians who do not fully understand or appreciate what Jesus has truly done for us. God's Moral Law could never be changed. Thus, Jesus came to our rescue. We now can keep the Ten Commandments because of His perfection and His forgiveness. This is what delivers us from the guilt of sin and truly sets us free!
In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve laws to live by. He loved them and cared for their moral development. We see that after they took the fruit they were told not to and lied to God they became sinners. They knew God's commandments. We see that God's fourth commandment, the Holy Sabbath, was given in Genesis chapter two.
We see Cain and Abel practicing sacrificial laws in Genesis but the sacrificial laws were not yet written out. Why was there already the shedding of blood in Genesis? Because the Moral Law had been broken. Sin is the transgression of the Ten Commandments and without the shedding of blood [sacrificial law] there is no atonement.
We see that even before all the commandments were written on stone after the Egyptian exile that God chose Abraham “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, [God said] and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” [Genesis 26:5]
We see that even before the Ten Commandments were written out on stone God was reminding Israel after pulling them out of bondage of the Sacred Law. God said to them before they reached mount Sinai; "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" [Exodus 16:28] How could God charge them thus had they not known beforehand? "And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seeth that ye will seeth; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until morning." [Exodus 16:23]
Here we notice God telling them, or reminding them, of His Holy Sabbath before mount Sinai. Why did God ultimately have to remind them and re-write the commandments out for them on stone? Because during their bondage and 40 year wandering in the wilderness a generation had been lost.
"And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed." [Numbers 32:13]
So here we are in the Church Age and a generation or so has again forgotten the Ten Commandments of our Lord. Let us learn from history!
Remember, Jesus only promised to build one church, therefore, the rest of the churches that are here today were started by men, not by God. The way we can be sure the church we are in is the church Jesus built is to look at the characteristics. We find the last-day characteristics of God's church listed in His word, the Holy Bible. Look at these two important and foundational characteristics:
Rev. 12:17: "And the dragon [the Devil] was wroth [angry] with the woman [church], 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. 19:10 "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit [gift] of prophecy."
Written by, Eric W. King [January 17,2008]
The most comprehensive Christian Seventh Day Adventist website online:
http://www.adventist.7p.com
When we look at God's immutible standards, the Ten Commandments, they draw us to our need for a saviour. Without the Law pointing to our imperfections we receive a false sense of "freedom". We must remember that true freedom is found in Christ Jesus. Freedom from what? From guilt!
Nobody want's to live in constant guilt. This is the sad condition of most Christians who do not fully understand or appreciate what Jesus has truly done for us. God's Moral Law could never be changed. Thus, Jesus came to our rescue. We now can keep the Ten Commandments because of His perfection and His forgiveness. This is what delivers us from the guilt of sin and truly sets us free!
In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve laws to live by. He loved them and cared for their moral development. We see that after they took the fruit they were told not to and lied to God they became sinners. They knew God's commandments. We see that God's fourth commandment, the Holy Sabbath, was given in Genesis chapter two.
We see Cain and Abel practicing sacrificial laws in Genesis but the sacrificial laws were not yet written out. Why was there already the shedding of blood in Genesis? Because the Moral Law had been broken. Sin is the transgression of the Ten Commandments and without the shedding of blood [sacrificial law] there is no atonement.
We see that even before all the commandments were written on stone after the Egyptian exile that God chose Abraham “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, [God said] and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” [Genesis 26:5]
We see that even before the Ten Commandments were written out on stone God was reminding Israel after pulling them out of bondage of the Sacred Law. God said to them before they reached mount Sinai; "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" [Exodus 16:28] How could God charge them thus had they not known beforehand? "And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seeth that ye will seeth; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until morning." [Exodus 16:23]
Here we notice God telling them, or reminding them, of His Holy Sabbath before mount Sinai. Why did God ultimately have to remind them and re-write the commandments out for them on stone? Because during their bondage and 40 year wandering in the wilderness a generation had been lost.
"And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed." [Numbers 32:13]
So here we are in the Church Age and a generation or so has again forgotten the Ten Commandments of our Lord. Let us learn from history!
Remember, Jesus only promised to build one church, therefore, the rest of the churches that are here today were started by men, not by God. The way we can be sure the church we are in is the church Jesus built is to look at the characteristics. We find the last-day characteristics of God's church listed in His word, the Holy Bible. Look at these two important and foundational characteristics:
Rev. 12:17: "And the dragon [the Devil] was wroth [angry] with the woman [church], 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. 19:10 "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit [gift] of prophecy."
Written by, Eric W. King [January 17,2008]
The most comprehensive Christian Seventh Day Adventist website online:
http://www.adventist.7p.com
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