Introduction
The stakes are too high, the ambition is intensifying and the call to do all that can be done to hasten the long-awaited second coming of Jesus Christ is sounding like never before. However, as one would expect earnest efforts to truly revive God’s church to the old path of righteousness, but conflicting, misdirected, and confusing themes continue to be catapulted from our Union and Conference tables. In less than five years, we were agitated by “Harvest 2020” campaign, which was doomed to be a catastrophic disappointing fiasco, obviously because we are not yet in the harvest time. Now we are called to go all out, and rally behind the new theme “Pentecost 2024”, oh my!!!! You would think you have seen it all but it never ends! This paper seeks to lay out clear-cut Biblical facts and expose how our Seventh-day Church leaders are deceiving themselves, including the laity into erroneous, men-crafted endeavours yet purporting to be serving God to the utmost.
Background
Just few Sabbaths ago, the President of the Zimbabwe West Union Conference (ZWUC) and the Chancellor of the 130 years old Solusi University, Dr. S. Ndlovu delivered a sermon at the oldest church in Southern part of Zimbabwe on the new theme, “Pentecost 2024, He Will Do It Again”. He emphatically and categorically outlined what is expected of us as the congregation, and the expected results of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the 2nd Pentecost. September 15 to 28, 2024 has been set for what is to be the greatest harvest of souls in the 21st century, a replica of the 1st Pentecost which was experienced by the 120 disciples of Christ. What surprises me is the fact that our leadership chose or rather continue to choose to ignore clear Biblical, eschatological facts and timeline of prophetic events, yet they drive and push all (both ministry and laity) out to rally behind these so called “ambitious for Jesus” campaigns.
An official launch for this unprecedented, ambitious campaign was carried out on on the 27th of July, 2024, at the same Church where our beloved Doctor of Philosophy in theology delivered his “Pentecost 2024” launch sermon. Churches were been given a new song to master so as to harness and reinforce the campaign. And obviously goals for the souls to be won to Christ were set.
Overview
Our study is going to tackle the following sub-topics—The 1st Pentecost and its essentials, the eschatological timeline of the 2nd Pentecost, lastly, deceived because of rejecting of additional light.
The 1st Pentecost and its essentials
Let us first consider the following Scriptures and note the highlighted areas:
“4And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me. 5For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”—(Acts 1:4-8).
“13And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James [the son] of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas [the brother] of James. 14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”—(Acts 1:13,14).
“1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”—(Acts 2:1-3).
“As the disciples waited for the fulfillment of the promise, they humbled their hearts in true repentance and confessed their unbelief. As they called to remembrance the words that Christ had spoken to them before His death they understood more fully their meaning. Truths which had passed from their memory were again brought to their minds, and these they repeated to one another. They reproached themselves for their misapprehension of the Saviour. Like a procession, scene after scene of His wonderful life passed before them. As they meditated upon His pure, holy life they felt that no toil would be too hard, no sacrifice too great, if only they could bear witness in their lives to the loveliness of Christ’s character. Oh, if they could but have the past three years to live over, they thought, how differently they would act! If they could only see the Master again, how earnestly they would strive to show Him how deeply they loved Him, and how sincerely they sorrowed for having ever grieved Him by a word or an act of unbelief! But they were comforted by the thought that they were forgiven. And they determined that, so far as possible, they would atone for their unbelief by bravely confessing Him before the world.”
“The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men and in their daily intercourse to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ. Putting away all differences, all desire for the supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship. They drew nearer and nearer to God, and as they did this they realized what a privilege had been theirs in being permitted to associate so closely with Christ. Sadness filled their hearts as they thought of how many times they had grieved Him by their slowness of comprehension, their failure to understand the lessons that, for their good, He was trying to teach them.
“These days of preparation were days of deep heart searching. The disciples felt their spiritual need and cried to the Lord for the holy unction that was to fit them for the work of soul saving. They did not ask for a blessing for themselves merely. They were weighted with the burden of the salvation of souls. They realized that the gospel was to be carried to the world, and they claimed the power that Christ had promised.”—(Acts of the Apostles, p. 36.1 – 37.2).
Below are the pre-requisite unescapable conditions that the 120 disciples had to meet before the Holy Ghost was poured unto them.
- They had to be taught, accept and settle into the additional truth which Christ had brought.
- They gathered bodily at the upper room (one location).
- They sincerely repented and confessed their sins to God and one to another. All the differences, including doctrinal were put away, thus, they saw eye-to-eye.
- All these earnest efforts left no tare (unconverted) within their midst; thus, they were all fitted for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and for the work of saving souls.
The eschatological timeline of the 2nd Pentecost
We are going to first reflect on the current condition of the Seventh-day Church and review what Scripture offers as a solution, which will obviously result to the unconditional fulfilment of the 2nd Pentecost. It will be noted that the above-mentioned conditions are unnegotiated pre-requisite to this long-waited God given gift. Let us remember where there is not type there is no truth and type must meet antitype. And by this I wish not to paint a picture that antitype is exactly identical to the type, however, from the weight of Scriptural evidence, the aforementioned points must be met.
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”—(Revelation 3:14-17).
“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
“39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”—(Matthew 13:30, 39-42).
It is unquestionably clear that God’s Church today, the Seventh-day Adventist is in a lukewarm condition, where wheat and tares are comingled. And as long as this situation last, it is an unescapably truth that no Holy Spirit or the 2nd Pentecost will be poured upon us. Vehement efforts which may presumably move mountains and change the entire outlook of the Church, may be proclaimed but not an inch of God’s word will change. To repeat, the wheat and tares are to grow together until the harvest and until the separation is done by the God sent angels, no latter rain in the Pentecostal power will be witnessed amongst us, any which purport to be, will be nothing but a devilish deception. What is the solution then? What will enable us to meet the outlined pre-requisite conditions?
“39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”—(Matthew 13:39-42).
“16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”—(Revelation 3:16, 18, 19).
“The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God. The Lord commissions His messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hands: “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.”
“Here we see that the church–the Lord’s sanctuary–was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus “Peace and safety” is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.
“The abominations for which the faithful ones were sighing and crying were all that could be discerned by finite eyes, but by far the worst sins, those which provoked the jealousy of the pure and holy God, were unrevealed. The great Searcher of hearts knoweth every sin committed in secret by the workers of iniquity. These persons come to feel secure in their deceptions and, because of His long-suffering, say that the Lord seeth not, and then act as though He had forsaken the earth. But He will detect their hypocrisy and will open before others those sins which they were so careful to hide.”—(Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 211.1-3).
“Study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience. The time is short. God is calling; will you hear? Will you receive His message? Will you be converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will be decided for eternity. Letter 106, 1909, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7. (To “The churches in Oakland and Berkeley,” September 26, 1909.)”—(Manuscript Release, Vol. !, p. 260.2).
God’s words never get plainer than these dear brothers and sisters, it is up to every Adventist to listen to the voice of the just and offended God, to study Ezekiel chapter 9 for ourselves, to see how the tares will be removed from God’s Church today. After this cleansing and judgement work then God’s church will be fulfil the following, “Clad in the armor of Christ’s righteousness, the church is to enter upon her final conflict. “Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song of Solomon 6:10), she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.”—(Prophets and Kings, p. 725.1).
Deceived because of rejecting of additional light.
It is a truth that Christianity can only be protected from every devilish deception by God’s truth alone, thus the reason why God always communicate to us through His messengers the prophets. To disregard or dishonour them is nothing but a death trap to ourselves.
“10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”—(2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).
“17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”—(John 17:17).
“18And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.”—(Revelation 18:1).
“I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven, descending to the earth, and again ascending to heaven, preparing for the fulfillment of some important event. Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message. Great power and glory were imparted to the angel, and as he descended, the earth was lightened with his glory. The light which attended this angel penetrated everywhere, as he cried mightily, with a strong voice, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” The message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the churches since 1844. The work of this angel comes in at the right time to join in the last great work of the third angel’s message as it swells to a loud cry. And the people of God are thus prepared to stand in the hour of temptation, which they are soon to meet. I saw a great light resting upon them, and they united to fearlessly proclaim the third angel’s message.
“Angels were sent to aid the mighty angel from heaven, and I heard voices which seemed to sound everywhere, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” This message seemed to be an addition to the third message, joining it as the midnight cry joined the second angel’s message in 1844. The glory of God rested upon patient, waiting saints, and they fearlessly gave the last solemn warning, proclaiming the fall of Babylon and calling upon God’s people to come out of her that they might escape her fearful doom.”—(Early Writings, p. 277.1-2).
The series of confused, deceptive and misdirected campaigns by our Church leaders attest to the fact that we have lost the prophetic compass. The solution to this whole catastrophic dilemma is going back to the never erring God given messengers, the writings of the prophets, particularly of the modern-day prophets as pointed from the Holy Bible. A message of true revival and reformation was sent to the S.D.A. Church after the antitypical modern-day 40 years of wilderness wondering after the rejection of 1888 message prophecy. Brother. V. T. Houteff a Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath school teacher in Olympic Exposition Park S. D. A. Church in 1929 brought the message fulfilling Revelation 18:1, whose writings are titled Shepherd’s Rod message. What did our leaders do about the prophetic message, didn’t they repeat sins of our forefathers by crucifying and killing the modern-day prophets? Now here we are in 2024, at the top of our voices asking for the 2nd Pentecost, yet ignoring the plain truth that we will not receive nor experience it whilst the wheat and tares are comingled in the S.D.A. Church. Those who dare refuse to accept this truth and reject God-given message are sure to meet their fate in the soon coming judgement of the living.
Conclusion
“What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct.”—(Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 3, p. 252.4).
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