When the morality of a country falls to such a low ebb as to consume the lives of its leaders, as we currently see happening in the United States, then may we know that a voice of stern rebuke must be heard at the highest levels and on a national basis. This voice must be one of national repentance showing the people that the frown of God rests upon them for so blatantly violating his laws.
In only one week’s time, the United States will have selected one of the two presidential contenders, Clinton or Trump, to the highest office in the nation—President! Yet, when one looks at the candidate pool it leaves much to be desired, and is an indictment as to the level of the nation’s moral rectitude. Every great nation in history has had its moral failings before its political ones, and the United States is on course to seeing this humiliation realized within her borders in due time, for she has violated the laws of God and has dismissed the Most High from her councils. Daily this country is marching headlong into a dark and Christ-less future. Moreover, on account of the anti-God education offered to the millennial generation, Statisticians have reported that that population has seen the sharpest growth of atheists in America since its founding!
A remarkable 25 percent of Americans born after 1980, the group often known as millennials, are not religious, compared with 11 percent of baby boomers and 7 percent of the generation born between 1928 and 1945.
It’s not clear that millennials will become much more religious as they age, either. Despite the cliché about people getting more religious as they get older, it hasn’t been happening recently. No generation has become more religious since 2007, according to the Pew data. Baby boomers and the so-called Generation X have become slightly less religious over that time, and millennials have become substantially less.
In 2007, only 16 percent of millennials said they were not religious — a sign that Americans born in the 1990s are probably even less religious than those born in the 1980s.[1]
Another media outlet presents the facts in this way:
The religiously unaffiliated, called “nones,” are growing significantly. They’re the second largest religious group in North America and most of Europe. In the United States, nones make up almost a quarter of the population. In the past decade, U.S. nones have overtaken Catholics, mainline protestants, and all followers of non-Christian faiths…
There have long been predictions that religion would fade from relevancy as the world modernizes, but all the recent surveys are finding that it’s happening startlingly fast. France will have a majority secular population soon. So will the Netherlands and New Zealand. The United Kingdom and Australia will soon lose Christian majorities. Religion is rapidly becoming less important than it’s ever been, even to people who live in countries where faith has affected everything from rulers to borders to architecture…
And compared to past campaign seasons, religion is taking a backseat in this year’s U.S. presidential election. Donald Trump is not outwardly religious (and his attraction of evangelical voters has raised questions about the longevity and the motives of the religious right). Hillary Clinton has said “advertising about faith doesn’t come naturally to me.” And Bernie Sanders is “not actively involved” in a religion. Their reticence about religion reflects the second largest religious group in the country they hope to run. Aside from Ted Cruz, the leading candidates just aren’t up for talking about religion. The number of Americans who seek divine intervention in the voting booth seems to be shrinking.”[2]
When one looks at the global sanctuary for religious liberty today, the United States of America, one sees a Country that has denied the God of her founding years and has instead chosen secularism and social relativism over righteousness and a set of noble moral absolutes. This country, being the descendants and inheritors of the legacy left by the Pilgrim Fathers and mothers, have betrayed its trust to their hard-won legacy, and have repudiated the very principles of righteousness they lived and died to uphold. I must be clear that America was never “a Christian Country,” though it has been the center of freedom of religion in the world. Sadly though, today’s America is fast becoming the world’s leader in freedom from religion, and she is getting help from some of the most unsuspecting places—the so-called evangelical “Christian” Churches.
It would do us well to appreciate the insights offered to the world over a century ago, by one of the least respected voices in Christian circles: “But religious faith appears so confused and discordant, that the people know not what to believe as truth. The sin of the world’s impenitence lies at the door of the church.”[3]
What are we as “Christians” doing to reverse this tide? Are we inserting political campaign posters in our front yards and on our bumper stickers? Are we actively conducting voter registrations? Are we seeking the friendship of the world, for a more “secure future?” I hope we can each confidently answer “No!” to these questions, and if per chance the answer is yes, it is not too late to seek God in sincere repentance, for friendship of the world translates as “enmity” towards our God and Saviour. When President Obama was running for his second term, I warned my Christian friends to please not support that candidate with their votes, because he will implement policies which will create a time of trouble for many Christian families, and history bears me correct on this point. One simply needs to reflect on the story of County Clerk Kim Davis from Kentucky. On this point, let’s see the Adventist’s position on this high-caliber example of living true to one’s convictions:
“Even though the same-sex marriage decision was proper in a secular society, it ended up affecting individual religious rights. Take the case of the now infamous Kentucky County Clerk, Kim Davis. Kim Davis, as the Rowan County Clerk, clearly felt compelled by her religious convictions that issuing the same-sex marriage license in her county violated her religious beliefs, thus claiming the religious rights she has under the first amendment. Did Kim Davis deserve an accommodation for her religious beliefs? Yes, she certainly did. But, the actions Davis took to get that accommodation went beyond what was necessary. Her action, while religiously motivated, was just as extreme as the homosexual reaction. Neither side wanted to see how conflicting civil rights could coexist.
We agree with Kim Davis’ position on marriage. We agree that she needed to be accommodated for her religious beliefs. But, in the end she may have carried her religion too far by refusing to allow even her office staff to certify the marriages of same-sex couples. Our concern is that she ended up trying to enforce her religious beliefs upon her staff. Would we as Adventists stand for the government imposing its religion upon the people or the Church? Davis treated her position in public office as her house, and not as the house of the people whom she served. As much as we would like to believe that Davis was engaged in a religious act by certifying the marriage certificates, she was not. There is nothing religious about what a county clerk does or certifies. The office she claims is “hers” cannot deny secular rights to citizens based on the religious beliefs of the county clerk. Herein lies the problem. Both sides had valid issues in regard to the issue of separation of church and state. Davis had a valid issue with her religious accommodation claim. But, both sides were wrong because they decided to fight, rather than discuss reasonable ways for the two issues to coexist and both be accommodated.” [4]
Left alone to this brand of Seventh-day Adventism, same-gender marriage is a “proper” decision for a secular society! In other words the church is pivoting to her political adherents to close their eyes to these social policies, for in a secular society anything lawless is acceptable, they claim! Did you ever think you would have seen the day when Commandment-keepers denounce other Christians for carrying their religion “too far”? Where does “dare to be a Daniel” stand in our profession of faith anymore? Interestingly enough, almost a year to the date, in an earlier publication by the Same SDA Conference, another case was featured by the Tidings, and there was much affirming given for the stand which the Adventist sister took in defense of her faith. Read about it in the Tiding’s Feature Article “Stand Firm and See.”[5] But to silence the evil suggestions of our Adventist thought leaders, Kim Davis’s bold actions served to vindicated an entire State, and yes the entire Nation, and thus all other Clerks of Courts in a similar position. Her stance was right and it moved the heart of the State’s governor, much to the Chagrin of our Adventist theologians, to issue an order of accommodation for one’s religious convictions!
“Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued an executive order Tuesday that will no longer require a county clerk’s name to appear on marriage license forms.”[6] This is the kind of solution that Adventist Legal should have been working on, rather than excoriating Mrs. Davis for her unflinching stance on a question of conscience.
As has already been stated, a moral decline always precedes a political decline and even destruction of the world’s great nations, and America is poised for just such a political and military decline. The lesson from the ancient Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, should stand as a startling reminder that when the sacred is brought to the level of the common and the defiled, that the proverbial writing will appear on the walls of our history, and the wrath of God will be kindled against all the rebellious violators of His holy Law.
“1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.” (Dan. 5: 1-5).
The equivalent of the king’s drunken party in which the sacred vessels of the holy Sanctuary were used to gratify the lascivious appetite of the festive crowd, is America’s romance with “marital” sanctity to a homosexual, same-gender union! If God does not demonstrate his frown on this abomination, then He would be compelled by His inaction, to issue an apology to ancient Sodom. But because it appears that his delay is an act of approval, men have grown more vile in their emotions, corrupt in their actions, and immoral in their affections, thereby adding sin to sin, thinking that God is dead, or He is a “myth,” and that He evidently approves of these practices on account of His inaction. This class is clearly described by Inspiration in the following words: “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” (Eccl. 8: 11).
God’s perceived delay is only because of His great love for sinners and His abundant unending mercy towards the erring, for He is not willing that any should perish, but that we should all have eternal life, by living in obedience to His statutes, judgments and commandments. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3: 9).
Long ago, the voice of Inspiration to the Church today made the following pronouncement upon these United States, while yet they stood in the infancy of its growth:
The time has come when judgment is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. But the Lord’s arm is not shortened that it cannot save, and his ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. The people of the United States have been a favored people; but when they restrict religious liberty, surrender Protestantism, and give countenance to popery, the measure of their guilt will be full, and “national apostasy” will be registered in the books of heaven. The result of this apostasy will be national ruin.”[7]
When John The Baptist issued his stern rebuke against king Herod for taking his brother Philip’s wife, the king was cut to the quick, and left the itinerant preacher alone. But that system of religious forbearance would soon be ended at his drunken birthday party, when like king Belshazzar or old he allowed his sensual pleasure to overpower sound reasoning, and he ordered that the faithful preacher be executed to satisfy his lust for sex and political power.
“3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. 4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. 7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. 9 And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.” (Matt. 14: 3-9).
One day not far away the spirit of religious intolerance in America will force the hand of the political leaders to turn in the “extremists”—the true worshippers of YHWH, on account of their concerted voice of stern rebuke against an apostate church and nation. In such a moment the fires of persecution will be rekindled, and demon of religious persecution will have stained the American soil with the blood of Christ’s true followers. This nation will have repudiated every fiber of her constitution, by punishing decenters against her growing unbiblical national policies.
High on the agenda of American policy makers is the Trojan Horse of “Climate Change.” This initiative is championed by the Pontiff of Rome—Pope Francis, and has caught the interest of all major international heads of States and policy-makers, and has fired their zeal for change. Simultaneously, the Church of Rome is seeking to heal the wounds of the past by reaching out the protestant churches and apologize for her heavy-handed subjugation of the so-called “heretics” of yesteryears, who will be known tomorrow as “extremists.” This apparently humbling role of the Vatican only serves as a smoke screen to hide the more sinister plots of the Papacy, and will in time result in a harvest of religious tyranny as has been experienced in the dark ages. Many modernists are finding the pope’s messages attractive because he uses the front of social ills to bolster his fame, and many formerly “protestant churches” have given up their “protest” and are now journeying back in the arms of Rome, from whence they came. Most troubling of all is to see that we as Seventh-day Adventists are actively bridging the gap between the General Conference and the Papacy.
Long ago we have been counseled that, “The church that holds to the word of God is irreconcilably separated from Rome. Protestants were once thus apart from this great church of apostasy, but they have approached more nearly to her, and are still in the path of reconciliation to the Church of Rome. Rome never changes. Her principles have not altered in the least. She has not lessened the breach between herself and Protestants; they have done all the advancing. But what does this argue for the Protestantism of this day? It is the rejection of Bible truth which makes men approach to infidelity. It is a backsliding church that lessens the distance between itself and the Papacy.”[8]
From the news wires, we are learning that on the very date of the Protestant Reformation, 499 years ago, the Pope made an impassioned plea for unity between his church and the Lutherans—the very engine which generated the Protest, in the first place.
Pope Francis and Lutheran leaders expressed deep regret Monday over the conflict between Catholics and Protestants during Christianity’s nearly 500-year-old schism, calling for unity on the pontiff’s landmark visit to Sweden.
The Argentine pope visited the southern cities of Malmo and nearby Lund for an ecumenical service marking the start of a year of celebrations for the Reformation — the dramatic 1517 event that created a Protestant branch of Christianity which rebelled against papal rule.
We too must look with love and honesty at our past, recognising error and seeking forgiveness,” Francis told a mass held in a church in Lund attended by Catholic and Lutheran leaders.
The event marks 50 years of reconciliatory dialogue between the Catholic Church and Lutheranism — a Protestant branch that has traditionally been among the most fervent opponents to the Vatican’s authority and teachings.
The popes of the 16th century spent huge amounts of time and energy trying to stifle or reverse the reforming wave launched by the German monk Martin Luther when he nailed his demands — the “95 theses” — to the door of a church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.[9]
In denouncing the theology of the Papacy, we are by no means preaching a doctrine of “hate,” but one of love—love for souls who are trapped in darkness that they may see the True Light of the world—Jesus Christ. On this matter also, we have been given Inspired counsel:
There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. None are condemned until they have had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment. But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit Sabbath, and the loud cry of “the third angel” shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast.
With rapid steps we are approaching this period. When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power in sustaining a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal Sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and State. There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.
Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Roman Catholic Church. She presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties, and declaring that her spirit of persecution no longer exists. But she is the same as in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up at the peril of their lives to expose her iniquity; the same as when she assumed the power to control kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. She may clothe herself in Christlike garments, the better to carry forward her purposes; but she still retains the venom of the serpent, and her principles are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in churches, and in the hearts of men. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when it crushed out human liberty, and slew the saints of the Most High.
By compromises and concessions, Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery, giving her vantage-ground which papists themselves are surprised to see and fail to understand. The Protestant world needs to be aroused to resist the advances of this most dangerous foe to civil and religious liberty.
When the State shall enforce the decrees and sustain the institutions of the church, then will Protestant America have formed an image of the Papacy. Then the true church will be assailed by persecution as were God’s people in ancient times. Almost every century furnishes instances of what human hearts, controlled by rage and malice, can do under a plea of serving God by protecting the rights of the church and State. The Protestant churches that have followed in the steps of Rome by forming alliances with worldly powers have manifested a similar desire to restrict liberty of conscience. How many non-conformist ministers have suffered under the power of the Church of England! Persecution always follows a restriction of religious liberty on the part of secular governments.[10]
One would be reckless in denying the claims against Rome presented in the paragraphs above. It is the spirit of the beast that restricts the liberty of conscience, and even in free America, we are seeing the trickling’s of this persecutive spirit, and in only a few more years the floodgates of this evil will be opened in a powerful torrent of persecution against those Christians who prefer to uphold the “Statutes, Judgments, and Commandments” of the Most High, YHWH. We are literally standing on the cusp of a changing world and a changed church!
In light of what has been said, how do the upcoming US elections help or retard this approaching crisis for Biblical Christianity? Well, to begin with, neither candidate will be able to protect our interests, and those Christians who are seeking political sanctuary from Trump or Clinton, will be completely disappointed that what they’ve bartered for is to stand in the shade of the thorn brush. For neither Hilary nor Trump will advance the case of primitive Christianity, but will only exploit the political gains which have already been achieved under the Obama administration. Who would have thought, except for God’s children who are standing in the light, that in “protestant America,” the sacred hedge, placed by the Creator, around the marriage institution would be summarily removed by five judges in Supreme Court? We did not get here overnight, though. It was from a continual abandoning of Biblical principles that the church of God has enabled the political world to pull the proverbial wool over her eyes, for to protect their 501©3 status, many denominations began to pivot towards the secular and the profane at the sacrifice of truth and principle.
Hilary Clinton’s Connection
Mrs. Clinton has some admirable qualities. When her husband and US President, Bill Clinton had his rendezvous with Ms. Monica Lewinsky, she stood by his side at a time when the average Christian wife in America would have simply terminated the marriage! She had good grounds, and took the “higher road” instead. And I admire her for that, she preached a very loud and clear a sermon that was rather deafening for her silence on the entire situation.
During the debates, however, many truths about the Candidates lives came to the front, and while Mrs. Clinton appears polished and tame she finds as her inspiration, one who was a personal admirer of Lucifer—Saul Alinsky! Without putting words in his mouth, let me share with you the posthumous media attention surrounding this man:
And Carson was right that Clinton did write her college thesis about Alinsky — and she was, according to the WSJ, even offered a job by him (she turned it down). Her thesis reportedly was “critical at times of Mr. Alinsky’s tactics,” the WSJ said…
On the acknowledgment to “Rules for Radicals,” Alinsky wrote: “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.”[11]
Among the personalities identified in the “Personal Acknowledgments”[12] of his book, Mr. Alinsky drew attention to Lucifer and Thomas Paine.
I saw that the Lord had given the world opportunity to discover the snare. This one thing was evidence enough for the Christian if there were no other. There is no difference made between the precious and the vile.
Thomas Paine, whose body has mouldered to dust, and who is to be called forth at the end of the 1000 years, at the second resurrection, to receive his reward, and suffer the second death, is purported by Satan to be in heaven, and highly exalted there. Satan used him on earth as long as he could, and now he is carrying on the same work through pretensions of having Thomas Paine so much exalted and honored; and as he taught on earth, Satan is making it appear that he is teaching in heaven. And some on earth who have looked with horror at his life and death, and his corrupt teachings while living, now submit to be taught by him who was one of the vilest and most corrupt of men; one who despised God and his law.[13]
So here we have Clinton being an admirer of Alinsky, who was an Admirer of both Lucifer and Thomas Paine, of whom we are counseled that “Satan used him on earth as long as he could, and now he is carrying on the same work through pretensions of having Thomas Paine so much exalted and honored.”
A Hilary Clinton’s presidency, would be a very first for America, and would advance the spirit of radical feminism to a new threshold both in America and around the world. Already Great Britain has a female Prime minister, and it would be truly an historic first for both countries of the same “commonwealth” to be headed by women during the same administrative cycle. In such an arrangement, there could be no clearer evidence given to the expression that the “woman rides the beast,” as predicted in Revelation chapter 17. While the “woman” is a symbol of “mystery Babylon,” she is secondarily indicative of the spirit of the woman ruling the world. Thereby making the world into a matriarchal society, in which masculinity is shunned and even despised, at the expense of conforming to social norms. It is now public knowledge that both May of Britain and Clinton of America are fierce proponents of same-gender marriage. Hence “Stronger Together,” will take on a new dimension when this all-female duo spearheads their immoral policies for the Western Churches and the world!
Tim Kane’s Jesuitical Connection
Once ago it was an act of secrecy to acknowledge one’s Jesuitical connections, but today those limits have been crossed as the world prepares for a more overt expression of Papal philosophies. During the Summer Conventions, Mr. Kaine personally acknowledged to this fact. Let’s now cite him in his own words:
I went to a Jesuit boys school – Rockhurst High School. The motto of our school was “men for others.” That’s where my faith became vital, a North Star for orienting my life. And I knew that I wanted to fight for social justice. That’s why I took a year off law school to volunteer with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. I taught kids welding and carpentry.”[14]
US Supreme Court’s Roman Catholic Connection
Because the Jewish religion has also caved in to the demands of ecumenism, their being the minority on the Bench, is a clear win for the Roman Catholic Church, whose membership was closely guarded from entry on the High Court, due to their church’s history of anti-libertarian practices. Giving them a majority today, is not a boon for Christians, but an actual threat. This will be made even plainer in coming years.
Broken down on religious lines, today’s Supreme Court has members from just two religions, both of which had been historically underrepresented on the highest court: Roman Catholics and Jews. There are six Roman Catholics currently serving on the court (Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts, Antonin Scalia[15], Sonia Sotomayor, and Clarence Thomas) and three Jews (Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Elena Kagen).”[16]
Donald Trump’s Connection
Donald Trump is a tenacious business man who looks for an opportunity to make big bucks in any way he can possibly make it, without being thrown in Jail. He loves the high life and bright lights, a true city dweller he is. I admire his financial wisdom in the way he manages his campaign expenses. For example, at a time when Jeb Bush spent some $49-million dollars on the New England Campaign trails, Trump had only spent $3-million, and in the end, he came out on top, leaving Bush to simply fall to insignificance, and in an act of political disgrace he had to finally abandon his presidential campaign aspirations. Trump not only outsmarted the Bushes but all the other “career politicians,” the last of whom was Senator Ted Cruz. Trump out-gamed seasoned politicians who went to school for, and earned a living by performing policy-making jobs! I truly admire him for this! What a great tool he might become, if left as an arrow in the Lord’s quiver! Only time alone will tell if he will surrender his self-centered heart to Most High.
Professing to be a “Christian,” Mr. Trump promotes his Presbyterian founding, but from his own speech he has very little or nothing to do with God, prayer or the Bible. A womanizer of extraordinary proportions, by modern standards, Trump has not outdone king Solomon, in the Bible, but has aligned himself with racial radicals, such as the KKK, who as a group, have a sinister agenda for a non-white America. He has also promised to continue the Obama legacy of expanding the reach of the homosexual religion into the everyday lives of all Americans, at least this is what many voters thought they heard in his speech: “As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.”[17] When closely read, however, he has promised to “protect…from violence and oppression,” and not “promote” their cause, but the crowds applauded and that’s all that matters.
Notwithstanding his failings and foibles, Trump is highly promoted by a very famous son of the Seventh-day Adventist Church—Dr. Ben Carson, an accomplished neuro surgeon. My personal advice to Dr. Carson would be to recuse himself from this political train to nowhere, and spend the rest of his energy to promote the cause of Present Truth on earth today. He is fully aware of our prophetic understandings for these last days, and has articulated his fears about religious tyranny resurrecting in America, but like Moses of Old, Carson is seeking to liberate antitypical Israel (Christians) by force of arms, rather than by leaning on the Everlasting Arms of YHWH.
A Trump presidency would be an historic first for the United States, for he is neither a politician nor a legislator, but a businessman and show-biz actor. A U.S. presidency for him, given his rough manners and unenviable interpersonal relationship skills, must be a wake-up call to each of us that he was the very “best” candidate out of 17 choices Americans had, to inaugurate as their leader!
The End Game of our Times
With a rising tide of evil directed against America from many sides, Christians should realize that if Hilary loses the presidency, after being so handily helped by the media, that it must a warning from our God that we are closer than we think. Similarly, if Mr. Trump wins the election, due to the recent revelations from the FBI regarding emails discovered on Mr. Weiner’s computer, then this was an eleventh-hour signal that the hour is later than we think.
You see, either a Trump or Clinton victory at the polls, is an indictment as to the signs of our times, for we will in a short while have one of two very overtly immoral individuals leading the free world! Mrs. Clinton’s immorality stems from her acceptance and promotion of homosexuality, and as for Donald Trump, his rapacious appetite for sexual intimacy leaves much to be ashamed of. Even while confessing this much, we can rest assured that there still remains “the half that has not been told,” about each of these two candidates, and time alone will be the best determinant as to which is the lesser of the two evils. One thing is certain though, is that one of these two very immoral characters will become president-elect after November 8, 2016.
From the clear note of Brother Victor Houteff’s pen, I now reflect:
I have been asked to give a study on current events, on the Palestine situation, and on the separation caused by the slaughter that is forecast in Ezekiel’s vision.
I wish that I could tell you all you want to know, but I cannot say how soon the separation, the purification of the church, (Testimonies, Vol. 5, pg. 80), will take place. God alone knows the time. All I know is that it cannot take place before we prepare the way, before our God-given work in connection with Ezekiel 9 is done. Then it will come to pass that the Lord will suddenly come to His temple (the church) and purify the sons of Levi, the ministry (Mal. 3:1-3). But those who receive not the mark will fall under the slaughter weapons of the angels as did the unfaithful “first born” in the night of the Passover in the land of Egypt.
I am, however, certain that God will not keep us ignorant of the things we ought to know. If it becomes necessary for us to know ahead of time the day and hour of the purification of the church, the antitypical Passover, we will be told. Yes, we shall know at least as much in advance as Moses knew about the Passover in his day. He did not know months ahead the day and hour of the events that were then to take place, but he was instructed of his and of the people’s duties and of what to expect from day to day. Neither did he know beforehand that they were to come up against the Red Sea, but as the cloud led them there, and as the Egyptians followed close behind, he was then told what to do. Moreover, at the time they crossed the Sea he did not know that they were to spend forty years in the desert nor that the grown-ups among them were to perish while on their journey to the Promised Land.
Thus must it be today, because “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deut. 29:29. God knows how to lead and how to save. I cannot, therefore, give you light beyond what inspiration makes known. I can only speak of the things that are revealed.
The most exciting current event that we know of is the presidential election which stands only two days in the future. As the nation sees it, this is now the biggest thing in the world, even though many will not get what they want, for each one of the different parties has named its own nominee on the presidential ballot, but only one president is to be elected.
All seem to think that peace and prosperity depend upon the man they put in the White House. Upon the authority of the Word, though, I stand to tell you that regardless who is put in office there will be no peace and desirable lasting prosperity, for God is left out of the plans which have been devised although He alone can give what we are after. And now how may we know that God is not taken into partnership?[18]
May we watch the signs of our times, knowing that the night is almost gone and the day in coming on, O it must be the breaking of the day! Rouse then, O present truth believer and girt yourselves with the battle armor—the beautiful garments of Christ’s righteousness:
“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. 2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion… 7 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! 8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.” (Isa. 52: 1-9). Ω — Garrick Augustus, November 1, 2016
List of References
[1] The New York Times, May 12, 2015; http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/upshot/the-rise-of-young-americans-who-dont-believe-in-god.html?_r=0
[2] National Geographic News, April 22, 2016; http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-nones-rising-religion/
[3] E.G. White, The Great Controversy, 1888, p. 389.1
[4] SOUTHERN TIDINGS, January 2016; https://www.andrews.edu/library/car/cardigital/Periodicals/Southern_Tidings/2016/2016_01.pdf
[5] SOUTHERN TIDINGS, January 2015; http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/SUW/SUW20150101-V109-01.pdf
[6] NBC News, December 22, 2015; http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-marriage-licenses-no-longer-need-county-clerks-names-governor-n484671
[7] E.G. White, {RH, May 2, 1893 par. 11}
[8] E.G. White, {ST, February 19, 1894 par. 4}
[9] Yahoo News, October 31, 2016; https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-takes-christian-unity-bid-protestant-heartland-085449167.html
[10] E.G. White, {ST, November 8, 1899 par. 2-6}
[11] CBS News, July 20, 2016; http://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-is-saul-alinsky/
[12] You may read Mr. Alinsky’s book here: https://archive.org/stream/RulesForRadicals/RulesForRadicals_djvu.txt
[13] E.G. White, {1SG 175.2—176.1}
[14] The Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2016: http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-tim-kaine-convention-speech-transcript-20160727-snap-story.html
[15] Deceased; there are now six Roman Catholics and two Jews on the high court’s bench, and under a Trump or Clinton presidency, it could flip back to status quo of 6:3 or 5:4.
[16] The Huffington Post, August 30, 2014; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/supreme-courts-lack-of-re_b_5545989.html
[17] The Hill, July 21, 2016; http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/288807-trump-to-appeal-to-lgbt-community-in-convention-speech
[18] V.T. Houteff, 1948, Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 41, pp. 3, 4
The Adventist's Understanding of Prophecy 
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