Former SDA the bitterest of enemies of the truth....

I came across this which is very interesting........

"Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Matthew 24:10.
As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.
The season of distress before God’s people will call for a faith that will not falter. His children must make it manifest that He is the only object of their worship, and that no consideration, not even that of life itself, can induce them to make the least concession to false worship.
At that time the gold will be separated from the dross.... Many a star that we have admired for its brilliance will then go out in darkness. Those who have assumed the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, will then appear in the shame of their own nakedness.
Among earth’s inhabitants, scattered in every land, there are those who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Like the stars of heaven, which appear only at night, these faithful ones will shine forth when darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people.... In the hour of deepest apostasy, when Satan’s supreme effort is made to cause “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive, under penalty of death, the sign of allegiance to a false rest day, these faithful ones ... will “shine as lights in the world.” ... Philippians 2:15. The darker the night, the more brilliantly will they shine." Ellen G. White Writings

I know some ex-adventists. They are a tough crowd.

They actually also have their own forum area where they post against SDAs, etc.

I don't think there is such a thing as an Ex Adventist. They probably weren't converted in the first place. No one who knows all the messages of the Seventh-day Adventist church can possibly leave it.

Satan must have never known God intimately, otherwise, why would he leave Him? You can know the truth, then apostatize. (?) And a third of the angels where never in God's camp then either.

No, those that knew the truth, and then fall away, are the worst of enemies. They know where to attack and how to twist the truth.

15-20 years ago, just before what we call the "post-modern era" there was a huge influx of people into the Adventist faith who were attracted to the idea of knowing the truth, but did not want to conform to the Spirit of the law. They had significant amounts of confidence in the message until they tried to convert others, and were met with major objections to our faith and they yielded. Imagine becoming an Adventist these days, with all the wicked stuff that is said against our prophet and our beliefs. Do a Google search and you'll find as many Anti-Adventist hits as Adventist.

They brought in their baggage of not being convicted on issues like dress and the role of women, in entertainment for children and young adults and knowing how to take care of each other without TV as a crutch etc., and many leaders who were already going down the secular path in our church became the pied pipers of these halfhearted men and they plunged into battle against the truth within our church. Men in power selected men and women who showed promise in their filed of battle and set out to make them leaders also.

I have personally witnessed this within our church. Certain men set out to get me to conform to their understanding of the way the church should be administered, using flattery to get me to use my knowledge in the Rock music industry to build a rock and roll Adventist church. I personally had dreams that warned me of their intentions and I was inspired to prayerfully take them on. Imagine how popular that made me.

Speaking as one who did not learn from men, and who would not conform to these men's agenda, needless to say I have never been asked to be an elder, but I have had the privilege of being a deacon. But under protest from the more secular believers.

Where will their faith be when the power they were hoping for to get through the time of trouble is not there for them, because they were not prepared for the end?

The people I know who have fallen away did so not because they disagreed with the doctrines but because they lost interest in seeking and saving the lost. Once that happened church conflict and problems with members turned them off. Leaders assume it was conflict and problems that drove them away, but the truth be known it started when they left off seeking and saving the lost.

I wish this was true. Unfortunately even the perfect Lucifer lost his way.

Now I see that others have said this while I was taking my time writing.

In a typical congregation, would you say most are seeking and saving the lost? If what you say is true, I see many about to fall away.

True! Things might improve if the inactive members (the ones not using their gifts and talents to seek and save the lost) got busy or got gone (stayed home or warmed pews elsewhere).

It seems some of the most zealous Adventists are so because they seek to reform the message of our church to their beliefs. Just like the devil in heaven, they get a little group going inside a church and by reason of his popularity, eventually their theories are accepted among a large segment of their local congregation. I have seen a whole church taken over by a man who insisted that the Spirit of Prophecy not be mentioned in the church at all. He had them do away with the Sabbath school quarterly and taught his version of SDA truth. Those people took over my church insidiously.

The majority of people in that church go there to hear him speak because he makes these demands. They too are overwhelmed by hearing the true gospel through Mrs White and as a defense mechanism they demand that her name not be mentioned in the church. WHY?

I have seen another man claim to have a vision from God saying that St. Paul was not ordained by God and everything he wrote should be cut out of the bible.

I have seen another pastor who would for some strange reason never accept ordination into our church, make it his duty to baptize homosexuals and make them leaders in the church. etc etc

I have seen the most tremendous abuses of our church by the leaders in this state. Minnesota. This is a huge mission field.

The last time I saw an evangelistic meeting for the Minneapolis area was in 2004, they spent $40,000 to have 3ABN come here with John Lomicang and not one person was baptized, in fact only 5 non Adventists made it through the whole seminar.

So in stead of finding better solutions with what to do with the outreach money, they (Anoka SDA) have been building on their church while putting them into debt on a building that was paid for.

$100,000 for a new parking lot when the same people come week by week? $50,000 for a new digital sign. Why? for people to look at while they drive by?

I have seen terrible things in our churches here in Minnesota!

I personally believe in literary evangelism, and where are our coleporters? The word doesn't even compute on spell check.

They should be pouring resources into printing and giving away those materials. The extra effort in getting a real book into someones hands makes them grateful in a way unappreciated.

They open it in respect of the gift. This is great way for God to speak.

How many open emails and have the same respect for the gift?

If you want to evangelism for Jesus in this day and age, give the gift of the 'Desire of Ages'. That is an excellent testimony.

I have been blessed to send pallets full of them, translated into the African languages to Africa, to be a used as a method of bartering for the church, more power than gold. They have to hire private security to keep them safe because these books are so valuable to them there.

I meant in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis. The rest I have not experienced.

The whole church is asleep in the same manner as the 10 virgins are asleep, but midnight is coming.

Brother Daryl!

Do you believe the midnight cry is to be repeated?

I do, but I receive major opposition to this concept.

We know that the midnight cry was proclaimed before 1844, but the repeat of the three angels messages also seems to preclude the midnight cry repeat also.

This pattern seems to go back to when Israel was wandering in the wilderness and they sent the 12 spies into the promised land, then because 10 reported lies they had to wander in the wilderness proportionate to the days the spies where in the land.

The spies were there 40 days so for 40 years Israel wandered.

I believe that Jones and Waggoner in the Spirit of the 1888 message were the Caleb and Joshua of our faith.

"Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king."

I understand the above quoted verse to be a future event in relation to my previous post.

I completely agree with you on this subject, but Mrs White said it began in 1844, so it must be a repeat of that message that came at the beginning of the Advent movement. This is something to study because I believe I have been led to discover something very important here. Here is the proof for it beginning in 1844.

"Our hopes now centered on the coming of the Lord in 1844. This was also the time for the message of the second angel, who, flying through the midst of heaven, cried, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city.” Revelation 14:8. That message was first proclaimed by the servants of God in the summer of 1844. As a result, many left the fallen churches. In connection with this message the “midnight cry” was given: “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.” In every part of the land light was given concerning this message, and the cry aroused thousands. It went from city to city, from village to village, and into the remote country regions. It reached the learned and talented, as well as the obscure and humble. {CET 50.4}
This was the happiest year of my life. My heart was full of glad expectation; but I felt great pity and anxiety for those who were in discouragement and had no hope in Jesus. We united, as a people, in earnest prayer for a true experience and the unmistakable evidence of our acceptance with God." {CET 51.1}

Now here is what is special to what my God has showed me.

Recorded in Early Writings, the VERY FIRST VISION Mrs White received was about a path high and lifted up, like a bridge. Recorded here.

"While I was praying at the family altar, the Holy Ghost fell upon me, and I seemed to be rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to look for the Advent people in the world, but could not find them, when a voice said to me, “Look again, and look a little higher.” At this I raised my eyes, and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the Advent people were traveling to the city, which was at the farther end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the beginning of the path, which an angel told me was the midnight cry. This light shone all along the path and gave light for their feet so that they might not stumble. If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a light which waved over the Advent band, and they shouted, “Alleluia!” Others rashly denied the light behind them and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below. Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus’ coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses’ did when he came down from Mount Sinai. {EW 14.1}
The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us who could wash one another’s feet and salute the brethren with a holy kiss, and they worshiped at our feet. {EW 15.1}
Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a small black cloud had appeared, about half as large as a man’s hand, which we all knew was the sign of the Son of man."

OK, so get the picture. I discovered that there was a bridge called "the Bridge of the Red Heifer" that spanned the Kidron Valley from the top of Mount Olives to the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem. I believe this vision is connected to that image!

The light that is at the beginning of the path is the Miphkad Altar, where the Red Heifer was sacrificed and lit on fire (symbolic of the hell Jesus endured in Gethsemane) just up the hill from where Jesus sweat blood. Jesus also ascended to heaven there. The word Miphkad is translated "place of numbering"! This is where the 144,000 get on the path heading to heavenly Jerusalem. I believe my discovery about the Red Heifer is part of this message.



See the light that shines all along the path?

I still say that these "ex"Adventists were never SDAs. There was something about at least one doctrine that they didn't accept. We churched a while with a group who claimed to be SDAs, but we noticed that they didn't accept SOP, or the diet. Now, they call themselves Seventh-day Baptists.

The principal "doctrine" that most who leave the Adventist church have not accepted is "forgiveness."

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.