God's Warning to Laodicea Part 3

SPEAKER B Jesus promised his disciples in Acts One eight, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all here and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Welcome to. You shall receive power. And here are your hosts, Ettienne McClintock and Colin Hone. SPEAKER C Dear listener, greetings and a warm welcome. Thank you for tuning in again today. To you shall receive power. Colin myself are delighted to have your company and we are continuing our program, which gets the lessons from this beautiful little book by Pastor Dennis Smith, 50 Days Prayers and Devotionals to prepare for the latter rain and Christ's return. Now that is our desire, that is the purpose of this program, that preparation to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to receive the latter reign, to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, so that we are ready when Jesus comes. Now, there's a few things that happens before that. Of course, there's a time of trouble, the plagues will be poured out, so really there's a cris coming on the earth and we want to make sure that we are ready. But just before we start unpacking that and do a quick review of what we spoke about last week, we'll just pray and ask God to bless our study today. Dear Father in Heaven, it's such a privilege that we have access to your word, that we have the freedoms we enjoy in this country and many other countries around the world, but we can already see liberties being restricted. Father, we know there's challenges around the world with terrorism, and for the sake of security, some of the liberties that we have taken for granted are now being reduced somewhat. And while we can understand these things, Father, we know that this trend is something that will continue as we look at prophecies in the Bible, where there will be a time when restrictions are so bad that we won't be able to buy or sell, and there will even be a death decree to those people who are faithful to you. And Father, we want to be faithful unto the end. And Father, we just want to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We want to receive that power that you have promised to each one of us, that we'll understand the word. And through your spirit, Father, we'll be able to represent you effectively, that we'll grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. This is the purpose of this program, Father, and we pray that you'll bless every person listening, that you'll bless Colin and myself with your Spirit. As we speak to these things is our prayer in Jesus name, amen. So last time we had a look at the timeline of God in the Bible, that at the very hour and the very day when god said things would happen, they did happen. And he prophesied these things well in advance. And we also know that the same prophecies that covered the first coming of Jesus also covered the second coming of Jesus. We're talking about the 2300 days out of Daniel, chapter eight and verse 14. Now, leading up to that, there's a beautiful text in First John, that beloved disciple of Jesus, that Apostle John the Revelator, first John, chapter three and verse two. And in his Epistle, he says, beloved, now we are the sons of God. And it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So that is a statement there where it says that we'll be like Jesus when he comes. Now, the word like there is homoyos, and homoyos means just one and the same. So these people will have Christ within their hope of glory and that will be revealed in their actions and their thoughts and their expression of love and gratitude towards God. And they will be like Jesus because self would be dead and Christ will be in them, living in them, their hope of glory. Now, we also read some other texts there in two Peter, chapter one, verse four that says that these people of God will be partakers of the divine nature. Wouldn't that be a wonderful privilege to be a partaker of the nature of Christ? Isn't that just an incredible promise? But these are the things that are promised to you and me. We're not talking about people who are superheroes or have intelligent giant intellect, have IQs over 140 or 150. We're talking about ordinary people that God can transform and change if they are prepared to surrender their life fully to Jesus, to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. And God has promised us that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will be different people to who we are. Now, those inherent weaknesses that we have, god can conquer and overcome them. Now, there is a challenge out there. The problem is quite often, and it was the problem in Jesus'day that there were people who were blind and said, yet we can see. And Jesus said, if you say you are spiritually sighted, yet you are spiritually blind, your blindness remains. And then we have this challenge that at the very last time, in the last days, there's a church, the 7th Church, or the last church in Revelation, chapter three, called the Church of the Laodiceans. And that church has a condition, which is a condition of ignorance. And I have to say that I am part of that church. And dear listener, you are probably part of that church as well. It's the last church, those who believe in the Lord, who say they are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. But yet it tells us that we do not know. And there's things that we do not know about ourselves. First of all, that we are wretched and that we are miserable. And then it tells us we are poor, blind and naked. And then Jesus counsels us to buy from Him goods. Now, these goods can be bought without money, without price because Jesus is the merchant who's actually paid the price for it. Not only does he offer us these goods, he's actually paid the price for these goods as well. And he offers us things that will take away our poverty, gold refined in the fire. He offers us something that will take away our nakedness white raiment so we will be clothed and that is the righteousness of Christ. And he also offers us something that will take away our spiritual blindness because we say something but we do not know. So brings a knowledge to us that we don't currently have. And he anoints our eyes, our spiritual eyes with self so that we can see. So this is going to be our discussion and our study going forwards. But as part of that, there are also warnings in the Bible in regards to messages which will come contrary to the word of God. Paul deals with that. In the book of Galatians, for example, he talks about this other gospel, another gospel that comes in that will deceive people. And even if an angel of light, because we're told even the devil can masquerade as an angel of light, he used to be an angel of light, so he knows what it's like. He will bring in another gospel. But this gospel actually takes away that ability for Christ to be formed within our hope of glory. And then Paul, even in Galatians, says, now I've got a labor for you again until Christ is formed within you. So these are the things we're discussing. These are very weighty subject, very weighty topics. But in the times in which we look we need to give that message the right emphasis and the right focus because this is really dealing with life and death. It's dealing with our salvation, is dealing with our relationship with our Maker. And we know that God loves us, not wanting any to perish. He wants all to be saved and come to repentance and to have Him live within us, our hope of glory. He wants to have that intimate relationship with us. He yearns for us. He doesn't want to be separated from us. But unless we receive by faith the good news of salvation, the everlasting gospel, that separation. SPEAKER D You know, I have children and I love my children, Ettienne. And if I could see the beginning to the end, I would tell my children how to prepare. I would tell them all the warnings that are going to come along the way. I would tell them that this is going to happen in the future. Be careful. And the same with God is with us. He sees the end to beginning. It says that in Isaiah chapter 46, that he declares the beginning into the end. He can see the end beginning and so he can see also all the deceptions that are going to happen in the world and he gives us warning. Absolutely. SPEAKER C And so grateful for those warnings too. SPEAKER D Yeah, and he gives it in his word and he even tells us about Christ's first coming. And he tells us about events that will be happening in Christ's second coming. From eternity past. The Father has known and for ordained that great climatic event of earth's history. We know that in Matthew chapter 24, verse 36, the Father knows the very day and hour. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D Christ will return on the exact day and hour the Father has ordained Him to return. Now, my personal conviction and as I look around the world today and I see all prophecies being fulfilled before us, is that day and hour of Christ's return is very near. SPEAKER C I agree. SPEAKER D And I believe that something has to happen to God's people before that event takes place, something that will prepare them to stand in that day. Remember in Revelation chapter six, verse 17, it says who was able to stand? SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D It says most of the world, the captains, the rulers, and most of the world will be hiding under the rocks and under the caves in fear of the second coming of Jesus. So the generation of Christians living when Christ comes, it says, will be able to stand in the presence of Christ in all his glory and not be consumed while all those around them are being destroyed by the brightness of his coming. And it talks about that in two, thessalonians chapter two, verse eight. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D It says the wicked will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming. So they'll be like there's no other generation of Christians that ever walked this earth. No other generation has received the latter reign of the Holy Spirit or faced the close of probation. SPEAKER C That's right. So their experience will unique because they sing a new song before the throne and before the Lamb, and that song is really just the song of their experience. It's an experience that no other generation has had. SPEAKER D That's right. And so I believe that God's prophetic clock has reached the hour when he's calling this last generation of Christians into existence. In the Bible, it talks about in Revelation chapter twelve, as he's a remnant people. Remnant, meaning the remaining, the last remains, remains of the original. And I believe in the Bible it also talks about the last day church in Revelation chapter three, as you just mentioned being the church of Ladicea. Now Ladicea is a city or a town was in ancient Turkey. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And what happened, the actual about 5 miles away were these pools, all right, these pools that were hot springs. Hot springs. And they were therapeutic it's interesting that the river that flowed down was a pure, beautiful river, and then it went up to these hot springs, hot springs of Ladicea, about 5 miles away from the actual town called Ladicea. And what happened is people would go up there, and it was therapeutic. But by the time the water came down from these streams and got down to the town, it was lukewarm. Now, I don't know if you've ever tasted lukewarm water. I have. SPEAKER C I don't like it. SPEAKER D I like a cold drink. Yes, absolutely. Cold water. And I like a hot drink. SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER D And both are good, aren't they? SPEAKER C They're great. SPEAKER D But when you ever drank something that's lukewarm, like water that's got warm in the car, well, what do you do, Normie? You spit it out. SPEAKER C That's right. Yeah. SPEAKER D And God says in Revelation, chapter three, and we'll just read this chapter just and then we're going to be unpacking a lot of this over the next few programs that God says, Wear lukewarm. God's Last Day Church is lukewarm, and he's going to spew us out of his mouth. I love to go to the gym, Eddie, to keep healthy. And I really be honest, I really don't like the gym. I don't like doing all the weights and all that, but I know it's good for me, so I do it. But what I really like is I like to have a sauna. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D All right. And not just a sauna. I'll go in the sauna and you sweat out all the toxins and everything out of your body, and you sweat it all out. And then you jump in a cold shower oh, yes. And shock yourself, and then go back in the hot water. SPEAKER C That's supposed to be very good for. SPEAKER D You, hot and cold. And it's therapeutic. You come out feeling alive after I invigorate you. Yes, that's right. And so God wants us to be therapeutic, not to be lukewarm. And so there's a message that goes out to Laodicea, and we're going to unpack that. And also we're going to look at some of the deceptions that the Bible talks about and also the Spirit of Prophecy talks about in the Last Days. And so let's read Revelation chapter three, the message of Ladicea. And let's just read what this is. Jesus speaking himself. It's in red writing, and it's speaking to the God's Last Day Church. And these are the words he has to say. SPEAKER C Okay, so we'revelation chapter three, reading from verse 14. And to the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans, write these things, says the Amen, the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth, because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy of me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich and white raiment, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eyeself so that you may see as many as I love. I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with Him and he with me. To Him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me in My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let Him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. SPEAKER D So we're going to be unpacking this amazing message to God's last day, people. SPEAKER C Credible message. SPEAKER D It's a message of rebuke, of warning, but also hope. SPEAKER C And of love. SPEAKER D And of love. I mean, did you notice that? What's the last thing he says? And the key to the all? And I look at it as almost reverse. He says, Jesus is knocking at the door. He's saying, Let me in. So the first thing is we need to let Jesus in to take care of all the problems we have. SPEAKER C That is true. SPEAKER D That is true. SPEAKER C That is the only solution. We shouldn't do it the other way around. We should come to the Lord just as we are and let Him do his work in us. SPEAKER D That's right. And so I believe that God is calling us out of our latest incarnation, and he's calling us to prepare us for Christ's soon return. And I believe that God is calling his people to become just like his son, Jesus. Why is this call so important? Well, if we do not heed this call, we will not be ready for Christ's return. Remember you just quoted what the apostle John just tells us in one john, chapter three, verse two, where he says, beloved, now we are the sons of God. And it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, this is when Jesus appears. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And the Greek word transferred, like in this verse, is hamoyos, which means one and the same. It means that those ready to meet Jesus will be corresponding in nature. In second Peter two, Peter one, verse four, what does it say there? That we'll be like God in nature. SPEAKER C Okay, second Peter one, verse four says, by which has been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. SPEAKER D Wow. So God has promised us that we can be partake of his divine nature. And interesting, in one John, chapter three, verse two, did you notice if you kept on reading after first John, chapter three, verse two, what does he say to do? SPEAKER C It says in everyone who has this hope. So this is the hope of Jesus coming and the hope of being like Him. SPEAKER D Do you have this hope, Eddie? SPEAKER C And I do have this hope. SPEAKER D I have this hope and I know there's millions of people around this world that have that hope of Jesus'soon return or imminent return. SPEAKER C Says, and everyone who has this hope in him purifies Himself just as he is pure. SPEAKER D Do you know that's sort of a correlation or relation text to Malachi where God says he will purify the sons of Levi? SPEAKER C That's right. And remember, we've all like a refiner's fire. Malachi, chapter three. SPEAKER D Yeah. And so he's going to purify us. So who's going to do the purifying? SPEAKER C Well, it can only be God and it can only be through Jesus Christ. SPEAKER D So you read Malachi three, he wants to purify the priests and we're all being called to be priests. SPEAKER C That's true. And you know this message to later see as exactly the message that will do that because he says I stand at the door and knock and all we have to do is open that door and he says I will come into Him and I'll dine with Him and he with me. But there's also with that is also of course the other counsel to buy from Jesus. What are you selling? SPEAKER D That's right. And we're going to unpack that over the next programs. We really want to get into this because we think this is such an important message that it's Jesus speaking Himself in red letters to his last day church and he's given us the remedy to be ready for his soon return. SPEAKER C Every person's destiny is wrapped up in how we receive this message. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C So I think we should receive it in his fullness. I think that'll be the wise thing to do. And I just pray that our own fallen nature will not get in the way. But we will make that surrender to the Lord and be prepared to receive the message from who? Jesus recalls Himself through this book of Revelation, the faithful and true witness. SPEAKER D So he wants us to have his divine nature. That means he wants us to have this be the same in conduct, character, authority, dignity and power. And we can see that in John chapter 14, verse twelve. In John chapter 14, verse twelve, jesus Himself tells us that we will do the same works as Jesus says. SPEAKER C Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also and greater works than these will he do because I go to my Father. SPEAKER D So Jesus goes to His Father and he makes a promise that we'll do the same works as Jesus. Now how do we do the same works as Jesus? Well, if you continue reading in John chapter 14, jesus says I will not leave you orphans, I will send the comforter, the Holy Spirit. And he goes on and continues to say not only will I send you the comforter, but he says I will come to you. Jesus is saying that I'm going to live in you, dwell in you through the Holy Spirit. And not only Jesus, but he says the Father also. SPEAKER C Amen. SPEAKER D That's right, will dwell us through the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER C Jesus says then John 14 verse 18 I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. And then at verse 23 he also says that we, that's the Father and Himself, Father and the Son, we will come to him and make our home with him. So that is the connection, the intimate connection that God wants with the people whom he created and the people who he has redeemed. SPEAKER D So the answer to be able to have the divine nature and do the same works as Jesus is if Jesus is living in us through the Holy Spirit, through the comforter, and it says he will abide with us forever. This is an incredible promise. And so also it says in Luke chapter ten, verse 19, where it talks about jesus says behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. So there's this promise of power absolutely over Satan and his demons or Satan and his fallen angels. And it's urgent that we realize this truth. And only by knowing where the Lord wants to lead us, can we cooperate with Him in our journey. And the verse in one John tells us that God wants to make us just like Jesus. What an incredible promise edie that God wants us to be just like Jesus. And so we're not to sort of be like kind of like a Jesus or merely similar to Jesus. It says we're to become just like him. SPEAKER C Reminds me of that little old chorus that we used to sing as kids that said just like Jesus is my song in the home and in the throng be like Jesus all day long, I would be like Jesus. SPEAKER D And so how can we be just like Jesus? Well, the reason they are just like Jesus, these people, just before Jesus returns this remnant people, is because they have learned how to let Jesus live out his life and ministry in and through them. They are just like Jesus because it is Jesus who has seen 100% in their lives. That's an amazing promise that God wants to dwell in us Jesus, and live out his life in and through us. That's why Paul says it's not I what? It's not I that live, but Christ. SPEAKER C That lives in me. SPEAKER D He got it. He got. SPEAKER C Know I can mentally ascend to it. I can sort of understand it through the revelation of the Word and the Holy Spirit making me or helping me understand it. But to put it in words is very difficult. It's something you need to experience. Now, we're not chasing an experience, we're chasing a relationship with the Lord. But ultimately that brings the right, right? SPEAKER D That's right. And so this generation that God is calling into existence today, the generation of Christians who will become just like Jesus, they are the ones who will give the three angels messages in power. You remember in Revelations chapter 18, verse one to six or seven, it talks about God's glory lighting up the earth. God's glory is his character. That means his character, all right, or his nature. Divine nature is seen in his last day. SPEAKER C People yes. SPEAKER D And God's glory lights up this earth. And if you continue reading on in Revelation chapter 18, it tells them that they repeat the third angel's message, but with power. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D And so this is what we want to be able to experience and prepare for. They're the ones who give the three angels message in power. They will be the true remnant people of God, just like the early church described in the Book of Acts. They will victoriously make it through the final crisis, what we call the time of trouble. The Bible talks about it the final time of trouble, where the last seven plagues are poured out just before Jesus comes. And they will stand in the flesh in the presence of Jesus, in all his glory, when he comes and not be consumed. Now, do you remember when Jesus comes in all his glory? It says the wicked in Revelation chapter six, and other places will be in thessalonians will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming. And he's not only coming by Himself, he's coming with all the angels of the universe. And we've talked about this before. We know when one angel destroyed over 100, and I think it was 80,000 Assyrians. One angel. SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER D One angel appeared on the day of the Resurrection and Roman soldiers fell as dead men by the brightness of one. SPEAKER C Angel elite company of soldiers as well. This was quite an important errand they were sent on. SPEAKER D So imagine that Jesus coming with all. SPEAKER C His glory as God, and in the glory of the holy angels and the glory of the Father with Him as well. SPEAKER D That's why the earth will be destroyed or the wicked will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming. And the angels. And all the angels. SPEAKER C God is a consuming fire. And those who want to live in the presence of God need that element of purification that God takes them through. Now, because it says that Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So the fire in that is a symbol of God actually purifying us. Like you were saying before in Malachi three that the sons of Levi will be purified because God will sit as a refiner's fire. Ultimately, because they have been purified by that and by the grace of God, they'll be able to live in the presence of God, who is a consuming fire, but those who have not, as you've mentioned a few times in Revelation chapter six, refers to it. It says that the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the commanders and the mighty men, every slave and every free man hidden themselves in the caves. Now why are they hiding themselves in the caves? They want to get away from the glory and the presence of Jesus Christ coming on the clouds of heaven. And it says they hid themselves in the caves in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come. And who was able to stand that's right? SPEAKER D So however, for us to be able to stand right for this to happen, we must understand God's message to latest ear, the message found in Revelation chapter three, verse 14 and 22, and allow God to bring about the necessary change described in that council. SPEAKER C Yes, and that is a good counsel for us, Colin. I'm looking forward to unpacking that. I think maybe it might touch some sensitive aspects of my own life, ones that I might be struggling with myself. But I think we need to be willing to be open now to the leading and the purification of God now. Because if we wait till the day of his wrath comes, we will be like those wanting to hide in the caves so that we do not get exposure to that glory of God which will be consuming fire to the sinner. SPEAKER D Well, that's the purpose of fire is to purify, isn't it? So God is purifying us, but once it's purified, the fire has done its work. So when the fire comes, the gold is ready. SPEAKER C That's right. Well, dear listener, we're just going to take a quick break now and we'll be right back after this message. Stay tuned. SPEAKER E The words you are about to experience are true. They will change your life if you let them. For they come from the very heart of God. He loves you and he is the father you have been looking for all your life. This is his love letter to you. My child, you may not know me, but I know everything about you. My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore and I rejoice over you with singing. I will never stop doing good to you, for you are my treasured possession. If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. I have always been father and will always be. Father, my question is will you be my child? I am waiting for you. Love your dad. SPEAKER C Almighty God Father's Love letter used by permission copyright 1999 Fatherhardt Communications www.fathersloveletter.com dear listener, welcome back. We are just talking about this book. 50 Days Prayers and Devotionals to prepare for the lateral reign and Christ Return by Pastor Dinner. Smith. Now our focus, our purpose for these programs is to be ready to be prepared for Jesus Christ soon return. And as we just read before, it says for the great day of this wrath has come and who shall be able to stand? Well God wants you to be one of those people that is standing and ready in that day. And the message that he sends to us is what we call present truth. It's a truth that is appropriate for the time in which we live. In Noah's day it was get in the ark and be saved. In Jesus'day is receive him as the Messiah. This ordinary looking man was actually not ordinary at all. He was God manifest in the flesh and his works and his words testified of that prophecy, testified of that God in this time and in this day is now sending us a message as well to prepare us to stand in that day. And it's just as important as the message was in Jesus'day. It was just as important as the message was in Noah's day. To reject the message is to reject salvation. So this is really very heavy stuff. Colin. SPEAKER D Well it is heavy stuff but it's also important because it's really simple when you really I mean God gives us a lot of information and it can be heavy but really it's about preparing us for Jesus soon return. And so it's refining us, it's purifying us. Remember we talked about first John three, two, those are ready to meet. Jesus will be just like Jesus. Well how do they prepare for Jesus? They purify themselves. Yes, which is what Malachi says in chapter three that Jesus God wants to purify his priests like he purifies gold with fire and fire purifies ourselves. It burns all the rubbish out that's right. And prepares it for pure. So when the fire comes, when Jesus'brightness comes and the angels comes, the gold is ready. That's why Jesus says buy me gold. Gold refined in the fire and refine in the fire. You see? So once it's refined in the fire, the fire's done its work. So when the glory of God comes, the fire's done its work already. Glory meets glory. SPEAKER C Amen. So we receive the purity of Christ through this message. That's basically what it's saying because that gold refined of the fire, jesus went through the refiner's fire for us. SPEAKER D That's right. Now do you think that Satan knows all this? Remember, there is an enemy. SPEAKER C Certainly he knows the Bible probably better than any of us do. SPEAKER D There's an enemy and he knows these things. Therefore as always he has devised a plan and is carrying out that plan to hinder the work God wants to perform in the lives of his people. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D We look back at our denomination. The Seven Day Venice Church that we believe was, according to the Bible, was raised up in 1844, according to the prophecy in Daniel. To give the three angels message to the world. SPEAKER C Absolutely. SPEAKER D To prepare people for the second coming of Jesus. SPEAKER C Revelation Ten is very clear on that whole experience. And also the mission, the message of God's people, which ties in with the three angels in Revelation Four. SPEAKER D That's right. And Revelation Twelve also says that this church or this movement in this church, god's Remnant Church. SPEAKER C Right. SPEAKER D Last Day Church will have the spirit of prophecy. SPEAKER C Yes, that's right. They'll have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. SPEAKER D That's right. And we believe that Ellen White was given that gift. She had over 2000 visions. She was one of the founders of the Seven Day Venice Church, and she had 2000 visions. And we've spoken about that on previous programs, how that was verified, and she gave counsel to the church. And I love what she says. She says back in early days and around about the late 18 hundreds, early 19 hundreds in Ellen White's Day, satan worked through Dr. Kellogg and the teachings brought about in his book called The Living Temple. SPEAKER C Now, Dr. Kellogg is a very famous man. He was very famous at that time. He ran this massive big sanitarium. It was a huge complex, and even the kings from Europe would come in for natural therapies and treatments. So he was blessed initially with some huge insights in regards to natural healing and natural ability. And he was foremost in his field in regards to that. But he lost his way eventually. He got a little bit haughty, I guess. And I guess pride was an issue for him, just like it is for any of us. Fallen. SPEAKER D What was the angel in heaven next to Christ? What caused his fall? SPEAKER C The illuminated one called Lucifer, who now is called the Adversary, or Satan, or the Devil. The Devil. Yeah. SPEAKER D And the serpent. So what did he fall for? What was his problem? SPEAKER C Pride. SPEAKER D Pride. That's right. And so she talks about this book, and you have to remember, the Adventist Church has been given the health message. Ellen White had a vision about health, that God loves his people and wants to restore them to health. Almost back to the Edenic state. Back to Eden where back in Eden, God created us to just what? Eat what? SPEAKER C Well, it was fruit and I guess it was nuts. SPEAKER D That's right. Fruit, nuts. SPEAKER C And of course, after sin, then vegetables were added. SPEAKER D Yeah, vegetables, fruit, nuts. Nuts, grains, vegetables. That was our original diet. And then God allowed after the flood, he allowed clean meats. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D In Noah's Day. And then he repeated those in Leviticus, chapter eleven, when he raised up the Israel, when he led Israel out of Egypt, he gave them a health message. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D And those who adhered to that health message lived happily and long lives, and they had no sickness or diseases among them. SPEAKER C That's right. Yeah. The diseases that were in Egypt were not on God's people because of that health reform and that dietary reform. And it's interesting. SPEAKER D And their cleanliness and just everything about God gave a health message to them. And God wants to give him a health message. And he gave a vision to Elamite about this health message in God's last day, how to prepare people to be healthy. SPEAKER C Yeah. And a healthy body, of course, produces a healthy mind, and it gives you better cognitive ability, better mental ability to understand and discern the leading of the spirit and also understand the deep truths of the word of God. SPEAKER D That's right. Now, Dr. Kellogg was heading up the very health message, part arm of the church. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And he became very powerful and had many followers. And so what happened is it talks about he wrote this book, Living Temple, and the book ultimately El White saw given by a vision of God, that it would lead God's people away from the foundational beliefs of the church. SPEAKER C There was a lot of truth in the book. The problem wasn't the truth. The problem was the error mixed with truth. And we're not really they're wise enough sometimes to discern the difference between truth and error. I mean, our first parents were perfect, and our great grandmother Eve, in her perfect state, fell for the surface trees of the devil when he spoke through the serpent. So what happens is, in this book, there are some speculative teachings, and they get into spiritualistic teachings, basically, that God was an essence that pervaded all nature. Now, if God is an essence pervading all nature, then he dwells in all men. And in order to attain holiness, man has only to develop the power that's within himself. That's basically the essence of what he was teaching. SPEAKER D That's right. So it's saying that God, the Creator in the universe, who lives in heaven, dwells in everything, the plants, the trees. It dwells in sinners. But we know from God's word that God wants to dwell, but only in sinners who are cleansed through the blood of Jesus. Hence the cleansing of the sanctuary. In the Old Testament, the cleansing was caused by the blood of the Lambs. SPEAKER C Absolutely, that's right. SPEAKER D And we're cleansed today, which pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God, and he cleansed us through his blood, the blood of the Lamb. And Jesus is our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary now, doing a work of intercession and cleansing the sanctuary of the record of our sins, but also cleansing sin from within our hearts. SPEAKER C That's right. So what Dr. Kellogg's was doing, he's using statements in the Bible and resting them from their context and therefore then confusing people by it. For example, we know that God is present everywhere and the Holy Spirit is present everywhere. Psalm 139, for example, talks about that. But then when we pray, we say our Father which art in heaven, not our Father which art everywhere. So the fact that the Father is in heaven is also very clearly stated in the scriptures that he is a personal God, that he is a being. It's not just an essence pervading it. And if you want to, I guess if you've ever seen any of the Star Wars movies, they talk about the force. The Force is everywhere and let the Force be with you and you just use the Force. And that that really is a pantheistic type of yes, yeah, but God is not like that. SPEAKER D The force is in everything. That's what I said, the forces in everything. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D And there's the good force and the bad force and they're competing each other and they're in anything. But the ultimate thing though, was to lead and this is what Ellen White God revealed to her, was to lead God's people away from our foundational beliefs. And our foundational belief was cleansing of the sanctuary. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D And the whole purpose of the Gospel is to cleanse us from sin, to remove sin from us and our faithful. SPEAKER C High priest cleanses us from all our righteousness if we confess our sins. That's a promise in the he is. SPEAKER D Just and faithful to what? SPEAKER C To forgive and to cleanse and to cleanse. SPEAKER D And so that was the whole purpose of the sanctuary leading up to Christ. Remember Hebrews talks about a heavenly sanctuary and the earthly sanctuary. SPEAKER C That's right. So the real one is actually in heaven. What we had on earth was merely a copy. SPEAKER D And their high priest operate in the earthly sanctuary just like, and I want to make this point. You see, when the sanctuary was cleansed on the day of atonement and all sins were removed or blotted out from the sanctuary, then God's Shakina glory came down into the sanctuary. You see, God dwelt then in the sanctuary. Once the sanctuary was cleansed of sin, god dwelt in the sanctuary. Now, let me ask you a question. Who is the sanctuary or the temple in the New Testament? SPEAKER C Well, it's God's church. We are the living stones that make up their church. SPEAKER D That's right. So when our sins are removed or cleansed through the blood of Jesus, through the Lamb of God, then the shekinah glory, the Holy Spirit, can dwell in us. That's the only time. It will not dwell in a wicked person or other plants. And everything dwells in a well, one. SPEAKER C That remains in rebellion. Certainly there's two different spirits that you can't mix is like oil and water. SPEAKER D So that's our foundational teaching is the three angels message is about a warning message. The Gospel message, the ultimate message, leads to what here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus? It's the cleansing of the sanctuary. Because when the work is finished of the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven, which is the blotting out or removal of the record of our sins, not only in the heavenly sanctuary, but in our hearts. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D Then Jesus finishes his work as High priest and says it's finished. Remember we read in Revelation, chapter 22, he says it's finished. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D And when it's finished, he then returns. So does Satan want this work to be finished? SPEAKER C Of course not. No. Because that brings an end to his kingdom. SPEAKER D So what would be your strategy, Etienne? How would you lead God's people away from giving that message? SPEAKER C Well, you'll bring in unbelief and skepticism and whatever you can. So people don't believe the good news of the Gospel. And the work that God is able to do in his people, you'll bring. SPEAKER D Heresies into the church. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D But what's the heresies? The purpose of the heresies is to lead God's people what's? SPEAKER C To lead them away from Him, and to step off that platform of truth and then also to practice unbelief. And we know that what is not of faith is sin. So therefore it's to continue in transgression and sin and do all those things contrary to the nature of God. SPEAKER D So his ultimate goal is to lead God's people away from the foundational beliefs and our mission and message. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And he uses many different ways to do that. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And she said in her day, the Alpha was the way that Satan worked through Kellogg's to lead God's people away. And we also know that many people left because of that. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D Prominent people in the church. SPEAKER C Leaders. Yeah, prominent people. SPEAKER D Now also, she warns though, that in the future, just before Jesus returns, in the last days in our day, there will be called the Omega apostasy. SPEAKER C Now the Alpha and the Omega, what are they? SPEAKER D Alpha is the beginning. Omega means the end. This was the beginning apostasy that led many of God's people away from the foundational teachings of and mission of the church. Satan's amiga apostasy will do the same thing. It will be heresies that will come in that would lead God's people away from the foundational beliefs of the church. The financial belief is cleansing of the sanctuary. SPEAKER C So it's quite interesting because the word Alpha refers to the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and the Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. So if the Alpha is the first great deception, the Omega has got to be the last great deception. So this is the one just before Jesus comes. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C So if we were using alphabet, we'll say it's the A of apostasy. And now what is coming is the z of apostasy, or if you're an American, the Z of apostasy. SPEAKER D So any teachings or heresies that come in and try and lead us away from our foundational beliefs in God's word, anything that attacks the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven, the blotting out of sin, the close of probation. Jesus is our high priest. Any attack on that is and as many ways it can come. SPEAKER C Absolutely. SPEAKER D And lead us away from that is the Omega prophecy. And it says that many will be deceived. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D Now, incredibly, God bought an important truth to our church through two young preachers called Jones and Wagner at the 1888 General Conference Session in Minneapolis in Minnesota. Now, again, Satan worked to hinder the church from receiving the truth presented. If these truths, by the way, the truth they were preaching was righteous by faith, victory over sin through the righteousness of Christ, imputed and imparted, they're saying if they to receive Jesus, in other words, Jesus in sin out. SPEAKER C Yes. Amen. SPEAKER D That was the message. Righteousness by faith in Christ's righteousness. And if these truths, unrighteous by faith, had been received and experienced to the fullest, ellen White, through the spirit of prophecy, said the loud cry or the message of Revelations 18 one, the three angels message would have went out in power and the latter reign of the Holy Spirit would have fallen and Jesus would have returned. However, because of Satan's successful countermeasures, ellen White wrote through the spirit of prophecy for visions given to her. She says that we may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years. She wrote that in the book Evangelism, page 695. SPEAKER C Yeah, she wrote that in 19 one. And it's interesting that in 19 three was when Living Temple was published. So quite often when there's a rejection of light, what happens is the outcome as well. There's no counter for other alternatives to truth that will come in. And therefore, then it's almost like God's people or people have been weakened by not receiving the truth and then other apostate teachings and that come in and they more readily come in because the defenses have been weakened. SPEAKER D That's right. Well, here we are. Since then we're here, and 118 years later, we're still here. Satan is no less busy today in his efforts to hinder the working of the Spirit of God, trying to bring out in the lives of his people. In actual fact, the closer we get, the more effort he's going to be. It says he's like a roaring lion. He's angry because he knows his time is short. And these efforts by Satan are the Omega apostasy ellen White wrote or warned us about many years ago. Remember, the Alpha Apostle came near the beginning of our denomination, the Seven Day Venice movement. The Omega Apostle is coming near the conclusion of the mission god has called the denomination, or our church, the Seven Day Venice Church, which is made up of many people all over the world. Many people from all denominations have come and embraced this message, this biblical message of the three angels message to take to the world. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And so when we look at the Mamega and the whole purpose of these talks is to clarify God's warning to those in Laodicea, we're going to study more of God's plan to lead his people out of their latice in condition. And we'll also understand Satan's efforts to hinder God's efforts by means of his Amiga apostasy. So, you know, we want to briefly consider we're going to talk about what Ellen White called in the spirit of prophecy, the alpha apostasy and the future Amiga apostasy. Now, the alpha apostasy was brought about by Dr John Harvey Kellogg. Remember, we talked about was a prominent physician and leader in the Seven Day Venice Church during its early history. And he formulated a theory that was foreign to the foundational teachings of the Seven Day Venice Church and he presented them in his book called The Living Temple, as we just discussed. And if these false teachings were allowed to continue to be propagated, they would severely undermine the Church's teachings and the purpose for our existence. And it did cause many to be led astray and ultimately lost. And the following quote reveals how serious Ellen White viewed this apostate teaching. Now, have you got that quote there? SPEAKER C Yes, that's a special testimony that was written and I'll read it. It says, Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the Amiga would follow in a little while and I trembled for our people. I hesitated and delayed about sending out of that which the spirit of the Lord impelled me to write. I did not want to be compelled to present them as leading influences of these surface trees. But in the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in must be met shortly before I send out the testimonies regarding the efforts of the enemy to undermine the foundation of our faith. SPEAKER D Just stop there. So what was the efforts of the enemy? What did he want to undermine the. SPEAKER C Foundations of our faith, our Christian faith. SPEAKER D So there it is. Whatever undermines the foundations of our faith was the Alpha and it will be the Omega prophecy. So once we've just got to look at what undermines the foundations of our faith, right? SPEAKER C And it says to undermine the foundations of our faith through the dissemination of seductive theories. SPEAKER D So plural? Yes, theories. SPEAKER C Plural. Yeah, theories. I had read an incident about a ship in a fog meeting an iceberg. And for several nights I slept but little. I seemed to be bowed down as a cart beneath sheaths. One night, a scene was clearly presented before me, a vessel upon the waters in a heavy fog. Suddenly, the outlook cried, Iceberg. Just ahead. There, towering high above the ship, was an I gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, Meet it. There was not a moment's hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put forth full steam and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. Wow. SPEAKER D So they're going straight into the iceberg. SPEAKER C With a crash, she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like thunder to the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the collision, but no lies were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stern like a living creature. Then she moved forward on her way. Well, I knew the meaning of this presentation. I had my orders. I had heard the words which a voice from our captain meeted. I knew that it was my duty and there was not a moment to lose. The time for decision and action had come. I must, without delay, obey the command meet it. That night I was up at 01:00 writing as fast as my hand could pass over the paper. For the next few days, I worked early and late, preparing for our people the instruction given me regarding the errors that were coming in among us. And this was that special testimony she wrote to the Church, especially writing to the physicians and ministers of the 7th day Venice Church at that time. SPEAKER D Now, did you notice, do you remember the Titanic? The Titanic? Instead of meeting the iceberg, what did they do? They tried to swerve they tried to swerve around it. And what happened? SPEAKER C Well, they cut the side of the hull and they cut five chambers, and of course, four chambers that probably still could have floated, but five was just too much for it. They filled with water and ultimately the ship went down, the ship that they believed was unsinkable. SPEAKER D Now, what happens if that ship hit the iceberg? SPEAKER C Well, it probably would have been damaged, but they probably would have survived and the ship wouldn't have gone down. SPEAKER D That's right. Just like Ellen white's vision. All right, meet it. And the ship sure will be shaken. SPEAKER C But it wouldn't be beyond repair, it'd be damaged. SPEAKER D And Ellen White recognized that the teachings in the book Living Temple by Dr. Kellogg will undermine the foundation of our faith. Yes, we keep coming back to that. The foundation of our faith. So any heresies or any message or any books or anything that comes that undermines the foundation of our faith, the cleansing of the sanctuary, the heavenly sanctuary of Jesus, our high priest she called the apostasy of Alpha. Wow. And it was so serious that God gave her a dream about a ship heading into the iceberg. Then the authoritative voice said, Meet it. The engines were put on full steam and the man in the helm steered the ships right into the iceberg. The passengers were severely shaken, but no lives were lost. And after the violent encounter, the ship continued on her way. Anna White understood that she must meet the Alpha apostle head on. She knew that there would be great turmoil in the Church for a while and there was many people left, Edian, yes, people, high leaders in high positions left because of this. But she says, but the Church would survive the collision of truth with error. But Ellen White also stated there would be another great error to come upon the Church with the same aim of undermining the foundation of our faith. She called it the Amiga apostasy. She saw it would be so devastating, it caused her to tremble for God's people who will be called to face it. And here we are today. We're facing it today. SPEAKER C Yes. Well, it's interesting. We spoke about what happened in 1888 and the early 1890s and how a precious message was sent to God's church by elders Jones and Wagner. And because it was not accepted, because the countermeasures of Satan were quite successful in holding away these precious truths and also the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that came with that message from God's Church at that time. This she says in 1901, and you read that statement in 1901, we have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years. That was written 19 one, two years later, 19 three, the book Living Temple was published. So Kellogg had already been written writing that book from about ran about 19 one onwards. And then we have this big issue where this floods in. And you quoted from two, thessalonians chapter two and verse eight before, where it says that God will consume the Lord, will consume people with the breath of his mouth and destroy them with the brightness of his coming, those who are lawless, those who have not received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Then it talks about the coming of the lawless, one which is according to the working of Satan, with all power signs and lying wonders. So this message is a lying wonder and it says, with all unrighteousness deception among those who perish because why? And the word because always tells you what the reason is for it, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. So, dear listener, we're just going to take a short break and share our contact details with you and we'll be right back after this. Stay tuned. Thank you for joining us on You Shall Receive Power. If you would like more information about today's program or if you have any questions, please contact 3ABN Australia Radio by Phoning 024-973-3456. Or you can send an email to [email protected]. You can also contact us on our 3ABN Australia radio Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you SPEAKER C Dear listener, welcome back. I hope you got those contact details. Please feel free to get in touch with us. And Colin, just as we wrap up this program, can you just give us a little bit of a summary of what we've discussed so far. SPEAKER D Well, we just looked at we're looking at the laticean message, god's last message to his people to bring us out of our laticean or lukewarm condition. And then we talked about our early church and how Satan would try and attack the foundational truths that God had given us to give to the world the cleansing of the sanctuary, Jesus as our high priest, and cleansing of the sanctuary. The removal of blotting out of our record of sins in heavenly sanctuary and also removing sins corresponding out of our hearts. And that early in the church, she talked about Satan using Dr. Kellogg to write a book that would undermine the foundational teachings of our church. Yes, and she said to meet it. And she used the illustration of a ship heading into an iceberg instead of trying to go around it, that meet it. And sure, there'll be some damage, but it'll still keep on going. And so she said meet it. And she recognized also that this alpha apostasy would become an amiga apostasy in the last days. And there will be heresies and there will be teachings and books that will come into God's last day remnant people, the church that would do the same thing undermine the foundational teachings of our faith, of our faith. And we're going to unpack what that means in our next program. SPEAKER C Great. So, dear listener, please tune in next time when we talk more about this topic. On you shall receive power. Until then, may God bless you and keep you. SPEAKER C You’ve been listening to a production Of Three ABN Australia radio.