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The gift of New Testament prophecy is not to add Scripture to Scripture, bring so-called ‘new revelations,’ or to function without ACCOUNTABILITY! God commanded in 1 Cor. 14:29, “Let two or three prophets speak [during a meeting — no more; no less, as not to cause chaos or allow a single person to dominate the assembly,] AND LET THE OTHERS JUDGE [whether it is a word from God.] Paul clarified true Biblical prophesy as follows, ‘If all, [that is every sincere believer in the body of Christ] prophesies, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed, and so, falling down on his FACE, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.’ - 1 Cor. 14:22-23. Thus, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are intended for ’every member of the body of Christ, not an elite few.’ - [Spirit Filled Bible.]
‘If Joshua, [through the obedience of Old Israel to the Old Testament law,] had given them rest, then He, [Jesus,] would not afterward have spoken of another day, [the spiritual NT dispensation.] There remains therefore a rest [from dead religious works, which pertained to the old, ceremonial and ritual law,] for the [New Testament, born again] people of God. For he who has entered His rest, [because Jesus fulfilled the entire law in his place,] has himself also CEASED FROM HIS [legalistic] WORKS as God did from His.’ - Heb. 4:8-9
The foundation of this New Testament Sabbath rest is Jesus’ promise in Mt. 11:28-29, ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, [legalistically, trying to obtain salvation and blessing through the law,] and I will give you rest. Take My yoke [of grace] upon you and learn from ME, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke, [the New Testament Gospel of grace] is easy and My burden [to bring My Gospel to the nations] is light.’ - Mt. 28:19-20.
To as many as received Him [as their personal Lord and Savior,] Jesus gave the right, [privilege, or spiritual power] to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of… [physical things or religious rites,] but of God.’ - Jn. 1:12-13.
‘For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified FREELY by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His Blood, [which is the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of His atoning reconciliation,] to be received through faith to demonstrate His [grace and] righteousness…’ - Rom. 3:23-25.
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GOD CANNOT BE CONFUSED ABOUT HIS OWN WORD IN THE BIBLE! True prophecy from God will always be in total alignment with the context of His entire Word. He will never, never prophecy anything that does not coincide with the “all truth” in His Word, because Jesus Himself is the Spirit of all genuine Prophecy that originate directly from God. Failing this all-important “test” to see if Ellen White and the SDA’s teachings and prophesies are from God, I urge all Adventist members to flee from this extremely dangerous organization! Besides the tremendously false ‘revelations’ of this so-called ‘prophetess,’ the prophesies of the SDA concerning the return of Jesus were all false and, therefore, could not have been given by the True God. All White and her followers had to do to know whether ‘Adventist’ prophecies are true, was to believe Jesus Christ of the Bible, Who is God Himself. He warned well in advance, “Of That Day and hour [of My return] no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
The Truth about all New Testament Prophets: A huge misunderstanding of prophecy, the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, and an erroneous function of New Testament prophets and teachers reign in churches of all denominations. Under the New Testament covenant, ‘mediating’ prophets do not exist! Jesus Alone is the Mediator between God and man! (1 Tim. 2:5.) A genuine, New Testament prophet or teacher never intends to stand as ‘mediator’ between man and God, as Ellen White and the so-called ‘Elijah’ prophets of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement do try to do. (Simply believe 1 Tim. 2:5 and Heb. 1:1-2, and you will never follow the strange revelations of a so-called ‘mediating prophet’ again!]) In addition, the purpose of New Testament prophecy is to make known the hidden needs and Godly comforts of the Scriptural body of Christ as a whole and of members in particular. New Testament prophecy does not re-invent Jesus’ Scriptural teachings; it “reveals the secrets of the human heart, so that, convicted of sin, people will fall down on their faces, [in reverent worship; not laying ‘slain or killed in the spirit’ in trances flat on their backs like corpses as in the disorderly Charismatic/Pentecostal Movement,] to worship God and report that God is truly among you,” (1 Cor. 14:24-25.) In Deut. 18:20-22, God clearly defines the difference between a true prophet and a false prophet, saying, “When a prophet speaks in the Name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you should not [respect or listen to] him… The prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet will die.” What’s more, no New Testament prophet “has authoritive source of truth.” Paul stated in 1 Cor. 14:28-37, “Let two or three prophets speak and let the rest [the members of the Biblical body of Christ] discern what is said… [according to the full context of the Bible!] For the spirits of the prophets are under the speaker’s control [and subject to being silenced as may be necessary.] This is a command of the Lord (verse 33,) for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace and order.” We can be certain that no prophet, called by God and thus gifted by the Holy Spirit, will ‘make mistakes’ while supposedly ‘learning how to prophesy.’ One cannot ‘learn’ how to prophesy. True prophecy is a supernatural gift and work from the Holy Spirit. As a result, God’s prophets never lie, spread false teaching, attempt to bring ‘new revelations’ of Scripture, or ‘new’ Scripture to the body of Christ. Such false interpretations, omissions of, and additions to the Word will definitely result in the ‘different gospel’ of ‘another Jesus,’ and ‘another spirit’ will possess them and their followers, (2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:9; Rom. 1:32.) Instead, New Testament prophets, inspired by the true Holy Spirit of the Bible, through His supernatural gift of prophecy, are to minister Scriptural ‘edification, exhortation, and comfort to men,’ (1 Cor. 12:4-11; 14:3.) Furthermore, all spiritual manifestations, including the gift of prophecy, must be judged or tested according to the contextual truth of God’s Word, to know what spirit is working behind the scenes, (1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Jn. 4:1-4.) The Spirit Filled Bible 1991 defines the New Testament gift of prophecy as follows, “It is a divine disclosure, an edifying revelation of the Spirit for the moment; a sudden insight, prompting comfort, [spoken in Godly wisdom; bringing warning and repentance, which glorify Jesus.]’ Rom. 12:6, ‘This gift… enables a prophet to view all of life with special ongoing prophetic insight… speaking something that God has spontaneously brought to mind, (1 Cor. 12:10.) To prophecy ‘in proportion to our faith’ likely means that prophecy is to be exercised in accordance with the spiritual maturity of the speaker [and his or her understanding of the truth of Scripture…]’” As the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, He will never use His gift to prophecy deception, false doctrine and other lies! There exists no evil in the Most Holy God! Thus, a true prophet will never attempt to bring ‘new revelation’ but instead, will always prophecy within the clear Scriptural boundaries of God’s truth and Scriptural love. The Holy Spirit came to ‘guide us into all [Biblical] truth,’ and to ‘tell us things to come,’ (Jn. 16:13-14.) The prophet Jeremiah and the New Testament Paul wrote, ‘If a prophet had stood in God’s counsel, [he or she] will cause His people to hear [the truth of] His Words, [so that] they would turn from the evil of their doings,’ as ‘God is not the author of confusion, but of peace and order,’ (Jer. 23:22; 1 Cor. 14:33.)
NEW TESTAMENT TEACHERS Biblical teaching, on the other hand, ‘refers to those who are specially gifted [and called] to keep an eye on [or guard] and instruct the revealed Biblical truth of God’s Word...’ - [Rom. 12:7, S.F. Bible 1991, footnote.] There is only One Authoritive Teacher of God’s Truth: the Holy Spirit or God Himself, Who constantly and continually indwells all sincerely, Biblically born again believers, (Jn. 14:26; Mt. 11:29; 23:8-10; Gal. 4:6.) “The ministry of the Holy Spirit is predominantly Christ-oriented; a part of which is to teach and remind Christ’s disciples of what Jesus taught in Person. The Spirit is never self-serving,” [Spirit Filled Bible.] The Holy Spirit will never ‘reveal’ or teach anything contrary to, or in addition to the revealed Word of God, [the entire context of Biblical Scripture,] and the Spirit will never draw unnecessary attention to His human instruments, whom He had endowed with the gift of teaching and prophecy. Thus, teachers, preachers, and prophets with so-called new and contradictory ‘revelation knowledge’ of Scripture only intend to glorify and enrich themselves by presenting ‘new doctrines’ and ‘other gospels’ to believers, which can never be of God. [For a complete listing of the 27 Fundamental Beliefs of the SDA, see Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Hagerstown, MD, 1996, pp. 5–27. Desmond Ford, Daniel 8:14, ‘The Day of Atonement and the Investigative Judgment,’ Evangeline Press, Casselberry, Florida, 1980. E.G. Damsteegt, ‘Seventh-day Adventists Believe…’ A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines.]
SABBATH KEEPING – THE ‘PERPETUAL SIGN’ OF THE ‘SINAITIC COVENANT’ Ratzlaff explains in ‘Sabbath in Christ,’ and in ‘Cultic Doctrine,’ “Adventists fail to observe that… the Greek word, ‘entole,’ translated ‘commandment’ in Rev. 12:17, is never used for the Old Covenant, Ten-Commandment Law. Rather, John always refers to Old Covenant law by the Greek word, ‘nomos,’ translated, ‘law.’ Their claim that the Sabbath commandment is in view here is without warrant. Adventists’ use of Rev. 19:10 puts [Sabbath-keeping] in the PLACE of Christ! Our Lord Jesus Christ and not Ellen White, is the spirit and theme of all [truth and] prophecy.” W.M. Irvine wrote, “As the Seventh-Day Adventists materialized the sanctuary in heaven, they were forced to materialize everything. So besides an actual sanctuary in heaven with candlesticks and curtains… they added in the ark, the two tables of stone, and call upon all to put themselves under the law. Ellen White at first refused to believe that the fourth commandment was more binding than any other, but Elder Bates forced her into submission until she had a vision, in which she asserted she was taken to heaven and shown the sanctuary and its appointments! She alleged that Jesus raised the cover of the ark, and she beheld the tables of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written. She was amazed as she saw the Fourth commandment in the very centre of the ten precepts, with a soft halo of light encircling it. Adventists use this false vision to claim that “believers are still under the Law of Moses, (of which Saturday Sabbath-keeping is the greatest,) and are bound to keep even the ‘least of its precepts.’ As they changed the 7th day Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, they do not realize that the Sabbath was given as a ‘sign’ and ‘perpetual covenant’ between God and Israel.” However, the Truth of Scripture declares that, through the complete atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, these ritual/ceremonial/sacrificial commandments of the Old Testament Covenant were completely ‘fulfilled,’ ‘done away with’ and ‘abolished,’ (Heb. 8:7-13; 9:15; Mt. 5:17; 2 Cor. 3:6-17.) In its place we have the “ministration of the Spirit and His righteousness. [Therefore you] DIED TO THE LAW through the [sacrificed] body of Christ… so that you should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter [the Old Testament Law]… Let no man judge you… of [the Sabbath] day, (Col. 2:13-23; Rom. 14:5-6.) You are not under the [Old Covenant, ritual] law [to earn righteousness and blessing,] but under grace,” [Rom. 6:14b; 7:4-6; Gal. 5:18.] Adventists ‘refute’ this truth and say, “Christ teaches that those who break as much as one of the least of the precepts of the law…” Truth is, we can never keep the entire law — not even all the precepts of the Moral Law, which Jesus Himself commanded. Therefore, Jesus Himself fulfilled the entire law in our place, (Mt. 5:17,) otherwise, we would have to keep even every jot and title of the entire law ourselves, (Mt. 5:18; Gal. 2:21.) Jesus spiritualized the entire New Testament Covenant or dispensation by fulfilling the entire Law as well as the ceremonial temple law in our place. While the ceremonial part of the law was done away with because the became the ultimate sacrifice on the cross, He always commands us to strive to keep the Moral Law, (the New Testament Law of Love, the Royal Law of the heart,) which is also impossible. If anyone can boast that they can keep the whole law, they do not need Jesus at all, (Gal. 2:21.) Fact remains, if Jesus still commands us to keep the outward temple or ceremonial Law, we must keep the Law in its entirety, and of course, we must then also sacrifice animals to cover our sin! – (Gal. 2:21.) Paul wrote in Gal. 3:10-14, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, (Deut. 28,) for… cursed is everyone who does not continue in ALL things which are written in the book of the law, to DO them. But that no one is justified [or blessed] by the law… is evident… Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us… that the blessing of Abraham [a complete blessed state or position in Christ,] might come upon the Gentiles… that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
WHAT IS ‘SABBATH KEEPING,’ ACCORDING TO REAL BIBLICAL TRUTH? It is one of God’s creation principles that humanity, as God Himself set the example in Genesis, should physically rest on the 7th Day. The literal and emotional rest of body and mind (soul) is all that there is to the Sabbath under the New Testament Covenant, which we usually use to draw closer to God in praise and worship. That’s why Jesus, in light of the New Covenant, explained that the Sabbath was made for humanity, and not humanity for the day, as if the day itself must be worshiped like in paganism. In New Covenant terms, the Sabbath is not a particularly holy day that has power to bring us to salvation and blessing as in paganism where they ascribe the same power to elements such as water and fire. We can only be saved, redeemed, and blessed through faith in, and discipleship of Jesus Christ Himself, (Gal. 3:10-14.) So, New Covenant living in Christ is not about legalistically keeping the Sabbath or any other day to earn merit with God. While it is logic that it is necessary to rest physically from our work to replenish our physical, emotional, and even our spiritual strength, sincerely born again believers do not live to legalistically and ceremonially observe the Sabbath rest. They live only in obedience to the inward Moral Law of Love, as Jesus had commanded in Jn. 13:34; Mt. 11:29-30 · The true Sabbath under the New Testament Covenant is a continual spiritual rest from legalistic works, (which supposedly earn salvation and blessing,) by fully “resting” in Jesus’ completed atonement in our place, (Heb. 4:1-16.) This means, sincere believers must rest continually in Him spiritually and emotionally, because He unchained us from the heavy yoke of religion and its many religious works such as observing the Sabbath Day legalistically. · The truth of Scripture makes it plain that the harsh laws of religion and its many legalistic works such as outward Sabbath keeping prevent us from entering into the full atonement of Christ, which is our complete and constant rest or salvation, redemption and blessed position in Him. This is what happened to Old Israel, who refused to let go of their temple religion and its legalistic rituals and laws to accept the complete atonement of Christ in their place, as described in Hebrews Chapter 4. Yes, we all know about the abominations of the Catholic Church and the Day of the Sun, (Sunday, the pagan day that was dedicated to the sun god.) However, how many Adventists and other people know that Saturday was named after the Roman fertility god Saturn, the god of agriculture! · Moreover, there are only seven days in a week; there is no so-called “8th day of the week” as Adventists refer to Sunday. Sunday is the 1st day of the week according to Judaism and has nothing to do with allegedly ‘replacing’ the Jewish Sabbath, the 7th day of the week. The writer of ‘The Adventist Dilemma’ explained, “[Among early believers in Christ] the [so-called ‘8th day,’] the Lord’s Day’ or Sunday, the first day of the [Hebrew] week, became the resurrection day. It was not selected as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to replace the Jewish Sabbath [for Hebrews without Christ who still kept to the Old Testament law,] but as a day to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection from death, (Rev. 1:10; Acts 20:7.) On Sunday, (the 1st day of the week,) the resurrected Christ appeared to His disciples. On Sunday, the 1st day of the week, He also sent the Holy Spirit to indwell His body of believers, [His called out assembly or ecclesia.] On the 1st day, He also used Peter to unlock the Door of the Kingdom so that 3,000 souls could enter in...” And so, the 1st day, Sunday, and not the 7th day, the Jewish Sabbath, became known as ‘The Lord’s Day.’ In fact, every day of our lives should be ‘The Lord’s Day,’ as God requires that we must live in a constant, living relationship with Him, obeying His Moral Law of Love, while resting in Christ from all dead religious works! Thus, neither physical 7th-day Sabbath keeping, nor 7th day or 1st-day Sabbath keeping is a moral New Covenant requirement or law, ( 1 Cor. 16:2. In the case of the legalistic observance of days, Paul lamented in Gal. 4:10, ‘You observe [religious] days and months and seasons and years [to revere the days like the pagans do.] I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain… Verses 8-9: When you did not know God, you served those who… are not gods. But now after you have known God… how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, [the worship of outward norms and forms,] to which you desire again to be in bondage?’ Paul declared that “going back into religious legalism,” which forces people to observe religious days and feasts, etcetera, “would be no better than going back into pagan worship!” – [Spirit Filled Bible 1991 version.]
ADVENTIST SATURDAY-SABBATH KEEPING IS SUPPOSEDLY ‘THE SAVING SEAL OF GOD’ As the Seventh-day Sabbath, in the mind of Adventists, is the ‘seal’ of God, 7th day Sabbath-keeping actually saves them! However, this doctrine is in complete enmity with the Saving Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ! Adventists believe that all those who observe the Sunday Sabbath were “sealed by the beast,” that “great whore,” the Roman Catholic Church and all her prostitute daughters. Materializing everything, they do not hesitate to call Jesus’ disciples ‘whores,’ who do not have ‘permission’ to approach the members of the SDA with the Real Gospel of Christ. They actually mean that Jesus’ disciples, (women especially,) who bring them the Truth of the Bible, are physical, intrusive prostitutes! They base this gross insult to the truly Biblical body of Christ and the commission of Christ in Mt. 28:19-20, on Ellen White’s teaching, “Sabbath observance would be the ‘line of distinction’ in the ‘final test’ that will separate God’s end-time people who ‘receive the seal of God’ and are saved, from those who ‘receive the mark of the beast’ and are cast into the [temporal] lake of fire…” However, in reality, how can anyone be “cast into the lake of fire,” as she teaches soul-sleep and ‘temporal punishment,’ not eternal punishment as described in the whole of Scriptural truth! Scripture most definitely does not declare that Sabbath-keeping is either ‘salvation’ or the ‘seal of God.’ The SDA alleges, “Because the Sabbath commandment was placed in the very center of the Ten Commandments, it served as the dynastic sign of the Sinaitic Covenant… Within the old covenant we find the Sabbath called a sign…” If only this woman realized that true believers do not live under the Old Testament Covenant in any way! (Heb. 8:13.) Seen in context, these Old Testament signs were always between God and the physical nation of Old Israel. The New Testament Covenant never calls the Sabbath a seal or a sign! Instead, New Testament Scripture declares that the Holy Spirit or God Himself is the Seal, Whom New Testament, Scripturally born again believers, (redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ from all the nations,) receive at the moment they sincerely and personally believe in, and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, (Jn. 1:12-13; Gal. 4:6.) To explain this truth, Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 1:21-22, ‘Now He… has anointed us in God, and also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts [or human spirits] as a guarantee.’ Paul continued in Eph. 1:13-14, KJV, “[After listening to the…] Gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession…’ And in Eph. 4:30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed [as God’s Personal possession until] the day of redemption, [That Day of Jesus’ Return to earth.]” Ratzlaff confirmed, “It is the Holy Spirit and not the 7th-day Sabbath that is the seal of God. According to the New Testament, the 7th-day Sabbath is not the sign which is to be remembered. Rather, believers are to When SDAs make their Sabbath-keeping a sign and a part of their salvation by works which condemn, without any Biblical proof, everyone that does not submit to their doctrines, then their teaching becomes satanic. The context of the New Testament does not place any special emphasis on Sabbath keeping. Scripture never commands [New Testament] believers to keep the Sabbath. Sabbath-breaking is never included in any New Testament moral sins (you will not steal, lie, hate, murder, adulterate…). This certainly seems strange if the Sabbath, as Adventists claim, is to be the so-called “testing truth for all Christians in the last days.” Paul teaches that the Sabbath is to be included with the other ritual holy days of the old covenant and serves only as a shadow of Christ, and the spiritual rest of New Testament believers from legalistic works such as keeping the Sabbath ceremonially! (Read Heb. Chapter 4.) In Christ, all sincere believers are blessed and redeemed from the entire Old Testament curse in order to rest from all their religious works, as Jesus Himself became our Sabbath Rest, (Heb. 4; Gal. 3:10-14.) If we break ONE precept of the Ceremonial or Ritual Law, we are guilty of breaking the whole Law. Thus, Jesus fulfilled the entire Sacrificial/Ritual/Ceremonial AND the Moral Law in our place, as humankind was unable to keep its many precepts, (Mt. 5:17.) Praise God, for all sincere believers may continually rest in the New Testament Sabbath-Rest, Who is Jesus Christ our Savior. We can cease from striving to achieve salvation and blessing by our own efforts, and live our daily lives learning to be utterly dependent upon the guidance, power, and teaching of the Holy Spirit, to please God in all we think, say, and do. [Spirit Filled Life Bible 1991 version. Beware of new translations.]
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