FRIDAY MORNING MANNA
August 21, 2015
Nathaniel Fajardo
Bible Numerology: NUMBER THREE – Part XII
TIME-SETTING AFTER 1844 HAVE, AND WILL FAIL IN PREDICTIONS (Continued)
Jesus said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. Acts 1: 7, K.J.V.
“The times and seasons God has put into His own power. And why has not God given is this knowledge? —Because we would not make a right use of it if He did. A condition of things would result from this knowledge among our people that would greatly retard the work of God in preparing a people to stand in the great day to come . . . . Jesus told His disciples to ‘watch,’ but not for definite time. His followers are to be in the position of those who are listening to the orders of their Captain: they are to watch, wait, pray, and work, as they approach the coming of their Lord; but no one will be able to predict just when that time will come; for ‘of that day and hour knoweth no man.’ You will not be able to say that He will come in one, two, or five years, neither are you to put off His coming by stating that it may not be for ten or twenty years. . . . We are not to know the definite time either for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit [in the latter rain—a precious subject we discussed in a series not too long ago] or for the coming of the Lord.” – Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 221.
Get ready! Get ready! Get ready! “Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel! Amos 4: 12. Jesus said: “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matt. 24: 44. Paul declared: “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly thatthe day of the Lord [the real ’Lord’s Day’—not Sunday!] so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as thief.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-4.
It appears that the foregoing Scriptures and quotes from the inspired pen on these topic contradict each other, as many suppose, heavily influenced by either the doctrine of Dispensationalism (that the church is merely an “interlude” and everything reverts back to ancient, literal ethnic Israel) or the many proponents of the “prosperity gospel” that is an amalgam of antinomianism, predestination, once-saved-always saved, and Universalism—that “all will eventually be saved. So why bother “preparing”? What is our Biblical response to this, according to the plan of redemption and the nature of the great controversy?
The Word of God never contradicts itself. It is as clear noonday that the inspired writings—not the pen woman–is “the lesser light” that leads to “the greater light”—the Bible, magnifying its teachings, precepts, and principles even as Christ came “to magnify the law and make it honorable” (Isa. 42: 21), not to “do away with it,” “abrogate it by grace” “change it” as in “transferring the sanctity of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment to Sunday,” etc. These, in fact, leaves no one any excuse that they could not understand, with the Holy Spirit as Guide, Teacher, and Enlightener the (1) sanctuary message in connection with the 2300-day prophecy, (2) the commandments of God and (3) the faith of Jesus, as given in the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14—earth’s final warning messages still mingled with mercy but not for long. One warns all to be constantly vigilant of counterfeits, deception, and deceivers—“wolves in sheep’s clothing” who presumptuously and blasphemously use His name (authority, title) and misrepresent His character and teachings “which those who are untaught and unstable twist (wrest, K.J.V.) to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Pet. 3: 16).
Such indulge fanatical and spiritualistic ideas, their overheated imaginations devising elaborate prophetic time charts predicting times and seasons of the few remaining unfulfilled prophecies of the end times, including the second coming of Christ that have to be fulfilled after the end of the Bible’s longest time prophecy—the 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8: 14, which culminated on October 1844, commencing Christ’s antitypical closing work of atonement in His penultimate office as merciful High Priest, all-powerful Mediator, and righteous Judge during these hours of the pre-advent or investigative judgment taking place in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. It has been court week for God’s people since then, beginning with the righteous dead since Adam and moving on soon to the cases of the living, we know not precisely when! We are living in the most solemn period of earth’s history but our lives and plans don’t show it!
“Suppose that today Christ should appear in the clouds of heaven, who . . . .would be ready to meet Him? Suppose we should be translated into the kingdom of heaven just as we are [moral character-wise at this very moment]. Would we be prepared to unite with the saints of God, to live in harmony with the royal family, the children of the heavenly King? What preparation have you made for the judgment [which began in 1844, as announced by the first angel’s message, “Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made the heaven and the earth, and the fountains of waters” (Rev. 14: 6, 7) and has been in progress since then? [See below for more details]. Have you made your peace with God . . . Are you seeking to help those around you, those in your home, those in your neighborhood, those with whom you come in contact that are not keeping the commandments of God? . . .
“Remember that profession is worthless without a practice that enters into the daily life. God knows whether we are keeping His law in truth. He knows just what we are doing, just what we are thinking and saying. Are we getting ready to meet our King? When He comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, will you be able to say, ‘Lo, this is our God: we have waited for Him, and He will save us’ (Isa. 25:9)? To those who can say this Christ will say, ‘Come up higher. Upon this earth you have loved Me. You have loved to do My will. You can now enter the Holy City and receive the crown of everlasting life.
“If it were possible for us to be admitted into heaven as we are, how many of us would be able to look upon God? How many of us have on the wedding garment [the perfect righteousness of Christ, also called “the fine white linen which is the righteousness of the saints’ (Rev. 19: 8); that is, character purified by “overcoming Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony for they loved not their lives unto the death“(Rev. 12: 11) such that it is “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,” Eph. 5: 26, 27]. It is Christ formed within [Col. 1: 26, 27] that makes a man worthy of receiving the crown of life, that fadeth not away.
“I was pointed to the remnant of the earth. The angel said to them, ‘Will you shun the seven last plagues? . . . . If so, you must die that you may live. Get ready, get ready, get ready. You must have a greater preparation than ye now have. . . . . It will take all to enter glory.
”- Ibid, Maranatha, p. 98. This one thing we need to remember daily: ‘If you are right with God today, you are ready if Christ should come today.” – Ibid.
“At the time appointed for the judgment—the close of the 2300-days, in 1844—-began the work of investigative judgment and blotting out of sins. All who have ever taken upon themselves the name of Christ must pass its searching scrutiny. Both the living and the dead are to be judged ‘out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works’ [Rev. 20: 12; cf. Dan. 7: 9, 10, 13; Eccl. 12: 13, 14; Heb. 4: 12, 13].
“Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner in the day of God. He may have committed his deeds in the light of day or in the darkness of night; but they were open and manifest before Him with whom we have to do. Angels of God witnessed each sin, and registered it in the unerring records. Sin may be concealed, denied, covered up from father, mother, wife, children, and associates; no one but the guilty actors may cherish the least suspicion of the wrong; but it is laid bare before the intelligences of heaven. The darkness of the darkest night, the secrecy of all deceptive arts, is not sufficient to veil one thought from the knowledge of the Eternal. God has an exact record of every unjust account and every unfair dealing. He is not deceived by appearances of piety; He makes no mistakes in His estimation of character. Men may be deceived by those who are corrupt in heart, but God pierces all disguises and reads the inner life.
“How solemn is the thought! Day after day, passing into eternity, bears its burden of records for the books of heaven. Words once spoken, deeds once done, can never be recalled. Angels have registered both the good and the evil. The mightiest conqueror upon the earth cannot call back the record of even a single day. Our acts, our words, even our most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our destiny for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by us, they will bear their testimony to justify or condemn.” – Ibid, Great Controversy (1911), p. 486.
Anyone who has studied the sanctuary message in connection with the 2300-day prophecy and the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 will never set time for unfulfilled prophecies after 1844. The unprecedented uber-rapid changes in the physical, environmental, financial, technical, political, and military realms—all in the wake of boasted claims of human progress, renders, in fact, tomorrow even more uncertain. The disasters by land, sea, and air, increasing daily in every nation on earth are God’s merciful call for sinners to repent and return to Him!
Included in “no other work of so great importance” of “proclaiming the third angel’s message” (9T 19), and “exposing the wickedness of the man of sin” (TM 118) is also the following:
“False teachers may appear to be very zealous for the work of God, and may expend means to bring new theories before the world and the church; but as they mingle error with truth, their message is one of deception, and will lead souls into false paths. They are to be met and opposed, not because they are bad men, but because they are teachers of falsehood and endeavoring to put upon falsehood the stamp of truth.” – Ibid, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 55.
(To be continued next week)