Posted below is a strong appeal to the then elders of the Seventh-day Adventist church in 1953 who were openly fighting against the plain Bible teaching of a two fold harvest of souls at the end of earth’s history, the 144,000 first fruits from the church and the Great Multitude second fruits who come into the purified church during the Loud Cry. Please prayerfully read and investigate for yourself for the soul saved may be your own.
Dear Friend,
Through these cartoons our Sabbath School quarterly, you plainly see, wants you to know the Truth as It is in Jesus for It alone makes anyone free. So to be one of, or one with the 144,000 guileless servants of God would be a mighty and final victory, eternal security, and life for evermore! Now is your opportunity and you cannot afford to lose out so late in the day. For this reason I am penning these special lines to you. And since Inspiration’s counsel is, “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), you positively know that this is what God wants you to do.
The 144,000, let us note, are not from the Gentile nations, but strictly from the church, from the twelve tribes of Israel — from the descendants of Jacob (Rev. 7:3-8). Then, to conclude that there will be no more than 144,000 living saints when Jesus comes the second time, is to say that not a soul from the Gentile nations is to be saved, which, of course, is contrary to the teachings of the Bible, not according to Jeremiah 8:20, not in harmony with the testimony of the prophets, though in harmony with the law.
Moreover, the 144,000 are only the first fruits (Rev. 14:4) and where there is first there must be second fruits also else there cannot be first. Because there is a first resurrection we know that there is a second one. Those that were seen after the sealing of the 144,000, the great multitude from all nations (Rev. 7:9) are, therefore, the second fruits.
Besides their racial lineage of identification there are the words “first,” “fruits,” “servants of God,” “sealed” and “standing on Mount Zion” by which to identify who the 144,000 are and what they are. Obviously they are called fruits because they are the result of the “harvest,” the work which separates the tares from the wheat. The word “first” connotes that they are the first crop (group) to be harvested — separated from the “tares,” for Jesus explains that the harvest is the time in which to separate the tares from the wheat (Matt. 13:30).
The harvest is variously termed: (1) the purification of the church (“Testimonies,” Vol. 5, p. 80); (2) the closing work for the church (“Testimonies,” Vol. 3, p. 266); (3) the time in which the bad fish are cast out, and the good put into vessels (Matt. 13:47, 48); (4) the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14); (5) purifying the temple (Mal. 3:1-3); (6) Judgment In the House of God (1 Pet. 4.17; Dan. 7:10). This is Truth positive, you know, and every Seventh-day Adventist knows it, too.
The word sealed,” put into the “barn,” put into “vessels,” etc. all are figurative terms of absolute security — the church purified during the Judgment in the House of God and set apart from the world. The Judgment in the church sifts out the unrepentant sinners, you note, but the Judgment in the world calls into the church all the penitent — Truth-susceptible people of God-saying, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Rev. 18:4. This you plainly see is pure Bible. Stop, think, double check, and do not let this opportunity by-pass you.
Since the word first fruits suggests second fruits, and since the first fruits are the servants of God (Rev. 7:3, 4), the second fruits therefore must be gathered in by the first fruits. The fact that it is hardly possible for one to honestly question or doubt the truth here presented on the subject thus far, it is natural for one to ask, “What happens with the sinners that are unable to stand during the Judgment in the House of God (1 Pet. 4:17)? Isaiah the prophet gives the answer thus: “For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory, and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the House of the Lord.” Isa. 66:15-17, 19, 20.
This coming of the Lord is definitely not the coming of Christ in the clouds, but of Malachi 3:1-3 and also of Matthew 25:31-33 and of “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, p. 690. At this coming He separates the unrepentant sinners from the repented ones. The separation in the House of God is done by destroying the sinners, but the separation in the world is done by calling out the righteous — two different things, you see. Those who escape alive are sent to the nations who know not God and His fame, and from there they call out the second fruits, as the scripture plainly points out.
The call, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4) is therefore the gathering of the second fruits during the Judgment for the Living, the only time in which can be rightly said “that ye be not partakers of her sins.” That is, they are called to come into the purified church where there is neither sin nor sinners, and therefore not in danger of the plagues. It is the ark for today. This is light from Heaven which did not originate with man but with God. You certainly can not afford to close your eyes to it.
Now you may logically ask “What means do the angels have by which to tell who is tare and who is wheat?” Ezekiel has the answer: “And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezek. 9:4-6. (See “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, p. 211, Id., Vol. 3 pp. 266, 267). The tares are identified by the fact that they did not sigh and cry for the abominations done in the church, and were, therefore, left without the mark. How solemn a time have we come to! More solemn than the Passover in Egypt — the type of the message of the Judgment for the Living, the “addition to the third message” (“Early Writings,” p. 277).
Since no church as a whole has ever accepted a new, unpopular message, and since the ministers have invariably fought every new message that ever came to the churches, and as the S.D.A. ministers have already rejected this Judgment message, the very last, and are doing everything possible to keep it away from the laity, they are thereby either wittingly or unwittingly deceiving the very elect, 144,000. The question is, since the ministers have with prejudice shut the hearts of their flocks and have tightly closed the church doors against the message how will the message ever reach the laity. Jeremiah has the answer thus:
“Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.” You can readily see that the prophet in this chapter, including this verse, is speaking of the dispersion of the tribes of Israel throughout the lands of the Gentiles. The verse that follows however, speaks of their gathering and returning to the fatherland; there where the 144,000 are eventually to stand with the Lamb; there where the church purified is to be. “Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but, the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, said the Lord, and they shall fish them, and after will I send for many hunters and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.” Jer. 16:13-16.
Here you are plainly told that in the gathering time the servants of God are compelled first to fish His people, and since our first contact with them has been through the literature, it, therefore, must be the fishing. Rightly so, too, because as it is scattered everywhere as the leaves of autumn, the fish come to examine it, find it good for food, take a bite and get hooked, so to speak. Now, however, we are in the hunting period, and we have already begun to hunt them, be they in the city or in the country in places easy to get to, or in places hard to get to. Wherever they live, there they must be hunted, although It will not be a small easy task to catch at home something like 300,000 Adventists scattered throughout the United States alone, besides over 500,000 scattered throughout the foreign lands. Moreover, it is mighty expensive work, too, demanding many hunters with expensive chariots (cheaper ones could not stand up), covering hundreds of thousands of miles and requiring as many barrels of gasoline and oil. This is not a small task, proportionately there has never been the like, and will therefore take every present Truth believer to keep this going and get the work done, so that we can soon go to Glory Land.
Looking down the stream of time the Lord’s concern was that we pray for laborers, saying, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few” (Lu. 10:2). Shall we not respond to His call? and begin to pray while doing all we can to recruit the laborers and to make it possible for them to go? or shall we leave the brethren perish for lack of knowledge in God’s very last message, the Judgement for the Living — the work that separates the sinners from among the righteous. There has never before been a more urgent need for studying, praying, and for knowing what Truth is.
Since there is but one Mount Zion and one Jerusalem on earth, and since every prophet of the Bible predicts that the gathering the people is the returning of them to the Promised land, the land which He gave to their fathers, then the first-fruits, the 144,000 are the first to return. Thus it is that it shall come to pass in the last days “that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Micah 4:1, 2.
Here is seen that though it will be a slow and hard work — mattock-like (Isa. 7:25) — to gather the first fruits, it is to be quick and easy — oxen-like (Isa. 7:25) — to gather in the second fruits: one people shall invite another people. Furthermore, the type — the gathering of the first fruits for the dead — the work of John the Baptist, of Christ, and of the Apostles up to the day of Pentecost show the same thing — apparently hard, discouraging and fruitless work. But after the Pentecost the converts came in quickly and by thousands. Thus it is to be now in the antitype, too. God’s program we see for the finishing of the work is entirely different from the way we Seventh-day Adventists have been taught before this addition to the three angels’ messages came. Inspiration makes this clear and simple so that every one can understand it. Since you now see the importance of this message, and the solemnity of the hour, I beg of you to fill out the inclosed appointment card so that we may further unveil the Message and It’s importance to you. If we do not hear from you, we, the hunters are going to call on you anyway. Our contact with you will be strictly confidential unless you yourself wish to divulge that you are investigating the message for today.
It is now your God-given duty and privilege, the duty of the laity to whole-heartedly advance His cause, to help save the brethren, the 144,000, the first fruits first, then the great multitude from all nations. Now you see the importance of working strictly for the denomination before we are sent to the nations. Thus only (Christ’s way) may we show our love toward the ministering brethren. What a shame and what a sorrowful, heart-breaking thing if they should lose out so late in the day. Please, after all these things become clear and fastened in your mind, do all you can to have them see God’s Truth for today.” — Jezreel Letter, No. 6
Sincerely yours for gathering the first fruits first,
V.H. Jezreel, H.B.
(Director of S.D.A. Layman’s Movement)
5 T 80
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