IMS SDA Reform Church, Kalomo.

28/04/2024

There’s Sunshine In My Soul Today

There's sunshine in my soul today, More glorious and bright Than glows in any earthly sky, For Jesus is my light.

Refrain : O there's sunshine, blessed sunshine, When the peaceful, happy moments roll When Jesus shows His smiling face There is sunshine in the soul.

There's music in my soul today, A carol to my King, And Jesus, listening, can hear The songs I cannot sing.

There's gladness in my soul today And hope, and praise, and love, For blessings which He gives me now, For joys laid up above.

Good morning 🏜️

03/01/2024

Daniel 7–The Antichrist

Daniel 7:25. It would “think to change times and laws.” In the catholic catechism, the second commandment of God’s law is eliminated and the tenth is made into two commandments. The fourth commandment (Seventh-day Sabbath) is changed from the seventh day (Saturday) to the first day (sunday).

Papal Rome–Ruled for 1,260 years (A.D. 538-1798) Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6. In prophecy, one prophetic day equals one literal year in fulfillment. Daniel 7:25.

The saints would be persecuted by this power for “a time and times and the dividing of time.” This same period of time is given in six other places in the Bible and is expressed in different ways (Daniel 12:7; Revelation 11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; 13:5); it always refers to the papal power.

The expressions “Time, times and dividing of time,” “time, times and a half a time,” “forty two months,” and “one thousand two hundred and three score days,” all figure out to 1,260 prophetic days, or 3½ prophetic years, with are 1,260 literal years.

Explanation

A time equals one year, times equals two years, and half a time equals one half year. Using 360 days to a year:

One year = 360 days,
Two years = 720 days ½ year = 180 days

1,260 days in prophecy = 1,260 years in fulfillment Using 30 days/month,

42 months X 30 days per month = 1,260 days in prophecy/1,260 years in fulfillment this period corresponds exactly with the time during which the papal power reigned supreme.

A.D. 538, was the year the bishop of Rome established himself as the unchallenged leader of Christendom; and in 1798, this power was broken through the capture of the ruling Pope, Pius VI. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.

Paul pictured the man of sin, the antichrist, sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, thus being a religious power–not merely political. 2 Thessalonians 2:7.

The mystery of iniquity was already working in Paul’s day. thus, based on Biblical authority, the spiritual and political power which bears all the characteristics of the prophesied antichrist, which has existed all through the years and has not changed–

The papacy of rome–is the system of the antichrist. (“anti” means to take the place of.)

The church–its own saviour.
The mass–its own sacrifice.
The clergy–its own priesthood.
The confessional–its own expiation and atonement.
The eucharist–its own justification. Penance–its means of forgiveness by works.
Mary–its heavenly mediatrix.

“Satanic agencies have been moved from beneath, and they have inspired men to unite in a confederacy of evil, that they may perplex, harass, and cause the people of god great distress.

The whole world is to be stirred with enmity against seventh-day adventists, because they will not yield homage to the papacy, by honoring sunday, the institution of this antichristian power.

It is the purpose of satan to cause them to be blotted from the earth, in order that his supremacy of the world may not be disputed.” –Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 37.

03/01/2024

“The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties.

She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves.

The papacy that Protestants are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to expose her iniquity.

She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High.” –The Great Controversy, p. 571.

“The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is gaining ground upon every side.” –The Great Controversy, pp. 564-566.

No matter what face Rome adopts today in its ecumenical dialogue, or how attractively ecumenism is viewed by apostate Protestant churches, God’s church has only one destination that it is working to reach: the heavenly new Jerusalem. It has only one Shepherd– Jesus Christ. And its decisions are guided by an “it is written.” No alliance, courtship, ties, agreements, or commitments can exist between her and the powers of the earth.

May God preserve us from all ecumenical activities, no matter how attractive they may seem. Let us remember Jesus’ prayer: “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” John 17:15.

May God keep His church as He prepares it for the Saviour’s second coming! Amen!

Week of Prayer for 2023

03/01/2024

Sooner or later Sunday laws will be passed.—The Review and Herald, February 16, 1905.

Soon the Sunday laws will be enforced, and men in positions of trust will be embittered against the little handful of God’s commandment-keeping people.—Manuscript Releases 4:278 (1909).

The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares that the power represented by the beast with lamblike horns shall cause “the earth and them which dwell therein” to worship the papacy—there symbolized by the beast “like unto a leopard”....

This prophecy will be fulfilled when the United States shall enforce Sunday observance, which Rome claims as the special acknowledgment of her supremacy....

Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth, and even in free America rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance.—The Great Controversy, 578, 579, 592 (1911).

Satan’s Goal: Destroy All Sabbathkeepers Says the great deceiver: ... “Our principal concern is to silence this sect of Sabbathkeepers....

We will finally have a law to exterminate all who will not submit to our authority.”—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 472, 473 (1884).

It is the purpose of Satan to cause them to be blotted from the earth in order that his supremacy of the world may not be disputed.— Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 37 (1893).

The remnant church will be brought into great trial and distress.

Death for All Who Do Not Honor Sunday

A decree went forth to slay the saints, which caused them to cry day and night for deliverance.—Early Writings, 36, 37 (1851).

As Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon issued a decree that all who would not bow down and worship this image should be killed, so a proclamation will be made that all who will not reverence the Sunday institution will be punished with imprisonment and death....

Let all read carefully the thirteenth chapter of Revelation, for it concerns eve

13/11/2023

10/11/2023

EGW-The Sabbath

The Sabbath was hallowed at the creation. As ordained for man, it had its origin when "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:7. Peace brooded over the world; for earth was in harmony with heaven. "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good;" and He rested in the joy of His completed work. Gen. 1:31.

Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,"--set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam as a day of rest. It was a memorial of the work of creation, and thus a sign of God's power and His love. The Scripture says, "He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered." "The things that are made," declare "the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world," "even His everlasting power and divinity." Gen. 2:3; Ps. 111:4; Rom. 1:20, R. V.

All things were created by the Son of God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. . . . All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." John 1:1-3. And since the Sabbath is a memorial of the work of creation, it is a token of the love and power of Christ.

The Sabbath was not for Israel merely, but for the world. It had been made known to man in Eden, and, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, it is of imperishable obligation. Of that law of which the fourth commandment forms a part, Christ declares, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law." So long as the heavens and the earth endure, the Sabbath will continue as a sign of the Creator's power. And when Eden shall bloom on earth again, God's holy rest day will be honored by all beneath the sun. "From one Sabbath to another" the inhabitants of the glorified new earth shall go up "to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Matt. 5:18; Isa. 66:23. . . .

"Wherefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." These words are full of instruction and comfort. Because the Sabbath was made for man, it is the Lord's day. It belongs to Christ. For "all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." John 1:3. Since He made all things, He made the Sabbath. By Him it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation. It points to Him as both the Creator and the Sanctifier. It declares that He who created all things in heaven and in earth, and by whom all things hold together, is the head of the church, and that by His power we are reconciled to God. For, speaking of Israel, He said, "I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them,"--make them holy. Ezek. 20:12. Then the Sabbath is a sign of Christ's power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom Christ makes holy. As a sign of His sanctifying power, the Sabbath is given to all who through Christ become a part of the Israel of God.

And the Lord says, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; . . . then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Isa. 58:13, 14. To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ's creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour. And every object in nature repeats His invitation, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28.

Published in The Desire of Ages, pp. 281-289.

09/11/2023

The Judgment Set—The Books Opened, November 9.

A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. Daniel 7:10, RSV.

The books of record in heaven, in which the names and the deeds of men are registered, are to determine the decisions of the judgment. Says the prophet Daniel: “The judgment was set, and the books were opened.” The revelator, describing the same scene, adds: “Another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

The book of life contains the names of all who have ever entered the service of God. Jesus bade His disciples: “Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Paul speaks of his faithful fellow workers, “whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3).

Daniel, looking down to “a time of trouble, such as never was,” declares that God's people shall be delivered, “every one that shall be found written in the book.” And the revelator says that those only shall enter the city of God whose names “are written in the Lamb's book of life” (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 21:27).

“A book of remembrance” is written before God, in which are recorded the good deeds of “them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name” (Malachi 3:16).

Their words of faith, their acts of love, are registered in heaven. Nehemiah refers to this when he says: “Remember me, O my God, ... and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God” (Nehemiah 13:14). In the book of God's remembrance every deed of righteousness is immortalized. There every temptation resisted, every evil overcome, every word of tender pity expressed, is faithfully chronicled.

And every act of sacrifice, every suffering and sorrow endured for Christ's sake, is recorded. Says the psalmist: “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8)....

Every man's work passes in review before God and is registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Opposite each name in the books of heaven is entered with terrible exactness every wrong word, every selfish act, every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin....

The deepest interest manifested among men in the decisions of earthly tribunals but faintly represents the interest evinced in the heavenly courts when the names entered in the book of life come up in review before the Judge of all the earth.

The divine Intercessor presents the plea that all who have overcome through faith in His blood be forgiven their transgressions, that they be restored to their Eden home, and crowned as joint heirs with Himself to “the first dominion” (Micah 4:8) (The Great Controversy, 480-484).

From Lift Him Up - Page 327