Shaken, Sifted, Settled, and Sealed, Part I

It is sad to consider, but do you know that most Seventh-day Adventists will be lost? The reason is simple and yet painful to realize—we are making the same mistakes of the past. History is repeating itself. The reason most Seventh-day Adventists will be lost is because they know not the time of their visitation and will not take God at His Word.

The Straight and Narrow

Early in the experience of Ellen G. White, the Lord gave her an impressive dream, which describes what the future holds for the Seventh-day Adventist movement, particularly for the individuals who make a profession of it. Over 150 years ago, this vision was shown to this modern-day prophet for our admonition. (See Early Writings, 14–20.)

She shares with us that she saw a straight and narrow path, which had been cast up above the world. It was on this path that the Adventist people were traveling. The path is straight because God is straight, and His teachings (doctrines) do not deviate, neither can they be compromised. Also, the path is narrow, as the Bible said it would be—few would find it. This would not be a path where you would find the crowds and the pollution of popular opinion. You would find, rather, the purity of God’s calm assurance and trustworthy Word and the few who had learned to place their total trust in God.

There was a bright light—the midnight cry—illuminating the way for those traveling this path. This cry is “behold the bridegroom cometh” and He is none other than Jesus, Himself. In the vision, this light was given so the travelers would not stumble or, in other words, be caught unawares or deceived.

All in the group who kept their eyes on Jesus would be safe and sure-footed on the path. It was not long, though, before some grew tired of the rules and restrictions—the confines of the path. The journey seemed like it was taking longer than it should; some grew impatient. Remember what Jesus said: “Here is the patience of the saints.” Revelation 14:12. This is one of the identifying marks of the remnant.

Every so often the Lord Jesus would raise His right arm and shine light on the company of travelers, giving them encouragement. But those who were becoming impatient and weary would dismiss this encouragement and claim that God would not have led this company out so far.

There is an alarming amount of liberalism in the Adventist ranks today, which is not only being tolerated in the movement but is actually promoted by many who claim to be true leaders. They make the claim that God has not called the Seventh-day Adventist people to be a peculiar people. They may not say it in these exact words, knowing that could be detrimental to their influence with some, but they say it in so many other ways. This liberalism is not the freedom of living completely in the Lord but rather living almost in, if not completely in, the world while still believing that we are in a saved condition. Brothers and sisters, this will never be.

Darkness

In the vision, we are told that the Lord finally turned off the guiding light to the above group of liberals, and they stumbled and fell off the path into the dark and wicked world below. We have a tendency to think that if this group falls off the path, back into the world of wickedness and darkness, that there will be some kind of mass exodus out of the church organization. Many are looking for that as some sort of sign. The Lord has not given us minute details about every particular in the end, but I ask, When the professed people of God killed His Son, how many people left the faith? How many people walked out of the synagogue—the church structure? The answers for these two questions are very different!

The point is that people can leave the faith without necessarily leaving the building! Please do not miss this point. The Lord counsels us to buy the eyesalve for the purpose of discerning these very things. (Revelation 3:18.) This is vital in our understanding the process of shaken, sifted, settled, and sealed.

College of Christ

On this path, we find the final schooling for a people being fitted for an immortal life with their Heavenly Father and His Son. This path represents the College of Christ—the School of Higher Learning. The students in this class who do not get cut from the roster will go on to character perfection and will end up perfectly reflecting the character of their Holy Teacher. Those delinquents who cut class or show no real interest in the lessons will not graduate but will flunk the eternal test of faith. They will not possess the other identifying mark of the remnant, which is the faith of Jesus Christ. What we need to understand is that there are no grades of A, B, C, D, or F in this school. We either pass or fail! We either make it or we do not!

We are living in this time of winnowing right now! This process started back in the days when Mrs. White was yet alive, but we are about to enter into the final exam stage. We are in the middle of the process of being shaken, sifted, settled, and sealed in its strongest sense right this moment!

Shaking Period

The final process begins with the shaking period. Mrs. White said the mighty shaking had commenced in her day and that it would continue: “The mighty shaking has commenced and will go on, and all will be shaken out who are not willing to take a bold and unyielding stand for the truth and to sacrifice for God and His cause.” Early Writings, 50.

It would be to our great advantage to analyze this statement. Notice that the Lord says that “all will be shaken out.” It does not say that all might be shaken out. It is vital that we understand that if we do not make it a matter of life or death to enter into the Lord’s leading in this process, we will be shaken out. There will not be a neutral group or anyone slipping under the door. If you are not in the program, you are out of the graduating class!

Bold and Unyielding

Just as important as understanding the surety and certainty of the in or out fact is recognizing the makeup of the characters of those in the respective groups. “All will be shaken out who are not willing to take a bold and unyielding stand for the truth.”

A simple question will demonstrate the seriousness of this: How many people do you know—and it is extremely important that you include yourself in the answer—who take a bold and unyielding stand for the truth? Of course, you cannot possibly know the exact number of those who do, but your answer should be a pretty good indicator of the enormous trouble we are in as a people.

We must understand the moment of time through which we are passing. This will be our last and only chance to take to heart the Lord’s process of perfecting character. And that is exactly what He wishes us to do. Those who realize that this process has already started and those who truly desire to be a part of God’s Holy kingdom will enter into the process of refinement.

Why do most Adventists not make this choice for life when they have heard how important it is? How in the world can people allow this last bit of time to escape, knowing that a day of immense trouble is on the horizon?

“The ‘time of trouble, such as never was,’ is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God.” The Great Controversy, 622.

Why does it say that many would not make it through to the end? Simply because they were too indolent (lazy) to obtain the experience they needed. What is the experience of which Mrs. White speaks, and why are people too lazy?

Practical Godliness

“Many of our ministers in their discourses dwell too largely upon theory and not enough on practical godliness. They have an intellectual knowledge of the truth, but their hearts are untouched with the genuine fervor of the love of Christ. Many have gained by the study of our publications a knowledge of the arguments that sustain the truth, but they have not become Bible students for themselves. They are not constantly seeking for a deeper and more thorough knowledge of the plan of salvation as revealed in the Scriptures.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 158.

“Practical godliness must be learned. Those who study and practice the teachings of Christ will gain an essential education in Bible knowledge. By the standard of the word of God every teacher will one day be measured by the greatest Teacher this world ever knew. Belief in the grand truths He presented will work a reformation in all who truly receive them.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 362.

Then Mrs. White speaks specifically of those who attend the schools of theology:

“Many have gone to Battle Creek to obtain an education who could have been better instructed in their own country. Time has been lost, money has been needlessly expended, a work has been left undone, and souls have been lost, because of the miscalculations of those who thought they were serving God. The Lord lives, and His Holy Spirit presides everywhere. The impression must not prevail that Battle Creek is the Jerusalem of the world, and that all must go up there to worship. Those who desire to learn, and who make every possible effort to acquire knowledge, walking conscientiously in the light of the truth, need not journey to Battle Creek. God is our teacher; and those who would improve their talents where they are, will be blessed with teachers sent of God to instruct them,—teachers who have been preparing to do a work for the Master. To spend more time, to expend more money, is to do worse than to lose it; for those who seek to obtain an education at the expense of practical godliness are on the losing side. That which they acquire in educational lines during the time when they should have entered upon the work, is mere waste and loss.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 365.

Especially in the crisis in which we find ourselves today, the preceding counsel has increased in value.

What is this practical Godliness that is being spoken of? The following quotation will help our understanding.

“Your light shining in your business life, exhibiting the power of practical godliness, is worth vastly more to all with whom you come in contact than sermons or creeds. . . . What you say in the church is not of half as much consequence as what you do in your daily business.” Our High Calling, 225.

All-powerful God

This is the essence of what practical Godliness is! It means placing the values of eternal origin into your daily life. It means having the living faith that believes enough to do what the Lord asks in all situations—to go or not to go, as the Lord directs, and to make all decisions based on what the Lord would have you to do. It means exercising the spiritual power extended by God in your life so you choose not to be overcome. You place your will squarely on the side of the all-powerful God, and you become an overcomer, which is also an identifying mark of the remnant. This is what practical Godliness is all about, and it is this believer only who will pass the litmus test of the shaking.

Even as one who chose not to follow the Lord in my earlier days, I always knew it was the height of stupidity to say that one believed in an all-powerful God and, at the same time, claim they could not overcome sin. Here is why: The only reason for not becoming an overcomer is because we want to sin more than we want to overcome!

If one believes in an all-powerful God, Who literally holds the universe together moment by moment, then he or she also has to believe that He created Lucifer. The Christians I know have always claimed to believe in the Word of God, and therein we find that God will destroy Lucifer in the end for his rebellion. What utterly amazes me is that most people want others to believe that this all-powerful God, Who holds countless worlds in space, somehow does not have the power to help them overcome the sin in their lives! What a contradiction! That is as ludicrous as throwing away the fourth commandment, because we wish to do something else other than follow God’s Word. And that is the real problem—not God’s inability to supply the power. The only reason for not becoming an overcomer is because we want to sin more than we want to overcome!

Striving Against Sin

Either God is the Sovereign of the universe, or He is not! Either He is all-powerful, or He is not! If these people really understand what they are saying, when they claim in so many ways that God cannot overcome our enemy, what makes them think that when Jesus comes back He will be strong enough to overpower that same enemy to take His people home?

Rightly understood, to claim that God cannot overcome sin in the life is to disclaim that He is actually the all-powerful God. What is many times worse is that in His place, knowingly or not, these same people make Lucifer the one who becomes all-powerful because they make him more powerful than God. They make Satan their god just as he claimed he would make himself—and so he is in the life that refuses to overcome.

The reason why most will not become overcomers is simple and something we should all strive to understand right now. If you are anything like me, you have certain areas in your life which are more difficult to lay aside than others. How do we enter into the winner’s circle in these areas? Why do we continue to struggle? We find our answer in God’s Holy Word. “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:4.

In these brief words are the blessings we should be seeking in this time of shaking. Here is found the key that opens the door to a higher plateau of experience and the essential knowledge of practical Christian living. But what do these words really mean?

Undoubtedly many will say, “I have been trying for years and I am still in the mess I have always been in.” But this verse means more than just trying, for it is true that all our trying will be nothing more than frustration and a deep sense of failure and discouragement. The verse goes much deeper in experience than just trying. The word resist means to sit down against or to stand firm against. The other word we want to briefly look at is striving, which means to struggle against, to box, fight, to war, or to wrestle with. And that is what makes this verse so important.

To be continued November 2004 . . .

[All emphasis supplied.]

Cathy Summers Timmons, a Steps to Life staff member and a member of LandMarks’ editorial staff, writes from her home in Wichita, Kansas. She may be contacted by e-mail at: cathytimmons@stepstolife.org.