Vol. 2 Timely
Greetings No. 30
THE ONLY
PEACE OF MIND
Volume 2
Number 30
Copyright, 1953 Reprint
All rights reserved
V.T. HOUTEFF
THE REVIVAL
AND REFORMATION
CROWNED
WITH THE PURIFICATION
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
MT.
The text for our subject this afternoon is
Malachi's prophecy. It treats of a
revival and reformation such as the world has never yet known. Moreover, the fact that the prophecy is
written in such a way as partially to apply to ancient Israel, and yet
specifically for the people in the latter days, for those who are approaching
the great and dreadful day of the Lord, prove that the reformation needed in
Malachi's day is needed also in our day.
There is nothing so mysterious in the
writings of Malachi but what any Bible student can comprehend by studying the
book itself. I shall therefore study
with you the last two chapters. The
first two you can study at your leisure.
We shall begin with--
Mal. 3:1, 2 -- "Behold, I will send My messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly
come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand
when he appeareth?
for he is like a refiner's fire, and like
fullers' sope."
Two persons are here disclosed to view, the
messenger
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and the Lord. The
messenger is to precede the coming of the Lord.
He is to prepare the way, then the Lord is to
appear. And who could this messenger be
if not the one whom the Lord names? -- He declares, "Behold, I will send
you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord." Mal. 4:5.
This messenger of the covenant (of the
promise), antitypical Elijah the prophet shall prepare the way; he shall
restore all things. As he prepares the
way, the Lord will suddenly come to His temple, to His church. And what is His work to be? To purify or cleanse His
people by weeding the unrepented sinners from among
them. The question: "But who
may abide the day of His coming?" solemnly declares that we had better now
get busy and do what it takes to make us stand before the cleansing begins.
Whom
in particular will He purify? -- Let us read--
Mal. 3:3 --
"And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify
the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto
the Lord an offering in righteousness."
The Levites, you know, comprised the tribe
from which came the priesthood, the ministers of the Lord. And since this prophecy is to meet its
complete fulfillment in our day, the figure is clear: The Levites, the
ministers of the Lord in our day, are to be purified. What then?
Mal. 3:4 --
"Then shall the offering of
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old, and as in former years."
This verse implies that the offerings which
we now bring to the Lord are not pleasing to Him, not
pleasing as in times past.
Here we have the glorious promise that not
long hence there shall be a pure ministry, a pure people, -- a people without
guile in their mouths, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing (Eph.
This glorious future is, moreover,
reiterated by the Spirit of Prophecy in our day. Here it is:
"...Only those who have withstood
temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in
proclaiming it [the Third Angel's Message] when it shall have swelled into the
Loud Cry." -- "Review and Herald,"
"We have been inclined to think that
where there are no faithful ministers, there can be no true Christians; but
this is not the case. God has promised
that were the shepherds are not true he will take charge of the flock
himself. God has never made the flock
wholly dependent upon human instrumentalities.
But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place, we
shall be better able to measure the strength of
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purge his floor.
"The days are fast approaching when
there will be great perplexity and confusion.
Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very
elect. There will be gods many and lords
many. Every wind of doctrine will be
blowing. Those who have rendered supreme
homage to 'science falsely so-called,' will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius,
or talent, will now then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful
will not then be entrusted with the flock.
In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God,
and he cannot use them. The Lord has
faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to
view. There are precious ones now hidden
who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated
blaze upon you." -- "Testimonies," Vol. 5, pg.
80.
In the sifting, shaking time
("Testimonies," Vol. 5, pg. 80) we shall be better able to know how
many are really serving the Lord. Those
whom we may think are to lead the church into the Kingdom may be missing, while
others entirely unknown to us take their places.
Moreover, it will be found that those who
are constantly drilling into the minds of the laity that there are to be no
more messengers sent from God, no more Truth needed, and that someone is constantly
trying to deceive them; that they should keep aloof from everything that does
not meet the minister's approval, -- those who do this are the very ones who
have already unwittingly deceived the laity, and are doing
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their best to keep them deceived. This fact, you see, stands up high like a
beacon on a hill.
The only thing their carefulness not to be
deceived will accomplish, unless they awake, is to keep themselves deceived
forever and away from Truth. These shall
not be able to stand when the Lord appears in His temple. Hence, the revival and reformation brought to
view in Malachi is the first and the last of its kind, and is indeed to be
crowned with the purification of the Church.
Those who do not awake now, will therefore
sleep for ever.
The Laodicean
deception from within should not be news to you, for you well know that the
Church has never in any age been deceived by any but by its own ministry, by
those who have been as highly esteemed as were the members of the Sanhedrin,
those who crucified the Lord, those who kept the nation deceived until it was
too late to recover. Thus it was then,
before then, and thus it has been ever since, and so it is now. Stop and think this through.
No, I am not telling you something new. You know this to be so, but you never think
of it, and that is the main trouble with the entire Denomination.
The Church purified shall nevertheless
triumph and march to victory. "'Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and
terrible as an army with banners,' she is to go forth into all
the world, conquering and to conquer." --
"Prophets and Kings," pg. 725.
Let us once and forever realize that the
Devil is more shrewd than we can imagine. He is not particular what you believe so long
as he can keep you ignorant of revealed Truth.
This is what he is now doing within
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the Church, using men of
influence, men who can put on the best front, men who are clever, who know how
to gain the confidence of the people, men who can easily and quietly lead the
Church away from God's messages for today, the message of the Judgment for the
Living -- the purification of the church, the cleansing of the sanctuary. Satan is doing as good a job now as he did in
Christ's time.
Is not the knowledge of Malachi's prophecy,
the purification of the Church, the Judgment for the Living, more important to
the Church than the Judgment for the Dead?
Does it look to you as though you are being deceived by this Bible
study, or does it look to you as though you need to reform?
Hear, therefore, what the Lord is about to
do:
Mal. 3:5 --
"And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness
against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in
his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from
his right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of
hosts."
These are only some of the sins in the
Church in which men are indulging.
Speaking of the message bearers of today and of the church's condition
Inspiration further says: "...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. God is dishonored, the truth made of none
effect." -- "Testimonies," Vol. 5, pp. 210,
211.
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You will receive the mark of deliverance
only if you sigh and cry against all these abominations. Ezek. 9:4-6.
To this list of sins the Lord calls
attention to the following, and asks us to repent:
Mal. 3:6-9 -- "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Even from the days of your
fathers ye are gone away from Mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return
unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein
shall we return? Will a man rob
God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee?
In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have
robbed me, even this whole nation."
These verses do not blame the individual
members of the church for robbing the Lord, but the whole denomination, the
"whole nation." Moreover, you will note that the story of Malachi
chapter three begins with chapter two.
There you will note that the Lord addresses the ministry, not the laity,
saying, "...O ye priests, this commandment is for you." Mal.
2:1. Plainly, then, the trouble lies in
the fact that though the laity as a rule pay faithful tithe and offerings God
nevertheless is robbed because the Denomination is taking the tithes and at the
same time is fighting rather than accepting and promulgating His message for
today -- the Judgment for the Living.
His money is used to cheat His people from His Truth instead of
enlightening them with It -- keeping His people in
darkness and deception, even barring them from investigating the message of the
hour for themselves. What a charge!
Here is what God would have the laity do:
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Mal. 3:10 --
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Where is one to look for God's storehouse?
-- wherever God's Truth is for today, from wherever
"meat in due season" is dispensed.
The statement, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse," implies that
some are already bringing into it, but not all.
This, along with the charge that the whole nation is robbing God,
positively shows that the tithes are now brought, not to God's storehouse, but
to some other house. To repeat, God's
storehouse has ever been and ever will be where "the message of the
Hour" is, where "Present Truth" is, the house from which
"meat in due season" is dispensed at the time the tithes are paid.
Since the old message, the "Judgment
for the Dead," is out of date as is the message of Noah's flood, it is
plainly seen that inasmuch as the Denomination as a whole has rejected and is
fighting the message of the hour, but is still collecting the tithes of the
people, it is indeed robbing God.
His people are, therefore, asked to send
their tithes to the "storehouse" whence Present Truth is dispensed,
for it is Present Truth that the flock needs now. "There are many precious truths
contained in the word of God, but it is 'present truth' that the flock needs
now." -- "Early Writings," pg. 63. Those who obey have this promise:
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Mal.
Under no other conditions does He promise
His blessings. You have hard luck? You cannot make ends meet? Start paying your tithes. Note carefully that God requires not only
tithe but tithes; that is, tithe and free will offering. He does not want them spent on something of
your own devising. You are to bring them
into the "store house."
"...Concerning the first tithe, the Lord had declared, 'I have
given the children of Levi all the tenth in
"Every third year, however, this second
tithe was to be used at home, in entertaining the Levite and the poor, as Moses
said, 'That they may eat within
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thy gates, and be filled.' This tithe would provide a fund for the uses
of charity and hospitality." -- "Patriarchs and
Prophets," pg. 530.
The command is, "...they shall not
appear before the Lord empty." Deut. 16:16.
God does not lie. He carries out His promises. He never fails. There is nothing more offensive to Him than
unbelief and unfaithfulness in His Word.
Mal. 3:13-15 -- "Your words have been stout against Me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What
have we spoken so much against Thee? Ye
have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is
it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before
the Lord of hosts? And now we call the
proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt
God are even delivered."
Here is pointed out another need of reform:
We as a Denomination are charged with imagining that the ungodly are better off
than those who serve God. Before drawing
such a conclusion, let each first examine himself and
see if he is really and honestly serving God.
Mal.
If we give undivided attention to God's
Word, if
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we do all He asks us to do, we shall indeed be His
people, His "jewels." Then a book of remembrance shall be written of
us and our good and heroic deeds shall be read by the redeemed throughout
eternity!
Mal.
We may not now see the difference between
him who serves God, and him who serves Him not, but the day is fast approaching
when the difference will be seen by all.
Mal. 4:1, 4 -- "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all
the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that
cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts,
that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.... Remember ye the law of
Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb
for all
Here we are asked to remember the law of
Moses which God commanded in Horeb -- the ten
commandments, the statutes and judgments (Deut. 4:10-14).
Mal. 4:5, 6 -- "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the
fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse."
The word "behold," calls our
attention back to chapter 3, verse 1, where we are told that the Lord will send
His messenger to prepare the way of the Lord for the Judgment for the Living --
for the purification.
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Obviously, besides preparing
the way of the Lord, Elijah, the Lord's messenger, is to declare that the great
and dreadful day of the Lord is at hand.
The work of ancient Elijah, you know, was
the closing work for typical apostate
Moreover, if Elijah is a messenger, he is to
have a message. His message is to be
heart-searching, for he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the hearts of the children to the fathers -- the fathers shall long to see
their children saved, and the children shall long to see their fathers
saved. And this revival and reformation
shall in truth be crowned with the purification of the Church, with the Lord's
slaying the antitypical false prophets of today (Isa.
66:16). "For the time is come that
judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what
shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" 1 Pet. 4:17. "For by fire and by His sword will the
Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many....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 the shall declare My glory among the
Gentiles. And they 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
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into the house of the Lord." Isa. 66:16, 19, 20.
This slaying, you see, takes place before
probation closes for the escaped ones are sent to the Gentiles, to finish the
gospel work -- to gather all their brethren from among them.
"Therefore we ought to give the more
earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let
them slip. For if the word spoken by
angels was stedfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began
to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him;...
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest,
any of you should seem to come short of it." Heb. 2:1-3; 4:1.
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