Are Davidians preaching the gospel today?

Not yet. Then

What are Davdians doing in the SDA Church?

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:

Gospel

GOS‘PEL, noun [Latin evangelium, a good or joyful message.]

The history of the birth, life, actions, death, resurrection, ascension and doctrines of Jesus Christ; OR a revelation of the grace of God to fallen man through a mediator, including the character, actions, and doctrines of Christ, with the whole scheme of salvation, as revealed by Christ and his apostles. This gospel is said to have been preached to Abraham, by the promise, ‘in thee shall all nations be blessed.‘ Galatians 3:8.

It is called the gospel of God. Romans 1:1.

It is called the gospel of Christ. Romans 1:16.

It is called the gospel of salvation. Ephesians 1:13.

1. God‘s word.

2. Divinity; theology.

3. Any general doctrine.

GOS‘PEL, verb transitive To instruct in the gospel; or to fill with sentiments of religion.

https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/gospel

What is the etymology of “gospel”?

gospel (n.)

Old English godspel “glad tidings announced by Jesus; one of the four gospels,” literally “good spell,” from god “good” (see good (adj.)) + spel “story, message” (see spell (n.1)). A translation of Latin bona adnuntiatio, itself a translation of Greek euangelion “reward for bringing good news” (see evangel). The first element of the Old English word originally had a long “o,” but it shifted under mistaken association with God, as if “God-story” (i.e. the history of Christ).

The mistake was very natural, as the resulting sense was much more obviously appropriate than that of ‘good tidings’ for a word which was chiefly known as the name of a sacred book or of a portion of the liturgy. [OED]

The word passed early from English to continental Germanic languages in forms that clearly indicate the first element had shifted to “God,” such as Old Saxon godspell, Old High German gotspell, Old Norse goðspiall. Used of anything as true as the Gospel from mid-13c.; as “any doctrine maintained as of exclusive importance” from 1650s. As an adjective from 1640s. Gospel music is by 1955. Gospel-gossip was Addison’s word (“Spectator,” 1711) for “one who is always talking of sermons, texts, etc.”

https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=gospel&utm_source=extension_submit

I did a search for the question “What is the gospel?” in the SOP and the SRod and you will not find it. So I did a search among the writings of our SDA Pioneers. The first published Seventh-day Adventist to ask this question was A. T. Jones on August 14, 1900 in the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 77.

This is what he had to say.

What is the gospel of Christ?—It is God’s free salvation to every soul in the wide world. It is the power of God to lift a man up from deadness in trespasses and sins, and make him a partaker of that salvation, to hold him in the way of that salvation, and to work out the righteousness of God through him. This is what the people in Galatia had received in receiving the gospel, concerning which it is said that if even an angel should preach any other, he would be under the curse. But here were those who had gone down to Galatia, and had confused—yes, had even “bewitched”—the people, and would have perverted the pure gospel that the Galatians had first heard and received by the Holy Spirit. {August 14, 1900 ATJ, ARSH 514.5}

These troublers of the Galatian Christians were “Pharisees which believed.” Remember they were “Pharisees which believed.” They had come from among the Pharisees into the church of Christ. They professed to believe in Jesus, professed to have received the gospel, professed to be Christians. But they were Pharisees before; and they were still Pharisees, after they professed to be Christians. They were formalists before, when they were only Pharisees; and now, when they became “Pharisees which believed,” they were still only formalists: even their belief was only a form. And these were opposed to the gospel. Indeed, it was such a “dry thing” that they could not be content until they had followed Paul everywhere that he went, turning the people away from this gospel that he preached, which was “so dry.” And in perverting the gospel of Christ, they were presenting “another gospel,” another way of salvation. Therefore the Word says: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.” {August 14, 1900 ATJ, ARSH 514.6}

“Another gospel”! What is the gospel?—It is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth,” “for therein is the righteousness of God revealed.” What I wish to impress upon you just now is not particularly that the gospel is “the power of God,” but WHY it is the power of God. Why is the gospel the power of God unto salvation?—The reason is given in Rom. 1:16, 17. In the sixteenth verse the statement is made that the gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” The reason is given in the seventeenth verse; and that reason is that “therein is the righteousness of God revealed.” {August 14, 1900 ATJ, ARSH 514.7}

That is to say, the power of the gospel lies in the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel. The power that comes by the gospel to the sinner,—that power that changes his life; that puts in him the new way, and holds him in that way,—that power comes to him in the righteousness of God. And the gospel is the power of God because the righteousness of God revealed therein imparts the power. So the power of God in the gospel lies in the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel; and that righteousness is revealed only to faith, and “from faith to faith.”—August 14, 1900 ATJ, ARSH 514.8

Here now what the messenger considers the SRod message to be among SDAs:

“The 144,000 of Revelation 7 — Call For Reformation”—1SR:3 [1930]

THIS publication contains only one main subject with a double lesson; namely, the 144,000, and a call for reformation.…—1SR:11.1

This call FOR reformation as set forth here is the direct result of the study of the thirteen chapters in the book of Isaiah, as devised by the Seventh-day Adventist denomination and presented to the churches in the entire organization throughout the world. These lessons were taught in the Sabbath School department during January, February, and March of the year 1929, and beginning with the 54th chapter, ended with the 66th. We believe the hand of God was leading, and that these particular lessons came at an appointed time by divine direction, with intention to arouse His people to action from the lukewarm Laodicean condition, and spiritual feebleness.—1SR:135.1

…When light of truth comes, and a call for reformation, the leaders, being blinded with spiritual darkness, rise against the heavenly call.…—1SR:246.5

The message regarding the 144,000, and a call for reformation presented to the Seventh-day Adventist church in 1930 was in like manner rejected.…—2SR:93.1 [1932]

If there existed another description of what the SRod message is wouldn't we have found it by now?

Although it is true that

…He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form. {COL 127.4}

There are those who profess to believe and to teach the truths of the Old Testament, while they reject the New. But in refusing to receive the teachings of Christ, they show that they do not believe that which patriarchs and prophets have spoken. “Had ye believed Moses,” Christ said, “ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me.” John 5:46. Hence there is no real power in their teaching of even the Old Testament. {COL 128.1}

Many who claim to believe and to teach the gospel are in a similar error. They set aside the Old Testament Scriptures, of which Christ declared, “They are they which testify of Me.” John 5:39. In rejecting the Old, they virtually reject the New; for both are parts of an inseparable whole. No man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law. The law is the gospel embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root, the gospel is the fragrant blossom and fruit which it bears.—COL:127.4-128.2

And yet the gospel of Jesus Christ was never directly rejected by the SDA Church. However, A call for reformation made by antitypical Elijah was. This is the testimony of the messenger in 1932 in the book 2SR:93.1. I did not publish that. The question is are we going to disbelieve what the prophet wrote?

Isa. 52:1—Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. {2TG42:40.5}

Inspiration here declares that AFTER 👉🏼 this call 👈🏼 FOR revival AND reformation, from then on the sinners will not be permitted to have any part among the people that have been cleansed.—2TG42:40.5, 6

It is important we portray every nuance correctly. Davidians are not preaching the gospel to SDAs now nor have we in the past since Elijah's message began to be revealed in 1929.

…In these 5 parabolical calls are found all the time-messages called for in the Bible from the time that It (the Light of the world) began to come up (be written), early in the morning of parabolical period, to its end—the twelfth hour. In other words, when THESE 5 messages have been proclaimed to the world, the Bible will then be an exhausted book so far as Its offering any more salvation is concerned. (For full treatment of Matthew 20, see The Shepherd’s Rod, Vol. 2, pp. 222-238.)—3Tr:92.3

What is the message? The eleventh hour message is none

Vol. 2 Shepherd’s Rod book 230

other than Revelation 18—the loud cry OF the Third Angel. Quoting “Testimonies to Ministers,” p. 59: “This same message [The Third Angel’s] is to be proclaimed the SECOND time. ‘And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ This message is the last that will ever be given to the world; and it will accomplish its work.”—“The Great Controversy,” p. 390.—2SR:230.3

SECOND OR THIRD ANGEL?

Question No. 146:

“ ‘The Shepherd’s Rod,’ Vol. 2, p. 230, last paragraph, says that the Third Angel’s Message is to be proclaimed the second time, but ‘Testimonies to Ministers,’ p. 59, says that the second angel’s message is to be proclaimed the second time. Which is right?” {3SC1:9.1}

Answer:

Among Adventists, the term, “Third Angel’s Message,” is understood to contain the first, second, and the third angels’ messages, but not so when we use the expression, “second angel’s message.” “The Shepherd’s Rod” is using the term, “Third Angel’s Message,” to convey the fact that the proclamation of all three angels’ messages are to be repeated. {3SC1:9.2}

Hence, both are correct. The second angel’s message is to be proclaimed again in the message of Revelation 18:4; the first angel’s message is NOW being proclaimed anew in the message of the judgment of the living (Mal. 3:1-4); while the third angel’s message IS TO BE REPEATED during the Loud Cry—thus making for the reproclamation, collectively, of the Third Angel’s Message, or three angels’ messages.—3SC1:9.1-3

The third angel’s message is not now being repeated among SDA’s. It shall be during the Loud Cry of the third angel to the world after the church has been purified. The 4th angel’s message only joins the third to give it [the third angel’s message] power and force.

“…The work of this angel comes in at the right time to join in the last great work of the third angel’s message as it swells to a loud cry.…”—EW:277.1

This quotation, too, Brother, Sister, needs no interpretation. It, too, plainly tells that the harvest precedes the close of probation, that the Third Angel’s Message is both to seal and “SELECT the wheat from the tares.” Every Seventh-day Adventist knows that this work of the angel is probationary (during the time of salvation). Here you see that the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14) is the Judgment for the Living, “the purification of the church” (5 T 80), which is accomplished by destroying the “tares” and sparing the “wheat.” Then the Loud Cry begins [[[ not since 1929 but after the church is purified ]]] with a pure ministry imbued with the Spirit of God. This is plainly seen from the following excerpts:—5JL:2.3

…The “harvest” and the Judgment for the Living are synonymous terms, you see. This is Bible and It is Truth to which Sister White adds: “I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, ‘Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to SELECT the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention.’ ”—“Early Writings,” p. 118. {8JL:4.5}

“Only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [Third Angel’s Message] WHEN it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry.”—“The Review and Herald,” Nov. 19, 1908.—8JL:4.5-5.1

We are not now proclaiming the three angel’s messages among SDAs nor the everlasting gospel. We are making a call for reformation while also revealing and validating the truth of Revelation 7—The 144,000. The laymen’s movement predicted in Hosea 1 and 2. (See: EW:270.)

The evidence in Christ’s parable plainly reveals another call for laborers to the vineyard between the one in 1844, and the millennium, namely, at the eleventh hour. This being true, why is it, that the movement called out at the ninth hour (in 1844) has not forewarned the church that there is more truth to follow and another message, “call,” to come? Has God neglected to give the warning and left His people in darkness? We answer the question by quoting the following testimonies: “In view of that great day, the Word of God in the most solemn and impressive language calls upon His people to arouse from their spiritual lethargy, and to seek His face with repentance and humiliation: ‘Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain’!”—“The Great Controversy,” p. 311. {2SR:229.3}

“Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give

Vol. 2 Shepherd’s Rod book 229

power and force to his message. . . . This message seemed to be an addition to the third message, joining it as the midnight cry joined the second angel’s message in 1844.”—“Early Writings,” p. 277. Again we read, “Be assured that there are messages to come from human lips, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. ‘Cry aloud, spare not…show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins’.”—“Testimonies to Ministers,” p. 296. “Another message of warning and instruction was to be given the church.”—“The Great Controversy,” p. 425. {2SR:229.4}

“Prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says: ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’ Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say: ‘You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let me tell you how to teach your message’.”—“Testimonies to Ministers,” p. 475. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Mal. 4:5.) Has not God, through the “Spirit of Prophecy,” as well as by the Scriptures, plainly forewarned His people that they must expect messages at any time? “As never before, we should pray not only that laborers may be sent forth into the great harvest-field, but that we may have a clear conception of truth, so that when the messengers of truth shall come, we may accept the message and respect the messenger.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 6, p. 420. {2SR:230.1}

If the warning has been given, why have men from the pulpit so persistently closed their eyes to the Word of the Most High, and opened their mouths in speaking fables to their congregation, by declaring that they have all the truth and need neither message nor prophet? Has not this lying and hypocrisy paved the way for a wholesale deception in the church by strengthening their confidence in that they have need of nothing and are on the way to heaven? Think of the prejudice and false security the message will have to break through. Think of the loss of life if the people should accept the decision of the leaders. Has not just such a terrible trap of deception ensnared the people of God in every movement called forth? Confidence in the leaders, and the acceptance of their decisions without investigation has deceived the people in every age. What will change the course now? How terrible the thought and how great the responsibility! May God help His people to search for light and truth for themselves, and may their zeal demand an explanation and an account of these things. {2SR:230.2}

What is the message? The eleventh hour message is none

Vol. 2 Shepherd’s Rod book 230

other than Revelation 18 — the loud cry of the Third Angel. Quoting “Testimonies to Ministers,” p. 59: “This same message [The Third Angel’s] is to be proclaimed the second time. ‘And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ This message is the last that will ever be given to the world; and it will accomplish its work.”—“The Great Controversy,” p. 390.—2SR:229.3-230.3

Joel 2:1-3—Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: 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. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. {2TG8:19.2}

Here you see that a message is to be proclaimed to the church, to Zion, declaring that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is at hand; that it is to be devastating behind His people, and glorious ahead of them,—that the Lord is thoroughly to comb the field, that He is to gather every grain of “wheat,” and then burn the tares.—2TG8:19.2, 3

This rousing alarm must sound BEFORE probation closes, for it could do no good afterwards, indeed could be but a mockery then. Neither could it apply to the time of the "Loud Cry," for the church is not THEN asleep and without the "beautiful garments:" "Only those," confirms the Spirit of Prophecy, "who have withstood and overcome temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming this message when it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry."—Review and Herald, Nov. 19, 1908. "And in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts." Zech. 14:21.—1Tr:26.2

Mal. 3:1-5—"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: 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. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 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." {1TG21:19.1}

Should we not now consider ourselves the most fortunate people in the world for knowing these things beforehand? Shall we not be glad and thankful for having been warned beforehand that we have come almost to the time of the harvest, and that we have been given the opportunity to make ready for it? Shall we not be glad that we are not left in darkness, and that we are now plainly shown that these are the closing hours of the pre-harvest period, that the harvest will soon begin?—1TG21:19.1, 2

Seventh-day Adventists are called by Elijah's message to the Laodicean church to sigh and cry (2Tr:66; 22) in order to be eligible to receive God's sealing approval BEFORE probation closes for the SDA Church. However, after the church is purified the 144,000 will never sigh and cry again.

I believe when we are clear on what we are doing it becomes easier to focus and to articulate to others God's highest aim for His beloved Remnant SDA Church.

Published September 24, 2023 by your servant Bro. Neftali Garay

WHAT TRACTS ARE FOR OUTSIDERS?

Question No. 130:

Which of "The Shepherd's Rod" series of tracts are suitable to give those who are not members of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination? {5An:51.1}

Answer:

The Shepherd’s Rod literature is designed FOR Seventh-day Adventists, but should occasion demand giving some to non-Adventists, Tracts No. 12, 13, and 14 are best adapted.—5An:51.1, 2

Nah. 1:15—Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

Doesn’t this verse prove Davidians are preaching the gospel to SDAs?

The way Bro. Houteff identifies the Lord’s Micah 6:9 ‘CRY’ (message) for Laodiceans will be a little different when it then swells into the Loud Cry for the world.

The church co-mingled with wheat and tares of which we Davidians are a part of are credited indirectly with preaching the gospel. The girsled and bay horses are now hitched together, yes? Is that not what Zech. 6 teaches? Yet aren't Davidians, present truth believers’ activities, directives, and limitations about who receives God’s (designed) alarm in His holy mountain different?

Now, when the last attempt, the Jonah’s message (Tract 14), is given to the entire world, including SDAs before the slaughter, then Davidians will be at another level. Is that not correct? But right now we (Davidians) do not qualify for preaching the “everlasting gospel” as the bay horses shall after the traces are cut and God sends them to replace what God intended the Esauites to finish, the work of preaching the gospel.

Calling Adventists to renew their vows and prepare for the Judgment of the living is part of an emergency call. It is limited to SDAs who know and use to preach the gospel (Rev. 10:11) in the light of the investigative judgment for the dead in the heavenly sanctuary already but know not that we will be the first to be visited by God’s judgments (9T:97.2) when it begins with the cases of the living.

Isa 26:9—With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for WHEN thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Na 1:15—Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

Before the wicked are cut off all, both righteous and wicked, must hear an additional call within Judah. All will hear somebody publishing peace. Encouraging us to perform “thy vows” because the wicked are about to be never found among them again.

We are not evangelizing in the SDA Church. We are giving a warning (Ezek. 3:16-21) from the Lord to His church who knows, teaches, and preaches the gospel but on their own terms with abominations. Davidians are saying cease from doing the Lord’s work with abominations put on the spotless robe of His righteousness and you will be approved of God once again.

If we are unclear about our calling and what it is the Lord wants us to achieve in the pre-harvest period, then how effective will be our communication to Laodiceans who are about to be spued out by the Lord’s mouth?

WORK WITHIN OR WITHOUT?

Question No. 32:

On the one hand I find your literature teaching its believers not to leave the ranks of the Mother church, while on the other hand I find it causing no end of trouble to the church. How do you reconcile your precept with your example? Why not devote your time to evangelistic efforts, bringing erring souls to the knowledge of the Truth, and let the church alone? {2An:58.3}

Answer:

Assuredly we do believe that this is no time to be pulling apart, but indeed to be pressing together. And the message which we are bearing to the church, not only does not contain any doctrine or teaching which would warrant our leaving her ranks to become a separate cult, but does on the contrary absolutely forbid our doing so. For these reasons, we have from the beginning steadfastly refused, even in the face of abusive treatment, to leave the Mother church. {2An:59.1}

So far as we are concerned, therefore, existing controversy and schism is the responsibility of the Denomination's leading brethren, and none of ours, for we are only carrying out the Lord's express precept and example never to sacrifice Truth. And they themselves admit that we should obey God rather than men. Upon them, therefore, rests the heavy guilt of repeating the tragic folly of the Jews in Christ’s time, by rejecting the message of the hour, “entering not in themselves” into the expansion of Truth, hindering those who would enter in, and casting out those who do enter in. {2An:59.2}

So, to devote our time to evangelizing the world while neglecting the church, would be a criminal act, one of highest treason both to God and to His people. The church must first be saved FROM her Laodicean condition of being “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” She, not the world, is just about to be spued out. She “is the only object on earth on which He bestows His supreme regard.”—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 15. {2An:59.3}

But in her present deplorable state of blindness and destitution as exposed by the True Witness (Rev. 3:14-18), she is utterly unfit for the task assigned her, and must be rescued from her sad deception before she can become a safe refuge and a saving influence to those who would join her ranks. Should God leave her in the Laodicean condition in which she now languishes, not only would she herself be lost but, in consequence, so also would the whole world along with her. He must therefore rouse her up or else raise up another to do the work which remains to be done. {2An:60.1}

Think, though, what an eternal joy it would be for Him to fit her up and use her to His glory, rather than to have to forsake her! So before raising up another as a last resort, He is trying to save her, and He will save her, as He promises: {2An:60.2}

“Satan will work his miracles to deceive, he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out. The chaff is separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouth. The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy.... {2An:60.3}

“The great issue so near at hand will weed out those whom God has not appointed, and He will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain.”—B-55-1886. {2An:61.1}

Were the Lord—Who Himself when upon earth spent all His time in the exclusive endeavor to save His lost church then—to send us to the world rather than to His lost church today, He would not only be bringing in the innocent to perish with the guilty, but would also be completely reversing His own practice and contradicting His own orders to His apostles that they preach present truth to the church first (Matt. 10:5, 6). {2An:61.2}

In mercy and in consistency with His eternal procedure, therefore, He purposed that “while the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among [His] people upon earth.” This is the special work. “Then the church which...at His coming [He] is to receive to Himself will be 'a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.’ ”—The Great Controversy, p. 425. {2An:61.3}

“The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the truth,” furthermore says the Spirit of Truth, “because of the church-members who have never been converted, and those who were once converted but who have backslidden. What influence would these unconsecrated members have on new converts? Would they not make of no effect the God-given message which His people are to bear?”—Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 371. {2An:62.1}

But when the backslidden and the unconverted, the tares, are taken away, “then she will look forth ‘as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.’ ”—The Great Controversy, p. 425. {2An:62.2}

Yes, the honest heathen must and will be evangelized, but “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6) must be sought first. How thankful, therefore, and how cooperative they ought to be, and will be, when they discover that rather than being rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing, they are actually “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”—in need of everything; and that the Lord is waiting for them to wake up to the fact so that He can make them what they ought to be. {2An:62.3}

For these reasons, God says now to work within the Laodicean congregation rather than without. And what He says, that He means, and we dare not disobey, regardless what men may say or do.—2An:58.3-63.1

See the etymology of “evangel.”

Who can apostatize? Can uninformed gentiles apostatize?

Who Are Davidians?

You know by now that Malachi, chapters 3 and 4, prophetically speak to the people of today, to the people just before the great and dreadful day, to the people to whom antitypical Elijah the prophet is sent.—2TG37:14.3

Our message for the present is in two sections, two divisions: (1) the message to the church and (2) the message to Nineveh. In other words, we have the message of Elijah and ALSO the message of Jonah.—11SC8:11.1

This surely confirms the conclusion that since Elijah is to herald the great day, he can therefore be the only one who will rightly interpret the prophecies of the day, which are still mysteries to Christendom, and even to our own Denomination! Indeed, to reiterate, it is for this very reason that the prophet is sent. He is to unroll the scroll to explain what the day of the Lord is like, what the Lord will do then, and how we may survive His judgments. To re-emphasize the fact, let it be said again that being the last of the prophets Elijah is, therefore, the only one who can open to our understanding all the prophecies of the Scriptures pertaining to the great and dreadful day of the Lord— prophecies which heretofore have been only mysteries to all. Thus he is, as the Scriptures say, to blow the trumpet in Zion, and to sound an alarm in God's holy mountain, in the church. {GCS:19.2}

In doing all this, he sets in motion the

General Conference Special 19

Power that is to restore all things. Hence Christ's positive declaration: “Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.” Matt. 17:11. Inevitably, then, without his MESSAGE we would die in our ignorance and in our sins—never live to see the restoration completed. {GCS:19.3}

The conclusion of Joel’s prophecy in chapter 2 and also in chapter 3, definitely reveals that “the great and dreadful day of the Lord” is the time of God’s delivering His people from the Gentile nations, and of His cleansing their blood.…—GCS:19.2-20.1

However, having received divinely revealed truth in the "unrolling of the scroll" through God's "the last of the prophets" concerning the setting up and establishment of the kingdom of God's glory, we are today, says Inspiration, publishing peace as declared in Nahum 1:15 and Isa. 52:7.

Let us confidently, therefore, work to the end of pressing together as an army with banners to proclaim the good tidings unto Zion. Then only can it be said of us: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Isa. 52:7. {4Tr:58.1}

Brother, Sister, if you want a part in this never-so-glorious work, you dare not longer delay in lifting your voice to help warn "Mother" of what Father is about to do to her

Unlawful Children—“The Tares.”—4Tr:58.1, 2

"…Suffice it to say that our experience in gospel publishing work teaches us…"—10Tr:20.1

If, in the face of the plain and unquestionable teachings of all the prophets, we as Seventh-day Adventists fail to give heed to the truth of the Purification of the church (the Kingdom here dealt with), the message of the Judgment for the Living and of the restoration of the kingdom of Judah—the sanctuary for the purified ones,—then certainly others will have to take our places in proclaiming it. Then along with the Jews we will have to bear the guilt of rejecting all the prophets since the world began. Why?—Because unless we actually believe all that they have written, our merely pretending to believe in them means as much to Heaven as the faith of the Jews in the writings of Moses meant to the Lord. What! Preaching the gospel of the Kingdom but denying the Kingdom Itself!—1TG15:19.1

Being in harmony with 2TG29:9.2-4 and

In view of this urgency to safeguard the Christian's crowning hope, the kingdom, it is expedient, therefore, to consolidate the main points thus far established in the ingathering. Hence

A Summary of the First and Second Fruits. {9Tr:67.2}

1. When the time of the "tares" "the children of the wicked one" (Matt. 13:18), is come to its full, then will commence "the harvest," and it will bring "the end of this world." Matt. 13:30, 40. Taking place in the end of the world, it perforce is the gathering of the people by Elijah's message, the last Heaven-sent proclamation of the gospel, which is preached FIRST to the church just before the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5), and then to all the world during that long-expected day.—9Tr:67.2, 3

Thus it was that the first Advent Movement was reorganized and renamed, Seventh-day Adventists. The Seventh-day Adventist organization, therefore, will not finish the work. Its message does NOT go to all people, to all nations, tongues, and kings. Consequently, the Church, too, is to be reorganized if the Gospel of the Kingdom is to be preached to all nations. " 'A revival and a reformation must take place under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation

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signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices.' "—Christ Our Righteousness, pg. 121, 1941 edition.—2TG15:6.4

Being that the gospel is prefigured urgently at this time as Elijah's message BEFORE the "coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" means that the SDA Church must be in Apostasy. We get right with God by receiving heaven-sent additional truth if we want to be ready for when "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh." There is indeed a closing work for the church in the sealing time of the 144,000.

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