Vol. 2 Timely
Greetings No. 39
THE ONLY
PEACE OF MIND
Volume 2
Number 39
Copyright, 1949 Reprint
All rights reserved
V.T. HOUTEFF
RIGHTEOUSNESS BY
GRACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS
BY FAITH, AND THE
RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2,
No. 39 1
TEXT FOR PRAYER
Measure not God's Work With Man's Yardstick
I shall read from Christ's Object Lessons,
page 79, paragraph one:
"The great leaders of religious thought
in this generation sound the praises and build the monuments of those who
planted the seed of truth centuries ago.
Do not many turn from this work to trample down the growth springing
from the same seed today? The old cry is
repeated, 'We know that God spake
unto Moses; as for this fellow [Christ in the messenger He sends], we know not
from whence he is.' As in earlier ages,
the special truths for this time are found, not with the ecclesiastical
authorities, but with men and women who are not too learned or too wise to
believe the word of God. 'For ye see
your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty.'"
This reading commands to pray for those who
are considered wise, for today as in times past the so-called great leaders of
religion are on the one hand sounding praises, building, as it were, monuments
to God's servants of centuries before, while on the other hand trampling down
God's messengers of their own day! They,
too, in effect say "We know that God spoke unto Moses; as for this fellow
we know not from whence He is." We
should pray that they realize their mistake of measuring the work of God by the
yardstick of man. And pray, too, that we
ourselves not fall unto such a practice.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2,
No. 39 2
RIGHTEOUSNESS
BY GRACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS
BY FAITH,
AND THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
MT.
There is much talk among us about
"righteousness by grace" and "righteousness by faith," also
about "the righteousness of Christ."
But of what profit will all this talk be to us unless we do something to
find out what these really are, and how to make them our own. We should therefore not fail in this, and we
cannot fail if we seek the Lord wholeheartedly as we study through the concrete
examples which the Spirit of Truth has placed at my hand.
To begin the study I shall read two verses
of scripture, first from Romans, then from Hebrews:
Rom. 11:6 --
"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more
grace. But if it be of works, then it is
no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."
We are called into the election of God, says
the scripture, not because of any good works of our own, but through God's
grace. We are, therefore, invited to
become Christians, the children of God, not because we deserve to be adopted by
Him, but because of His favor toward us.
Indeed, there is no other way by which we can be
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saved, for we all have sinned and, therefore, how can we be
saved except He, through His grace, forgive us our sins and start us out
anew? This is what is called a new
birth, the sum of which is that we deserve no credit for coming into the
household of God. The credit is His.
By our natural birth we are born sinners,
but by our spiritual birth we are born righteous. As born sinners we serve sin, but as born
righteous we serve righteousness. Hence
it is not by works, but by "grace" that we are what we are.
Heb. 11:1 --
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen."
By faith, not by sight, we know that we are
the sons of God, citizens of His government.
And as such we submit ourselves to His rules and laws. As such we honor and revere Him as our Saviour and King.
Let us
now for example go back to Noah's day.
Noah lived in an exceedingly wicked world, as you know. It was so wicked that, as merciful as God is,
He could no longer contain Himself while the wickedness went on. At long last He commanded Noah to build an
ark, and promised that all, whether righteous or wicked, who would go into the
ark would find deliverance from the awful flood. Since they did not merit such a favor, they
were, therefore, offered deliverance from the flood only through
"righteousness of grace" -- they were to be credited with
righteousness and be given life which they did not merit. Thus we see "grace" taking occasion
to save sinners even back in Noah's day.
And so, "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Rom.
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In Abraham's time, too, only about 400 years
after the flood the world had sunk deep in idol worship, and God commanded
Abraham to get out of his father's house, out of his idolatrous country, and to
go to another land, a land that was to be for his own and for God's people
only. And as any, good or bad, who
joined Abraham and his God were as freely permitted to enter into the Promised
Land as were the antediluvians permitted to enter the ark, they too, therefore,
were given "righteousness by grace"; that is, they were privileged to
take their stand for God with Abraham, and to share the blessings, but not
because of any good works of theirs.
Having endured to the end, Abraham, whose faith failed not, became the
father of all who through "righteousness by grace" attain
"righteousness by faith."
Hence you see that "righteousness by grace" starts us out into
"righteousness by faith," the reward of which is, "the
righteousness of Christ."
Later in history came the time that
whosoever, good and bad alike, joined the Exodus out of
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39 5
Having been given "righteousness by
grace" sufficient to cross the sea, and having come into the desert, they
were then given the finest chance to exercise "righteousness by
faith." But only those who did
exercise "righteousness by faith" lived on and entered the Promised
Land. Those, though, who made no more
use of "faith" in the desert than they did in
Finally, came the time for the faithful to
possess the land. And so it was that
only those whose "righteousness by faith"
sustained them, crossed the River Jordan.
None others did. And for our
benefit the Apostle has left this counsel: "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. For unto us was the gospel
preached, as well as unto them: but the Word preached did not profit them, not
being mixed with faith in them that heard it." Heb. 4:1,
2.
So far in our study we have seen that God is
impartial, that He has endeavored to save all peoples at all times in the same
way as He is endeavoring to save us; that He is not experimenting with Himself
-- not saving us one way and others another way.
The kingdom was at last set up in the
Promised Land and the people were left to continue in "righteousness by
faith." But as in times past
"faith" again waned, and the nation became unbearably wicked, -- so
wicked that God could no longer tolerate it to be called by His name while
living in His land. Forthwith both the
temple and the palace -- the spiritual and the physical -- were leveled to the
ground, and the people were
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carried away.
God nevertheless clung to His people as a
mother clings to her children, and after seven decades, having once again
extended to them righteousness by grace, God gave them the opportunity to
return to their homeland where they enjoyed revival and reformation, but only
for a little while. Rather than continue
in "righteousness by faith," they fell from "grace" and
became seven times worse than their predecessors.
Thus it was that if God was then to save any
one member of the nation He could do it only by offering another chance of
"grace." This time He gave the
gift of His only Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour upon Whom the iniquities of us all were laid. And hence, as mean and as wicked as were both
Jew and Gentile, they were all invited to the greatest gift of
"grace," the grace which only the life of the Son of God can
give. The Apostles themselves were not
for any good deed of their own, but through this gift of "righteousness by
grace," privileged to partake of the "righteousness by faith."
And so the unjust, the violators of the law
of God, have always through "righteousness by grace" been invited to
come into "righteousness by faith," the only righteousness that
actually receives the reward of "Christ's righteousness" and of
eternal life. "Now," says
Inspiration, "the just shall live by faith: but if any man
draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him." Heb. 10:38. The just, you see, live by faith, but the
unjust by grace. "Grace," you
note, is not the final touch of salvation.
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"Grace" plus
"faith," plus "the righteousness of Christ," are what earn
eternal life.
The law, moreover, does not save. It condemns sin and upholds
righteousness. "Therefore by the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law
is the knowledge of sin." Rom.
To repeat: "Grace" pardons our
sins and sets us free -- gives us another chance to make life what it ought to
be. Consequently, if you are under
"grace" you are not under the law, for "grace" has made you
free from the penalty which the law imposes.
Having failed to attain "righteousness
by faith," the Jews again fell from "grace"; and being by the
law, condemned to eternal death, they were again given "grace" -- a
second chance -- through the death of the Son of God. Those who availed themselves of the
"grace," came into the Christian church henceforth to remain free,
and were to sin no more save through mistake, mishap, or through short-sightedness,
sins of which we are forgiven if we do not continue
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therein.
"My little children," says
Inspiration, "these things write I unto you, that
ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation
for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for
the sins of the whole world. And hereby
we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I
know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him. But
whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of
God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him." 1 John 2:1-5.
The Christian church, though, did not long
continue in "grace," but it, too, in time fell even lower than the
Jewish church. Necessarily something had
to be done for her also if any of her members were to be made free, and if God
was still to have a church on earth.
Unquestionably, this "something" was none other than the
Protestant Reformation. But since we all
know that the Reformation has not yet accomplished its Divinely appointed
purpose, has not reached the accord and faith which the Church enjoyed on the
day of Pentecost, it is obvious that another attempt of revival and reformation
is an absolute necessity. But to know
all this for a certainty, we must turn to "the more sure word of
prophecy," to the prophet Ezekiel.
Ezek. 4:1, 2 -- "Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee,
and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: and
lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it;
set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round
about."
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Here the prophet was commanded to portray a
city, a
Finally, since the Christian church,
Ezek. 4:3 --
"Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron
between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be
besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This
shall be a sign to the house of
The wall of iron, illustrated by the iron
pan, is a perfect symbol of the separation which
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existed between Luther and the so-called
Ezek. 4:4, 5 -- "Lie thou also upon thy left side, and
lay the iniquity of the house of
To lay one's iniquity upon someone else, is to free the sinner from the penalty which he
deserves. It is an act which credits the
sinner with "righteousness" which he has not earned, and this is what
Inspiration calls "righteousness by grace." Previously the iniquity of the Jews was laid
upon Christ, and the nation was given a chance to step out of her death-cell,
so to speak, and to stand free in Christ.
Many, but not all, then availed themselves of this "righteousness
by grace" and stepped into "righteousness by faith." This same "grace," you see, was
again offered to the church in the sixteenth century, for to lay the iniquity
of the house of
This grace through Ezekiel continues 390
days -- years (Ezek. 4:6). After this period of time, the house of
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Ezekiel then bears their
sins no longer. Then is the time in
which they must hold fast to "righteousness of faith" if they are to
be rewarded with "Christ's righteousness" and with eternal life.
Ezek. 4:6, 7 -- "And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right
side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house
of
Ezekiel was to lie down on his right side,
not only for the iniquity of the house of
Ezek. 4:7, 8 -- "Therefore thou shalt set thy face
toward the siege of
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The uncovering of Ezekiel's arm, of course,
means that the might of the Reformation shall be seen, and the sins of
Moreover, the things spoken of here are sure
to take place, for Ezekiel is bound down so that he cannot turn over and change
the symbolization. He cannot get up at
will, until he has accomplished God's command, until he has ended the days of
his siege. Then in the end of this time
he is to arise and from then on let everyone bear his own iniquity. Ezekiel, therefore, while lying down is
symbolizing conditions during the Reformation from Luther's time down to the
end of the 430 years. Then Ezekiel
arises and is made the watchman: "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman
unto the house of
The difference between the Reformation
during the 430 years and the one after, is this:
During the 430 years "grace" lingered, whereas after this period of
time has run out, and while Ezekiel is up, those who fail to attain to
"righteousness by faith" will themselves have to pay the price of
their sins. No longer are their sins laid upon Ezekiel, and no longer is Ezekiel lying down and
inactive; no longer are
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they to be excused upon the ground of ignorance after the
warning has been sounded in their ears, for Ezekiel is plainly told:
"Son of man, I have made thee a
watchman unto the house of
Ezek. 4:9-11 -- "Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils,
and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread
thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt
lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt
thou eat thereof. And thy meat which
thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a
day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. Thou shalt drink
also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou
drink."
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The cereals mentioned in Ezek. 4:9 are six
in number, and are of course symbolical of spiritual food, the food with which
the flock has been fed during the 390 years.
Six kinds of cereals not only denote six kinds of truths, doctrines,
handed to the flock during the 390 year period, but also denote incompleteness
of Truth, for number seven, not six, is the Biblical denotation of
completeness. They are consequently the
doctrines which the reformers brought in:
(1) The doctrine of faith that made the
Lutheran denomination; (2) the doctrine of the Spirit that made the
Presbyterian denomination; (3) the doctrine of grace that made the Methodist
denomination; (4) the doctrine of baptism that made the Baptist denomination;
(5) the doctrine of the second Advent of Christ that made the First-day Adventist;
(6) the doctrine of the cleansing of the sanctuary along with the Seventh-day
Sabbath that made the Seventh-day Adventists.
(All other sects with their additions, omissions, and deductions, have
obviously branched from these six denominations.)
One may raise an argument, though only a
losing one, over the denominations here named, but one can hardly raise any
honest argument against the fact that these six doctrines (cereals) are the
main doctrines upon which Protestantism as a whole is built. However, be they these or other doctrines,
the truth that they are only six, means that a seventh truth is to be
unfolded. Moreover, these truths, says
Inspiration, were to be given sparingly, by weight, -- not everything that
pertains to the subject, -- and all Christendom knows that this has been the
case.
Ezek.
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cakes, and thou shalt bake it
with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. And the Lord said, Even
thus shall the children of
As the barley cake that smote and ruined the
Midianite tent did forecast Divine aid for Gideon's
victory over the Midianites, so the cereals eaten as
barley cakes do signify that the truths accepted were as of the Spirit, as of
Divine origin. In the preparation of
them, though, is where the objectionable part comes in, for Inspiration points
out that these were baked on "dung" instead of on wood, emphatically
denoting that these truths were defiled by men while being prepared for the
flock. And what else could the preparation
be but the private additions, omissions, perversions, and misapplications by
uninspired men who preach from the pulpits on these subjects, and who write the
so-called pure Bible truths and hand them to the people?
There is no mystery in this, for everybody
knows that the winds of doctrine blowing from all
directions, one contradicting the other, cannot all be pure Bible truth. The only surprising part is that Inspiration
foresaw it so long ago, and that no one discovered it before Inspiration Itself
did unfold it.
God, of course, is not holding this against
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anyone, for He says: "Even thus shall the children of
Thus prophecy declares that such has been
the spiritual food with which the flock has been fed for 390 years, the years
during the Reformation. And who can deny
it? Are we, then, still wondering which
denomination is dealing out unadulterated Truth to its members? Prophecy declares that none is, for such was
to be the food for all throughout the 390 years! And if they do not get new Heaven-inspired
Truth after the 390 years are passed, then they must feed on "dung"
baked food forever, and die with it.
This, I say again, should not be a surprise
to any, for everyone knows that since all the denominations disagree with one
another on the doctrines, they cannot possibly all be right. It may, however, be surprising to know that
not even one is absolutely right.
The scarcity of even these man-contaminated
truths, prophecy declares, is brought upon the Christian world so that they be
"astonied," that they realize their
poverty, their need of an absolute truth, so that when the Spirit of Truth
shall come, It shall find a responding chord in the hearts of men, else they be
consumed away in their iniquity.
To find exactly the beginning of the
430-year period, we must first find the year the period ended, the year in
which antitypical Ezekiel arose and began to sound the warning, the year in
which the Spirit of Truth unrolled the scroll and brought in an abundance of
Divinely inspired,
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pure and unadulterated Truth
(not baked upon dung), not by weight and not by measure either, -- the truths
which we have been feasting on from this series of studies and which the
Association has so freely and faithfully published in the Timely Greetings and
other publications, and has scattered world-wide as leaves of Autumn -- a
phenomenon which the Church has never before seen! And when I say as the leaves of Autumn, I really mean just that, for these leaves -- yes,
millions of them -- are dropped everywhere among the Laodiceans
unsparingly, without price, and without obligation.
This message, as some of you already know,
began to unfold in 1930. Hence, if we
subtract 430 years from 1930, we are taken back to 1500, the time Martin
Luther's call came, the time he began to study the Bible, the time he started
to prepare for the work of the Reformation.
This message was, therefore, by God Himself planned and timed back in
Ezekiel's time, all for your good and mine!
How thoughtful God is! And how unworthy we are.
As the 430-year period during which our sins
were laid upon Ezekiel, is behind us, we ourselves, not Ezekiel, are henceforth
to be responsible for our sins if we now fail to give heed to the message of
the hour and to attain to "righteousness by faith." How important, then, that we not neglect our
opportunity now to accept what God sends, and to attain to "righteousness
by faith" in order that we be rewarded with "the righteousness of
Christ." Thus only can we expect to
escape the slaughter weapons of the angels and to live and reign with Christ
during the thousand years.
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According to this fresh unfolded prophecy
there is to be no other chance, you see, no other opportunity for the Laodiceans, the house of
Since we have seen that the 430 years ended
in 1930, we had better now find out when the 390 years ended, the time the 40
years of grace began. To find this date
we subtract 40 years from 1930, which takes us back to 1890. What happened then to mark the beginning of
the 40 years? -- Just this: The denomination then wholly rejected the message
that was to unfold the truth of "righteousness by faith" and the
"righteousness of Christ," the very truth that again began to unfold
years later, the Truth that we are now feasting on! God in His mercy, therefore, laid their
iniquity upon the prophet Ezekiel during those 40 years, -- gave them a chance
through "righteousness by grace" so that they might have opportunity
now to enter into "righteousness by faith," and thus reap the reward
of "the righteousness of Christ."
Here we see that history repeats itself:
Ancient Israel's giving ear to the evil report which the ten spies brought
caused them to lose
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faith in the power of God, and did therefore, set
themselves back 40 years from entering the Promised Land.
In like manner, the Denomination, you see,
has from 1890 to 1930 been wandering in the wilderness, as it were. They have, we might say, been put on trial. Here is where you plainly see that the
ancient wilderness wandering was typical.
Here type meets antitype. And
their rejecting "righteousness by faith," you perceive, did not mean
that God was defeated and that He would therefore never again bring to us the
same Truth which could have been theirs forty years ago.
Moreover, just as those who in Moses' time
refused to advance by faith died in the wilderness, so the men who in the years
1888-1890 were responsible for refusing to advance in Truth, died before God
came back with it the second time.
Finally, as the second ancient effort to take the land succeeded
immediately after Achan, the last sinner in that day, was stoned, so the second effort of today must, too,
succeed right after the Achans of today are destroyed
by the angels of Ezekiel Nine.
What a rebuke for the leading brethren this
is! What a lesson for us! And how little
chance they stand if they continue blindly to fight back! The laity, though, who come in contact with this
Truth could be of great help to them if instead of consenting to the
opposition's unreasonable demand that the laity give up studying these
scriptures upon threat of losing their membership, they would themselves demand
from the opposition a better, or at least an equally reasonable,
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exposition of the scriptures in question rather than give
up. Foolish it is to reject Truth in
order to retain your name in
I say it is foolish to reject Truth merely
on someone's say so rather than to go to God in prayer and to act in harmony
with your own convictions through the Spirit that leads into all Truth. To do otherwise is to deny any personal
connection with Heaven, and to put your trust in man, to make "flesh your
arm." Isa. 2:22.
Do not, therefore, let the enemy talk you out of this Truth, especially
in the face of the fact that the opposition has nothing substantial, nothing authoritative, or official, nothing to take its place. And how foolish for one to try to ascertain
Truth by the mind of the opposition! It is as sensible as if you should solicit
the opinion of a Republican politician about your desire to vote on a
Democratic ballot! There would be some
sense in going for help to someone who is unbiased, but never any sense in
going to one who is as opposed to this Truth as were the priests, scribes, and
Pharisees opposed to Christ's teachings.
If you do not see every point as clearly as
you would like, why not take the counsel of the Spirit of Prophecy? Let me read to you a few paragraphs:
"...if a message comes that you do not
understand, take pains that you may hear the reasons the messenger may give,
comparing scripture with scripture, that you may know whether or not it is
sustained by the word of God. If you
believe that the positions taken have not the word of God
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for their foundation, if the position you hold on the
subject cannot be controverted, then produce your
strong reasons; for your position will not be shaken by coming in contact with
error. There is no virtue or manliness
in keeping up a continual warfare in the dark, closing your eyes lest you may
see, closing your ears lest you may hear, hardening your heart in ignorance and
unbelief lest you may have to humble yourselves and acknowledge that you have
received light on some points of truth." -- Counsels on
"Precious light is to shine forth from
the word of God, and let no one presume to dictate what shall or what shall not
be brought before the people in the messages of enlightenment that He shall
send, and so quench the Spirit of God.
Whatever may be his position of authority, no one has a right to shut
away the light from the people. When a
message comes in the name of the Lord to His people, no one may excuse himself
from an investigation of its claims. No
one can afford to stand back in an attitude of indifference and self-confidence,
and say: 'I know what is truth. I am satisfied with my position. I have set my stakes, and I will not be moved
away from my position, whatever may come.
I will not listen to the message of this messenger; for I know that it
cannot be truth.' It was from pursuing
this very course that the popular churches were left in partial darkness, and
that is why the messages of heaven have not reached them." --
"There is yet much precious truth to be
revealed to the people in this time of peril and darkness, but it is Satan's
determined purpose to prevent the light of truth from shining into
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the hearts of men.
If we would have the light that has been provided for us, we should show
our desire for it by diligently searching the word of God. Precious truths that have long been in
obscurity are to be revealed in a light that will make manifest their sacred
worth; for God will glorify His word, that it may appear in a light in which we
have never before beheld it. But those
who profess to love the truth must put to the stretch their powers, that they
may comprehend the deep things of the word, that God
may be glorified and His people may be blessed and enlightened. With humble hearts, subdued by the grace of
God, you should come to the task of searching the Scriptures, prepared to
accept every ray of divine light, and to walk in the way of holiness." --
Id, pg. 25.
Moreover, you never see the whole world at a
glance. You only see a part of it at a
time. Likewise you cannot expect to see
the whole Truth all at once, but only a little at a time. Cling to that little, and as you continue in
prayer and study, it will all become as clear as the sun and you will begin to
comprehend the subject in its entirety.
Brother, Sister, no longer pass up your
opportunity. Act now and make peace with
God. Flee now from the abominations, and
take your stand at God's right hand if you wish His blessing and life
forevermore. "Today if ye will hear
His voice, harden not your hearts." Heb 4:7. Realize that God Himself is speaking to you,
that these are not mortal words, not myths, that this is a message which has
remained sealed through the centuries, and which is now unsealed and brought to
you as fresh as lilies covered with summer's dew.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2,
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One of the most important parts of this
study, you see, is the fact that during the 430 years -- from 1500 to 1930 --
the iniquity of us all has been laid on the prophet of God. I say, because of this abundant
"grace" that has prevailed all through the years,
we are permitted to be here today. Men,
though, have taken advantage of God's "grace," and have come to think
that He has forsaken the earth, that He has left us to do as we will, and to
get along as best we can. We all will
change our minds as soon as God's forewarning is completed.
Hence, those Laodiceans
who would avail themselves of the opportunity to partake of this feast of fresh
and unadulterated "meat in due season," who would now at the last
call hold to the "righteousness by grace" already given them, -- they
all may enter into the "righteousness by faith" that is to be
rewarded with "the righteousness of Christ," and thus crowned with
eternal life. Obviously, all others will
have to bear their own iniquity and pay their own penalty. They will have to perish.
True, you think you have need of nothing,
but God Who really knows says you are "wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked," in need of everything. Would you not take His advice and anoint your
eyes with the eyesalve that you may see?
Finally, when the warning message has
reached the people, then those who do not profit by it, who do not reform, --
who fail to "sigh and cry for all the abominations in the midst
thereof," -- then it is that those who do not now attain to
"righteousness by faith," shall find themselves without the
"mark." They will consequently
have
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No. 39 24
to pay the penalty for their sins, perish under the
slaughter weapons of the angels. (Read
Ezekiel Nine; Testimonies For The Church, Vol. 3, pp. 266, 267; Testimonies For
The Church, Vol. 5, pp. 210, 211.)
Plainly, the house of
The lessons that are taught in this chapter
are these: First it is pointed out that the period of "righteousness by
grace" is now in the past; that we have now come to the time in which our
safety lies only in practicing "righteousness by faith," if we expect
to be rewarded with the "righteousness of Christ," and crowned with
eternal life. The second lesson teaches
that the Church does not yet have all the Truth, and that which she does have
is contaminated, "baked on dung."
Hence the great need that we have Inspired Truth from the Throne of God;
for with it we are saved, and without it we are lost.
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