Losing the discernment to honestly weigh evidence of Jesus

“As a nation, the people of Israel, while desiring the advent of the Messiah, were so far separated from God in heart and life that they could have no true conception of the character or mission of the promised Redeemer. Instead of desiring redemption from sin, and the glory and peace of holiness, their hearts were fixed upon deliverance from their national foes, and restoration to worldly power. They looked for Messiah to come as a conqueror, to break every yoke, and exalt Israel to dominion over all nations. Thus Satan had succeeded in preparing the hearts of the people to reject the Saviour when He should appear. Their own pride of heart, and their false conceptions of His character and mission, would prevent them from honestly weighing the evidences of His Messiahship.

For more than a thousand years the Jewish people had waited the coming of the promised Saviour. Their brightest hopes had rested upon this event. For a thousand years, in song and prophecy, in temple rite and household prayer, His name had been enshrined; and yet when He came, they did not recognize Him as the Messiah for whom they had so long waited. ‘He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.’ John 1:11. To their world-loving hearts the Beloved of heaven was ‘as a root out of a dry ground.’ In their eyes He had ‘no form nor comeliness;’ they discerned in Him no beauty that they should desire Him. Isaiah 53:2.” Prophets and Kings, p. 709,710.

“Their own pride of heart, and their false conceptions of His character and mission, would prevent them from honestly weighing the evidences of His Messiahship.”

The last generation awaiting Christ’s first coming could not honestly look at the evidences that would lead them to believe that He was the Messiah. What does this say about the last group waiting for His second coming? Aren’t we repeating the history of Israel? “Pride of heart, and resistance to give up false conceptions” is why it is so difficult for people to accept the truth today. Selfishness and seeking a worldly, political Messiah drives many of today’s Protestants and Adventists.

Few there are who are wrestling with their guilt and shame, seeking a Messiah for their sin. The few in Christ’s day were not blinded by hopes in this world. Their hopes were on eternal things—redemption from sin. Therefore, they only could “honestly [weigh] the evidences of His Messiahship”; therefore they recognized the Messiah in Jesus. Only the folks who heeded John the Baptist’s strong message of sin, righteousness, and of judgment to come with the Messiah, could be disciples of the Messiah when He appeared.

Who will recognize the Spirit of Jesus when He comes close to His laboring, battling people, to walk among them and to boost their spirits in the work of spreading His gospel? Will they know that the Spirit is Jesus Himself? Or will they dismiss Jesus’ work for them in the sanctuary above, which opens them to hear the still, small Voice, Jesus’ precious voice— Jesus Himself. Will the false conception of the distant, unknowable, unheard Trinity Jesus prevent their opening to the real Jesus? Who will be true non-Trinitarians? Who will know the true doctrine of the Godhead by the experience of wrestling with sin and righteousness, and not a theory non-Trinitarianism?

History will be repeated, as it always has been. A willingness to be humbled by conviction of sin has always been the strait turnstile to the narrow path to life. And few ever accept the humbling, and therefore most never find the path to life. As it was in the Early Rain, only those who have battled with their sins will receive the dawning gleams of the Latter Rain of Jesus. They have struggled to please God until their total thinking involves the cry of Paul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24).

They were publicans and sinners. They were hopeless without God in the world. And they found help only from “God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:25), “the Spirit, … the Spirit of God” through “the Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9). “God the Father” (Gal. 1:1) put in them conviction of sin, and “The Spirit of His Son” (Gal. 4:6) gave them repentance that didn’t itself need repentance, and full forgiveness. Only they will truly know the truth about the only true God and His only begotten Son. Only they will be true non-Trinitarians. 

And everyone else will be without the ability to read the word of God honestly. Their misconceptions will “prevent them from honestly weighing the evidences” of the Spirit, which is Jesus Himself. They will only be able to “[handle] the word of God deceitfully.” (2Cor. 4:2). And they will miss the beautiful evidences of Jesus present in the Latter Rain because the Latter Rain will be all about Jesus joining His people. [“God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you” (Acts 3:26). “Go to, let us go down.” (Gen. 11:7).] Therefore they will end up “none of His” (Rom. 8:9) because they chose not to be His. They chose to join themselves with present Baal-peor, and to serve the gods of Baal-peor. Instead of saying to the Trinity idolaters, “Ye have nothing to do with us” (Ezra 4:3), they believed the heathen, Sunday theologians who told them, “We seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him.” (Ezra 4:2).

Now when the people of the only true God read, “Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent” (14MR 23.3), they will say, “I believe that. The Holy Spirit is the Himself; Himself, the Holy Spirit. He will represent Himself by His Holy Spirit. That sounds right to me. I’ve always believed that.” It is amazing the self-manipulation we will do in order to avoid the conviction of truth and light.

When they read, “The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, which is sent to all men to give them sufficiency, that through His grace we might be complete in Him. The Lord has provided that we should always be under the teaching and influence of the Holy Spirit. We shall then discover that the law of God is holy, just, and good, and we would learn to delight in the law of God. We love the requirements of the law, and from our hearts render obedience to its requirements” (14MR 84), they read somehow that the Holy Spirit isn’t Christ present by His personal spirit. They won’t accept the fact that grace comes from Christ alone, not another person of the Godhead. No man comes to the Father but through Christ, and through no one else except Christ. Jesus died for us, and no one except the self-sacrificing One can minister the power of His death into our hearts.

When the Trinitarians read, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him” (1Cor. 8:6), they will find some way to add a third person to that verse.

When the Trinitarian compares the verse, “Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2Pet. 1:21) with the verse, “Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1Pet. 1:11), they then say or think, “If the world-wide Adult Sabbath School Quarterly didn’t make this comparison, then these verses must be like apples and oranges. They cannot be laid together line upon line. The editor of the quarterly wouldn’t mislead us; he used to be the editor of Liberty Magazine. He’s a loyal SDA minister. Theologians wrote the quarterly, and surely they know the Bible better than you.” (But, maybe a magisterium put together that quarterly.)

So, they will remain faithful to the church at the expense of a plain reading of scripture. But, will all the theologians be involved in the Latter Rain? Will all the pastors? “As the time comes for [the message of the third angel] to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them.” Great Controversy, p. 606.

Being the sacrificed Lamb of God, from Him comes the power of God unto salvation (see Revelation 5:6). Through His angels come His words of life. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John….” (Rev. 1:1).

The Latter Rain of Jesus will come and go, and all who do not know Jesus’ voice will fight Him all the way while they wait for the Latter Rain of a personless, intangible, unfeeling, misty, third person of their Trinity. There can be no redemption, no reconciliation with God from such a platonic mediator. The third person of the Trinity will give them much emotional power, much light and wisdom, but no redemptive power that overcomes sin. Only Jesus, only by being crucified with Him,stung with the guilt of playing around with sin that put Him on the altar of sacrifice, will He offer victory over their sins, while the other Spirit will focus on deep mysteries. They will be ever learning about the mysteries, but never come to a knowledge of the truth. Such a revival of the third person will evade victory over sin because that Spirit has no power to redeem, nor does it want anyone to have it. Its power will be cold and tense, lacking promise of mercy. It will not have the power of an only-begotten Son and an everlasting Father can have. “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:35,36).

By the other Spirit, Jesus will be kept buried in spiritual ideas, and unknowable mysteries. Simple knowledge of Jesus’ mercy and the law of kindness in His mouth will not be encouraged. Yet there lies “the hiding of His power” (Hab. 3:4).

They will reason away the Trinity Spirit’s lack of warmth and personality because they serve a mystery. “It’s a mystery! My imaginary friend, the Comforter!” “It doesn’t matter if my third God can’t feel for the infirmities of my flesh. It doesn’t matter if He has never walked a mile in my moccasins. It doesn’t matter if He wasn’t crucified for me, as were the Father and His only-begotten Son. He doesn’t have to do any of that because He already knows my infirmities; He is omniscient. It doesn’t matter if He doesn’t give me the ability to identify with Him, it’s all a mystery and I just have to accept it! I won’t be held accountable for losing every opportunity to have a relationship with Jesus if our religion’s foundational doctrine kept me slack on seeking Jesus for His ‘likeness to sinful flesh’ (Rom. 8:3), who ‘in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren’ (Heb. 2:17). The Spirit third Person doesn’t have to be seen by faith, because He has no shape or recognizable features. The Spirit is a mystery, and that’s biblical. I’ll just rest on my strong faith in the Bible (I’m off the hook for striving to know Jesus because the whole Godhead is a mystery anyway). I’ll just go on trudging through life without a true friend from heaven. That’s the lot of a Christian, isn’t it?! Even if I spend 50 years of my life in the dark and without Jesus near my heart, as occurred with Mother Teresa, I’ll show God how strong my love is for Him.”

For the Trinitarians the Latter Rain won’t be about “unto us a Child is born”, but about “unto us the mighty, eternal, co-equal third person of the Trinity has come”. Thank you Trinity god! You have single-handedly destroyed the whole world by your ingenious, lying doctrine. “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (Rev. 18:3).

“I saw the rapidity with which this delusion was spreading. A train of cars was shown me, going with the speed of lightning. The angel bade me look carefully. I fixed my eyes upon the train. It seemed that the whole world was on board. Then he showed me the conductor, a fair, stately person, whom all the passengers looked up to and reverenced. I was perplexed and asked my attending angel who it was. He said, ‘It is Satan. He is the conductor, in the form of an angel of light. He has taken the world captive. They are given over to strong delusions, to believe a lie that they may be damned. His agent, the highest in order next to him, is the engineer, and others of his agents are employed in different offices as he may need them, and they are all going with lightning speed to perdition.’” Early Writings, p. 263.

If the training of literary institutions of today is set on the Trinity, then their students will fit in perfectly with Ellen White’s Great Controversy, page 606  prophecy, quoted above. They won’t know “His Spirit”, Jesus’ Spirit, “the Spirit of Christ” (1Pet. 1:11; Rom. 8:9). The Latter Rain will be heretical to them. It will appear heretical and even blasphemous, as Jesus was called. It will not fit their expectations. It will require self-sacrifice. It will require conviction, their surrender to God’s heavy condemnation of sin, and their repentance. But, all who comply will have redemption; Jesus will be living in them by His Spirit. They will know it and will say it. This will be called unbiblical and heresy.

“For more than a thousand years the Jewish people had waited the coming of the promised Saviour. Their brightest hopes had rested upon this event. For a thousand years, in song and prophecy, in temple rite and household prayer, His name had been enshrined; and yet when He came, they did not recognize Him as the Messiah for whom they had so long waited. ‘He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.’ John 1:11. To their world-loving hearts the Beloved of heaven was ‘as a root out of a dry ground.’ In their eyes He had ‘no form nor comeliness;’ they discerned in Him no beauty that they should desire Him. Isaiah 53:2.” Prophets and Kings, p. 710.

The Lord GOD and his spirit

Isa_48:16  Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

People have said that Isaiah 48:16 proves that the “Holy Spirit” is another member of the Godhead, a third person, a third divine being. But I believe anyone can see that a simple comparison of the construction of Isaiah 48:16 will show that this verse must not be understood by modern language and our straight-forward, Hellenized form of communicating. Isaiah 48:16 must be properly understood by the Hebraic form of communicating, as we will see below. Specifically what I mean is the use of the word, “and”. “And” does not necessarily mean an addition of subjects, but rather can bring added emphasis, for another quality, description, or attribute of the original person.

This is what we see in the following biblical texts.

 Eph_5:20  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Col_1:3  We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

Col_3:17  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Jas_1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Rev_1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Are God and the Father two different persons? Obviously not. No one would ever say that. Other texts that say this don’t use “and” as seen below, which we as 21st century readers recognize to be the norm. But, it wasn’t always the norm. Comparing scripture with scripture, line upon line, we see that to use “and” doesn’t mean any differently in the first verses quoted above. “And” has sometimes simply been a different language and literary construct from the past.

Joh_6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Gal_1:1  Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Gal_1:3  Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

Eph_6:23  Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Php_2:11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1Th_1:1  Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2Ti_1:2  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Tit_1:4  To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

1Pe_1:2  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

2Pe_1:17  For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

2Jn_1:3  Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Jud_1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

 “God the Father”, “God and the Father”, or “God and his Father” (Rev. 1:6), all say the same thing. God is the Father. His only begotten Son is “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5). God and the Father are not two separate persons. Then let’s read Isaiah 48:16 the same way. Basic ancient syntax and grammar reads Isaiah 48:16 as “the Lord GOD his spirit sent me”, or rather, “Adonoy Jehovah his spirit sent me”. In the minds of prophet and people monotheism reigned supreme. No one in Israel would have understood that Isaiah was sent by two Gods. They would have interpreted Isaiah to mean that the Spirit of the Lord had sent him. Not two Gods, but Christ alone has been the medium of communication and communion between God and man.

“This ladder represented Christ, who had opened the communication between earth and heaven. In Christ’s humiliation He descended to the very depth of human woe in sympathy and pity for fallen man, which was represented to Jacob by one end of the ladder resting upon the earth, while the top of the ladder, reaching unto heaven, represents the divine power of Christ, who grasps the Infinite, and thus links earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God. Through Christ the communication is opened between God and man. Angels may pass from heaven to earth with messages of love to fallen man, and to minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation. It is through Christ alone that the heavenly messengers minister to men.” Selected Messages, book 1, p. 280.

“In the vision the plan of redemption was presented to Jacob, not fully, but in such parts as were essential to him at that time. The mystic ladder revealed to him in his dream was the same to which Christ referred in His conversation with Nathanael. Said He, ‘Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.’ John 1:51. Up to the time of man’s rebellion against the government of God, there had been free communion between God and man. But the sin of Adam and Eve separated earth from heaven, so that man could not have communion with his Maker. Yet the world was not left in solitary hopelessness. The ladder represents Jesus, the appointed medium of communication. Had He not with His own merits bridged the gulf that sin had made, the ministering angels could have held no communion with fallen man. Christ connects man in his weakness and helplessness with the source of infinite power.”  Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 184.

 

“In all these revelations of the divine presence the glory of God was manifested through Christ. Not alone at the Saviour’s advent, but through all the ages after the Fall and the promise of redemption, ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.’ 2 Corinthians 5:19. Christ was the foundation and center of the sacrificial system in both the patriarchal and the Jewish age. Since the sin of our first parents there has been no direct communication between God and man. The Father has given the world into the hands of Christ, that through His mediatorial work He may redeem man and vindicate the authority and holiness of the law of God. All the communion between heaven and the fallen race has been through Christ. It was the Son of God that gave to our first parents the promise of redemption. It was He who revealed Himself to the patriarchs. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses understood the gospel. They looked for salvation through man’s Substitute and Surety. These holy men of old held communion with the Saviour who was to come to our world in human flesh; and some of them talked with Christ and heavenly angels face to face. 

     Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness--the Angel in whom was the name of Jehovah, and who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, went before the host--but it was He who gave the law to Israel. Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father’s law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone. 

     It was Christ that spoke to His people through the prophets. The apostle Peter, writing to the Christian church, says that the prophets “prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:10, 11. It is the voice of Christ that speaks to us through the Old Testament. ‘The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ Revelation 19:10.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 366.

“The Saviour had not come to set aside what patriarchs and prophets had spoken; for He Himself had spoken through these representative men. All the truths of God’s word came from Him.” Desire of Ages. p. 287.

Look at some other examples of the ancient grammar of “and” and see if they are not simply a bridge between two words that can be made invisible, and even put out of use today, yet mean the same as in the past:

Mat_24:48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

Luk_12:45  But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

Luk_20:6  But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

1Co_7:11  But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

1Co_7:28  But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.

1Pe_3:14  But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

Joh_6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

Rev_17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Isa_34:16  Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

Compare the last two references to the Lord and His spirit. The Lord’s Spirit reveals the work that He does. The Spirit is the Lord’s mouth. What does the Almighty’s mouth do? It commands, It moves, as in holy men being “moved by the Holy Ghost” (2Pet. 1:21). Isaiah 34:16 says that that is what His Spirit does. A plain reading of this verse says that His mouth works in conjunction with His Spirit. We see this also in Isaiah 48:13.

Isa 48:13  Mine Hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right Hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

Isaiah 34:16 and Isaiah 48:13 give the context of the key text we started with, Isaiah 48:16, a verse that people use to prove that the Spirit as a separate person. But, from a plain reading of these verses we get a clear insight into the Spirit of God, that it is simply His Spirit; it is “the power of the Highest” (Luke 1:35), the power in the Most High to do His will. His Spirit is His power unto creation and over His creations, and it is His power unto salvation and over His subjects of salvation, His delivered saints. He is their Lord, and with His omnipotent work, in His presence, they “do…the things which I say.” (Luke 6:46, cf Jer. 15:19). His power, His word moves His inanimate creation and animal kingdom to do His bidding. Why are His human creatures, who are made in His image, rebellious toward His commands, His biddings?

The almighty Lord God has His Spirit just as we have our spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:11). He has His Mouth, just as we have our mouth. He has His right Hand, just as we have our right hand. We are made in His image. From the abundance of our spirit our mouth speaks and our hand acts; and likewise His abundant Mouth speaks and powerful Hand works from the abundance of His Spirit. His Spirit functions similarly as His Mouth in that its almighty powerful aspect of His mind causes His almighty Mouth to speak and His omnipotent righteous right Hand to cause His providences. His Spirit, His Mouth, and His Hand were involved in bringing vultures to the vulture friends spoken of in Isaiah 34:16, for them all to feed on the slain enemies of Israel. His Mouth, His Hand, and His Spirit called the animals to feast on the dead rebels of the kingdom of God.

How can we say that the Lord’s Spirit, His Mouth, and His righteous right Hand are separate entities, separate persons, from Himself? If we say His Spirit is a separate person, then we must say the same thing about His Mouth and His Hand. The Mouth and Hand of the Lord are not separate persons, distinct from the One who owns that almighty Mouth and Hand. His almighty Mouth and Hand are simply the part of God that commands the human and animal kingdom. They are the manifestation of Him that our minds detect and comprehend.

And so is His almighty Spirit, the Spirit of truth and Comforter, our Wonderful Counselor.

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord .” (2Cor. 3:17,18). God has a Law, and is the Law, His Law being a transcript of Himself (see Romans 7:25; 8:7; 4:15; Galatians 3:24; Hebrews 12:6). God is a Spirit and has a Spirit. Likewise, are we in our sphere, being made in His image. We are “living soul[s]” (Gen. 2:7), yet we possess a soul, the place of God’s peace within our mind. Even as David pined to himself, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul; why art thou disquieted within me?” (Ps. 42:11, cf vs. 2,5,6). And even as David mourned the loss of his peace from Jesus,  “Lord, why castest Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thy face from me?” (Ps. 88:14).

That converted soul finds its great peace and comfort while abiding in connection with the Lord who put the soul in man when He breathed into His nostrils His holy Spirit of life. The human soul, by His Spirit, is the Lord’s resting place in man, His footstool upon the mercy seat of the redeemed man. His power that reconciles the heart and mind to God, and brings calm to His creation by closing in man the oppressive breach made by the presence of the spirit of Satan.

The Trinity Tapeworm

“And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.” (Dan. 8:9-11).

A tapeworm hides within the Godhead and it resides in the second person of the trinity doctrine.

That tapeworm is the third person of the trinity doctrine. He is the god of this world who has appeared to grow higher than the heavens like a gigantic marshmallow man. He has waxed great even to the throne of God. He lets us have the Word of God, but only if we interpret it according to his doctrines. He lets us have the Godhead, if only we interpret it according to his trinity. All of his ancient pagan paradigms must pass as truth, and even biblical truth. His sacred cows and taboos must oversee our plain reading of line upon line and precept upon precept.

Thus, when the attributes of Christ are plainly seen in the Bible, it is the third person tapeworm who the masses of Christianity understand to have Jesus’ attributes. All the glory and gladness that human hearts of all religions want to give to the only begotten Son of God go to the tapeworm who gets all that glory and keeps Christ from being magnified in the hearts of mankind. By the trinity doctrine, the trinity son has an inner god that swallows every hope and praise, prayer and faith that God and His true church have ever loaded onto Christ. Thus, the true Son of God rarely receives the faith and hope and praise and prayers, because they are derailed by the trinity doctrine and sent to the trinity tapeworm who grabs the souls of men and devours their faith before the true Christ can convict and comfort them. Meanwhile, the kingdom of Christ on earth shrinks in size and suffers starvation from Christ’s usurper.

Like it was before John the Baptist presented Christ to the world, and was said again after the apostle John passed away, it can still be said today, “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matt. 11:12).

While the trinity doctrine Jesus smiles and cajoles, inside of him is a ravenous beast, the third person of the trinity doctrine pulling the ropes and manipulating the head and the body members. No love passes from the tapeworm hiding in the trinity doctrine Jesus, and no love passes from the trinity Jesus. The trinity doctrine Jesus never gave his life as a ransom for sinners. He never knew eternal loss; he never knew infinite sorrow. He never had self-sacrificing love. He never felt pain of our second childbirth, but he still claimed the exaltation of the Mother of all living. But, he has absorbed the attributes of the one true Son of God—the only begotten Son of the living God, the fullness of the Godhead manifested, the only divine Heir to the throne of Him who alone “liveth for ever and ever” (Rev. 4:10). The trinity Jesus devours human sacrifices by the billions. It’s the genocide of the human race because they cannot love God like they would if the tapeworm doctrine delusion did not exist.

Every time a worshiper thinks or reads the words, “Christ”, “Jesus”, “Son of God”, “only begotten”, etc. the worshiper re-interprets Him as “Apollyon” (Rev. 9:11), “the destroyer”, the devouring third person of the trinity doctrine. In the minds of many worshipers, it’s not Christ who personally dwells in the Christian, or comforts the Christian, or convicts the Christian. The trinity doctrine Christ stays in heaven, sitting on a throne or officiating in a sanctuary. He can’t visit His children on earth. They cannot speak directly to Him, neither He to them, because a substitute has moved between Him and them via doctrine, false doctrine. Two millennia ago, he one true Christ who sits on the right hand of God was eclipsed by a counterfeit, an imposter who is identical to His size and shape, darkening His true glory. This eclipser, by ruse doctrine, has put Jesus 400 times further away from every one of us. This allowed the eclipser, who is 400 times smaller and infinitely dimmer than Jesus, to shift the church’s focus onto himself and to his kingdom of darkness. As he passed on he collected almost the whole world by his fraud, and left the one true Christ with only a few poor men clinging to Him.

Christ was hidden from sight. Now the Christian world’s focus is on the eclipser, the usurper, the tapeworm. The “Spirit” gets our confidence, our private yearnings, our public praises and songs. The “Spirit” has become our intercessor, the one with whom we directly meet. The Trinitarian third person “Spirit” never existed in the Bible without manipulating the scriptures. He dispenses all the comfort as the true Spirit of Christ, “Spirit of His Son” (Gal. 4:6), but the comfort comes freely without accountability. He dispenses grace freely without the unvarnished truth of prophets. Because he offers the smooth, super-sweet sayings and the undue familiarity of the familiar spirits, which sinners love to hear, the eclipser/usurper/tapeworm wins the hearts of the whole world. The world believes they serve Jesus, the Word made flesh. But, their Jesus is full of grace and more grace, not the true Word made flesh who was full of grace and truth. Truth cannot enter the trinity doctrine Jesus. In the trinity doctrine truth, correction, justice are called the trespasser. If truth calls to the worshipers from the sidewalk, the church calls 911, and policemen come and arrest the truth. Thus the God of grace and truth can never enter, and the fraudulent vicar of Jesus continues his wicked ministry undisturbed.

“And this is the record^G3141, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1Jn. 5:11-13).

“It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth…. If we receive the witness of men, the witness^G3141 of God is greater: for this is the witness^G3141 of God which He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness^G3141 in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record^G3141 that God gave of His Son.” (1Jn. 5:6,9,10).

G3141 marturia From G3144; evidence given (judicially or generally)

It is the Spirit that bears witness (or gives evidence) that is the subject of 1 John 5:6. And without changing the context’s subject John says in verses 9 and 10 that God is the one who bears witness. Therefore, the Spirit is God, His Spirit. “The Spirit…the Spirit of God.” (Rom. 8:9). “The Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead … He that raised up Christ from the dead … His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Rom 8:11). “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” (Matt. 10:20). “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 16:17).

God gives the marturia (evidence), evidence which comes through faith in His begotten and crucified Son. Faith awakens to the marturia (evidence) from God. Receiving the marturia evidence creates the environment in the soul by which vapid hope crystallizes into solid faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1). Without evidence it is impossible for the soul to have faith and believe. This is the witness of the Spirit and of God. The evidence witnessed to by our God present in our mind through His Son is that which bears witness and creates faith in us.

The witness that abides in the little children of God is the anointing that abides in them. “The anointing which ye have received of Him (Jesus) abideth in you.” (1Jn. 2:27). The witness of “the Spirit is truth” (1Jn. 5:6), because it is the “Spirit of truth” (John 14:16), likewise the anointing “is truth, and is no lie” (1Jn. 2:27).

“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father…. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” (1Jn. 2:24,26-28).

Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One, anoints and abides in all who He justifies and begets into commandment-keeping and love. The Messiah is the anointing and the Spirit of truth. His truth makes us free.

“Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.” (2Jn. 1:3).

“If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:31,32,36).

“And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.” (1Jn. 3:24).

“He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.… If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:21,23).

Generations of fidelity to the God of truth

Thomas Hubbard

 First Generation

        1.  Thomas¹ Hubbard^[1] birth date unknown.  Thomas died May 26, 1555 in England. 

      

       Thomas Hubbard was a gentleman residing at Horden-on-the-Hill, in Essex, England, “of good estate and great estimation,” and “zealous and religious in the true service of God.” Discovered by an informer to Bishop Bonner, he was seized, imprisoned and burned May 26, 1555.  It is believed that the story of Thomas Highbed in Fox’s Book of Martyrs, refers to him.

       Thomas Hubbard had the following children:

    +      2      i.     James² Hubbard.

            3     ii.     Richard Hubbard.  He was christened in Mendelsham, Suffolk, ENG, September 13, 1562.  The following individual is also linked to this event: Thomas Hubbard (father).

            4     iii.     Elizabeth Hubbard.  She was christened in Mendelsham, Suffolk, ENG, September 13, 1562.  The following individual is also linked to this event: Thomas Hubbard (father).

 Second Generation

       2.  James² Hubbard (Thomas ¹)^[2] birth date unknown.  James died in Mendelsham, Suffolk, ENG. 

       He married Naomi Cocke.  Naomi was the daughter of Thomas Cocke.  Naomi died in Mendelsham, Suffolk, ENG. 

       James Hubbard was a yeoman of Mendelsham, Suffolk, England, 80 miles northwest of London.  His Testament (printed in 1549) “which he hid in his bedstraw lest it should be found and burned in Queen Mary’s days,” was brought to America by his son Samuel, and is possibly in the Library of Alfred University, at Alfred Centre, NY.  He and Naomi Cocke reportedly had ten children.  Benjamin, James, Rachel, and Samuel came to America, but probably none of the others.  Six are identified in Day’s, “1000 Years of Hubbard History.”

       James Hubbard and Naomi Cocke had the following children:

            5     i.     Rachel³ Hubbard was born in England.  Rachel died in Fairfield Co, CT.  She married John Brandish in England.  John died in Fairfield Co, CT. 

                           Rachel who married John Brandish, of Ipswich, Suffolk, ENG.  They came to America in 1633, and lived in Salem, MA, Wethersfield, CT, and Fairfield, CT.  After the death of her husband, Rachel married secondly, Anthony Wilson, of Fairfield, CT. Rachel and John Brandish had four children.

                           1)  Mary, b. 1628, Ipswich, ENG.  Married Francis Purdy of Fairfield, CT

                           2)  John, b. 1633, Salem, MA.  Removed to Flushing, New Netherlands

                           3)  Bethia, b. 1637, Wethersfield, CT.  Married Timothy Knapp, of Greenwich, near Stamford, CT.

                           4)  A posthumous son born 1639, Wethersfield, CT.

            6      ii.     Benjamin Hubbard.

            7     iii.     James Hubbard.  He was christened in Mendelsham, Suffolk, ENG, August 14, 1603.  The following individuals are also linked to this event: Naomi Cocke (mother); James Hubbard (father).

            8     iv.     Sarah Hubbard was born 1598.  She married John Jackson in England.  John was born in England.  John died in England. 

                           Sarah, the eldest daughter, and her husband John Jackson, lived in Yarmouth, Norfolk, ENG. They had a son, Robert Jackson, who served four years under Oliver Cromwell.

            9     v.      Thomas Hubbard was born 1604.  He married Esther.  Esther was born in England.  Esther died in England. 

                           Thomas, the eldest son, and his wife Esther, lived in Freeman Lane, near Horsley, down in Southwark, London.

    +    10     vi.     Samuel Hubbard was born May 10, 1610.

 Third Generation

       10.  Samuel³ Hubbard (James ²)^[3] was born in Mendelsham, Suffolk, ENG May 10, 1610.  Samuel died 1689 in Newport, Newport Co, RI, at 79 years of age. 

       He married Tacy Cooper in Windsor, Hartford Co, CT, January 4, 1635/6.  Tacy was born in England February 12, 1608/9.  Tacy died circa 1697 in Newport, Newport Co, RI. 

      

       From the Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island and “1000 Years of Hubbard History,” we learn:

       He says of himself: “Such was the pleasure of Jehovah towards me, I was born of good parents, my mother brought me up in the fear of the Lord, in Mendelsham, in catechising me and hearing choice ministers, & c.”

       Oct 1633 - Salem, MA.  He came this month from England.

       1634 - He went to Watertown, MA, where he says he joined the church, “by giving account of my faith.”

       Oct 1635 - With a party of about one hundred, he started to march through the wilderness to the Connecticut Valley; winter coming on before they reached their destination they suffered much from exposure, and insufficient food.  Samuel Hubbard remained at Windsor during the winter where he married to Tacy Cooper by Mr. Ludlow.  Tacy Cooper had come to Dorchester, MA, 9 Jun 1634, and was one of the party.

       In 1636, shortly after their marriage, they went to Wethersfield, CT.      10 May 1639 - Springfield, MA.  He moved here at this date, in search of peace, and a church was soon gathered; he says: “I gave acct. of my faith” and that there were “five men in all...my wife soon after added.”

       To escape persecution under the harsh laws of Massachusetts they agin moved 10 May 1647 to Fairfield, CT. His stay here was short: “God having enlightened both, but mostly my wife, into his holy ordinances of baptizing only of visible believers, and being very zealous for it, she was mostly struck at and answered two terms publicly, where I was also said to be as bad as she, and sore threatened imprisonment to Hartford jail, if not to renounce it or to remove; that Scripture came into our mouths, if they persecute you in one place, flee to another; and so we did 2 day of October, 1648, we went for Rhode Island, and arrived there 12 day.  I and my wife upon manifestation of our faith were baptized by brother John Clarke, 3 day Nov 1648.”

       7 Aug 1651 - He was sent by the church to visit the brethren in prison at Boston, viz: John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes and John Crandall.

       Oct 1652 - “I and my wife had hands laid on us by brother Joseph Torrey.”

       He was admitted Freeman of Newport, RI in 1655.

       1 Oct 1657 - “Brother Obadiah Holmes and I went to the Dutch and Gravesend and to Jamaica and to Flushing and to Hamsted and to Cow Bay.”  They came home 15 Nov 1657.

       In 1664 he was chosen to be General Solicitor, in case of inability of Lawrence Turner.

       He writes:  ”My wife took up the keeping of the Lord’s holy Seventh Day Sabbath. the 10th day March, 1665.  I took it up 1 day April 1665; our daughter Ruth, 25 Oct 1666; Rachel, 15 Jan 1666; Bethiah, Feb 1666; our son Joseph Clarke, 23 Feb 1666.”

       7 Apr 1668 - “I went to Boston to public dispute with those baptised there.”

       Jul 1668 - He wrote his cousin, John Smith, of London, from Boston, where he had been to a disputation:  ”Through God’s great mercy, the Lord have given me in this wilderness, a good, diligent, careful, painful and very loving wife; we, through mercy, live comfortably, praised be God, as co- heirs together of one mind in the Lord, traveling through this wilderness to our heavenly Sion, knowing we are pilgrims as our fathers were, and good portion being content therewith.  A good house, as with us judged, 25 acres of ground fenced, and four cows which give, one young heifer and three calves, and a very good mare, a trade, a carpenter, a health to follow it, and my wife very diligent and painful, praised be God. This is my joy and crown, in humility I speak of it, for God’s Glory, I trust all, both sons in law and daughters are in visible order in general; but in especial manner my son Clarke and my three daughters, with my wife and about 14 walk in the observation of God’s holy sanctified 7 day Sabbath, with much comfort and liberty, for so we and all ever had and yet have in this Colony.”

       16 Dec 1671 - He wrote to his children at Westerly, about the differences between those favoring the seventh day observance and the rest of the church.  Several spoke on both sides.  Mr. Hubbard gave his views. Brother Torrey said they required not my faith. Other discussion followed: “They replied fiercely, it was a tumult.  J. Torrey stopped them at last.”

       With his wife, one daughter, and four other persons he formed the first Seventh Day Baptist Church in America.  He writes: “We entered into a church covenant the 23rd day of December, 1671, viz: William Hiscox, Stephen Mumford, Samuel Hubbard, Roger Baxter, sister Hubbard, sister Mumford, Rachel Langworthy,” &c.  Their church was not formed without a depature (sic) by their former associates from that spirit of toleration and “soul liberty” which Roger Williams claimed; for the members who united on Dec. 23, had been excommunicated Dec. 7, when the Rev. Obidiah Holmes preached against their doctrine of Seventh Day observance, and even declared “they had left Christ, and gone after Moses.”  There is extant a letter from Roger Williams to Samuel Hubbard, in which he argues the position taken by the latter, and cites various texts against his views; but it is written in a very different spirit from that shown by the Newport church, and recognizes the conscientious motives which actuated Hubbard. “Bro’ Hiscox and I send this Church to N. London and Westerly, 7 day Mar 1675,” and again March, 1677/8 and 1686.

Samuel Hubbard came in the flood of Puritans at the very beginning of our colonial era. Life was difficult, a wilderness with indigenous peoples who feared the new-comers’ possible takeover of their territories. In that setting Robert Burdick, the sole progenitor of all Burdicks in the United States, arrived and loved the dedication and spirituality of the young Bible believing Seventh-day Baptist Church. In that Protestant religion of truly fervent love of the scriptures Robert and Ruth raised up their children, and their children raised up another generation, and so on down into the 1900s.

Robert Burdick married Ruth Hubbard, who was the first baby born into Sabbatarian families in America. Her father, Samuel Hubbard was the first leader of the Seventh-day Baptists. Her mother, Tacey Hubbard, was the first convert to the seventh-day Sabbath in America. Ruth was a very godly and loving woman, as a letter from her attests.

They had eight children that survived, the last, Samuel being my forebear. The seventh-day Sabbath has been in my family for almost 350 years.

Robert Burdick was a very influential man, as can be seen by the large turnout of twenty families for his son’s “very great burial”.

 Robert, Deacon Robert, Robert, Captain Ichobod, Joshua, Curtis, and finally, my grandfather, Asa were all Seventh-day Baptists. But, finally we see the SDB church losing its strength of purpose and its faith in commandment-keeping. In my grandfather’s case, farming took up all his time and interest. This may have been the case of many other Seventh-day Baptists.

But, the Lord had another group who was coming up and were destined to take up the Sabbath torch, holding it up before the papal falsehoods being paraded around the world. Just as the Seventh-day Adventists began their march through the world, their boast of being the only true commandment-keepers was arrested by a Seventh-day Baptist. It was 1846 when Seventh-day Baptist Rachel Oakes stood up against the preacher at a Washington, New Hampshire Millerite Church. She told them they weren't keeping all the commandments if they were disregarding the fourth commandment. Soon the Sabbath truth became one of the central pillar doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventists. Their faction of the Millerite movement was very small compared to the whole Millerite Adventists. But, Jesus was with His seventh-day Sabbath-keepers, and He especially blessed their group, so that it would far exceed the other Millerite groups and see their demise.

My grandmother, Emily Rodrick, had accepted the Seventh-day Adventist message before marrying my Seventh-day Baptist grandfather, Asa Burdick. She remained faithful to the Lord, bringing my father up in the faith until she passed away when he was 9 years old. After that my back-sliden grandfather gave my father

no more religious up-bringing, and dad eventually forgot all about the little bit that his mother had taught him. After 20 years in the Navy and a strong yearning to know God and to understand the truths of the Bible, just as he was retiring and free from the military restrictions, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor knocked on our door one evening during the denomination's annual “Ingathering” campaign.

Dad was very interested and the pastor studied the Bible with him. In 1967 Dad was baptized into the three angels’ message. That was 50 years ago and he has brought me up in the same great last day movement to prepare the world for Jesus' return in power.