Vol. 1 Timely
Greetings No. 52
THE ONLY
PEACE OF MIND
Volume 1
Number 52
Copyright, 1953 Reprint
All rights reserved
V.T. HOUTEFF
FIVE MEN SLAY AFTER ONE
SETS A MARK
TEXT FOR PRAYER
Bringing New Truths
I shall read from "Christ's Object
Lessons," page twenty, beginning with the second paragraph.
"In the earlier part of His ministry,
Christ had spoken to the people in words so plain that all His hearers might
have grasped truths which would make them wise unto salvation. But in many hearts the truth had taken no
root, and it had been quickly caught away.
'Therefore speak I to them in parables,' He
said; 'because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand.... Jesus desired to awaken inquiry.
He sought to arouse the careless, and impress truth upon the
heart...."
In Christ's day it was just as difficult to
bring new truths to the people as it is today.
Jesus used every possible means to interest the people in the present
Truth of His day, but you know what little success He did have -- just a few of
the common people. The so-called learned
men of the day bitterly opposed Him and spent their time and
means to falsely accuse Him of one thing, then of another. In the kind of world we live we cannot expect
the people to be different today than what they were in His day. Let us therefore pray that we ever keep
awake, that we continue to be even more dissatisfied with our attainments as
the days go by lest we, too, be found wanting -- back into Laodiceanism. Let us pray that our hearts be ever open to
His unfolding Truth, and that we never lose our hunger for "meat in due
season."
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FIVE MEN
SLAY AFTER ONE SETS A MARK
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
The subject of our study this afternoon is
found in the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.
We shall begin with--
Ezek. 9:1-6 -- "He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them
that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying
weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men
came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth
toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in
his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's
inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen
altar. And the glory of the God of
Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the
house. And He called to the man clothed
with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto
him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set
a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the
abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the
city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old
and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any
man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which
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were before the house."
Note that at the command of Lord, the angels
in charge are to slay the sinners in
The day Ezekiel had this vision in
Inspiration in our day, moreover, puts this
foreseen cleansing still in the future and makes this explanation:
"The class who do not feel grieved over
their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left
without the seal of God. The Lord
commissions his messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hands:
'Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither
have ye pity; slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and
women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my
sanctuary. Then they began at the
ancient men which were before the house.'
"Here we see that the church -- the
Lord's sanctuary was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given
great light, and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the
people," says the Spirit of God, "had
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betrayed their trust." --
"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. 5, pg. 211.
The enemies of God, you note, have taken
possession of the churches, but soon the tables will be turned, and the
servants of the Devil will be no more; they will fall and not be found.
The people, you note, are deceived by the
ancient men who have betrayed their trust.
You well know that the prophets, the apostles, Jesus Christ, and the
reformers, were all in their times railed against and taunted as
"Offshoots," but we thank God that the "offshoots" and the
Truth, not the dead tops, triumphed.
"...They [the ancient men] had taken
the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of
God's power as in former days." --
"Testimonies," Vol. 5, pg. 211.
Is not this now the position of the ancient
men? Are they not now crying peace and
safety? Are they not now preaching that
Ezekiel nine is not now to take place and that it is not to take place in the
church, that this message is a false alarm?
What does it take to awaken a dreaming sleeper? They are dreaming that--
"...Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and
they say, The Lord will not do good, neither will he
do evil." "God will not slay
His people," "The church is His most precious object on earth,"
they say.
Of course the church is His most precious
object on earth, and that is just exactly why He is to cleanse it, that is why
He is to slay the wicked in the midst of her
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and seal (preserve) the penitent so that He may have a church
clean, "without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing." -- Eph. 5:27.
"...Thus peace and safety is the cry
from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's
people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs, that would not bark, are the
ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children, all perish
together." -- "Testimonies," Vol. 5, pg. 211. Continuing further, the Spirit of God asks:
"Who are standing in the counsel of God
at this time? Is it those who virtually
excuse wrongs among the professed people of God, and who murmur in their
hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against
them, and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed!
Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who
have the burden of the work, and in holding up the hands of sinners in
"But the general slaughter of all those
who do not
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thus see the wide contrast
between sin and righteousness, and do not feel as those do who stand in the
counsel of God and receive the mark, is described in the order to the five men
with slaughter weapons: 'Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not
your eye spare, neither have ye pity; slay utterly old and young, both maids,
and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the
mark; and begin at my sanctuary.'" --
"Testimonies," Vol. 3, pg. 267.
Here are shown two classes in the church --
the faithful and the unfaithful -- those who view sin as sin and those who view
it as fun. Also it is seen that the
church has a closing work, a work that must be done especially for her, not for
the world. In addition, it reveals that
the closing work for the church is the sealing of the 144,000, that they,
therefore, are the ones who will feel most deeply the wrongs among God's
professed people.
Ezek. 9:7-11 -- "And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with
the slain: go ye forth. And they went
forth, and slew in the city. And it came
to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my
face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou destroy all the residue of
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When is this separation of the wicked from
among the righteous to take place? Jesus
places it in the end of the world. Says
He:
"Let both grow together until the
harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye
together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the
wheat into My barn.
Again, the
As tares they are burned; as bad fish, they
are cast out. This is the way in which the Kingdom comes, says the Lord. And what is the harvest if not the Judgment
for the Living? -- the work which separates the one
from the other.
"The true people of God," says
Inspiration, "who have the spirit of the work of the Lord, and the
salvation of souls at heart, will ever view sin in its real, sinful
character. They will always be on the
sides of faithful and plain dealing with sins which easily beset the people of
God. Especially in the closing work for
the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who
are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply
the wrongs of God's professed people. This is forcibly set forth by the prophet's
illustration of the last work under the figure of the men each having a
slaughter weapon in his hand." --
"Testimonies," Vol. 3, pg. 266. On which side do you stand?
Now the subject of the
144,000 stands out brighter than ever before. Now you can clearly see that those
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who escape the slaughter foreseen in Ezekiel nine, are
the 144,000 the future servants of God, the first fruits of the harvest,
resulting from the cleansing of the sanctuary (church), the work of the
investigative judgment of the living.
This work and this Truth, therefore, are the most important for the day,
and should whole-heartedly be heeded if one expects to receive the mark and the
seal and escape the slaughter, survive the great and dreadful day of the
Lord. Our neglect to sigh and cry for
the abominations in the church would mean our eternal loss. We dare not allow anything to divert our
attention from this great and glorious work for the saints, and most dreadful
and inglorious for the sinners. This
work must "engross the whole mind, the whole attention." --
"Early Writings," p. 118.
Nothing should be allowed to interfere with your eternal welfare. No, not for a moment, for the day is far
spent! What? -- friends,
relatives, husbands, wives, you are to lose them with yourself if this Truth
fails to convince you and them? But the
promise to the faithful is: "For your shame ye shall have double; and for
confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they
shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them." Isa. 61:7.
Do you, Brother, Sister, actually
comprehend, actually realize, the crisis as outlined
here? Do you see the prediction that the
sealing message is to be resisted by those who foster the abominations? Are you with them? I hope not.
Is there then any question that if the brethren are left ignorant of
this cleansing work that God is about to do among His people, I say, if they be
left ignorant of it, will they not fall in the general destruction of the
wicked, represented by the work of the five men bearing slaughter weapons?
Obviously all the sinners in the church will
perish
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in this slaughter of the wicked, be they men, women, or
children. Parents who continue to serve
the Devil will have their little ones with them in hell; and parents who break
away from abominations will have their little ones with them in the
Kingdom. Where do you stand? Are you with those who have the burden of
this work, or are you against them? This
you see is the decisive hour for you, for me.
"...Mark this point with care,"
counsels the Spirit of God. "Those
who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy
Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those 'that sigh and that
cry for all the abominations that be done' in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory
of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of
sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel." -- "Testimonies," Vol. 3, pg. 267.
Who are true Seventh-day Adventists at this
crucial moment? -- Those who resist the closing work for the church? or those who put
their heart and soul into it? Let us
face the situation honestly and sincerely.
Let us anoint our eyes with this Heavenly eyesalve
that we might see and know what Truth is.
Only those who repent and promote the message of the hour rather than
fight against it will stand with the Lamb on
Let me read again:
"In the time when his wrath shall go
forth in judgments, these humble, devoted followers of Christ will be
distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul-anguish, which is
expressed in lamentation and
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weeping, reproofs and warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the
existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who
have a zeal for God's honor and a love for souls, will not hold their peace to
obtain favor of any. Their righteous
souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the
unrighteous. They are powerless to stop
the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and
alarm. They mourn before God to see
religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because
pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the
church. The Spirit of God, which prompts
to reproof, is trampled under foot, while the servants of Satan
triumph...." --
"Testimonies," Vol. 5, pp. 210, 211.
No longer serve Satan. No longer fight God's Truth against your own
interests. The Spirit of Prophecy in these
lines has made it as plain as it can be made, that when the sealing message is
brought to the attention of the people, the servants of the Devil will
temporarily triumph, while God's servants and His Truth for a time will be
trampled under foot by those who control the churches. This evil work, you are all well aware, is
already in progress: The ministering brethren are already fighting the message
instead of teaching it. The pulpits are
occupied by men who Sabbath after Sabbath stage tirade after tirade against
this Truth, the Truth of the Judgment for the Living.
As the gospel prophet in chapter sixty-six
was also given light on this subject, we shall turn to it.
Isa. 66:15-17, 19 -- "For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and
with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His
rebuke with flames of
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fire. For by fire
and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord
shall be many.
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens [in
places of worship] behind one tree [following a leader] in the midst, eating
swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.... And I will set a sign among them, and I
will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish,
Pul, and Lud, that draw the
bow, to Tubal, and Javan,
to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame,
neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the
Gentiles."
Here it is reiterated that the slaying takes
place in the church among those who are well acquainted with the things of God,
so much so that those who escape are sent to declare His glory, and His fame
among the Gentiles. Moreover, the very
fact that the Gentiles are not slain but are to be taught of God after the
slaying takes place, positively shows that the slaying takes place in the
church only, and before probation closes for the Gentiles. To repeat, those who escape the slaying are
sent to preach salvation to the Gentiles.
Isa. 66:20 -- "And they [the escaped ones, says the
scripture] shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of
all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and
upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith
the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into
the house of the Lord."
Since the 144,000 are the first fruits, and
also the servants of God, and are of both the antitypical house of
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sent ones. Those
whom they bring to the house of the Lord out of all nations (Rev. 7:9) must,
therefore, be the second fruits. The
former are the fruits from the church, and the latter the fruits from the
Gentiles (See Revelation 7:2-9).
In order to hush the Truth, the ancients in
their wickedness and ignorance now teach the laity that the subject of the
144,000 is a moot question rather than revealed Truth! The Devil would have it thus so that the
people might fall under the slaughter weapons of the angels. What folly!
And, what a hold the Devil has on the men that control the
churches! Are they not deceiving the
very elect, the 144,000? This is truly
the time for you to "come to the help of the Lord against the
mighty," if you are to receive God's mark of approval, and if you are to
escape the slaughter weapons of the angels -- if you are to be
"left," if you are to be of the remnant.
There has never been made so great an effort
to awaken any people in any age, as the effort of today. Hundreds and thousands, yes, millions, of
booklets have been scattered throughout the Denomination. These have been going now for over a
decade. Truly it can even now be said of
the church:
"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee,
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you, That it shall be more tolerable for the
The Devil today, you see, has the people
deeper in the pit than he had them in the days of Christ or in the days of
Luther. The Lord's victory, though, and
the victory of those who escape from the pit, shall be just that much more
glorious. "And they shall call
them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and
thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not
forsaken." Isa. 62:12.
"Behold upon the mountains the feet of
him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy
solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through
thee; he is utterly cut off." Nah. 1:15.
The wicked in the church, you note, have
finally come to their end. With which
company do you stand? With those who
close their eyes to this Truth? or with those who endeavor to bring It to the front? You judge your own case.
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