BE A NEW THRESHING INSTRUMENT IN THE HAND OF GOD
TEXT FOR PRAYER
“The Soil–By The Wayside”
We shall read from Christ’s Object Lessons, beginning on page 43, the last paragraph:
“That with which the parable of the sower chiefly deals is the effect produced on the growth of the seed by the soil into which it is cast. By this parable Christ was virtually saying to His hearers, It is not safe for you to stand as critics of My work, or to indulge disappointment because it does not meet your ideas. The question of greatest importance to you is, How do you treat My message? Upon your reception or rejection of it your eternal destiny depends…
“The seed sown by the wayside represents the word of God as it falls upon the heart of an inattentive hearer…. Absorbed in selfish aims and sinful indulgences, the soul is ‘hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.’ The spiritual faculties are paralyzed. Men hear the word, but understand it not. They do not discern that it applies to themselves. They do not realize their need or their danger. They do not perceive the love of Christ, and they pass by the message of His grace as something that does not concern them.”
We should pray that we not fall after the manner of those who are always ready to find fault and to criticize, but that we give undivided attention, laying aside all prejudice and preconceived ideas, be they private or Denominational; that we open our hearts to truth, not because it is popular, but because the Bible teaches it, realizing that anything short of this is sure to lead us where it led the ancient Jews.
BE A NEW THRESHING INSTRUMENT IN THE HAND OF GOD
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF D. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH, OCTOBER 4, 1947
MT. CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO, TEXAS
Our subject this afternoon is found in Isaiah, chapters 40 and 41. We shall begin with the first verse of the fortieth chapter:
Isa. 40:1, 2 – “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
Inspiration, we see, is here urging someone to comfort God’s people. They are to be told, not that their warfare will be accomplished, but that their warfare is accomplished; that their iniquity is pardoned; that Jerusalem, the Church, has already received double for all her sins.
This warfare, of course, could not have been accomplished in Isaiah’s time, nor in John the Baptist’s time, – no, not even in the Middle Ages. These comforting tidings can be said to the Church only after she has been delivered from the yoke of the Gentiles, during which time the people have paid double for their sins before and after the dispersion. This chapter, therefore, as a whole applies to the time of the end, to our time.
Verse 3 – “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
This is the verse in which John the Baptist found his text as the messenger to prepare the way for Christ’s first advent. But since we have already seen that the chapter begins with a message for the people of God who live in the time of the end, the time they have paid for all their sins, and since the time of their redemption has at last arrived, obviously the chapter has a primary as well as final application: It applies both to Christ’s first and to His second advent. The last of these is figurative – a voice crying in the wilderness, not in the vineyard, not in the land of Judah (Isa. 5:7), but in the desert, in the lands of the Gentiles.
Verse 4 – “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.”
The burden of the message to be proclaimed is to prepare the people to meet the Lord: to level the high places, to raise the low, to remove all the impediments, so that the highway of the Lord, the way for His coming, be cleared. These terms, of course, figuratively say: The exalted ones are to be humbled; the humbled ones and those who have been cast out are to be exalted; wrongs are to be made right, for in God’s domain equality and justice must prevail.
“When the Spirit of God, with its marvelous awakening power, touches the soul, it abases human pride. Worldly pleasure and position and power are seen to be worthless. ‘Imaginations, Γ5 and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,’ are cast down; every thought is brought into captivity ‘to the obedience of Christ.’ Then humility and self-sacrificing love, so little valued among men, are exalted as alone of worth. This is the work of the gospel, of which John’s message was a part.” – The Desire of Ages, pg. 135.
Verse 5 – “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
Here we are told that when this “revival and reformation” takes place, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Let us therefore realize that if we do these things we all would be the forerunners of these glorious promises, and the servants of God for this time.
Verses 6-8 – “The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand for ever.”
The message of the hour is to point out that all men are mortal, no more enduring than the grass; that even their virtues are no more lasting than the flowers of the field; but that the Word of God is everlasting; that those who desire to obtain eternal life, to become as eternal as the Word Itself, should not put confidence in any man, but in the Word of God only: that they should inquire for themselves, “Is it Truth?” Γ6 and not, “From whom does it come?”
Verse 9 – “O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain: O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God!”
Those who shall finally stand on Mount Sion, and who are now preparing the way of the Lord by bringing these good tidings, are all counselled to get on a high mountain, as it were, and to lift up their voices together without any fear whatever, to proclaim to the cities of Judah (to the churches everywhere) to prepare the way of the Lord and to say, “Behold your God.”
Verse 10 – “Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.”
The arm of the Lord that rules for Him must be figurative of those through whom He works (Isa. 51:9), of those who are to stand with Him on Mt. Sion (Rev. 14:1), – the Church spotless and without guile. “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.” Hos. 3:4, 5.
The messengers of the hour are to declare, too, that the Lord’s reward (life forevermore) is with Him, but that His work is still before Him, yet to be finished.
Verse 11 – “He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
This care over His people is to be felt when His arm rules for Him. He shall then take charge of His work, and of His people, as a shepherd takes charge of a flock. He shall exercise personal care over all, old and young alike.
Verse 12 – “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?”
Since there is none other than God Himself who can do all these things, and since He Himself is to take charge of His Own flock, we know that His care over them will be matchless. And why should we not hasten that time?
Verses 13, 14 – “Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counsellor hath taught Him? With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and shewed to Him the way of understanding?”
We know that the Spirit Who leads into all Truth and all knowledge is not Himself led or taught by any man. Hence, why should we depend on any man that is divested of Inspiration to pass judgment on inspired Truth? The Word points out that not men only but even the nations are as nothing:
Verses 15-17 – “Behold, the nations are as a drop Γ8 of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity.”
When we realize that the nations on earth in comparison with God’s power are as nothing, that neither the timber nor the beasts of Lebanon are sufficient for even burnt offering, just that soon we will see all men, including ourselves, as insignificant, and as worthless as the dust. Then we shall see our dependence upon Him as important and as complete as is the dependence of an infant upon its parents.
Verse 18 – “To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?”
This is now a question for each one to answer in his own mind.
Verses 19, 20 – “The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.”
In these verses is shown how foolish men are: They do not stop to consider that though a piece of wood may be good for fuel, yet when man tries to make of it a likeness of God, it is but foolishness and that to bow down to it, is degrading and blasphemous.
Verses 21-26 – “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold Who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.”
Since God is greater than human imagination can fathom, why do men depend so little upon Him, – and so much upon their own words? True, we may not actually bow down to an image, but we may do other things that are equally idolatrous. Indeed, if such were not the case these exhortations would not have come to us through this timely-revealed prophecy.
Verses 27-31 – “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them Γ10 that have no might He increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Is it not surprising that the Church, having come down through the ages this far, must now be taught the very first fundamentals of her faith?
Isa. 41:1, 2 – “Keep silence before Me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment; Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.”
To renew their strength is to put away sin, and to come near to God, is to learn of Him. Having done this they are then to invite others to come to judgment. The nations will keep silence until that time, and then will they say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Micah 4:2.
Our work is therefore to prepare the way of the Lord for the gathering of the people.
Verses 3-5 – “He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that He had not gone with His Γ11 feet. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am He. The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.”
These verses plainly show that the manifestation of God’s power is to be felt everywhere.
Verse 6 – “They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.”
God’s people are indeed to help their neighbor. The foolish nevertheless shall do foolishly, and shall continue in their idolatry.
Verses 7-10 – “So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, art My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art My servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”
God’s promises to His servants are sure. Let us take hold of them now. We shall never find an opportunity as good as we have today. Tomorrow will be too late; we had better respond while God is pleading.
Verses 11, 12 – “Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.”
Now is our opportunity to do all we can for those who oppose us, for here we are plainly told that if they continue in their hostility they shall perish.
Verse 13 – “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”
If we as a people are not fearful, then why all these pleadings and encouragements? Why the urgings that we cast out our fears?
Verses 14, 15 – “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.”
To thresh the mountains (kingdoms) is to take the wheat (saints) out of them. The servants of God, therefore, are here promised a new instrument, different from any ever used before; that is, the gathering of the saints in the harvest time is to be accomplished in a way un-dreamed of, – contrary to every human planning. This instrument will have teeth; it will suddenly separate the wheat from the straw and blow out the chaff. Christ, “Whose fan is in His hand, Γ13 …will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matt. 3:12. For this cause we are called, and for this great and grand work we are to prepare the way.
Verses 16, 17 – “Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.”
Yes, the chaff shall be blown out and the whirlwind shall carry it away to be burned with consuming fire. But God’s people shall rejoice in the Lord, and their poor will He comfort.
Verse 18 – “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”
The latter rain, we here see, is to be plentiful. It will make rivers, springs, and pools where not expected. All this is a forecast of a great harvest, even from the desert places – from the heathen lands. “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Rev. 7:9.
Verse 19 – “I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, Γ14 and the pine, and the box tree together.”
God will beautify the lands of the Gentiles with people having Christian characters and graces as beautiful as the myrtle, the oil, the fir, the pine, and the box trees together. There is nothing in the world today to give men hope and peace of mind but these promises of God.
Verses 20-24 – “That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.”
Here is a challenge to all our adversaries. Let them tell you what shall happen hereafter if they can, or let them tell the past if they will, God challenges them. Thus they may now know that they are as nothing, and those who choose to follow them, even they shall be an abomination to Him.
Verse 25 – “I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon My name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.”
This one that is in prophecy comes from somewhere north of the Promised Land. He calls on the Lord early – as early as the rising of the sun. He also comes upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter that treads the clay. “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom…it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.” Dan. 2:44.
Verse 26 – “Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and before time, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.”
Is there anyone who ever declared these things to the people? asks the Lord. Then He answers His Own question: “Yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.”
Verses 27, 28 – “The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.”
When God visits His people with these good tidings, He finds no man among His servants to do this work, and no counsellor among them to give an answer to these things! We nevertheless are to do all we can to awaken them. We should exalt the Word, comfort His people, and prepare the way so that He can make a new threshing instrument of us.
Ashamed Of Jesus!
Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?
Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star;
He sheds the beams of light divine
O’er this benighted soul of mine.
Ashamed of Jesus! just as soon
Let midnight be ashamed of noon;
‘Twas midnight with my soul till He,
Bright Morning Star, bade darkness flee.
Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend
On whom my hopes of heaven depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame
That I no more revere His name.
Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may
When I’ve no guilt to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no good to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.
Till then,–nor is my boasting vain,–
Till then I boast a Saviour slain;
And O, may this my glory be,
That Christ is not ashamed of me!
–Joseph Grigg
UPSHOOTS, NOT OFFSHOOTS
To The Brethren Abroad
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF D. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
MT. CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO, TEXAS
Inasmuch as we are often asked what the “D” in the Timely Greetings means in connection with the name “Seventh-day Adventists,” we shall endeavor to explain. The “D” stands for Davidian. The publishers, rather than printing the name in full, often use the abbreviated form “D” when space is limited.
Fundamentally we are Seventh-day Adventists. Ever since the leading brethren of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination rejected the addition to the Third Angel’s Message (Early Writings, pg. 277) in the same fashion as the Jews turned down the gospel of Christ, and as the popular churches turned down the messages that followed thereafter, we have fundamentally remained Seventh-day Adventists. We are separated from the mother church because the “lukewarm” brethren by majority vote disfellowshiped us, and put a guard at the church doors to make sure that we could not enter the churches on the Sabbath day. Evidently they did these things in order to force us to renounce the Lord’s revealed Truth, and also to frighten those who were embracing Present Truth and those who might investigate for themselves and accept the message of the hour. There could be no reason for dismissing us.
As we could not turn our backs upon the God-sent “meat in due season” we were, of course Γ18 compelled to add Davidian to the name Seventh-day Adventists, lest we be accused of misrepresentation. We have never, however, separated ourselves from the denomination. As a people we still attend the denominational churches whenever we are not barred from entering.
Our work is strictly within our denomination as was John’s and Christ’s within their denomination. Our fundamental beliefs are therefore the same as those of the denomination, with the exception of the additional doctrinal truths which the additional message brings us. Circumstances, therefore, have placed us in a situation similar to that of the apostles: Their fundamental beliefs, too, were the fundamental beliefs of the Jews, and in addition to these, they had the Gospel of Christ.
In order to cast reproach and to prejudice the people against the Heaven-sent message, the opposition ironically calls us “off shoots.” Their very expression against us, however, proves us right and them wrong. Were it not for “off shoots,” the Christian church would have never come into being, – no, not even the Protestant churches, nor the Seventh-day Adventist either.
So thank God that we have had the fortitude to not make flesh our arm (not to take the word of the priests and rabbis, as it were, but to look into it ourselves, personally to know what Truth is) and to withstand reproach as did those who have gone before us.
Here is where fittingly and timely the prophet Isaiah’s statement applies: “Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him Γ19 that there was no judgment.” Isa. 59:15.
The truth of the matter, however, is that the so-called offshoots are but upshoots. And let us ever remember that as a tree dies when it fails to make an upshoot each season, so does a church when she fails to keep up with Heaven’s advancing Truth. Even the world knows that the upshoots have ever kept the church alive and free, and that upshoots ever will. We therefore feel greatly honored to be upshoots rather than dormant buds.
Yes, it is a great honor to be persecuted, scoffed at, and abused for Christ’s sake and His Truth. So Jesus declares: “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” Luke 6:22, 23.
“Hear the Word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His Word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.” Isaiah 66:5.
“And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.
“Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be Γ20 taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.” Isaiah 49:23-25.
It is plain to see that those who cast out truth-believing brethren from their midst, are doing it by the command of the Evil One, for those who are mindful of the Lord’s command, do not cast out even the “tares.” They know that the church’s cleansing work belongs to the angels only.
“I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, ‘Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention.’“ – Early Writings, pg. 118.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 13:47-50.
So be we right or be we wrong, we know that the works of the brethren are not in harmony with the Lord.
The pioneers of the Christian faith gave their lives for the Truth’s sake, why should not we?
Now to judge whether we are Seventh-day Adventists or not, let me set before you our fundamental Γ21 beliefs from the booklet, “Fundamental Beliefs and Directory.” Here you will notice that the entire list of fundamental beliefs is quoted from the year book of the S.D.A. denomination. And why? – simply because their beliefs are our beliefs, too. Then you will notice the additional doctrinal truths that follow.
FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS OF DAVIDIAN SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
Emerging in 1930 from within the Seventh-day Adventist denomination (“the church of the Laodiceans”), the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association has ever been committed to the prophetic work (predicted in Isaiah 52:1) of preparing the Laodicean church, the last with the “tares among the wheat,” for the final proclamation of the gospel “in all the world.” Matt. 14:14.
This Association, in common with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, holds “certain fundamental beliefs, the principal features of which, together with a portion of the Scriptural references upon which they are based,” are originally summarized as follows:
“1. That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, contain an all-sufficient revelation of His will to men, and are the only unerring rule of faith and practice. 2 Tim. 3:15-17.
“2. That the Godhead, or Trinity, consists of the Eternal Father, a personal, spiritual Being, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, Γ22 infinite in wisdom and love; the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, through whom all things were created and through whom the salvation of the redeemed hosts will be accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, the great regenerating power in the work of redemption. Matt. 28:19.
“3. That Jesus Christ is very god, being of the same nature and essence as the Eternal Father. While retaining His divine nature He took upon Himself the nature of the human family, lived on the earth as a man, exemplified in His life as our Example the principles of righteousness, attested His relationship to God by many mighty miracles, died for our sins on the cross, was raised from the dead, and ascended to the Father, where He ever lives to make intercession for us. John 1:1, 14; Heb. 2:9-18; 8:1, 2; 4:14-16, 7:25.
“4. That every person in order to obtain salvation must experience the new birth; that this comprises an entire transformation of life and character by the recreative power of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:16; Matt. 18:3; Acts 2:37-39.
“5. That baptism is an ordinance of the Christian church and should follow repentance and forgiveness of sins. By its observance faith is shown in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. That the proper form of baptism is by immersion. Rom. 6:1-6; Acts 16:30-33.
“6. That the will of God as it relates to moral conduct is comprehended in His law of ten Γ23 commandments; that these are great moral, unchangeable precepts, binding upon all men, in every age. Ex. 20:1-17.
“7. That the fourth commandment of this unchangeable law requires the observance of the seventh day Sabbath. This holy institution is at the same time a memorial of creation and a sign of sanctification, a sign of the believer’s rest from his own works of sin, and his entrance into the rest of soul which Jesus promises to those who come to Him. Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11; 31:12-17; Heb. 4:1-10.
“8. That the law of ten commandments points out sin, the penalty of which is death. The law cannot save the transgressor from his sin, nor impart power to keep him from sinning. In infinite love and mercy, God provides a way whereby this may be done. He furnishes a substitute, even Christ the Righteous One, to die in man’s stead, making ‘Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.’ 2 Cor. 5:21. That one is justified, not by obedience to the law, but by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. By accepting Christ, man is reconciled to God, justified by His blood for the sins of the past, and saved from the power of sin by his indwelling life. Thus the gospel becomes ‘the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.’ Rom. 1:16. This experience is wrought by the divine agency of the Holy Spirit, who convinces of sin and leads to the Sin-Bearer, inducting the believer into the new covenant relationship, where the law of God is written on his heart, ad through the enabling power of the indwelling Christ, his life is brought into conformity to the divine precepts. The honor and merit of Γ24 this wonderful transformation belong wholly to Christ. 1 John 2:1, 2; 3:4; Rom. 3:20; 5:8-10; 7:7; Eph. 2:8-10; 3:17; Gal. 2:20; Heb. 8:8-12.
“9. That God ‘only hath immortality.’ 1 Tim. 6:16. Mortal man possesses a nature inherently sinful and dying. Eternal life is the gift of God through faith in Christ. Rom. 6:23. ‘He that hath the Son hath life.’ 1 John 5:12. Immortality is bestowed upon the righteous at the second coming of Christ, when the righteous dead are raised from the grave and the living righteous are translated to meet the Lord. Then it is that those accounted faithful ‘put on immortality.’ 1 Cor. 15:51-55.
“10. That the condition of man in death is one of unconsciousness. That all men, good and evil alike, remain in the grave from death to the resurrection. Eccl. 9:5, 6; Ps. 146:3, 4; John 5:28, 29.
“11. That there shall be a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust. The resurrection of the just will take place at the second coming of Christ; the resurrection of the unjust will take place a thousand years later, at the close of the millennium. John 5:28, 29; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:5-10.
“12. That the finally impenitent, including Satan, the author of sin, will, by the fires of the last day, be reduced to a state of non-existence, becoming as though they had not been, thus purging God’s universe of sin and sinners. Rom. 6:23; Mal. 4:1-3; Rev. 20:9, 10; Obadiah 16.
“13. That no prophetic period [meaning Γ25 prophetic time-setting of the exact date of Christ’s coming] is given in the Bible to reach to the second advent, but that the longest one, the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14, terminated in 1844, and brought us to an event called the cleansing of the sanctuary.
“14. That the true sanctuary, of which the tabernacle on earth was a type, is the temple of God in Heaven, of which Paul speaks in Hebrews 8 and onward, and of which the Lord Jesus, as our great high priest, is minister; and that the priestly work of our Lord is the antitype of the work of the Jewish priest of the former dispensation; that this heavenly sanctuary is the one to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14; its cleansing being, as in the type, a work of judgment, beginning with the entrance of Christ as the high priest upon the judgment phase of His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary forshadowed in the earthly service of cleansing the sanctuary on the day of atonement. This work of judgment in the heavenly sanctuary began in 1844. Its completion will close human probation.
“15. That God, in the time of the judgment and in accordance with His uniform dealing with the human family in warning them of coming events vitally affecting their destiny (Amos 3:6, 7), sends forth a proclamation of the approach of the second advent of Christ; that this work is symbolized by the three angels of Revelation 14; and that their three-fold message brings to view a work of reform to prepare a people to meet Him at His coming.
“16. That the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, synchronizing with the period of the Γ26 proclamation of the message of Revelation 14, is a time of investigative judgment, first with reference to the dead, and secondly, with reference to the living. This investigative judgment determines who of the myriads sleeping in the dust of the earth are worthy of a part in the first resurrection, and who of its living multitudes are worthy of translation. 1 Peter 4:17, 18; Dan. 7:9, 10; Rev. 14:6, 7; Luke 20:35.
“17. That the followers of Christ should be a godly people, not adopting the unholy maxims nor conforming to the unrighteous ways of the world, not loving its sinful pleasures nor countenancing its follies. That the believer should recognize his body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that therefore he should clothe that body in neat, modest, dignified apparel. Further, that in eating and drinking and in his entire course of conduct he should shape his life as becomes a follower of the meek and lowly Master. Thus the believer will be led to abstain from all intoxicating drinks, tobacco, and other narcotics, and the avoidance of every body and soul defiling habit and practice. 1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 9:25; 10:31; 1 Tim. 2:9, 10; 1 John 2:6.
“18. That the divine principle of tithes and offerings for the support of the gospel is an acknowledgment of God’s ownership in our lives, and that we are stewards who must render account to Him of all that He has committed to our possession. Lev. 27:30; Mal. 3:8-12; Matt. 23:23; 1 Cor. 9:9-14; 2 Cor. 9:6-15.
“19. That God has placed in His church the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as enumerated in 1 Γ27 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. That these gifts operate in harmony with the divine principles of the Bible, and are given for the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, the edifying of the body of Christ. Rev. 12:17; 19:10; 1 Cor. 1:5-7.
“20. That the second coming of Christ is the great hope of the church, the grand climax of the gospel and plan of salvation. His coming will be literal, personal, and visible. Many important events will be associated with His return, such as the resurrection of the dead, the destruction of the wicked, the purification of the earth, the reward of the righteous, the establishment of His everlasting kingdom. The almost complete fulfillment of various lines of prophecy, particularly those found in the books of Daniel and the Revelation, with existing conditions in the physical, social, industrial, political, and religious worlds, indicates that Christ’s coming ‘is near, even at the doors.’ Matt. 24:33. The exact time of that event has not been foretold. Believers are exhorted to be ready, for ‘in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man’ (Matt. 24:44) will be revealed. Luke 21:25-27; 17:26-30; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; Rev. 1:7; Heb. 9:28; James 5:1-8; Joel 3:9-16; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Dan. 7:27; Matt. 24:36, 4.
“21. That the millennial reign of Christ covers the period between the first and the second resurrections, during which time the saints of all ages will live with their blessed Redeemer in Heaven. At the end of the millennium, the Holy City with all the saints will descend to the earth. The wicked, raised in the second resurrection, will go up on the breadth of the earth with Satan at their head to Γ28 compass the camp of the saints, when fire will come down from God out of Heaven and devour them. In the conflagration which destroys Satan and his host, the earth itself will be regenerated and cleansed from the effects of the curse. Thus the universe of God will be purified from the foul blot of sin. Rev. 20; Zech. 14:1-4; 2 Peter 3:7-10.
“22. That God will make all things new. The earth, restored to its pristine beauty, will become forever the abode of the saints of the Lord. The promise to Abraham, that through Christ he and his seed should possess the earth throughout the endless ages of eternity, will be fulfilled. ‘The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’ Dan. 7:27. Christ, the Lord, will reign supreme and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea will ascribe ‘blessing, and honor, and glory, and power,’ unto ‘Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever.’ Gen. 13:14-17; Rom. 4:13; Heb. 11:6-16; Matt. 5:5; Isaiah 35; Rev. 21:1-7; 5:13; Dan. 7:27.” – Year Book of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination, 1947 Edition, pp. 4-6.
IN ADDITION to these fundamental tenets of faith held in common with the Seventh-day Adventists, the Davidian Association holds:
- That the prophetic gift in the Seventh-day Adventist church (through the medium of which the church was brought forth in 1844 and nurtured and preserved for seven decades) ceased Γ29 its manifestation in 1915 and was not remanifested until 1930; and that this cessation and this remanifestation are paralleled by the cessation of the prophetic gift in the Old Testament and the remanifestation of it in the New.
- That the present manifestation was timed to the 430-year prophecy of Ezekiel 4, and that it is the “addition” anticipated in Early Writings, pg. 277.
- That it was manifested anew in the closing work for the church to effect the sealing of the 144,000 servants of God (Testimonies, Vol. 3, pg. 266), and to give power and force (Early Writings, pg. 277) to the Third Angel’s Message (Rev. 14:6-11) so that the 144,000 might be empowered to accomplish the closing work for the world, and to gather all their brethren out of all nations (Isa. 66:19, 20; Rev. 18:4).
- That the destruction of the tares from among the first fruits of the living (Matt. 13:30, 48, 49; Ezek. 9:6, 7) results in the purification of the church.
- That immediately thereafter, the angels let loose the four winds (Rev. 7:1-3), whereupon ensues the time of trouble and Michael’s standing up to deliver from it, all whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Dan. 12:1).
- That the angels’ letting loose the four winds to blow over the four corners of the earth (Rev. 7:1), does not anticipate a world war but rather a world-wide decree enforced throughout Babylon by the image-beast, and that then no one may buy or sell save he who worships Γ30 “the image.” Rev. 13:15-17.
- That subsequently, the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7) for the 144,000, the sons of Jacob, logically develops on their way home (Gen. 32:1, 24) to the land of their fathers (Ezek. 36:28; 37:21, 25).
- That the foregoing epochal event shall cause the 144,000 to have their names changed as did their father, Jacob (Gen. 32:28), and as a body receive a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name (Isa. 62:2).
- That these events shall ultimate in the setting up of the Kingdom (Dan. 2:44; Isa. 2:1-4; Mic. 4: Ezek. 37), wherein the 144,000, those who follow the Lamb “whithersoever He goeth” (Rev. 14:4), shall stand with Him on Mt. Zion (Rev. 14:1), and there “receive the forces of the Gentiles.” Isa. 60:5, 11.
- That with this sequence of events will ensue the Loud Cry of the angel that lightens the earth with his glory (Rev. 18:1), as that other Voice cries, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Rev. 18:4.
- That in response to this call, many nations will say: “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Mic. 4:2.
- That the Voice will cease to cry when all the saints shall have been gathered out of Γ31 all nations. Then shall “the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:11, 12.
- That then will follow the dissolution of the world-wide organization of the image of the beast (Rev. 19:1-3), the close of the investigative judgment of the living (Rev. 15:5-8), the end of probationary time (Rev. 22:11), and the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon the wicked. (Rev. 16).
- That under the seventh plague, the hosts arrayed for the battle of Armageddon will fight with, and will be decimated by, the armies of Heaven (Testimonies, Vol. 6, pg. 406), and that Christ shall appear in all His glory, destroy the remaining wicked, resurrect the righteous dead (1 Thess. 4:15-16), and usher in the millennium (Rev. 20:5).
- That for a little season (Rev. 20:3), a hundred years (Isa. 65:20), after the millennium, the wicked shall live again and then finally be destroyed by fire (Rev. 20:9), whereupon all things shall be renewed, and God’s original plan shall proceed to perfect fulfillment in an uninterrupted eternity of heavenly joy (Rev. 21:4).
