Sanitarium, Cal.,4-Jul-06  

Lessons from the Visions of Ezekiel  

Part One Exhortation to Faithfulness  

In the visions of the night I seemed to be speaking with great earnestness before an assembly of people. A heavy burden was upon my soul. I was presenting before those gathered together the message of the prophet Ezekiel regarding the duties of the Lord’s watchmen.?{PC 59.1}  

“Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman; if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning: his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity: but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.”?{PC 59.2}  

“So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.?{PC 59.3}  

“Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel: Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:1-11)?{PC 59.4}  

The prophet had by the command of God ceased from prophesying to the Jews just at the time when the news came that Jerusalem was invaded, and siege laid to her. In the twenty-fourth chapter Ezekiel records the representation that was given to him of the punishment that would come upon all who would refuse the word of the Lord. The people were removed from Jerusalem, and punished by death and captivity. No lot was to fall upon it to determine who should be saved and who destroyed.?{PC 59.5}  

“Wherefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. For her blood is in the midst of her.... Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great. Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.... She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her:her scum shall be in the fire. In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back; neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways and according to thy doings shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God.?{PC 60.6}  

“Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry; make no mourning for the dead.... So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died: and I did in the morning what I was commanded.?{PC 60.1}  

“And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so? Then I answered them, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword. And ye shall do as I have done; ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet; ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another. Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do; and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 24:6-24)?{PC 60.2}  

I am instructed to present these words before those who have had light and evidence, but who have walked directly contrary to the light. The Lord will make the punishment of those who will not receive his admonitions and warnings as broad as the wrong has been. The purpose of those who have tried to cover their wrong, while they have secretly worked against the purposes of God, will be fully revealed. Truth will be vindicated. God will make manifest that He is God.?{PC 60.3}  

There is a spirit of wickedness at work in the church that is striving at every opportunity to make void the law of God. While the Lord may not punish unto death those who have carried their rebellion to great lengths, the light will never again shine with such convincing power upon the stubborn opposers of truth. Sufficient evidence is given to every soul regarding what is truth and what is error. But the deceptive power of evil upon some is so great that they will not receive the evidence and respond to it by repentance.?{PC 60.4}  

A long-continued resistance of truth will harden the most impressionable heart. Those who reject the Spirit of truth place themselves under the control of a spirit that is opposed to the word and work of God. For a time they may continue to teach some phases of the truth; but their refusal to accept all the light God sends will after a time place them where they will do the work of a false watchman.?{PC 60.5}  

The interests of the cause of present truth demand that those who profess to stand on the Lord’s side shall bring into exercise all their?powers to vindicate the advent message, the most important message that will ever come to the world. For those who stand as representatives of present truth to use time and energy now in attempting to answer the questions of the doubting ones, will be an unwise use of their time. It will not remove the doubts. The burden of our work now, is not to labor for those who, although they have had abundant light and evidence, still continue on the unbelieving side. God bids us give our time and strength to the work of preaching to the people the messages that stirred men and women in 1843 and 1844.?{PC 60.6}  

We are now to labor unceasingly to get the truth before Jew and Gentile. Instead of going over and over the same ground to establish the faith of those who should never have accepted a doubt regarding the Third Angel’s Message, let our efforts be given to making known the truth to those who have never heard it. God calls upon us to make known to all men the truths that have made us what we are, Seventh-day Adventists.?{PC 61.1}  

God is speaking to His people today as He spoke to Israel through Moses, saying, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” My brethren, take your position where God bids you. Leave alone those who after light has been repeatedly given them have taken a stand on the opposite side. You are not to spend precious time in repeating to them what they already know, and thus lose your opportunity of entering new fields with the message of present truth. Take up the work which has been given us. With the word of God as your message, stand on the platform of truth and proclaim the soon coming of Christ. Truth, eternal truth, will prevail.?{PC 61.2}  

For more than half a century the different points of present truth have been questioned and opposed. New theories have been advanced as truth, which were not truth, and the Spirit of God revealed their error. As the great pillars of our faith have been presented, the Holy Spirit has borne witness to them, and especially is this so regarding the truths of the sanctuary question. Over and over again the Holy Spirit has in a marked manner endorsed the preaching of this doctrine. But today, as in the past, some will be led to form new theories and to deny the truths upon which the Spirit of God has placed His approval.?{PC 61.3}  

Any man who seeks to present the theories which would lead us from the light that has come to us on the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary, should not be accepted as a teacher. A true understanding of the sanctuary question means much to us as a people. When we were earnestly seeking the Lord for light on that question light came. In vision I was given such a view of the heavenly sanctuary, and the ministration connected with the holy place, that for many days I could not speak of it.?{PC 61.4}  

I know from the light that God has given me that there should be a revival of the messages that have been given in the past, because men will seek to bring in new theories, and will try to prove that those theories are scriptural, whereas they are error which if allowed a place will undermine faith in the truth. We are not to accept these suppositions and pass them along as truth. No, no; we must not move from the platform of truth on which we have been established.?{PC 61.5}  

There will always be those who are seeking for something new, and who stretch and strain the word of God to make it support their ideas and?theories. Let us, brethren, take the things that God has given us, and which His Spirit has taught us is truth, and believe them, leaving alone those theories which His Spirit has not endorsed.?{PC 61.6}