Vol. 2 Timely
Greetings No. 46
THE ONLY
PEACE OF MIND
Volume 2
Number 46
Copyright, 1950 Reprint
All rights reserved
V.T. HOUTEFF
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?
WHO MAY TAKE HOLD OF IT? AND WHO MAY MISS IT?
TEXT FOR PRAYER
The Barren Tree
I shall read from Christ's Object Lessons,
pp. 217, 218, beginning with paragraph one:
"The barren tree receives the rain and
the sunshine and the gardener's care. It
draws nourishment from the soil. But its
unproductive boughs only darken the ground, so that fruit-bearing plants can not
flourish in its shadow....
"With what unwearied love did Christ
minister to
"'If it bear fruit, well; and if not,
then after that'
"The heart that does not respond to
divine agencies becomes hardened until it is no longer susceptible to the influence
of the Holy Spirit. Then it is that the
word is spoken, 'Cut it down; why cumbereth it the
ground?'"
This parable explains that Christianity is
plant-like; it is like a fruit tree.
Moreover, it explains that God is very patient with us in our
Christianity, for in the parable only after the third fruitless year would the
Lord consider cutting down the barren fig tree, and even then He was convinced
to wait still another year. Thus we see
that we are given plenty of time in which to make good, -- plenty of time to
begin bearing fruit. There is,
nevertheless, as in the parable, no fruitless tree to be spared beyond the
fourth parabolic year.
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THE GIFT OF
MIRACLES
Especially
Healing And Speaking In Tongues, -- When, How, Who?
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
MT.
Never before was the doctrine of miracles,
especially of tongues and of healing, so variously agitated, urged, and
practiced as it is throughout Christendom today. Yet never was there greater doubt as to the
genuineness of the manifestations. And
when confronted by the agitators of these miracles, those who do not believe in
or accept them, nor possess their power, resort to saying just about anything
and everything they can think of in their effort to counter the phenomena and
to comfort themselves with their limited spiritual attainments. To clear away the smoke which has resulted
from this fiery issue between these two hostile camps of Christians, and to
expose the truth on the subject, which the master enemy has so completely
covered up, is Inspiration's purpose herein.
Basic to a right understanding of the entire
subject is the fundamental fact that on the day of Pentecost the disciples
truly spoke in all the languages of the people that were then present.
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No. 46 23
From this pivotal point, no one can diverge,
and yet believe the record, or know the truth it contains:
"And when the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. And there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of
them. And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance. And there were dwelling at
Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that
every man heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold,
are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue,
wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,
and the dwellers in
Although this subject is confounded by
controversy, yet there stands forth out of it the indisputable fact that,
regardless of anyone's claims, no other sect of people, since the
miracle-endowed
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disciples passed away, have possessed the gift which all of
the 120 received on the Pentecost. Hence
the plain truth is that that gift subsequently lifted it's
wings, as it were, and departed from among men, as verily as did the disciples
themselves, and that never since that day has it remanifested
itself.
Would any take issue with this assertion, then all that is necessary to discredit it is for them
either to open their mouths and speak the languages of us all today, as the
apostles spoke the languages of the people in their day, or to produce
historical record of such a manifestation since then. But in the continued absence of such
evidence, what then? Will this gift ever
remanifest itself?
If so, when?
Why not now?
In order satisfactorily to answer these
questions, we must first consider the conditions upon which the early disciples of Christ received the gift of miracles, for only
similar conditions will bring similar results.
First of all, everyone of the disciples, it
will be remembered, came to one accord (Acts 2:1) before they received the
gift. Before the Pentecost, though, they
were jealous of one another and were desiring to excel
one another in position, prestige, and all else. Christendom today is even worse off; in fact,
it is worse than at any other time.
Never before has there been such controversy, such wrangling, such accusing
and damning, in trying to exalt self and down the other. This is not, in particular, with regard to
the fact that one sect disagrees
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with another, for all know that were there no
differences, there would be no sects.
Rather, what is of special concern is the fact that scarcely even two
individuals within one sect agree on all points of teaching and practice. And besides being rife with dissensions,
divisions, and bigotries of every kind, every denomination in Christendom is,
in addition, shot through and through with every other spiritual ill. And who can deny it?
Long before these sad conditions developed,
the Lord forewarned that men would fall asleep and let the Devil sow his
"tares" among the "wheat" (Matt.
Since it is therefore strictly Biblical that
God will not bestow the gift of miracles upon a people other than those who as
a group come to one accord, who come to "see eye to eye" (Isa. 52:8), and since the Spirit cannot effect this unity
and harmony now while the tares are commingled with the wheat, then all might
as well reconcile themselves to the educative and redemptive discipline of
waiting on the Lord until "harvest" -- till the tares, the discordant
or false ones, are purged out. Those who
will not wait, but are impatient to possess the power right now to work
wonders, will beguile themselves with a
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spurious gift. Bent on
having the gift of miracle-working power that is being acclaimed rather than
the gifts made available for the hastening of the harvest, they satisfy
themselves with the counterfeit which is current, just as Pharaoh satisfied
himself with the counterfeit serpents which his great men brought forth against
the serpents of Moses (Ex. 7:10-12). If
these counterfeit miracle-workers and miracle-hunters of today will not repent
themselves of this folly, then they will have to pay the penalty for playing
the fool.
What then is the truth about this gift? Are we to understand that the gospel work will
close without it? Inspiration does not
remain silent on the question, but, as we shall see, makes plain that the
gospel work will never close, "the harvest" never be garnered in,
without a world-wide manifestation of the gift of Miracles, including the gift
of tongues.
But, you may say, if the Angels, not men,
are to separate the good from the bad, and thus end "the harvest,"
then of what use and benefit will the gift be to mankind, if there are no more
souls to save after that? It is
precisely here at this clouded point in the way, that the church needs light
lest she blindly plunge on and lose her way in the dense darkness ahead.
To get into the full beam of light, we must
first face the fact that the pre-pentecostal harvest
took place in a self-deceived church, the Jewish; and through miracle-working
power manifested by
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Christ Himself, it yielded
the 120 disciples, the first fruits of those who are to be resurrected. Whereas the post-pentecostal
harvest took place among the nations; and through miracle-power manifested by
the Spirit-filled 120 disciples, it yielded an innumerable multitude of
converts to Christianity (Acts
Now to summarize the types before the
Pentecost: (1) the first fruits were numbered; (2) they came exclusively from
the church itself; (3) the miracles then wrought were by Christ Himself.
Now coming to the types after the Pentecost:
(1) the second fruits were not numbered; (2) they came from the nations; (3)
the miracles then wrought were by the numbered ones (the 120), the first
fruits.
Accordingly, the antitypical Pre-pentecostal harvest takes place in a self-deceived church,
the Laodicean, "the house of God"; and
through miracle-working power manifested by Heaven itself in the angels (Matt.
13:39), it yields the 144,000, the first fruits of those who are never to
die. Whereas the antitypical post-pentecostal harvest takes place among the nations; and
through miracle-working power manifested by the Spirit-filled 144,000, it
yields the great multitude which no man can number (Rev. 7:9), the second
fruits, of those who are never to die.
This same truth in different aspects is
figured forth in Daniel's, chapter two prophecy:
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"...a stone was cut out without hands,
which smote the image upon his feet,...and the stone
that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth....and
in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, and...it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and
it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as
thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the
mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what
shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation
thereof sure." Dan 2:34, 35, 44, 45.
What smites the image? Is it not the stone which Daniel reveals is
symbolical of the
"And it shall come to pass in the last
days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of
the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow
unto it. And many people shall go and
say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the
God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths:
for out of
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go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from
Thus as the stone, supernaturally cut out of
one mountain, supernaturally turns into another mountain, then fills the whole
earth, it reveals the process of the prophecy's turning into history: that the
stone (in that it is to grow) is symbolical of the first-fruits in the kingdom;
that the infant kingdom begins with the 144,000 "servants of God"
(Rev. 7:3); that consequently the church of Laodicea
(in that it is the last in which the wheat and the tares commingle, and
therefore the one in which the wheat, the 144,000 first fruits, is harvested)
is necessarily the mountain out of which the stone, the first fruit of the
kingdom, is cut or taken from.
Further, it is seen that their being
"cut out without hands," without human aid, obviously points out the
fact that they are garnered by the angels; that their increasing, then, as the
growth of the stone reveals, is the result subsequently of the gathering of the
second fruits out of all nations, causing the mountain or kingdom, to fill the
earth; and that this super-natural work of cutting out the stone, of separating
the 144,000, the nucleus of the kingdom, is the purification of the church.
Finally, since the stone, as has been seen,
is cut out -- the infant kingdom set up -- "in the days of these
kings" (the toe-kings), not after their days, and since the 144,000
"servants of God" stand on mount Zion (Rev. 14:1), it conclusively
follows that the stone kingdom in its beginning
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is set up in the
Beyond question, therefore, the 144,000 guileless
servants of God (Rev. 14:5), composing the government of God in its beginning,
the stone which smites the image, and which subsequently becomes a great
mountain that fills the whole earth, are instrumental in the eventual overthrow
of all earthly governments. Accordingly,
therefore, of who else at that time in all the world,
of who else indeed but themselves, could it be written:
"...they are men wondered at;...a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever
the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many
generations." Zech. 3:8; Joel 2:2.
"And the remnant of Jacob shall be in
the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as
the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for
man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.... Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine
adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut
off....The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all
things: and
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pieces the young man and the
maid; I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and
with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with
thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers." Mic.
5:7, 9; Jer. 51:19-23.
Who would dare question that in prophecy
these are the people and this is the church that completes the work -- the only
people and the only church that will possess all the gifts of the spirit, from
the gift of prophecy to the gift of government and gift of miracles; that these
gifts are given them for the achieving of their crowning work of lightening the
earth with glory (Rev. 18:1), of "preaching this gospel of the kingdom in
all the world for a witness unto all nations," thereby gathering God's
people, the second fruits, tare-free ("My people"), out of Babylon
(Rev. 18:4). Out of every nation and
kindred and tongue and people (whom
Prophetically envisioning in the long ago
this glorious day of triumph for the people and the
"...Mighty miracles were wrought, the
sick were healed, and signs and wonders followed the believers. God was in the work, and every saints, fearless of consequences, followed the convictions
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of his own conscience, and united with those who were
keeping all the commandments of God; and with power they sounded abroad the
third message...." -- Early writings, pg. 278.
"And in those days shall men seek
death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee
from them." Rev. 9:6.
"...the swords that were raised to kill
God's people broke and fell as powerless as a straw...." -- Early
Writings, pg. 285.
"Thus saith
the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:
and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of
hosts the holy mountain....Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to
seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord
of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out
of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that
is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with
you." Zech. 8:3, 22, 23.
Thus illuminating in particular the tongues
question, Zechariah's prophecy reveals that in the gathering time, in the time
when God Himself calls the church "a city of truth," a "holy
mountain," the time in which nations go forth to seek the Lord and to
invite others to come with them, then it is that the whole church, every
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active soldier in the gospel army, will have the gift of
tongues, as is pointedly indicated by the affirmation that "ten men shall
take hold of all the languages of the nations." The universal significance of this number is
confirmed by the ten toes of the great image of Daniel 2, by the ten horns of
the beast of Daniel 7 and of Revelation 13:1, by the ten servants in the
parable of the ten pounds (Luke 19:12-25), and by the ten virgins (Matt.
25:1-12) who are symbolical of the whole church, while the five wise virgins
(the "wheat") and the five foolish virgins (the "tares")
are still commingled. In all these as in
all other instances, the number ten is numerically symbolical of Universality.
Just as conclusive as is Zechariah's
prophecy on the genuine gift of speaking in tongues, are Joel's, Micah's,
Jeremiah's, Early Writing's, and the Revelation's prophecies on the other gifts
of miracles, including immunity to death, to be manifested among God's
people. Continuing with Joel's prophecy,
we see the gifts are bestowed on both old and young:
"Be glad then, ye children of
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46 34
Here, too, in plainest terms
is set forth the truth that after, not before, the former and the latter rain
(both of which are figurative of freshly revealed truths coming directly from
the Throne of God, preceding the harvest), during the time of the great
"harvest," during the gathering of the people, these gifts of
miracles will be restored. The result of
God's restoring them is graphically pictured by both Isaiah and Micah in their
almost identical words:
"But in the last days it shall come to
pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the
top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall
flow unto it. And many nations shall
come, and 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. 4:1, 2.
In addition to the testimony of the types,
here, from the mouth of at least seven witnesses (John, Micah, Joel, Daniel,
Zechariah, Isaiah, Christ Himself) is "the more sure word of
Prophecy," revealing the set time for the gift of miracles.
In summary, their faithful testimony is that
the remanifestation of the gifts, among men, will be
(1) after, not before, the latter rain is poured out; (2) after the stone is
"cut out of the mountain," not before; (3) the time when the Lord is
gathering the second fruits from
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No. 46 35
the "east" and
from the "west"; (4) when Zion and Jerusalem are "called a city
of truth, the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain" (holy
kingdom); (5) when "the inhabitants of one city," shall go to another,
saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of
hosts: I will go also."
Thus the Lord will free His people from both
sin and sinners, keep them apart for evermore, and endow them with all
miracle-working powers. Does He do this
because they have been good? or for His name's sake?
Here is His own answer:
"Therefore say unto the house of
Israel, thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name's sake, which ye have
profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify My
great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the
midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you
before their eyes. For I will take you
from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you
into your own land. Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from
all your idols, will I cleanse you. A
new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you
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to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments,
and do them. And ye shall dwell in the
land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My
people, and I will be your God." Ezek. 36:22-28.
Note how clear these verses make the picture
-- that what God does for His people, He does, not because they are worthy of
it, but for the sake of His own name; that He does it not before, but after, He
takes them out of all countries and brings them into their own land; that He
then and there cleanses them and changes their hearts. All of which shows that as long as His people
are commingled with the tares, and live among the Gentiles, they can never be
fitted for translation. Obviously,
therefore, the land of our fathers is to be our final and superb dressing
chamber to fit us for the society of pure, sinless, eternal beings.
Do we see, then, as plain as we should, that
to fail to heed the truth of this most momentous event in all church history, is to forfeit the gift of miracles, fitness for
translation, and the right to live and reign with Christ during the thousand
years? We dare not let the Enemy cheat
us of this new-heart fitness for Heaven.
This ingathering is indeed to be the second
exodus, and it is to be exactly as the Lord has said:
"And it shall come to pass in that day,
that
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the Lord shall set His hand
again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be
left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros,
and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from
the islands of the sea....like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up
out of the land of Egypt." Isa. 11:11, 16.
"And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the
"...instead of giving all for Christ,
many have taken the golden wedge and a goodly Babylonish
garment, and hid them in the camp. If
the presence of one Achan was sufficient to weaken
the whole camp of
Hence the reason for the
imminent purification of the church, the destruction of the Achans
of today, in preparation for the antitypical crossing of the
It is now to be considered how this work of
("shaking"), separating, will begin, and also how the church is to
hear of it. Years ago, the Spirit of God
opened up the truth in vision:
"I asked the meaning of the shaking I
had
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seen," declared the recipient of the vision,
"and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called
forth by the counsel of the Truth Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of
the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the
straight truth. Some will not bear this
straight testimony. They will rise up
against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people." --
Early Writings, pg. 270.
In this vision, we are introduced to a
mighty message that is to be carried to the Laodiceans,
and that is to commence the shaking among God's people. Then in subsequent vision and testimony, we
are given to see the glorious sequel to this shaking.
"...Mighty miracles were wrought, the
sick were healed, and signs and wonders followed the believers. God was in the work, and every saint,
fearless of consequences, followed the convictions of his own conscience, and
united with those who were keeping all the commandments of God; and with power
they sounded abroad the third message." -- Id, pg. 278.
"Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come
with vengeance, even God with a recompence; He will
come and save you. Then the eyes of the
blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and
the tongue of the
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dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out,
and streams in the desert." Isa. 35:4-6.
"...It is impossible to give any idea
of the experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth when
celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past are
blended. They will walk in the light
proceeding from the throne of God. By
means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and
earth. And Satan, surrounded by evil
angels, and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds, to deceive, if
possible, the very elect. God's people
will not find their safety in working miracles; for Satan will counterfeit the
miracles that will be wrought. God's
tried and tested people will find their power in the sign spoken of in Ex.
31:12-18...." -- Testimonies, Vol. 9, pg. 16.
Envisioning this great day of God's power,
the "gospel prophet," too, focuses our eyes upon those who, heeding
"the straight testimony," survive the ordeal of the shaking, and
behold face to face those wondrous scenes of future glory:
"Look upon
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no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass
thereby....And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell
therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." Isa. 33:20, 21, 24.
Then to this already glorious picture, Inspiration
adds still another enlightening and heartening facet:
"And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount
"But upon
These two prophecies of deliverance and of
subsequent events, vividly reveal the wonder-working power which is to invest
those who endure the swiftly approaching "great and dreadful day of the
Lord."
And now as the day "hastens on
apace" (Testimonies, Vol. 5, pg. 80), to engulf in ruin the Laodiceans who turn a deaf ear to the message which causes
the shaking, virtually none but the sick, the afflicted,
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No. 46 41
the outcasts, and those from the streets and the lanes,
will be humble and lowly enough to respond to the warnings, to experience the transforming
power of divine grace upon their hearts, the progressively sanctifying
impartation of righteousness by faith, and to be among the gathered ones, as
Inspiration thus further discloses:
"And He shall set up an ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of
"Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent
his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all
things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said
unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I
pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove
them: I pray thee have me excused. And
another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed
his Lord these things. Then the master
of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets
and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the
halt, and the blind." Luke 14:16-21.
"...The wicked shall do wickedly: and
none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." Dan.
12:10.
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No. 46 42
Who are wise to understand? Are you, Brother, Sister? Will you act now, while there is time? Will you face the picture and get ready to
meet the situation? Will you? Before the Spirit of God leaves you? and the Enemy
secures final advantage over you? Will
you realize that as he beguiles the rich with vanities and grinds the poor with
cares, he will use every weapon he has to dishearten, discourage, and scatter
all who accept the Lord's merciful invitation to His supper?
Moreover, as sure as the Devil lives, he
will employ every possible agency to either add to God's Truth, or to subtract
from It, aggravating and disheartening, especially
capitalizing on the misfortunes and afflictions of the saints, to thus secure
their down-fall if possible. Principally
will he depend upon two of his most powerful and successful agencies --
extremisms -- one pushing to the right and another to the left: In an effort to
scatter as many as possible away from the center-path of light he will endeavor
to drive one class into the fires of fanaticism, and to plunge another class
into the icy waters of unconcern. To
this end he will seek to convince the former class that their afflictions and
misfortunes are the evident results of imperfect obedience to present truth,
and will mock the latter class as fanatically strict in their course of faith.
The only ones that will endure to the end
will be those who carefully watch their steps from being carried away either by
his additions to, or
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by his subtractions from, the works of Inspiration.
The informed, however, will rejoice rather
than be pushed and driven to despair.
Nothing, not even the afflictions of Job, will discourage them, for they
will be wise and will understand: they will know the truth, and the truth will
set them free from Satan's snares. They
will remember that the blind man (John 9:1-3) was born blind, not because of
someone's sin, but only that the Son of Man might be glorified in him. They will, as well, consider that both
Lazarus and Dorcas took sick and died, not because
they were the biggest sinners of the day, but that the Son of God might
demonstrate that He has power not only to heal the sick but also to raise the
dead at His will. They will perceive
that afflictions and misfortunes that have come upon them, have not drawn them
away from God, but rather have drawn them closer to Him; that they are better
off to go into the kingdom, poor, maimed, halt, and blind, than to go into
perdition, rich in houses, lands, oxen, and health or whatsoever.
With tears of joy over His forgiving her her great sins, Mary Magdalene therewith washed her Saviour's feet, and wiped them with her hair, then breaking
the precious alabaster box, anointed His head with its ointment. All the while this was taking place, Judas' greedy hands were twitching for the price of
it to fatten his purse, though at the same time he was pretentiously professing
deep love for the poor! This
hypocritical profession, while tabering upon his
breast,
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as it were "with the voice of doves," he
sought to pass off as genuine love for others, by accusing Mary of extravagance
and waste, and Jesus of vanity and waste.
The informed and discerning will spot such
false brethren in their midst, and will know that if God wants His faithful
ones sick, they will gladly suffer sickness for His sake; that if He wants them
well, they will praise His holy name for health and strength to enable them to
do something for the feeble, the disabled, the sick, and the suffering; that if
He wants them dead, then they cannot live and will gladly die; that if He wants
them living, they cannot and will not want to die; that whatever He wants, this
is what and will gladly take. Their hope
will be in Him only. They will close
their ears to all who in one way or another seek to reprobate Truth's cause
today; they will not listen to gossip; they will be confident that God is at
the head of the work, that He Himself is attending to His business. They will know that all who remain in the
pits of falsehood and unrighteousness will finally go into the "bottomless
pit" of perdition.
The lessons, too, from Job's trials will be
for their learning, hope, and courage.
They will understand, and consider well the fact, that there were Jobs
before the Job of the Bible, that there were Jobs since him, that there are
Jobs today, and that there will be Jobs till Kingdom come. Their faith in God will be in truth and in
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confidence, whether in weal or in woe, in sickness or in death,
and nothing will be able to move them from Heaven's message for the day. They will know that it is to be either their
life or their death, and to life will they cling. They will not be found murmuring, doubting,
accusing, or despairing, for whatsoever their lot while inside God's hedge,
they will know it is His will for them.
Every one of them will with heart and soul and in certainty say:
"I will lift up mine eyes unto the
hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He
that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, He that keepeth
In the cumulative light now shining on the
much mooted question of tongues and other miracles, none need longer continue
in darkness, mistake, or confusion as to the nature, character, and purpose of
the true miracle-working power, and the time for its manifestation. Sad to say, though, multitudes of uninformed
and misinformed will continue to get hooked as they jump at hooks bated with
miracle-promises dangling invitingly
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from the lines of so-called miracle-workers here, there,
and everywhere, thus going from bad to worse, squandering their time and their
money, their life and their health, their hope and their faith.
No saints will pray, then
wonder if God has heard and answered their prayers. They will know and rejoice in faith that He
has heard and answered them in His own way, even though it be
entirely contrary to that for which they have prayed. They will do what they can in God's way,
accept the help He provides, and know that it is "better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in man." Ps. 118:8.
Since the time for God to exalt any group of
people with a demonstrational miracle-working power has not yet come, though it
is indeed fast approaching, and since you brethren know the prophecies on this
subject, then if you heed them, how fortunate and happy you will be in sparing
yourselves from running hither and yon in search of a miracle-working power
where there is no genuine.
If you, Brethren, stay inside God's hedge of
inspired revelation, and walk with Him as did Enoch of old, you will have Him
by your side every step of the way. So
whatever your burden, leave it with Him, and He Himself will bear it for you to
triumph. Know that He has heard your
prayer, and that He will grant your request as He sees fit to carry out His
plan
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for you and for His gospel today.
Miracle-mongers and miracle-hunters,
fanatics all, bear in mind, may become dangerously subversive, ready to sabotage everything that is not in accordance with
their thinking. Loose and rattling
tongues will endeavor to shake the faith of us all. The ones, though, who bear the heaviest
burden of feeding the flock with "meat in due season" will be the
Devil's main targets. At just such a
time as this, these devoted followers of God will profit most by the Lord's
advice:
"Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not
confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
For the son dishonoureth the father, the
daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter
in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own
house. Therefore I will look unto the
Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me." Mic. 7:5-7.
It will be discovered that there will be
thousands of voices, some from professed believers, and some from those who
fight against the faith of the saints, one voice condemning one thing, and
another condemning another thing, and what one condemns, another will
approve. But when held close to the
light of God's word, all their discordant philosophizings
and murmurings, their man-made plans and carnal ideas, will be seen to be but a
tumult of envy, jealousy, pride, self-opinionation,
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hatred, malice, politics, greed, prejudice, and every other
selfishness. These unfortunate,
self-sent ones, being yet in spiritual darkness, doubtless imagine themselves
to be working for God with zeal and energy.
But one day they will horrifyingly discover that they have been working
against the Lord, as Saul of Tarsus discovered about himself. May the prayers of the saints awaken them,
and put them working for the Lord, as the prayers of Stephen caused Saul to
become the great Apostle Paul for both Jew and Gentile. And may he that hath an ear, hear what the
Spirit saith, and hold fast that which he hath lest the enemy
deceitfully take it from his grasp.
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