I'd like to invite you to open your Bible and let's read the passage of Scripture that we read in our Scripture reading this morning in Romans the 9th chapter. Romans 9, 10 and 11 are very instructive chapters in the Bible on the nature of the true church. And let's first of all read Romans 9:6-8. It says, "But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect, for they are not all Israel, who are of Israel." Do you understand what that means? They are not all Israel who profess to be Israelites.

He explains that. Now look in verse 7, "Nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham, but in Isaac your seed shall be called." Now he's going to get very specific, so you cannot misunderstand, look at verse 8. "That is those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed." Now, he talks here about those who are really Israelites and those who profess to be Israelites; they are not all the same. There are many that make a profession, but out of that, not all are really Israelites.

He does not call all those that profess to be Israel Babylon. We do not call those that profess to be Adventists, or the Adventist structure organization, Babylon, we call them the professed true church.

These people understand the truth of the Three Angels' Messages, if it was taught to them before they were baptized; which hopefully it was. And if they follow the truth that they have, they will be saved. If they are not following it, God sends them messages of warning to turn them around, so that they can be saved.

They do not need to come out of Babylon. They are not in Babylon. They have access to the truth and they are children of Israel, Modern Israel according to the flesh. Now whether they are actually the true Israel or not, depends on whether or not they are living according to what they know, or what they profess, just like it was with them in Paul's day.

By the way, friends, if we have the same feelings in our hearts toward all those that profess to be Seventh-day Adventists around the world like Paul had, how would we feel? Do you know how Paul felt towards these people that had crucified Jesus, and who had been and who were still trying to kill him, and who were trying to kill the other apostles, chasing them all over the world, trying to get them in trouble? You can read that in the book of Acts. In fact, everywhere that Paul went, it was the Jews that were partially responsible for getting Paul killed.

How did he feel toward these people? Look in Romans 9:1-4, "I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen."

Paul said, "I would be willing to give up eternal life, if I could some way save these people." Do you feel that way about your enemies? He did about people who were trying to kill him. Is there any chance that any of us might be put to death some time, to save some of God's professed people? Well, if that's the only way they could get turned around, that is a definite possibility. We need to be sure that while we investigate the truth and want to understand exactly what the truth is, that we have love in our hearts for those that consider us their enemies.

But we were studying this morning how that God and the devil don't ever work together on anything. Now, does that make sense? They just don't. God and the devil don't work together on anything. I made the statement that if you can always keep that in mind, you will be able to figure out who and what the church is. There's a lot of people that when you start talking about the church, all of a sudden they think that the Lord and the devil will work right hand in hand; but of course that never happens.

Let me read to you a few statements I didn't get to this morning on that very subject. Signs Of The Times, April 22, 1889, Ellen White says, "We can see from this scripture that it is not the true church of God that makes war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the people that make void the law who place themselves on the side of the dragon and persecute those who vindicate God's precepts." No true church can ever persecute or oppose those who keep God's commandments and have the faith of Jesus. That's impossible. She said another time, Christ doesn't ever war against Christ.

So if there is a war, and some people are being disfellowshiped who are keeping God's commandments, you should be able to figure something out, that the true never wars against those who keep the commandments. Christ never fights Christ. What's the battle over? This was a testimony to physicians and ministers, who were Seventh-day Adventists, Ellen White says, "There is a strife between the forces of good and evil, between the loyal and the disloyal angels. Christ and Satan are not at agreement, and they never will be. In every age, the true church of God has engaged in decided warfare against satanic agencies. Until the controversy is ended, the struggle will go on between wicked angels and wicked men, on the one side, and Holy Angels and true believers, on the other." Special Testimonies, Series B, 5.

So that's what the controversy is over. Christ never fights Christ. The true church can never, ever, fight or attack those who are keeping the commandments and have the faith of Jesus. That is impossible. The fight is between the loyal and the disloyal.

By the way, if you understand that, you'll be able to figure out a lot of things that are going on today that most people can't figure out. You can't have one hand in the hand of the devil, and the other hand in the hand of Christ, and go walking down the road. That is just impossible.

And if any church starts disfellowshiping people that are keeping God's commandments, that church is not the true church, and they are not being led by the Holy Spirit, they can make no claim of that.

In Spirit of Prophecy, vol.4, 328: "All who are not decided followers of Christ are servants of Satan." You see, there is no middle ground; you are on one side or the other. We're not saying that these people are Babylon; we're not saying that the church in Jesus' time was Babylon. But they did crucify the Lord of Glory, and the Holy Spirit didn't lead them to do it.

Does that make sense? I have people asking me if the church leaders in the time of Christ were part of the true church. You mean we haven't figured that out yet? The true church crucified the Messiah?

We preached about this some years ago-- in 1992. Let me just read to you a short paragraph or two from that sermon. We preached about this very point. The Jewish church in the time of Christ, were they the true church? Were they? Well, let's just look at it. They were the professed true people. By profession they were. They were the chosen people of God, but were they the true church in reality? We'll just look at about a dozen definitions of the true church. First of all, that the true church is the spiritual seed of Abraham, we proved that in that sermon. We won't prove any of it here. Were the Jewish leaders in the time of Christ, the spiritual seed of Abraham? What did John the Baptist say? He said they were not. What did Jesus say? He said they were not. So they do not meet the definition of the true church.

Number two. The true church is God's people. Were they God's people? What did Jesus say in John 8:44? "You are of your father," who? "the devil." They were the devil's people. Ellen White says the same thing, they were the representatives of the devil. See Desire Of Ages, 36.

Number three. The true church enters into God's covenant, or, the New Covenant. Had they entered into God's covenant? By the way, to enter into God's covenant, you have to put away sin. Had they done that? No, they had not. They were the professed true church, but not really. They pretended, or professed to have entered into God's covenant, but they were lying, and plotting to kill the Son Of God. They hadn't ceased from sin.

Number four. Another definition of the true church according to the New Testament is "the body of Christ." It has been that way ever since the beginning. Were the Jewish leaders in the time of Christ the body of Christ? Why no, they crucified Christ. They weren't the body of Christ, they were fighting Him continually from the time He was born. They were not one with Christ inspirit. That's what it means to be in the body of Christ, to be one with Christ in spirit.

Here's another one, number 5. Here is another definition of the true church. "The true church is the fold of God." I love this one. I could preach whole sermons on any one of these. By the way, I love each one of them. The fold, are you in the fold? Were they in the fold? Read John 10. They weren't even part of His sheep, let alone in the fold. Now, there are sheep that aren't in the fold yet. There are sheep that Jesus said they are "my sheep," but they are not in the fold yet; but I'm going to bring them into the fold. The fold is the church. But they weren't even His sheep, forget about the fold. They weren't in the fold.

Oh! Here's another definition, number 6. Another definition, an inspired definition, of the church is that "It is God's vineyard." God's vineyard. Now these people were the pretended, or the professed, vineyard of the Lord, but they did not have any vital connection with the true vine. You see, there are two kinds of connections: one is the outward connection. You make a profession, you are part of the professed church if you have the outward connection. But there is a vital connection, where the life of the vine goes right out into the outermost twig. You can't see that. But that's the really vital connection, where the life of the vine comes out into the branch. What does that mean? If I'm connected to Christ, His life comes into my life, into my very mind and my spirit. His life comes in. Did they have the vital connection? No, they did not. And Jesus said that if you don't have the vital connection, even though you are connected, you are going to get cut off. You are not really part of the vine. That is John 15.

Oh! Here's another definition. Number 7. The church is defined in the Bible as a spiritual building or a spiritual temple. 1 Peter 2 and Ephesians 2 both describe the church that way, a spiritual temple. Paul says, "for the habitation of God in the Spirit." That's the last verse in Ephesians 2. Were these people the Jewish leaders? Were they a temple, a habitation for the Holy Spirit? Were they? Were they filled with the Holy Spirit? Ellen White makes it very clear in Desire of Ages. They were filled with the spirit of the devils, just as much as those demoniacs were, but the devil manifested himself in a different way. They were not a habitation for the Holy Spirit. They don't meet that definition of the true church. They were agents of Satan. See Desire of Ages, 36. They were not a spiritual building, where the Spirit of God dwelt.

Oh! Here's another one in Acts of The Apostles, 11. We went over this last week. The true church is constituted by faithful souls. Were the Jewish leaders faithful souls? Ellen White says in Spirit of Prophecy, vol.2,41, that they were unfaithful souls. So they don't qualify to that.

And then number 9, here is another one we looked at. Another definition of the true church is that it is composed of people that love God and keep His commandments. You can read in Christ Object Lessons that they did not love God, and they for sure did not keep His commandments. You can't kill somebody and lie and keep the commandments. That is breaking two commandments. And yet you go down all of these things and they don't meet one single inspired definition of the true church. And then people write and say, "Don't you think they were part of the true church?" Well just give me an inspired statement to prove it. There isn't any. They were the professed people of God. They were of Israel, but they weren't Israel.

Remember what we read in 1 John 2:19. He said, "They went out from us , but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that it might be made manifest that none of them were of us." Well, "the church is the pillar and ground of the truth," it is a spiritual temple of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15. So if I leave the truth, I have left the church, Israel. Who is modern Israel? Well remember, in ancient Israel there was Israel according to the flesh; but then there was the children of promise, Spiritual Israel, the real Israel, the true Israel. And Paul says in Romans 9 that they were not the same.

Is it that way now? Yes, it's that way now. There is an Israel according to the flesh, that is by profession. All who accept the Adventist faith and profess the Adventist faith are the Modern Israel of God by profession. But not all of them are really modern Israel. I'll read two or three statements that will prove that. Here's the first one. "For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion, shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord's professed people." Now who is this modern Israel she's talking about? It's the Lord's what? Professed People. Everyone that professes the Adventist faith is the Lord's professed people. We do not call them Babylon. They are professed Israel, modern Israel. Not all of them are really of Israel though. We will read that in just a moment.

"It is the unbelief, worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord's professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow for so many years." 1 Selected Messages, 69. OK, here is another one in Testimonies, vol. 2, 109, "I was shown that those that were trying to obey God and purify their souls through obedience to the truth are God's chosen people, His modern Israel. God says of them through Peter, 'But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

So, if you profess the Seventh-day Adventist faith, you are the professed true church today; but if you are not converted, you are not really part of it. Let me read that in Upward Look, 80. She says, "The Israel of God are those who are converted." Now that is plain. Who is the Israel of God? It is those that are converted. If I profess to be converted, I'm part of the professed church. But if it is not real, I may be of Israel, but I'm not really Israel.

Well, I have some other statements here about the remnant church. Maybe we will look at that just a little bit later. I promised you that we are going to study this evening about the separation of the tares from the wheat. This is a subject that Adventists have been trying to understand for a long time. People have many ideas about exactly how this is going to happen. And I want to study a number of statements with you as quickly as possible to get into this subject.

And the first one that I'd like to look at is in Great Controversy, 608. This is a very familiar statement, and this is what it says, "As the storm approaches.. ." What storm is this? This is the final conflict that is approaching, the Sabbath Sunday controversy that's approaching. "As the storm approaches.. ." Now notice, the storm is not here yet, but it's approaching. "A large class who have professed faith in the third angels message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light: and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls."

Now I want to ask you, who are these souls, these people, who used to rejoice in the truth? Who are these souls that they are going to try to mislead? Are they somebody out in Babylon? Who are they? They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. We're going to have opportunity to look at that again.

"When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them." Now I've read that statement for over thirty years, and we always thought we knew what it meant. This is what we thought it meant: we said to ourselves, just like what the Jews did, we interpreted the prophecy, and we said, "That means that they are going to leave the Seventh-day Adventist church organization and they are going to go out, and go with the Sunday keeping church, and then they are going to fight us. Now isn't that what most of us have believed?

The trouble is when we start checking it out, we can't prove that belief I want to read to you now a startling statement from Review and Herald, March 18, 1884. It says, "The Lord has a controversy with His professed people." Now we have already studied this so we should know what we are talking about. Now, who are the Lord's professed people? Who are they? That's the Seventh-day Adventists all over the world, that profess the Seventh-day Adventist faith. And she says, "The Lord has a controversy" with who? With Babylon? No, who is she talking about? The professed people, that's the Seventh-day Adventists. Those that profess the Adventist faith, the Lord has a controversy with them. Why does the Lord have a controversy with them? Well, look at what is going to happen. She says, "In these last days in this controversy men in responsible positions." Who is that, men in responsible positions? She's talking to the Lord's professed people. Who are the men in responsible positions? They are the ministers and the leaders. What are they going to do? They "will take a course directly opposite to that pursued by Nehemiah. They will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath themselves, but they will try to keep it from others by burying it between the rubbish of custom and tradition in churches." What churches is she talking about do you suppose? She's talking to the professed people of God, to the Seventh-day Adventists. She's talking about men that are in responsible positions in Adventism. What church is she talking about? The Seventh-day Adventist church.

"In churches and in large gatherings in the open air, ministers will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week." Now who is she talking to? She's talking to Seventh-day Adventists. "There are calamities on sea and land, and these calamities will increase, one disaster following close upon another. The little band of conscientious Sabbath keepers will be pointed out as the ones who are bringing the wrath of God upon the world by their disregard of Sunday." Now I didn't write that, Ellen White wrote that, and she wrote it in our church paper to Seventh-day Adventists. She predicted what was going to happen within the Seventh-day Adventist church.

And so, this controversy is not a matter of them leaving and going to some Sunday-keeping church. It's going to take place inside of professed Adventism. Sunday-keeping is going to be promoted; and if you don't go along with it, you are going to get into big trouble. Let's read another one to help you get an idea of what's happening. This is Manuscript 5, January 20, 1904, "In His Word the Lord declares what He would do for Israel if they would obey His voice. But, the leaders of the people yielded to the temptations of Satan and God could not give them the blessings He designed them to have because they did not obey His voice, but listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer." Now, did you get the last sentence? This is what happened in Israel.

They didn't listen to God. They didn't obey Him. They obeyed the voice and policy of who? Lucifer. Do you have that clearly in your mind? Now listen to the next sentence, this is a prophecy. "This experience will be repeated in the last years of the history of the people of God." Who is that? That's Seventh-day Adventists, "who have been established by His grace and power, men whom He has greatly honored." These people who used to preach the truth "will in the closing scenes of this earth's history pattern after ancient Israel, because they are converting the truth of God into a falsehood. Many heresies will come from Lucifer, that will bewilder if possible the very elect." These heresies are going to be many, and if possible they will bewilder even the elect. It is going to be a confusing situation.

All right, so what's going to happen? The majority will follow the apostasy. That should be very clear if you have read the Testimonies. She says over and over again, that the majority are going to forsake us. They will yield to the pressure to accept the mark of the beast and will urge the rest of the church in the same way to abandon their former position. They will cast out the true Sabbath keepers as tares; and when the Sabbath keepers are cast out, those that cast them out will be their former brethren.

Let me read this from Review and Herald, August 28, 1883. "Our greatest trials will come from those who profess Godliness. It was so with the world's Redeemer; it will be so with His followers." Skip down to the end of the paragraph. "The opposition which Christ received came from His own nation who would have been greatly blessed had they accepted Him. In like manner the remnant church receive opposition." Now who is the remnant church? The real church is who? It's those that not only make the profession, but they live out their profession. That's the real church, the true church, that's the remnant church. "The remnant church receive opposition from those who profess to be. . ." who? "Their brethren," those who profess to be their brethren. That is where the greatest opposition is going to come from. Now this is a large class of talented men who are leaders in the Seventh-day Adventist church, who we just read about in the 1884 quote and from Manuscript 5, 1904, who abandon the truth and join the opposition. Notice they do not have to leave the professed church to do this, because they are influential people and they can persuade other people to go along with their ideas. In fact, they believe that they have the authority to rule. Have you ever met any leaders that think that they have the authority to rule God's people? They leave the truth; and remember, don't ever forget, that according to the Bible, if you reject truth, you have already left God's church, because God's church is the pillar and ground of the truth. The truth doesn't change. If you reject the truth, you've left the church already.

This is Letter 237. It is found, I believe, in3 Selected Messages, 411-412, written in 1904. She says, "The time has come when even in the church and in our institutions, some will depart from the faith, giving head to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. But God will keep that which is committed to Him. Let us draw near to Him that He may draw near to us. Let us bear a plain, clear testimony right to the point, that hypnotism is being used by those departed from the faith, and we are not to link up with them. Through those who depart from the faith, the power of the enemy will be exercised to lead others astray ."

Now let's analyze that statement for a few minutes. Notice, these that depart from the faith are described as still being in the church. Did you catch that? The people that depart from the faith are described as still being in the professed church, and they will use their hypnotic powers to lead other church members astray. This was true at the turn of the century. This was written at the time of the alpha of deadly heresies. If it was true then, when hypnotism was still in it's infancy, how much more would it be true today, when neuro-linguistic programming teaches a modern type of hypnotism that can be induced when the other person doesn't even know anything that is happening?

Not only this (now this is going to sound hard, but it is the truth), but congregations who have remained worldly Adventists during this time of ease, are going to be terrified soon during the little time of trouble. They are going to be absolutely terrified with disasters surrounding them and laws being enforced to prevent Sabbath-keepers from buying and selling. The urging of expediency by their leaders, will seem the best way out. And we can expect to see the disfellowshiping of church members on the basis of their loyalty to God and His truth, together with false charges against them. We can expect to see a tremendous plea and call, all over the world, for loyalty to the church above that of individual conscience and the truth.

Now here is where it is going to get sticky and nasty, if you don't understand who and what the church is, because during this period of time, those who have been convinced that the church is the organization, will under the combined pressure of the organizational leaders, choose to be faithful to the organization rather than the truth. They will end up receiving the mark of the beast. I've been saying for years that if you do not understand the issue of the truth about the church, someday you are probably going to receive the mark of the beast, and people say, "How can that be?"

Those who have become convinced that your definition of the church must come from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, that it is constituted of faithful souls who are obedient to the truth, who will choose to be faithful to the truth of God and the Three An-gels Messages. And we will be disfellowshiped. Notice what will happen. Those who are faithful to the organization will say to those who are true and faithful, those who really are the true church, they will say, "You are the tares; and you are being cut off from the church militant because you are rebellious to duly constituted church authority. We are staying with the church, that is, the organization." That is what they mean by the church.

Do you see how confusing it's going to be if you do not know crystal clear who and what the church is? The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. It's composed of those who obey God and keep His commandments. It is not composed of just an organization. You can not find one statement in inspired writings that defines it as an organization. An organization is part of the church if they keep the commandments and have the faith of Jesus.

The true and the faithful who are cast out as tares are actually the true church. The tares are the majority who stay within the organization. By staying with the truth, the true and faithful stay in the church because that defines what the church is. By abandoning the truth, to be faithful to the organization, the majority are sifted out of the church. Each group will believe that the other group is the tares or the chaff. And so the people that stay with the organization will say to the true and faithful, they will say, "You are the sinners that are being sifted out of Zion, because you are rebellious to duly constituted church authority."

Let's take another view of this process. Just before the close of probation, God sends a message of purification to the Seventh-day Adventist church, and I'm talking about everybody that professes Adventism, for the last time, to give one last chance, to be purged of all dross. This message is called the straight testimony and it will result in a terrible shaking. Ellen White says concerning the straight testimony, "Some will not bear the straight testimony. They will rise up against it and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people." Notice, it is not the straight testimony itself that causes the shaking, it's those that rise up against it that causes a shaking among God's people. "I saw", she says in Early Writings 270, "That the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified."

Now friends, do you believe that as we pray and study that we should attempt to understand the time in which we live? Do you believe that we should do that? Jesus rebuked the people of His day because he said that you can discern the sky, but you can't discern the signs of the times. He rebuked them because they did not know the times in which they were living. Now friends, the straight testimony, through the revival and reformation movement, has been going to the entire Seventh-day Adventist church for a number of years. It's gone all around the world, and it has caused a division, it has caused people to rise up against it. This division is often seen as the tares being shaken out of the church. It is true that this division does result in the tares being shaken out of the church, but the question is, who and what is the church that they are being shaken out of? Those that believe the inspired definition of the church see that right now, already, multitudes have been shaken out of the truth; and therefore, they have been shaken out of the church.

When you reject any part of the Three Angels' Messages, you have been shaken out of the church; and many more will be shaken out of the church as the result of Sunday laws and persecution. But those who believe that the church is the organization, they are waiting for some future shaking to shake the tares out of the organization while they stay in. They think they are eventually going to take over the organization.

Now the problem is, friend, what if the mystery of God is finished, and what they are expecting to happen never happens? And how do you know it's going to happen if you can't find it in the prophecies? Let me tell you friend, you can't find it in the prophecies unless you start reading things into statements that they don't actually say.

Do you understand, why in Early Writings 71, that there will be people that won't wake up until the plagues begin to fall? Why? Because they think that the organization is the church and they are in it and they don't have anything to worry about But I want to tell you, when they get the first plague, they are going to find out that they are lost, and it's too late.

There is great danger of this because many people have accepted a definition of the church that does not come from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, just like the Jews. The Jews were looking for Elijah to come and guess what happened? Elijah came and finally Elijah was beheaded. They didn't know Elijah had come yet. It was all over. And the disciples were asking Jesus on the way down from the mount of transfiguration when Jesus was talking about His death. They said, "The Pharisees, the Jews, say that Elijah has to come first." Jesus said, "That's already happened. That's already happened." They were looking for something to happen in the future that was already done. That could never happen again, could it?

Let me tell you that if you believe the organization is the church and you are still waiting, you are waiting for something in the future, and it is happening all around and you don't even know it. The wheat and the tares are in the process of being separated right now. We're not separating anybody. But God is doing something.

If we had time I could show you many references. "The work of The Third Angels Message," Ellen White says in Early Writings 118, "is to separate the wheat and the tares." That's what it does. And when you reject the Third Angels Message, or any part of it, you have just been separated out of the church.

The shaking develops two parties. Here's the way Ellen White described it in Early Writings, she said here's the first party. Here's the people that are shaken but they are not shaken out. Notice how she describes them, "I saw some with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances: large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads. Now and then their faces would light up with the marks of God's approbation, and again the same solemn, earnest, anxious look would settle upon them. Evil angels crowded around pressing darkness upon them to shut out Jesus from their view that their eyes might be drawn to the darkness that surrounded them, and thus they be led to distrust God and murmur against Him. Their only safety was in keeping their eyes directed upward. An-gels of God had charge over His people, and as the poisonous atmosphere of evil angels was pressed around these anxious ones, the heavenly angels were continually wafting their wings over them to scatter the thick darkness. As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances." That's the group that is not shaken out, but they are going through a terrible shaking struggle.

Now, here's the group that is shaken out, company B: "Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these and went to the aid of the earnest, praying ones. I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them."

Notice, company A are mightily shaken. And where are they mightily shaken? In the church. They are shaken as a result of company B rising up against the message that they bear. Again we see opposition to the message of truth, and, as the result of the earnest message, the straight testimony that Ellen White talks about here. She says that the straight testimony causes a shaking, by those people that rise up against it, from those people that rise up against it.

As a result of the earnest message to the Laodeceans by God's faithful people, plus the Sunday law pressure, the shaking sifts the church. And some members who had been true and faithful are shaken out. Most people think that this means that they leave the organization of the Seventh-day Adventist church. But it is not even talking about that. The subject matter is not the organization of the Seventh-day Adventist church, but the straight testimony of the true witness. It is a controversy not over whether you belong to a certain organization, but over the truth. That's what it is all about. "Some of the true and faithful who at first accepted the testimony of the true witness are shaken out." Have you seen that happen? Now when they are shaken out, where do they join? They join company B, who are already shaken out, but they still profess to be part of the true church. Company B was the largest group in the first place. And then as they receive more of those who are shaken out from the true and faithful, eventually it is going to appear like the true and faithful are just some little lunatic fringe, some fanatical, off shoot, sect. And they will be the offscouring of all things.

And, in addition to this, the former brethren of the true and faithful, who are not their brethren any more because they have forsaken the truth and have not accepted the testimony of the true witness, they employ all of their powers to disfellowship any remaining faithful. They make a desperate attempt to silence them in the professed church, and if they do not succeed in silencing them, they will no doubt be turned into the authorities--the Government authorities. And so the wheat will be cast out of the organization. Those that believe that the organization only, is the church, will say, "Yes, we are going through the shaking time and we just have to allow these sinners to be sifted out of Zion, because they are rebellious to properly constituted authority and they won't submit to the council of the community of faith."

But what is really happening is that those who are casting out their former brethren are separating themselves from those who still believe and practice the truth, and believe the Three Angels' Messages. They are actually being sifted out of Zion by their action in disfellowshiping their former brethren. Do you see how utterly confusing it's going to be, if you don't know crystal clear in your mind who and what the church is? It's going to be absolutely confusing-- just like it was in the days of Christ. Ellen White says so, concerning Christ's disciples, Nathaniel, in particular; but it was true of all of them. If they had gone to the religious leaders of the professed people of God, and gotten their counsel, they never would have followed Jesus.

Well, people say, "You don't understand, we know there is all this apostasy among God's professed people. We know all about that, but God is going to turn it all around and purify the church, because that is what it says in Letter 55." You can read about that. Letter 55 is quoted in a number of places. One is 2 Selected Messages, about page 380. "And," they say, "the Lord is going to turn it around. He's going to purify the church."

Well, yes, the Lord is going to purify the church. But have you ever studied how the Lord purifies the church? Do you think the Lord is going to use some new method to purify the church today that He has never used before, ever? Or do you think the Lord will use the same method to purify the church today that He has used for the past six thousand years?

Here is the way the Lord purifies the church. Bible Commentaries, vol. 7,918, says, "The work of purification is an individual work. No one can do this work for another." God purifies His people through the voice of warning and reproof What if I will not listen to warning and reproof? Then what? I'm stuck. By the words of truth the chaff is separated from the wheat.

Ellen White talks about that in Desire of Ages, 392. "By the words of truth." If I reject the truth, I'm on the outside. Only those who will listen to the voice of warning and reproof and listen to the truth of the Spirit of Prophecy, the true witness, and begin purifying themselves, will eventually be purified. You see it is done through the words of Christ, given through the true witness to the Laodiceans. It came to this church in the eighteen fifties. It came to this church powerfully in 1888, in Minneapolis. It has come many times since that time, whenever the message of present truth, the straight testimony has been given. That is the way that God uses to purify His church. There is no back-up plan. If that doesn't work you won't ever be purified.

If the messages that are going out around the world of revival and reformation, the straight testimony, if that doesn't work, there is no reserve plan. "Well," people say, "the chaff is going to be sifted out." And they believe that the church is only the organization. So to be sifted out of the church is to be sifted out of the organization. But the fact is, that the truth is the sieve. And those who are not rooted and grounded, and those who cling to sin, are thereby shaken out of the truth; but they may still be members of the professed church.

This is what Ellen White describes in Letter 55 as a terrible ordeal. The remnant will suffer at the hand of a an apostate church no longer abiding in the truth. There will be church leaders who have been friends, colleagues, pastors, who now turn on the few members who stand for the truth, and falsely accuse them of causing the trouble. There were true Israelites and their were false among the professed church in Jesus' day, but God worked things around until all the tares were broken off in their unbelief and others were grafted in. The professed true church in the days of Jesus Christ rejected the truth and held on to error. The true church, who loved the truth, was cast out of the organization. But actually the ones who were cast out were the only ones who really stayed in the church. Paul discusses that in detail in Romans 11.

So what is the sieve? There are several statements about the sieve. Ellen White calls it the gospel sieve. God says, "I will thoroughly purge my floor of all chaff. I will sift My people as in a sieve. Those who name My name must be thoroughly cleansed of faults and corrupting principles. Those whom I claim as My heritage, will even now be wondered at as a peculiar people, cleansed from all fraud, all injustice. Those who enter the city of God will here, have worked righteousness, revealing to the world the principles of heaven." That's in Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, 150.

Oh, friend, we are headed into some very interesting times. The weight of evidence from the inspired writings is that the organization will become apostate and will not go through to glory. See Selected Messages, vol. 1, 204-205. That does not mean that it will cease to exist before Jesus comes, because remember, when God's presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, the nation itself went on. The priests and rulers and the people knew it not. The ministration in the temple continued. So God leads His people on step by step.

Here is how Ellen White describes it in volume 1 of the Testimonies. She says, "He (that is God) brings them up to different points calculated to manifest what is in the heart. Some endure at one point, but fall at the next. At every advanced point the heart is tested and tried a little closer. If the professed people of God find their hearts opposed to this straight work, it should convince them that they have a work to do to overcome, if they would not be spewed out of the mouth of the Lord. Said the angel, 'God will bring His work closer, and closer, to test, and prove every one of His people. Some are willing to receive one point, but when God brings them to another testing point, they shrink from it and stand back, because they find that it strikes directly at some cherished idol. Here they have opportunity to see what is in their hearts that shuts out Jesus. They prize something higher than the truth, and their hearts are not prepared to receive Jesus. Individuals are tested and proved a length of time, to see if they sacrifice their idols, and heed the council of the True Witness. If any will not be purified through obeying the truth, and overcome their selfishness, their pride, and evil passions, the angels of God have the charge, they are joined to their idols, let them alone, and they pass on to their work, leaving these with their sinful traits unsubdued, to the control of evil. Those who come up to every point and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the council of the True Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation."

Oh, friend, where are you going to be? Are you going to be in the church that goes through? It's going to be friends, just like it was in the days of Jesus. Ellen White told us in volume 1 of Selected Messages, page 406, that that time was a type of what would happen at the end. It's going to happen again and there is going to be people that will go through and be saved. There is going to be a multitude that won't make it. Are you going to be with the church that goes through? The church that goes through is going to be the pillar and ground of the truth. It's going to be the people that are true and faithful. It's the people that decide that they are going to obey God and keep His commandments and love Him with all their mind and soul, and their neighbor as themselves no matter what happens. Are you going to be part of it?

Oh, friend! I hope that you will; and I hope that this study has helped you to see that if you are confused about who the church is, if you think it is only the organization, you are set up for one of the biggest delusions and deceptions that the devil has ever foisted onto God's people. The church is the true and faithful, that keep God's commandments; and they are to be organized. We believe in church organization; but the organization is not the church.

Friend, the church is that spiritual temple, that pillar and ground of the truth, the people that have the vital connection to the true vine. They are not just making a profession, but it is real, it is true in their lives. Do you want to be part of that group? If you do I want to invite you to kneel down with me and let's pray that the Lord will help us to be part of that group.