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7:2

@@@^Thus it was that if God was then to save any one member of the nation He could do it only by offering another chance of “grace.” This time He gave the gift of His only Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour upon Whom the iniquities of us all were laid. And hence, as mean and as wicked as were both Jew and Gentile, they were all invited to the greatest gift of “grace,” the grace which only the life of the Son of God can give. The Apostles themselves were not for any good deed of their own, but through this gift of “righteousness by grace,” privileged to partake of the “righteousness by faith.”

8:4

@@@^Having failed to attain “righteousness by faith,” the Jews again fell from “grace”; and being by the law, condemned to eternal death, they were again given “grace” — a second chance — through the death of the Son of God. Those who availed themselves of the “grace,” came into the Christian church henceforth to remain free, and were to sin no more save through mistake, mishap, or through short-sightedness, sins of which we are forgiven if we do not continue therein.

9:2

@@@^The Christian church, though, did not long continue in “grace,” but it, too, in time fell even lower than the Jewish church. Necessarily something had to be done for her also if any of her members were to be made free, and if God was still to have a church on earth. Unquestionably, this “something” was none other than the Protestant Reformation. But since we all know that the Reformation has not yet accomplished its Divinely appointed purpose, has not reached the accord and faith which the Church enjoyed on the day of Pentecost, it is obvious that another attempt of revival and reformation is an absolute necessity. But to know all this for a certainty, we must turn to “the more sure word of prophecy,” to the prophet Ezekiel.

11:1

@@@^@0@9Verses 4, 5 — “Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.”@7@^To lay one’s iniquity upon someone else, is to free the sinner from the penalty which he deserves. It is an act which credits the sinner with “righteousness” which he has not earned, and this is what Inspiration calls “righteousness by grace.” Previously the iniquity of the Jews was laid upon Christ, and the nation was given a chance to step out of her death-cell, so to speak, and to stand free in Christ. Many, but not all, then availed themselves of this “righteousness by grace” and stepped into “righteousness by faith.” This same “grace,” you see, was again offered to the church in the sixteenth century, for to lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon Ezekiel means practically the same as to lay the iniquity of us all upon Christ.

12:2

@@@^@0@9Verses 6, 7 — “And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.”@7@^Ezekiel was to lie down on his right side, not only for the iniquity of the house of Israel, but also for the iniquity of the house of Judah and thus bear their iniquity, too, for forty years. And so both houses (the whole of Christendom), are given the same chance, the same opportunity. The one comes first in time, and the other last. Three hundred ninety years of “grace” are given to the former, and 40 years to the latter, a total of 430 years. During this period of time they are to triumph over sin, and at last to attain “righteousness by faith,” and to be rewarded with “the righteousness of Christ.” The exact year in which this period of 430 years begins, we shall see as we continue our study.

13:3

@@@^The difference between the Reformation during the 430 years and the one after, is this: During the 430 years “grace” lingered, whereas after this period of time has run out, and while Ezekiel is up, those who fail to attain to “righteousness by faith” will themselves have to pay the price of their sins. No longer are their sins laid upon Ezekiel, and no longer is Ezekiel lying down and inactive; no longer are they to be excused upon the ground of ignorance after the warning has been sounded in their ears, for Ezekiel is plainly told:

15:2

@@@^@0(1) The doctrine of faith that made the Lutheran denomination; (2) the doctrine of the Spirit that made the Presbyterian denomination; (3) the doctrine of grace that made the Methodist denomination; (4) the doctrine of baptism that made the Baptist denomination; (5) the doctrine of the second Advent of Christ that made the First-day Adventist; (6) the doctrine of the cleansing of the sanctuary along with the Seventh-day Sabbath that made the Seventh-day Adventists. (All other sects with their additions, omissions, and deductions, have obviously branched from these six denominations.)

17:4

@@@^To find exactly the beginning of the 430-year period, we must first find the year the period ended, the year in which antitypical Ezekiel arose and began to sound the warning, the year in which the Spirit of Truth unrolled the scroll and brought in an abundance of Divinely inspired, pure and unadulterated Truth (not baked upon dung), not by weight and not by measure either, — the truths which we have been feasting on from this series of studies and which the Association has so freely and faithfully published in the @9Timely Greetings@7 and other publications, and has scattered world-wide as leaves of Autumn — a phenomenon which the Church has never before seen! And when I say as the leaves of Autumn, I really mean just that, for these leaves — yes, millions of them — are dropped everywhere among the Laodiceans unsparingly, without price, and without obligation.

20:1

@@@^In like manner, the Denomination, you see, has from 1890 to 1930 been wandering in the wilderness, as it were. They have, we might say, been put on trial. Here is where you plainly see that the ancient wilderness wandering was typical. Here type meets antitype. And their rejecting “righteousness by faith,” you perceive, did not mean that God was defeated and that He would therefore never again bring to us the same Truth which could have been theirs forty years ago.

20:2

@@@^Moreover, just as those who in Moses’ time refused to advance by faith died in the wilderness, so the men who in the years 1888-1890 were responsible for refusing to advance in Truth, died before God came back with it the second time. Finally, as the second ancient effort to take the land succeeded immediately after Achan, the last sinner in that day, was stoned, so the second effort of today must, too, succeed right after the Achans of today are destroyed by the angels of Ezekiel Nine.

24:2

@@@^Hence, those Laodiceans who would avail themselves of the opportunity to partake of this feast of fresh and unadulterated “meat in due season,” who would now at the last call hold to the “righteousness by grace” already given them, — they all may enter into the “righteousness by faith” that is to be rewarded with “the righteousness of Christ,” and thus crowned with eternal life. Obviously, all others will have to bear their own iniquity and pay their own penalty. They will have to perish.

24:4

@@@^Finally, when the warning message has reached the people, then those who do not profit by it, who do not reform, — who fail to “sigh and cry for all the abominations in the midst thereof,” — then it is that those who do not now attain to “righteousness by faith,” shall find themselves without the “mark.” They will consequently have to pay the penalty for their sins, perish under the slaughter weapons of the angels. (Read Ezekiel Nine; @9Testimonies For The Church@7, Vol. 3, pp. 266, 267; @9Testimonies For The Church@7, Vol. 5, pp. 210, 211.)

25:2

@@@^The lessons that are taught in this chapter are these: First it is pointed out that the period of “righteousness by grace” is now in the past; that we have now come to the time in which our safety lies only in practicing “righteousness by faith,” if we expect to be rewarded with the “righteousness of Christ,” and crowned with eternal life. The second lesson teaches that the Church does not yet have all the Truth, and that which she does have is contaminated, “baked on dung.” Hence the great need that we have Inspired Truth from the Throne of God; for with it we are saved, and without it we are lost.

28:1

@@@^In the verses which we read a moment ago, we are told that Abraham was to become a great and mighty nation because he would command his children and his household after God, to keep the way of the Lord, to do “justice and judgment.” God recognized that Abraham’s home was to be a model home school, and thus this Patriarch of the Ages became a “friend of God,” and the “father of the faithful.” God, you see, honors parents who run their homes right, who command their households after Him.

28:2

@@@^Shall we now examine to see to what extent Abraham’s was a model home school? — His son, Isaac, you know, was only about seventeen years of age when the word of the Lord came to Abraham that he should sacrifice his only son. The father faithfully obeyed the command, and took Isaac on that trying historical as well as educational journey. Not until the very last minute was he told that he was to be the sacrificial victim. But did he become upset or did he resist when told of it? — No, indeed. On the contrary, he did all that he could to comfort his father, and willingly and cheerfully laid himself upon the altar!

28:3

@@@^What does all this mean? — It means that Isaac had received a perfect training in his home, and so he respected both the father’s judgment and religion. He was submissive to his God, and full of faith. Knowing that God’s way was for his best interests, he resolved that it would be better to die than to disobey either God or his father.

34:1

@@@^@0@91 Sam. 2:27-35 — “And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon Mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at My sacrifice and at Mine offering, which I have commanded in My habitation; and honourest thy sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel My people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before Me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from Me; for them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall no be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in My habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever. And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from Mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise Me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in Mine heart and in My mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed for ever.”@7@^These verses reveal that Eli was reproved for his carelessness in not commanding his household after God. He was even forewarned of the inevitable results of his laxness; that his household, his entire posterity, would die in the flower of age if he thus continued on. But Eli did nothing about it, and therefore suffered the results which he had been warned about.

3:2

@@@^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, (@9Testimonies@7, 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.

9:1

@@@^“But the churches generally did not accept the warning. Their ministers, who as ‘watchmen unto the house of Israel,’ should have been the first to discern the tokens of Jesus’ coming, had failed to learn the truth, either from the testimony of the prophets or from the signs of the times. As worldly hopes and ambitions filled the heart, love for God and faith in His word had grown cold; and when the advent doctrine was presented, it only aroused their prejudice and unbelief. The fact that the message was, to a great extent, preached by laymen, was urged as an argument against it. As of old, the plain testimony of God’s word was met with the inquiry, ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed?’ And finding how difficult a task it was to refute the arguments drawn from the prophetic periods, many discouraged the study of the prophecies, teaching that the prophetic books were sealed, and were not to be understood. Multitudes, trusting implicitly to their pastors refused to listen to the warning; an others, though convinced of the truth, dared not confess it, lest they should be ‘put out of the synagogue.’ The message which God had sent for the testing and purification of the church, revealed all too surely how great was the number who had set their affections on this world rather than upon Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to the voice of worldly wisdom, and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.” — @9The Great Controversy@7, pg. 380.

21:1

@@@^@0@9Isa. 9:20, 21 — “And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.”@7@^Such will be the results of rejecting God and His counsel. All who take their stand with the multitude against God’s people will find themselves in the same predicament as the Midianites found themselves in Gideon’s time — as the light breaks out they will kill one another, but the faithful will be delivered. This, however, is not all: