THE PERFECTING OF A PEOPLE
THE PERFECTING OF A PEOPLE
The Purpose of the Book People of Color in the Bible is to present the Bible from the wholistic approach in which it was written and given to us. This will develop the whole person’s mind, body and soul.
HE FULLNESS TIME
“When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son.”Galatians 4:4
We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half (1/2) understand it. We do not half (1/2) take it in… The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming. SM:2:406
1. “The Time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:15
1. 2. The Messiah’s coming had been first announced in Judea. DA:231
a. In the temple at Jerusalem the birth of the forerunner had been foretold to Zacharias as he ministered before the altar. Luke 1:65 – 80
b. On the hills of Bethlehem the angles had proclaimed the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:8 – 20
c. To Jerusalem the magi had come in search of Him. Matthew 2:1 – 16
d. In the temple Simeon and Anna had testified to His divinity. Luke 2:25 – 40
e. Jerusalem, and all Judea had listened to the preaching of John the Baptist.
Matthew 3:5; John 1:29 – 34
f. The flashing forth of His divinity in the cleansing of the temple, His miracles of healing, and the lessons of divine truth that fell from His lips, all proclaimed that which after the healing at Bethesda He had declared before the Sanhedrin, -His Sonship to the Eternal.
3. But Israelknew not the time of her visitation. DA:232
4. The burden of Christ’s preaching was, “The Time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:15 Thus the gospel message, as given by the Saviour Himself, was based on the prophecies. The “Time” which He declared to be fulfilled was the period made known by Gabriel to Daniel… Then the message was proclaimed, “The Time is fulfilled”… The time had come for the earthly sacrifice and oblation to cease. DA:233
5. The time of Christ’s coming, His anointing by the Holy Spirit, His death, and the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, were definitely pointed out. It was the privilege of the Jewish people to understand these prophecies, and to recognize their fulfillment in the mission of Jesus. Christ urged upon His disciples the importance of prophetic study. Referring to the prophecy given to Daniel in regard to their time, He said, “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” Matthew 24:15 … As the message of Christ’s first advent announced the kingdom of His grace, so the message of His second advent announces the kingdom of His glory. And the second message, like the first, is based on the prophecies. The words of the angel to Daniel relating to the last days were to be understood in the time of the end… The Saviour Himself has given signs of His coming, and He says, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Luke 21:31 DA:234
6. We have reached the period foretold in these scriptures. The time of the end is come, the visions of the prophets are unsealed, and their solemn warnings point us to our Lord’s coming in glory is near at hand. The Jews misinterpreted and misapplied the word of God, and they knew not the time of their visitation… So today the kingdom of this world absorbs men’s thoughts, and they take no note of the rapidly fulfilling prophecies and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of God… While we are not to know the hour of our Lord’s return, we may know when it is near. “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” I Thessalonians 5:6 DA:235 “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.”Romans 13:11
7. But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds of decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority,-not one or all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine of precept, we should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support. SOP:4:413
8. This was made very clear as attention was given to the manner in which the types relating to the first advent of Christ had been fulfilled… These types were fulfilled, not only as to the event, but as to the time… In like manner the types which relate to the second advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service. GC:399, 400
9. Scholars declared that Mr. Miller was right in his calculation of the time, though they disputed him in regard to the event that would crown that period. But they, and the waiting people of God were in a common error on the question of time. T:1:53
10. The book of Daniel and the Revelation should be bound together and published. A few explanations of certain portions might be added, but I am not sure that these would be needed. This is the suggestion that I made to Elder Haskell which resulted in the book he published. The need is not filled by this book. TM:117
11. When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience… These two books should be carefully studied. Twice Daniel inquired, How long shall it be to the end of time? TM:114
12. We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events… As we near the close of this world’s history, the prophecies relating to the last days especially demand our study. TM:116
13. We have not a moment to lose. Events of vital importance are transpiring around us; we are on Satan’s enchanted ground. SOP:4:419
14. They had the Bible, as we have; but the time for the unfolding of special truth in relation to the closing scenes of this earth’s history is during the last generations that shall live upon the earth. T:2:692, 693
15. Every new truth has made its way against hatred and opposition; those who were blessed with its light were tempted and tried. The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency. Who dare refuse to publish it? SOP:4:428
16. The crisis is now upon us. The battle is to be waged between the Christianity of the Bible and the Christianity of human tradition. Is there not a criminal neglect in our present sleepy condition? R&H:2:275
17. When a message is presented to God’s people, they should not rise up in opposition to it; they should go to the Bible, comparing it with the law and the testimony, and if it does not bear this test, it is not true. God wants our minds to expand. TM119
18. So in heaven’s council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. DA:32