The prophetic experience

I am under conviction that the best combination of messages for meetings is the prophetic warning of the nearness of Christ’s return accompanied by the message on correct Christian experience in all its facets and the health message. When you have those in harmony with one another at one meeting place – you see some powerful results. The application of Christian experience, in relation to the prophecy, is where the power really lies.

I remember in Dominican Republic, we were going through the prophecies in a very systematic way. It was a school that went on for five entire days so we were covering a lot of material. We spent four or five hours on discussing the daily as paganism. When you take Paganism, as symbolized by the ‘Daily’ in the book of Daniel, down to its essence, it is the self-exaltation of mankind.

In Daniel 8, these different powers are described prophetically; the Medes and the Persians, the Greeks, the Pagan Romans and the Papal Romans. Each time it describes a new power on the scene, it uses the word ‘Gadal’, which means ‘self-exaltation’. The Medes and Persians ‘Gadaled’ themselves—they exalted themselves. But when the Greeks came, they ‘Gadaled’ themselves more; they were more exalted. Then when Pagan Rome came, they were even more exalted, and then Papal Rome was the most exalted power of all.

You can therefore, apply these prophetic symbols to Christian experience. In the Dominican Republic meetings, we went through the ‘Daily’ and my friend was translating. I didn’t speak one evening. He spoke and presented the ‘Daily’ as self exaltation. He applied it to all of us—that’s the struggle we have—the desire to exalt ourselves. He took it right out of the ‘Daily’ of Daniel. I was in my room and I was the only one in the house that only spoke English. I could hear him speaking on self-exaltation in relation to the prophecies. Before long I heard one or two brothers standing up and hitting their fists down—they were upset and instead of a one hour presentation, for three hours there’s a miniature riot going on.

I didn’t know what was going on because it was all in Spanish. He came in later to go to bed and I asked him what was going on out there? He said, "I started talking about ‘Gadal’, the ‘Daily’ and self exaltation and people started rising up against that message." They didn’t mind hearing the prophecies and what’s going to happen at the end of the world, but they didn’t want to hear about how you have to crucify self. As soon as that started being presented, there was a resistance and it really got out of hand for a while.

Prophecy is more powerful when you take some of the themes and bring them down into your own experience. We will look at some of those themes today in a general way. In Revelation 16 we see three powers that are going to lead the world to Armageddon—the Beast, the Dragon and the False Prophet. The Dragon power is symbolized in Revelation 17 as ten kings that form a confederacy at the end of the world. The Beast power of Catholicism is going to come into an alliance with these ten kings at the end of the world, according to Revelation 17.

The Third power that’s going to allow this alliance to take place and empower it, is described in Revelation 13 as the ‘Lamb-like Beast’—the United States—the False Prophet. These three powers, the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet all have a role to play at the end of the world.

Speaking of the ten kings or the Dragon power in Selected Messages 3,pg. 392, Sister White quotes right out of Revelation 17, "These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast. These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for He is Lord of lords and King of kings and they that are with Him are called and chosen and faithful." These have one mind, there will be a universal bond of union, one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan’s forces and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast. Thus is manifested the same arbitrary, oppressive power against religious liberty, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience as was manifested by the Papacy when in the past she persecuted those who dared to refuse to conform with the religious rites and ceremonies of Romanists."

These ten kings of Revelation 17 represent a confederacy that’s going to come into agreement with the Papacy at the end of the world to attack religious liberty. That characteristic of this confederacy is describing the Dragon power. The Papacy, if we want to select one of many characteristics, is Kingly Power. At the end of the world, the Papacy is going to come into total control of the world, and exercise itself as a king. The power that’s going to allow that to happen is the United States.

The characteristic associated with the United States is the ‘Image of the Beast’. In Great Controversy pg. 444 it says, "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, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result."

The United States is the most prominent power in Bible prophecy with the setting up of the image of the beast.

Not only is there an image of the beast going to be set up in the United States, the United States is going to force the whole world to set up an image of the beast. The only definition for the image of the beast in the Spirit of Prophecy is when civil power is used to sustain religious dogma. Civil power is ‘secular power’. And if you look up the word ‘secular’ in your dictionary, it means worldly. When worldly power, is used to enforce religious dogma, that’s the image of the beast.

At the end of the world, the dragon power is going to be noted for its confederation, consolidation—men coming together in agreement to exercise their will. The Papacy is going to be predominantly the symbol of kingly power; the type of kingly power that says, "This one dies and this one lives." The United States is going to be the power that is using secular, human power to enforce these religious dictates.

Another end-time characteristic that ties these three together is also addressed in GC 444, "The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been for years, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine."

Now follow this, a union based upon common points of doctrine, but that’s not all;

"To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed—however important they might be from a Bible standpoint—must necessarily be waived."

So we’ve touched on three prophetic characteristics of the dragon, the beast and false prophet; a confederacy, kingly power, the image of the beast, using secular power to enforce religious doctrine and the thing that ties them together is Ecumenism! Ecumenism, defined as a willingness to come together on common points of doctrine while laying aside other important Bible truths. Those are the four characteristics I’d like to discuss today.

I suggest that we’re at the end of the world and Christ says that the ‘Harvest’ is at the end of the world.

C.G. 162, "The harvest of life is"—Now if we’re going to talk about what the harvest at the end of the world is—please catch what Sister White says the ‘harvest of life ‘is: "The harvest of life is character, and it is this that determines destiny, both for this life and for the life to come. The harvest is a reproduction of the seed sown. Every seed yields fruit after its kind. So it is with the traits of character we cherish. Selfishness, self-love, self-esteem, self-indulgence, reproduce themselves; and the end is wretchedness and ruin. "He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:8. Love, sympathy, and kindness yield fruitage of blessing, a harvest that is imperishable."

We’re rapidly approaching the end of the world, the ‘Harvest’ of the world, and the issue is character. Sister White says when we do correctly understand prophecy, there will be seen among us a great revival. Also, when we correctly understand the books of Daniel and Revelation we will see that the relation between Christ and our self is very close and decided. All this has to do with Character at the end of the world. Correctly understood prophecy is going to bring about a response intellectually and spiritually that impacts your character development—either for or against the truth. There are many passages in the Word of God that describe what takes place among mankind at the end of the world.

There are passages that tell us that homosexuality is going to be one of the rising issues at the end of the world—that’s a sign of the end. Passages tell that children will be disobedient; there will be truce-breakers and so on. These issues taking place in mankind are identifying the end of the world. There’ll be scoffers in the last days.

The characteristics illustrated in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation in the powers that are going to oppose God, are a desire to exercise kingly power. It’s Kingly Power that uses the Force that we know as the ‘Image of the Beast’. This Kingly Power uses secular strength to enforce religious dogma. This evil power will also form confederacies to accomplish its goals. In order to make those confederacies stick together they will unite on common points of belief while discarding other Bible truths.

In the prophecies identifying what’s taking place at the end of the world, certain the characteristics are shown for our understanding. There will be people becoming homosexuals, there will be rebellious children that will ultimately be lost because of that rebellion, and there will be scoffers. But the characteristic most clearly portrayed for our warning at the end of the world will be willingness to enter into kingly power, into a confederacy that denies the Word of God, and uses secular power to get its way.

God relates to mankind at different levels. He relates to us all the same; He treats us the same; but He also treats us differently. He looks at us in one sense as ‘Mankind’, the one point of His creation that’s lost. But He also deals with the nations, a division of mankind. Faith I Live by, pg 338, "With unerring accuracy the Infinite One still keeps an account with all nations. While His mercy is tendered, with calls to repentance, this account will remain open; but when the figures reach a certain amount which God has fixed, the ministry of His wrath commences. The account is closed. Divine patience ceases. There is no more pleading of mercy in their behalf."

So the Lord relates to nations as well as to individuals and mankind over all. I would suggest that the Lord recognizes the Protestant Christian Church as a body, the group of people on planet earth that profess Christianity. He relates to them in a special way that’s different from mankind in general and different than nationality. I would suggest He also relates to the Seventh-day Adventist church in a different way than simply a Christian Church or simply mankind.

He also relates to us in our family, to what’s going on in our family. Doesn’t matter what’s going on in the church, or the nation, or the world. What’s going on in the home where you live? He relates to us there as well in a different way than He relates to mankind. He also relates to us individually. I’d like to look at some of these different ways He relates to us in relation to what character is being developed at the end of the world.

We see the beast, the false prophet, the dragon and ecumenism but the predominant issue in prophecy at the end of the world is The Sunday law. The Sunday-Sabbath issue is a theme that you can find in so many different areas in the Bible that it is amazing. It boils down to a willingness to take Christ at His word or a determination to do it your own way.

It began right there with Eve; "Don’t eat of that tree"! "Well, I’ll rationalize that command away." That test at the tree is nothing more than the Sabbath-Sunday test at the end of the world. About whether we’re going to take God at His word or we’re going to presumptuously follow a false religious view or allow ourselves to be forced to do so. There are two ways you can accept that Sunday mark. Our experience at the end of the world, no matter where we are in humanity, will boil down to one side or the other of that issue—Faith or presumption; Obedience or disobedience.

Sometimes we do not take these things so seriously or put them in proper perspective is because we forget that we are at the Harvest! We are at the harvest! There are certain things that the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy teach about the Harvest. The harvest is when the crop comes to maturity—the harvest is coming to maturity right now. You can look around in the world, in the nations, in the church at large, in the Adventist church, in homes or maybe in your individual experience, and you can see people rapidly growing up into Christ, or you can find people that are rapidly going away from Christ. That’s because we’re at the end of the world.

At the end of the world it will not be a mixture of people at different points in the growth structure—we’re all going to come to maturity. There will be a group of believers that will serve God no matter where He goes. There will also be a group of non-believers that will oppose God and His people to the very end.

The primary characteristic about that group that will oppose God and His people to the very end is that they will manage their affairs from kingly power! They’ll get their way by forming confederacies and laying aside certain points of belief in order to make that happen. They’ll use secular, worldly, human power to enforce their religious decrees.

If prophecy is speaking to us to bring about a revival at the end of the world, it has for us a message that confronts the real issues in our everyday life. We have to take this prophetic information, recognize what it means, and apply it to ourselves.

If I’m forcing my wife to observe Sabbath as I think it should be observed, even if that way is absolutely the letter of the law, out of the Spirit of Prophecy, but she doesn’t see it, or she’s just flat rebellious, but I’m getting her to do what I want—the food prepared this way before the Sabbath hours—the home in this way—have worship in this way—and it’s through my human strength I’m forcing her to do that, that’s just as much the image of the beast as anything the United States is destined to do.

That is the characteristic that Rome uses—secular power to enforce religious dogma. Therefore, if I see that principle coming into my life and developing in my life, it can be a warning to me that the wrong character is being developed. Likewise, if I see that character being developed in my wife, it’s a warning to me that I need to share with her the direction she’s going. At the end of the world, we’re going to be seeing these things happening if we’re looking. They will be going on all around us.

I believe that part of the deception for Seventh-day Adventists is they will see it out in the world, and they will see it going on in the United States and the United Nations, but because they have all the information and the light, they’re not going to want to see it in the church, or in their family. They will see enough of the picture to allow them to not really bring it home into their own experience. That test will be where many, I believe will be lost. I believe that because these very principles, the kingly power, the force, are principles Sister White speaks about, but she doesn’t have so much burden to rebuke the world over those principles. The rebuke she has in connection with those principles are when they are used in the church.

She’s clear that our message to straighten out those erroneous ways of accomplishing things is not for the world. We don’t have a message of rebuke for the world on how they form confederacies, or how they accomplish their legislation or their laws. We have a warning message for them concerning Sabbath and Sunday, but not on how they structure their government.

Not so with the church. MR vol. 13, pg 72- "The law of God cannot be made void by the law of a nation. When the law is trampled in the dust, the sacredness of the commandments of God will be vindicated by those who are loyal to Him. We are to make no railing accusation against the nations, for this would close our way so that we could not set the light before the people."

Our message is not politics, our message is not ‘saving the whales’ or ‘women’s rights’ or ‘gay rights movement’—It’s not a political issue, whether they’re doing things right or wrong. Our warning message is to come to Christ before probation closes. The principles that the nations use to operate is their headache, but Sister White does talk about those principles and she talks about them where they do have to be recognized and addressed. For example, this is from Spalding and Magan pg 163, concerning kingly power, the beast power, Catholicism at the end of the world, the power that is going to control the world totally.

"Now from the light that I have, as it was presented to me in figures: There was a narrow compass here; there within that narrow is a king-like, kingly ruling power. Here the outlets are blocked. And the work all over our field demands an entirely different course of action than we have had. We have heard enough, abundance, about that "everything must go around in the regular way." When we see the regular lines are altered and purified and refined, and the God of the heavens mold is upon the regular lines, then it is our business to establish the regular lines."

What Sister White is talking about here is how the church was running its business and it had a problem. It was exercising kingly power. It was running the church with the same principle characteristic of the papacy. One man decides. Kingly power! And she was saying there had to be a change in that. I know there are some in Adventism that make a great deal about the 1901 and the 1903 General Conference that we changed the structure of the church and some people even say that’s when we became such a complete hierarchy that we became Babylon.

From my understanding of hierarchy, perhaps the clearest hierarchy in the Bible was Moses. They divided up the whole camp into one level then another level with men controlling the different levels below them. The problem isn’t the structure. The problem is the men connected with the structure. You can build a system to run a church and if everyone that’s involved with the position of authority in that system has the character of Christ—doesn’t matter what the system is like—it’s going to work fine.

Now I’m not saying that we should imitate Rome’s system of church—I’m saying the fundamental principle that was a problem and Sister White was addressing was the fact that some men were exercising kingly power and it was stopping the work from going forward. Because if the man who had the position didn’t like an idea, he stopped it there. It may not be something that he had any understanding about whatsoever or any talent connected to it—he didn’t have any interest in it, so it stopped. Kingly Power is one of the primary characteristics of the end of the world. That’s what the Papacy is illustrating.

If you just want to see prophecy in end time events and how it’s all going to wrap up, fine! But if you’re going to see prophecy in the experience of the Adventist church then you need to recognize that kingly power is the power of the Papacy. It’s the fruit of Babylon, or any way you want to define it. And if we or anyone around us is demonstrating those characteristics, that person is developing a character so when the final test comes for that person, whether at death or at The Sunday Law, that character will be stamped upon him or her forever.

Kingly power in any of us is a warning that we’re developing the character of the Beast! It is illustrated prophetically by the Mark of the Beast, because when you come to The Sunday Law you will not have the spiritual power to resist that test if you have been developing Kingly Power as part of your character.

Prophecy tells us that God’s church is going to be in the position of Laodecia at the end of the world. Sister White has many definitions of Laodecia. I’ll read one here:

T.3 pg. 252, "What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct."

Some people think that the Laodecian message is just for the Adventist church. Not so. Sister White is clear that the Laodecian message is for the world too, this message applies at these different levels. There’s a Laodecian message for the world, for the nations, for the church, and at every step that you go through this panorama of levels that God deals with us. Whether it’s the family or individual the Laodecian message applies. What is that Laodecian message? Among other things what makes it dangerous to be in this state is that Laodecians flatter themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition.

Many of us either have been or are, in independent ministry work in the Seventh-day Adventist church. There are different independent ministries, some that even the church would say, work right with the church, in agreement. They’re doing medical work or missionary work or getting clothes out, or food out, and there’s that type of self supporting work. But most of us in this room have been in a branch of independent ministry that is a little bit more sensitive self supporting work. It’s a ministry that at least part of its focus is on recognizing and responding to, the condition of God’s church at the end of the world—clearly identified in prophecy as abominable.

Sister White is clear in T.5 that in Ezekiel 8 & 9 Jerusalem is God’s church and there are abominations going on in there. So there are some people that under the conviction of the Lord have entered in to a ministry that’s kind of a sub-branch of the church at large and they are working to resolve these problems within the church and there’s a Laodecian deception for them. Part of it is, when you do that, when you acknowledge the condition of God’s church as in need of repair, you are putting yourself in the position where it is very easy to fall into the trap where you flatter yourselves that you are in an exalted spiritual condition.

The Laodecian message is for every level of humanity right down to the individual. This is definitely a warning for self supporting work as well. Now deceptions are very scary when you look at them in the Spirit of Prophecy because the deception that we’re going to be confronted with corresponds to the amount of light that we have. Adventism correctly teaches that the Seventh-day Adventist churches have the greatest light of any people of all time. Sister White is clear on that; she talks about the sin of the Jews rejecting Christ. She says we’ve done worse! Because we’ve had greater light than the Jews. T.1 pg 232, "I saw that the greater the light which the people reject, the greater will be the power of deception and darkness which will come upon them."

The light rejected relates to the deception that comes. Now what I’m saying is this; self supporting work—the branch of self supporting work that acknowledges the horrible condition of God’s church at the end of the world and seeks to have a positive impact on that situation—by their own profession has more light. They have acknowledged what the rest of the church refuses to acknowledge—the condition of the church. They have more light and they’re in danger of their own peculiar type of deception. I would suggest to you that it is still this belief that they are in an exalted spiritual condition.

How does this relate to these end time issues that the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet symbolize in Bible prophecy? Here is an important quote to try to pull a little bit of what we’re saying together. T2 552, 553, "God's ministers must have the truth in their hearts in order to successfully present it to others. They must be sanctified by the truths they preach or they will be only stumbling blocks to sinners. Those who are called of God to minister in holy things are called to be pure in heart and holy in life. "Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord."

Now she’s going to talk about woes and this is what I want to look at:

Who’s that? Who’s called to preach the truth and refuse to obey in the terms of self-supporting work in the Adventist church? Who’s called to preach the truth and refuses to obey? Well it’s those ‘New Theology’ preachers. They were called upon as ministers to preach the truth but they don’t, also any other preacher in Adventism outside of New Theology that we know is preaching error. There’s a woe upon those preachers. Those of us, who have been in self supporting work with this slant to it, are familiar with that truth. WE can explain why those preachers have a woe upon them for not preaching the truth—but let’s go back and read it again.

Another class is here, a group that will preach the truth. One group refuses to preach the truth, one group is going to preach the truth, but they’re not going to do it with a corresponding life experience. They have a woe upon them as well. In fact it’s a heavier woe. Continuing on:

There’s a third woe! There’s a woe here she’s speaking about for the pastors that refuse to preach the truth, then there’s a heavier woe upon those pastors that preach the truth but they don’t live the truth, and here’s the third woe, there are woes—in the plural, not just one—there are woes for those who preach the truth while they are unsanctified in heart and life so there are woes for those who receive and maintain the unsanctified in the position which they cannot fill.

To maintain one of these pastors who refuses to preach the truth or one of these pastors who preaches the truth but doesn’t live it—there’s a multitude of woes for doing that. Now, what’s curious is that this is a common passage you’ll hear in the self-supporting work, you hear it in regards to "Well you shouldn’t maintain that pastor that’s not preaching the truth". We know what maintain means—support, further his work. But it also says there is a woe for maintaining one that preaches the truth but doesn’t live it.

"If the Spirit of God has not sanctified and made pure and clean the hands and heart of those who minister in sacred things, they will speak according to their own imperfect, deficient experience, and their counsels will lead astray from God those who look to them and trust in their judgment and experience. May God help ministers to heed the exhortation of Paul to the Corinthians: "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" There is a work for you to do, my brother, if you gain eternal life. May God help you to do this work thoroughly, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

That is a powerful quote for people like us that profess such great light, and view ourselves in such exalted spiritual condition, and I think we can demonstrate that we are in an exalted spiritual condition—that doesn’t have to be understood negatively. I’ve had the privilege to go to South America and brethren down there are hungry for the word of God but do not have access to the Spirit of Prophecy. They may have a better hunger and a better relationship with Christ than I—but I have an exalted spiritual relationship in the sense that I have all the books back on my bookshelf. So that is a legitimate position that you can have and that’s a temptation for us, but we are to examine ourselves, to see if this is going on with us.

We also have a little examining to do with those around us. Now I’m not talking about judging—I hope we’re at the maturity level that we know the difference. I’m not talking about condemning people, but I’m talking about exercising discernment because she says there are woes, in the plural, for maintaining one of these unsanctified preachers. How are you going to know that he’s unsanctified if you don’t exercise a certain amount of spiritual discernment? The Lord isn’t going to send you woes that were impossible for you to understand. There is a certain amount of discernment that needs to be exercised here and it is found in this passage where she says examine yourself. She’s telling us to do so. So how do we examine? How do we test those around us to see if they are worthy of our support and our prayers?

One way I would suggest, is by recognizing the characteristics that are so significantly identified in the prophecies. A man or a group of men that seek to control the situation through a confederacy, through the exercise of kingly power, through force, is demonstrating the character of antichrist.

In the General Conference sermons in 1895, A. T. Jones had a series of 6-8 sermons in a row that are just beautiful and powerful, where he goes through the New Testament and he compares how Satan works and how Christ works. He goes through the different verses and shows that virtually every attribute of Christ has a counterfeit in Satan. But the whole theme of it was that "Satan rules by might" — He forces. "And Christ rules by right" — Christ does what’s right and that’s the power of Christ. Satan operates by might. As you go through these sermons, you realize that this contrast between how Satan operates and Christ operates is throughout the scriptures. They are diametrically opposed.

Another way you can see those characteristics illustrated is in those powers in Revelation 16. In order to operate the Seventh-day Adventist church the Lord allowed the Seventh-day Adventist church to be incorporated. And there’s certain laws connected with a corporation that have to be followed if you’re going to keep it legally intact, and you can use those laws in a Christ-like way or in an un-Christ-like way. Some of those laws, because they are secular laws, may challenge a Christian on how he should relate to certain issues—but there’s always the correct Christian way to relate to those rules in a corporation. What I’m trying to emphasize is this, the Lord didn’t resist the Adventist church from forming a corporation. It was necessary for operating a business, but He did insist that everyone involved operated within that structure as a Christian.

We in self-supporting work are also confronted with the laws of the land which may involve corporate structure. There are certain rules that you have to abide by, but you can either operate the way Christ operated or the way antichrist operates. In the church or in a sub-church—a ministry, how you operate that ministry at the end of the world, at harvest time—the principles that you’re going to use as you operate that entity are going to reflect the character you are developing. The closer we get to the end of the world, the more clearly this is going to be illustrated. You’re either going to be operating that ministry upon the principles of Christ or Satan, and everyday we get closer to the end of the world the more clearer that distinction is going to be.

This is a hard one for people in self-supporting work to accept, because they don’t have to look at how they’re operating their ministry, all they have to do is look at the church. Look at what the church is doing, we don’t have to look at our self! Why look at ourselves? But forget the church and forget the ministries—we’re almost at the end of the World! It’s HARVEST TIME! What character is being illustrated in the operation of that ministry? And are we maintaining and supporting that?

Take it a step further to a different level. How do we relate to our spouse? Is my wife my queen? Or am I the king? Prophecy isn’t simply identifying which powers are going to take control of the world. Prophecy is identifying the character that is being developed in all of mankind. All of mankind! That’s the thing about Harvest Time—there’ll be no more middle ground. I’m either going to have the image of God, or I’m going to have the image of the Beast! I’m either going to represent the Papacy or Christ in my character very shortly—it comes as an overwhelming surprise.

So why is this message for us today?

Primarily it’s a message for us today in my mind, because, few people here aren’t directly connected or have been directly connected with self-supporting work and even those that aren’t, have been supporters. What are we supporting? What are we maintaining?

Testimonies Vol. 4 pg 371, "You may intelligently believe the truth, but the work is still before you to bring every action of your life and every emotion of your heart into harmony with your faith. The prayer of Christ for His disciples just prior to His crucifixion was: "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth." The influence of the truth should affect not merely the understanding, but the heart and life. Genuine, practical religion will lead its possessor to control his affections. His external conduct should be sanctified through the truth. I assure you before God that you are seriously deficient in practical piety. Ministers should not assume the responsibility of teachers of the people, in imitation of Christ, the great Exemplar, unless they are sanctified to the great work, that they may be ensamples to the flock of God. An unsanctified minister can do incalculable harm. While professing to be the ambassador of Christ, his example will be copied by others; and if he lacks the true characteristics of a Christian, his faults and deficiencies will be reproduced in them."

We are not to maintain unsanctified ministers—here’s why—here’s a test for us; we’re not supposed to maintain them because they can do incalculable harm. Now this is one that is easy to rationalize away from. We might be doing something that we know is good, and still be connected or supporting something that may fall into this definition and be willing to continue to do the good, because we know it is good, but by maintaining that other part of the scenario, we do incalculably harm. What does incalculable harm mean? It means souls are going to be lost. Souls are going to be lost.

Every step of the way on that vision of Sister White there was something else we have to throw off. There’s a growth in faith and all along the way there are tests that are going to cut, cut, and cut as our faith grows. Most of us who got involved in self-supporting work did so because we recognized what is going on in the church and we needed to do something and we got involved. And if—let everyman be fully persuaded in his own mind—if while we’re serving the Lord now in a ministry relationship where we’re doing a ministry involved with other people; consistency demands that we take the same position with people that are manifesting those characteristics that seem so abominable to us in the church at large, as we did when we entered this work. To not do so will cause incalculable harm.

Sooner or later, I guarantee, in self-supporting work, that the Lord is going to have to bring about a crisis test to where we will individually oppose or stand for what is going on in that work. It has to happen. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. And as we approach this shaking time, if it’s not now, when we do individually get to that test, we need to be able to apply the same test on the circumstances we’re confronted with, that we apply to the church at large, that we apply to the world.

Sister White dealing with these character developments that take place in the world says we have no railing accusation with the nations, that’s not the focus but she never said that about the people that we work with in connection with the church. We have a responsibility to defend the Lord and the church on all these issues. And if in the church, we have that responsibility to defend it in ministries, and in the home.

I am convicted from the prophecies that we are at the end of the world and I have a conviction to share this message today, because if we’re maintaining unsanctified ministers—they’re going to do incalculable harm and we view ourselves as in an exalted spiritual condition. The deception that’s prepared for us is greater than the deception prepared for the world or the church at large.

I’m here to tell you, the shaking is here! And I’m not trying to win support for my ministry. How is it with you? Are you, like me, recognizing people that are willing to control the situation by bringing about a group of people to vote the way that they will vote? Are you seeing people that want things their way and no other? Brothers and sisters, it’s telling us we’re at Harvest Time. We can’t support that, can’t maintain that.

Are you seeing people who are willing to set aside Bible truth in order to focus upon truths that they can agree upon—Ecumenism? Not simply in the world, it can come in the church, it can come in ministries. Can it come in ministries? Yes! It can even come in families! Brothers and sisters, all these signs tell me. We’re at the end. And we need to recognize that based on the profession of light that we have, we have to be very careful how we relate to these issues.