What the SDA Cult Won’t Tell You

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Facts Seventh-day Adventists Won’t Tell You

(from MMoutreach)

Seventh-day Adventists won’t tell you they are behind the “Revelation Seminars” they sponsor. They act all ”interdenominational” if questioned. Watch out for these SDA outreaches as well: Voice of Prophecy, Faith for Today, It is Written, The Quiet Hour, Amazing Facts etc. They also hide behind Heath oriented shows on the networks, and sponsor stop-smoking clinics etc, all as introductions to Seventh-day Adventism.

Often, the only tip-off that what you are reading originates with them is that it is published by “Pacific Press”. They produce bright and colorful Children’s books, often seen in medical and dental offices, and of course, unsuspecting Church libraries.

They very much want to be perceived as Evangelical Christians, seeking a place on the ministerial fellowships. All this is good PR for them, but what do they really believe?

What facts won’t they tell you?

They won’t tell you that they consider themselves to be the only, true, remnant Church. Their prophetess, Ellen G. White, whom they revere and believe without question has told them that

“…Satan has taken full possession of the Churches”. (Spiritual Gifts V.l,p.189-90) They also believe our prayers are an “abomination” to God. (Spiritual Gifts, V1 p.190).

That is what they think of you and your church, even if they won’t say it out loud in public, or to your face.

They revere their founding prophetess, Ellen G. White, and made this statement in their “Ministry” Magazine of Oct. 1981 and have never retracted it:

“We believe the revelation and inspiration of both the Bible and Ellen White’s writings to be of equal quality. The superintendence of the Holy Spirit was just as careful and thorough in one case as in the other”.

They won’t tell you too much about Ellen G. White at their public seminars, but their goal is to bring the person attending to the point of conversion and baptism.

Their 2000 baptismal certificate poses questions to which the candidate must answer “yes”. Question 8 says,

“Do you accept the biblical teaching of spiritual gifts and believe that the gift of prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the remnant church”.

If the candidate says “yes” and is baptized, they soon learn that the “gift of prophecy” is Ellen G. White’s writings. Point 13 has them accepting that the SDA Church is the remnant church of Bible Prophecy. They have been baptized into an exclusive group, but they don’t know how exclusive it is, yet!

No doubt they will be urged to avail themselves of a “Clear Word Bible”. This publication of theirs has inserted the words and doctrines of Ellen G. White right into the Bible text, insuring that the person studying it will have the mind of Ellen G. White.

Slowly, but surely, the new SDA will come to believe these extra-biblical doctrines that set the SDA church apart from Evangelical Christianity.

Doctrine on Christ

Seventh-day Adventists, in the early days, denied the Trinity, but now they accept it. However, they have “leftovers” from this heresy. Ellen G. White wrote in Patriarchs and Prophets, page 761, “…He (Jesus) was revealed to them as the Angel of Jehovah, the Captain of the Lord’s Host, Michael the Archangel”.

Adventists, you can’t have it both ways! Either Jesus Christ is God, or He is some kind of an Angel. You can’t talk out of both sides of your mouth to try to cover up embarrassing statements by Ellen G. White. They won’t tell you she was wrong – when its “her or the Bible”, she always wins!

Doctrines on Salvation

If you receive Christ as your Saviour through the SDA’s, only your past sins, up to that moment are forgiven. Now you must get to work to earn your salvation. Ellen G. White said in the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald of 10-26-1897 this statement,

“…The terms of salvation for every son and daughter of Adam are here outlined. It is plainly stated that the condition of gaining eternal life is obedience to the commandments of God”.

Of course, it is the fourth commandment that is stressed, since Ellen saw this one glowing in one of her visions. Salvation now becomes dependent on which day of the week one observes.

Modern Adventists keep sundown Friday to sundown Saturday as the Sabbath, but earlier in their history they kept 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday.

The rest of us “Sunday keepers” are doomed to receive the “mark of the beast” and lose our eternal life. (The Spirit of Prophecy V. 4, p. 505). They sure don’t say this at their seminars!

Christ exclaimed “It is finished” when He died for our sins, but it is not finished in Seventh-day Adventism! EGW wrote in “The Faith I Live By” p. 211,

“At the time appointed for the judgment – the close of the 2300 days, in 1844began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins…both the living and the dead are to be judged “out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works”.(Rev. 20:12″.

People are never told at Seminars that if they become SDA’s and are baptized, a recording angel is watching their every move to determine their salvation eventually. EGW issues this warning in The Faith I Live By, page 210,

“Every man’s work passes in review before God…Opposite each name in the books of heaven is entered, with terrible exactness, every wrong word, every selfish act, every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissembling. Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs neglected, wasted moments, unimproved opportunities, the influence exerted for good or for evil, with its far-reaching results, all are chronicled by the recording angel.”

It’s not much fun being an Adventist and being watched constantly by that recording angel with his “terrible exactness”. Prepare to become very uptight.

Christians will say, “sure we slip sometimes into unintentional sin, but we have a mediator in Christ Jesus”. No, you don’t in Seventh-day Adventism. Be prepared for this SDA doctrine by Ellen G. White:

“…Those who are living on the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil….”. (The Great Controversy p. 425).

Obviously they have chosen EGW’s doctrine over that stated in the Bible in Hebrews 7:25,

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them”.

Where would we all be without Christ as our mediator, EVER making intercession for us?

Christ bore our own sins in his body on the tree according to the Bible. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…”. Become a SDA, and it will be Satan who will eventually bear your sins! Ellen G. White wrote,

“…so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin…so Satan, bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit, will be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate…”.(The Great Controversy p. 485).

You won’t hear this one at the Seminars! They keep their radical teachings for later.

False Prophecies

You Won’t be Told About

Seventh-day Adventism grew despite endorsing a false date for Christ’s return. What a dubious beginning!

Ellen G. White endorsed a false prophecy by William Miller that Christ would return, first in 1843 and then 1844. Miller repented when Christ didn’t show up on his date but Ellen didn’t want to be viewed as a false prophetess for endorsing him through her visions. The idea was concocted by one of her followers that the date was right, but the event was wrong. Ellen eagerly accepted this “out”, and this explanation was offered to explain away the false prophecy:

Christ didn’t come visibly to earth, but He, invisibly, in heaven, changed compartments from the Holy to the Most Holy in 1844 and began the work of “investigative judgment” that we have discussed previously.

This false date and its failure triggered other heresies on the atonement of Christ which continues to this day. Honest-hearted SDA’s who have pointed out the error of the 1844 investigative judgment have been shown the door by their Conference. You sure won’t be told the true history behind the 1844 doctrine by SDA’s!

Embarrassing false prophecies by EGW have been, altered, covered up, and locked up by the SDA’s. You won’t be told about them, but here are a couple.

One false prophecy done in the name of the Lord marks that one as a false prophet (See Deut. chapter 18).

Ellen G. White said people alive in 1856 would be translated at the 2nd coming of Jesus. (Testimonies, V1, p 131,132).

She said in Testimonies for the Church, Volume 1, p. 259, that the United States would be “…humbled into the dust” by England during the Civil War.

No wonder Jesus told us to “Beware of the false prophets”. Time is their enemy. These false prophecies will never be mentioned by the SDA’s.

Cult Links

You won’t be told at the SDA Seminars about the things they have in common with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons.

SDA’s share their early history with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. An early Adventist, N. H. Barbour co-published with Charles Taze Russell. They had a falling out over (what else?) dates for the end of the world! (1844 and 1874), and parted company.

Both, however, kept heretical doctrines to this day like Jesus being Michael the Archangel, the denial of Hell, and both still advocate soul sleep. Both invented invisible occurrences in heaven for their failed dates for Christ’s visible return, investigative judgment for the SDA’s and Christ’s invisible “presence” for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

There is Mormon link also for the SDA’s. It is a proven fact that Ellen G. White plagiarized most of her writings. The Church has been challenged by Walter Rea, author of the White Lie to prove that even 20% of her writings are original. They can’t. Their weak defense was that there were no copyright laws in Ellen’s day, so what she did was legal. You will never be told of her plagiarism by the SDA’s.

As Ellen was rising to prominence, Joseph Smith had just died. Her writings contain many phrases used by Joseph Smith. Mind you, he has also been accused of plagiarism. I have a thick file of similarities, but time does not permit details at this time, but it does illustrate just how far her “borrowing” went. You will definitely not be told of her similarities to Joseph Smith at the Seminars!

Consulting the Dead

You really won’t be told about Ellen G. White’s engaging in necromancy, communication with the dead, expressly forbidden by God in Deuteronomy 18:10-12

“There shall not be found among you anyone…who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord…”

This particular necromancy occurred after the death of her husband James, whom she called “Father”. She recounts the experience in a letter to her son published in “The Retirement Years” p. 161 – 163.

She begins her letter by stating that she was seeking God regarding her future,

“A few days since I was pleading with the Lord for light in regard to my duty”…

It is evident she believed this dream was in response to her prayers to God. James (whom she called “Father”) appeared beside her as she was in a carriage. She reported he looked “very pale, but calm and composed”. (After all, he was dead!)

She says,

“…I saw you die; I saw you buried. Has the Lord pitied me and let you come back…?”

We are not to have conversations with the dead, but Ellen and James converse back and forth about church matters and their health. At one point James foretells the future for Ellen,

“…Now, Ellen, calls will be made as they have been, desiring you to attend important meetings…”.

James, her dead husband, goes on to tell her she must avoid taxing her strength by going to meetings and retire and write instead. He tells her “…Make this your first business”.

Ellen now makes an agreement with her dead husband to stay in touch,

“Well, said I, James you are always to stay with me now and we will work together”.

This would involve further communication with the dead. Ellen recounts that she then awoke and took the whole matter as being from the Lord in these words,

“…I feel no duty to go to Battle Creek…I have no duty to stand in General Conference. THE LORD FORBIDS ME. That is enough.”

Well, that is enough to conclude, not only the letter, but the fact that Ellen consulted the dead and took it all as coming from the Lord. She indicated she wanted to continue this practice.

Can we trust this dream? No, of course not. How then are we to trust her other 200 or so “inspired by God” dreams and visions that occurred over her lifetime? We can’t, if we judge matters by the word of God. You won’t be told EGW practiced necromancy at the Seminars!

Assorted Silliness

Often, cult research is tedious and boring. I am grateful to EGW for being humorous, ridiculous, and just plain silly. Her writings bearing her name are 17 times as long as the Bible plagiarized or not.

Many of them have to do with her doctrines on health and food.

As an SDA you will be encouraged to become a vegetarian. Ellen indicated that your salvation could be dependent on giving up meat . No meat-eaters will be “translated” at Christ’s coming (Counsels on Diet and Foods p. 380).

You won’t be told this scripture by SDA’s

“…he who is weak in faith eats vegetables only…” (Romans 14:2). (Fun to read to vegetarians).

She taught in Counsels on Diet ..on p. 390 (some editions) that

“…if we subsist largely upon the flesh of dead animals, we shall partake of their nature”.

Partake of their nature? This is against God’s creation laws of “kind”, and Impossible. Also conveniently forgotten is Paul view, “Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience’ sake.” ( 1 Cor. 10:25). Obviously no vegetarians evident in the early church!

Most of EGW’s concerns over diet were in an effort to control what she considered to be an excessive sex drive in the male. She devoted endless pages to discussing “secret vice”(masturbation) and blamed the practice for a wide range of diseases. Here, in “Solemn Appeal” page 12 are a few of the diseases said to be caused by “secret vice”

“…dyspepsia, spinal complaint, headache, epilepsy, impaired eyesight, palpitation of the heart, pain in the side, bleeding at the lungs, spasms of the heart and lungs, diabetes, incontinence of urine, fluor albus or whites, inflammation of the urinary organs… rheumatism, affected perspiration, consumption, asthma, catarrah, polypus of the heart, affection of the bones, fevers, ..etc. etc.

The cure for secret vice was even funnier. The perpetrator was to sit in a sitz bath at as low a temperature as possible. At the same time, he was to have a hot foot bath, while applying cold cloths to his forehead. He was also to wear an abdominal bandage or wet girdle at night “to good advantage”.

She concludes, “Cool bathing of the parts affected is also beneficial”.

To those SDA’s who write me that I must be endorsing masturbation by making this public, let me assure you that this is not the case. Why don’t they charge their leader with the same accusation? She wrote about it much more than I ever have! I am merely exposing her silliness in health matters. You’ll never hear these ridiculous topics from the Adventists!

Thanks to Ellen White’s influence, the Kellogg brothers were inspired to develop cold corn flakes, as hot porridge could “heat the blood” with undesirable results!

She sternly warned against using feather beds for the same reasons, but I found a letter from her asking someone to send her her featherbed! (EGW Vol 3, p. 341).

She also developed a “reform dress” on instructions from God, which was a bulky affair with pants under a long dress. She gave up on wearing hers finally, and so did the other women, after years of suffering discomfort.

Other assorted nonsense included Angels needing golden cards as gate passes to get in and out of heaven. (Early Writings p. 37-39),

She also “travelled” to other planets in her visions, and also claimed to have met Enoch (more necromancy). (EGW: The Early Years Vol.1 p. 114; p.157).

She taught that certain races of men are the result of amalgamation between man and beast. (SG Vol 3, p. 64,75). Which races? You won’t be told this one at the Seminars, or even later!

Her silliness extended to wigs as well. Any woman daring to wear one would “…lose their reason and go hopelessly insane”. (Christian Mothers, # 2, p. 121).

Well, that’s about enough of the silliness. We could go on, but won’t.

In conclusion, it is amazing to me that the SDA Church reveres Ellen G. White, choosing her visions, dreams, doctrines and teachings above the Bible. Other women had better run for cover, however, as they wouldn’t dream of ordaining a woman in their denomination which is totally male dominated.

Adventists love to quote Walter Martin who was “had” by them as a young man and believed their statements without checking matters out closely, to prove they are not a cult. However, before he died, he made this statement on the John Ankerberg Show:

“I fear that if they continue to progress at this rate, then the classification of a cult can’t possibly miss being reapplied to Seventh-day Adventism, because once you have an interpreter of Scripture, a final court of appeal that tells you what Scripture means, as soon as you judge Scripture by that, as soon as you have someone who has made doctrinal errors in the past, even on the deity of Christ and the doctrine of the atonement and other things, and that person is raised to that position or authority, you have polarization around that person”.

By their own actions and stubborn clinging to Ellen G. White, her extra-biblical teachings, visions, and doctrines, the Seventh-day Adventists have placed themselves in the category of a cult. They certainly won’t tell you this fact! They are a cult!

IN CONCLUSION

SDA’s often make every effort to appear “evangelical”, joining in with inter-ministry groups and trying to “blend in” with the Christian community.

However, make no mistake about it, they believe they are exclusively correct because they recognize and follow Ellen G. White. Among themselves, they mock the Christian’s beliefs, calling our concept of salvation, “cheap grace”. They privately consider themselves to be spiritually superior to the rest of us.

Sabbath Blasting | Deliverance from Works Righteousness | Sabbath and Law Keeping Devils Exposed

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Sabbath and Law-Keeping Devils Exposed

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How to Give Alms, Pray, Forgive Others, Fast, and Lay Up Treasure in Heaven [podcast]

Breakdown of Jesus’ Teaching in Matthew 6

How to Give Alms.
How to Pray.
The Essential of Forgiving Others.
How to Fast and How Not to Fast.
The Importance of Laying up Treasure in Heaven.

Matthew 6

Giving to the Needy

“1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”

The Disciple’s Prayer

“5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Fasting

“16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

“19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Fear Not

“25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

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“Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.” 1 Corinthians 7:23

Do you spend more time in “church” than in the Bible itself? Wow! Red flags flying!

“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” 2 Peter 3:17

So you are listening to some slick talker preach and yet he’s not using the BIBLE essential words like hell, repentance, holiness, the cross, the blood of Jesus, the return of Christ, etc? Repent and RUN!

The vast majority of so-called pastors today are more interested in getting you to join their church club, to become a member of their church, than they are about truly feeding the flock of God with the whole counsel of Scripture, equipping you for ministry, and winning souls to Jesus (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:20-32; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 5:1-6, etc.). Prove it wrong.

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Mary hath Chosen that Good Part [podcast]

Luke 10:38-42

Mary = loving relationship with Jesus, not just being busy with doing, with labor, with performing works such as what Martha was doing. First and foremost, Jesus saved us for relationship with Him and the Father (John 17:3). And here our Savior expresses that knowing, loving, adoring, and listening to Him are at a divine premium, they are most important to God. That’s what God desires – for us to delight ourselves in Him (Psalms 37:4).

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalms 37:4

David’s brothers looked the part but they couldn’t and wouldn’t even face Goliath, much less slay him. David though, was spending time alone with the LORD, listening to His voice and tending to the sheep. He who is the only man God ever said was “a man after mine own heart,” was used mightily of God to slay the giant (Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 17).

Isn’t this how we are with our children? Wouldn’t every parent rather their precious children sit in their mom or dad’s lap telling their parent how much they (the child) loves them (the parent)? That’s the biggest heart melt we know, right?

Like David, the most powerfully used warriors are first worshippers.

Our real, our genuine relationship with the LORD is that place out of which His power and grace (divine enablement) will flow. Like David, we must be primarily, and first and foremost worshippers. Out of that rich communion with the Savior will flow the warrior anointing of the LORD who is “a man of war” (Exodus 15:3).

Many who sense the call of God on their lives to minister go to seminary. Sad. We must go to God ourselves – in prayer, a life of prayer, relentlessly seeking His holy face in His Word for ourselves.

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:6

Private prayer with the LORD precedes God using us. Those who seek God in “secret” will be “openly” rewarded by Him.

“The little estimate we put on prayer is evidence from the little time we give to it.” EM Bounds

“A sinning man stops praying. A praying man stops sinning.” – Leonard Ravenhill

Luke 10

38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

“Mary hath Chosen that Good Part”

The “good part” Mary chose consists of…

Mary made the only wise choice “Mary hath chosen.”
Mary put Jesus first. She put the Savior first, not herself or her idea of what it meant to serve Him.
Jesus says here that choosing to put and keep Him first is the “one thing [that] is needful” or most necessary (v39, 42).
Sitting before Jesus Himself and not searching for God outside of God Himself, primarily that is. All other learning is supplemental and subservient to that which the LORD tells us specifically, in His Word.

Worshippers become the most powerful workers God uses!

Like many today who are shallow rooted, Martha was a worker but not first and foremost a worshipper. Mary was a worshipper who loved to spend time with Jesus. Therefore she was empowered by God Himself via that fellowship with Him to walk in His holy compassion and to do His works with His power and for His glory (1 Corinthians 15:10).

When our works are not fruitful as they should be, perhaps it can be traced back to our lack of fellowship with our LORD. As we fellowship with Him, putting Him first and not ourselves, our vessel, our cup will run over with His goodness…. it will spill over onto others! (See Psalms 23:5.) That’s when our labor will carry His eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17).

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Psalms 23:5

When Jesus came, it was God bringing Heaven to the people – to forgive their sins and make them whole (Matthew 9:6). This was the foretold fulfillment of His kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

When Jesus came, He went to the people, to heal, to save, to make whole (Matthew 9:35-38; Acts 10:38, etc.).

As we go, Jesus is with us, “even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20).

Daily, our LORD is using His people to bring Heaven to the people. As the Holy Spirit fills our lives, His blessed presence and fruit in our lives is going to over overflow onto others.

A sister in Christ once told me that “The best Marthas are first Marys.” Think about that one in light of what we read in this passage when Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). Those who sit at Jesus’ feet to hear His holy counsel, are changed into His image and become reservoirs for His blessed glory. Their cups run over onto others!

“Prayer is of transcendent importance. Prayer is the mightiest agent to advance God’s work. Praying hearts and hands only can do God’s work. Prayer succeeds when all else fails.” E.M. Bounds

When worshiping Jesus is our first priority, the work He uses us to do WILL carry His unction and bring fruit to bear for His eternal glory.

Rote obedience to minister to others, while not anchored in intimacy with our LORD, will not yield an abundant harvest, fruit. In contrast, we can be blessed to have God’s power and grace to do His work and that happens as we are truly communing, fellowshipping in the construct of that oneness relationship He made us for (John 15; 17).

Knowing God’s Word and obeying Him is not an automatic progression (John 8:31-36). One can know the Bible and not its Author. Or, one can know the Bible well and not know the Author well (Job 22:21-28). Obeying God’s Word requires knowing Him, abiding in an intimate fellowship with Him, thereby enabling that saint the grace (divine enablement) to obey Him (John 5:39-40; 7:17; 14:21-23; 15:1-16, etc.).

Martha “received him.” Many of us have “received” Jesus, have been saved by Him (John 1:12), yet like Martha we aren’t sitting at His holy feet, listening to Him speak through His Word. Like Martha, we also are “cumbered about much serving.”

It should be understood that our work can exceed our worship, our hospitality can exceed our holiness, our serving can exceed our sanctification, etc. That would be defined as imbalance (Proverbs 11:1).

In Luke 10:38-42, notice that Mary sat directly at Jesus’ feet and no other. When we arise in the morning to commune with the LORD, such is to be direct communication between you and Him, alone (Matthew 6:6). That would mean perhaps that when you arise in the morning you aren’t reading some other book about God or turning on a podcast or TV program to find and commune with the LORD. No, those things involve others. We must directly commune with the LORD in prayer and in HIS Word. How else shall we be able to discern the “MANY false prophets” Jesus warned us “shall deceive many”? (Read Matthew 24:11; 1 John 4:1.) How can we know the counterfeit if we don’t know the real? We can’t.

In principle, Martha is a person like Cain, a person who chose to do things their own way, not God’s – because they are not truly submitted to God. Does that describe your life friend? Jesus calls us home to Himself (Matthew 11:28-30).

Are we attempting to serve the LORD on our own terms or are we sitting before Him, hearing His voice as we are worshipfully, joyfully submitted to Him on His stated terms?

“The men who have done mighty things for God have always been mighty in prayer, have well understood the possibilities of prayer, and made the most of these possibilities. The Son of God, the first of all and the mightiest of all, has shown us the all-potent and far reaching possibilities of prayer. Paul was mighty for because he knew, how to use, and how to get others to use, the mighty spiritual forces of prayer.” EM Bounds, The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer, P. 341

When we are brought to the point of true repentance it will be obvious in that we will do things God’s way and no longer our own. Like Mary, we will be settled at His feet, hearing His Word, His voice. The Mary person is in love with and submitted to the LORD and Savior she so joyfully worships.

“Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. To know how to speak to God is more than knowing how to speak to people. Power with God is the first thing, not power with people. Christ loves to teach us how to pray.” –Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, pp. xxiii-xxiv

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