THE SIFTING
WHAT IS SIFTING?   ISAIAH 30:28 AMOS 9:8, 9  LUKE 22:31
CHURCH—WHEAT & TARES
SELECTED MESSAGES, VOL 2,  p. 114 (1896) DIVISIONS WILL COME INTO THE CHURCH.  TWO  PARTIES WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE WHEAT AND THE TARES GROW UP TOGETHER FOR THE HARVEST.
WHY SIFTING?  MATTHEW 13:41
SIFTING—OLD TESTAMENT EXODUS 12:33, 37, 38  NUMBERS 11:1, 4, 5  NEHEMIAH 13:1-3  SIFTING—WHO…WHAT REASON…?  God is sifting His people. He will have a  clean  and  holy  people. {10MR 21.2}
SIFTING: ACCEPTANCE & REJECTION ACCEPTANCE   REFINEMENT CLEANLINESS HOLINESS PURITY HIGH STANDARD EXALT—WORD  LOVE  GOD  FIRST WORD REJECTION REBELLION MEDIOCRITY WORLDLINESS DEFILEMENT LOW STANDARD EXALT—OPINIONS  LOVE  SELF  FIRST WOR L D
SELECTED MESSAGES, VOL 3,  p. 422.2 We are now living in the  last days, when the truth must be spoken, when in reproof and warning it must be given… If there are some who will become offended and turn from the truth, we must bear in mind that there were those who did the same in Christ's day . . .    INSTRUMENT—SIFTING…?  The  world  is the instrument that sifts the church and tests the genuineness of its members. {6BC 1102.5}
SIFTING: DOCTRINE  & DISCIPLINE  ELIJAH—1 KINGS 18:17-40 THREE HEBREW BOYS—DANIEL 1:8 12—DISCIPLES  THE  APOSTLES
JUDAS—SELECTED—DISCIPLES
SIFTING—TARES—SLEEPER  CELLS  REVELATION 2:9, 13 [SIN OF BLASPHEMY]  JOHN 6:51, 53, 56, 60, 64, 66, 70 [SIN OF NEGLECT] MARK 15:1 [SIN OF HYPOCRISY] LUKE 4:28, 29  &  MATTHEW  13:20, 21   [SIN OF OFFENSE]
SIFTING  SEALING  SHAKING   Seal Is a  Settling Into Truth ….it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved--just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. (MS 173, 1902).  {4BC 1161.6}  SIFTING—12 DISCIPLES  SEALING PENTECOST  SHAKEN—UPPER ROOM
SIFTING—SCRIPTURES —SPIRIT OF PROPHECY—SPIRIT OF GOD PRIOR—HOLY SPIRIT  JUDAS: THIEF –NARCISSIST  [PENITENT-PUNISHMENT] JAMES & JOHN: POSITION—FIRE  PETER: BIGOT [GALATIANS 2:11-14; ACTS 10:9-23] THOMAS: SKEPTIC  POST—HOLY SPIRIT  PRESENT TRUTH –MESSIAH  HOLY SPIRIT –DISCIPLES  BIBLE TRUTH—STANDARD  STUDY –PROPHECIES—LUKE 24:27
GREAT CONTROVERSY, p. 299 THE DOCTRINE OF THE  SECOND ADVENT  IS THE VERY  KEYNOTE  OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. 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. 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 Jews  misinterpreted  and  misapplied  the word of God. DESIRE OF AGES, p. 234
SOUNDS &  SIGNS—SIFTING
SIFTING—STATE OF EMERGENCY   VITAL SIGNS: HEART-PULSE-BREATHING CONSCIOUSNESS A prayer meeting will always tell the true interest of the church members in spiritual and eternal things.  The prayer meeting is as the pulse to the body; it denotes the true spiritual condition of the church.  (Ph 149) 32. {PaM 183.2}
SIFTING: HIGH  ALERT—STANDARD PROCEDURE—WARNING  SIGNS
EVEN ARM &  HAMMER PRODUCTS: STANDARD PROCEDURE/WARNING  LABEL
MESSAGES OF WARNING—SIFTING REVELATION 14:6-12  WARNING—CHURCH  REVELATION 14: 6-10 THE HOLY SPIRIT—RIPEN—HARVEST  REVELATION 14:13, 15 TARES—SIFTED OUT—WINEPRESS  REVELATION 14:20
MATTHEW 5:8  PURE IN HEART—GOD  1 PETER 2:9  CHOSEN—ROYAL—HOLY—PECULIAR  DOES GOD’S WORD PROMOTE A STANDARD OF PURITY?
SIFTING: “ PRIMITIVE GODLINESS ”  Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who  virtually excuse wrongs  among the professed people of God and who  murmur in their hearts , if not openly, against those who would  reprove  sin? Is it those who take their stand against them and sympathize with those who commit wrong?  No, indeed ! Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work and in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, they will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval.  Mark this point with care : Those who receive the  pure mark of truth , wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in  linen , are those "that  sigh and that cry  for all the  abominations that be done" in the church.  {3T 267.1}
SIFTING—STORY: TEN VIRGINS MATTHEW 25:2-5 [FOOLISH VIRGINS] NO OIL LUKE 12: 45  [SERVANT—MY LORD…] HEBREWS 10:37-39 [NO DELAY—SON OF GOD] OBADIAH 1:3 The  pride of thine heart hath deceived thee , thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation [is] high;…
SIFTING—PROFESSION  VS. VOCATION…WHO? RELIGIOUS  PROFESSION  &  AN ATHEISTIC  PRACTICE FIELD—NOT—FATHER “ GOD—GOLDEN PARACHUTE”  “GO” IN THE SPIRIT—HOLY SPIRIT
SIFTING—BELIEF:  JAMES 2:19 MESSIAH-NOT-MASTER JUDAS BELIEVED JESUS TO BE THE MESSIAH. THE  DISCIPLES  WERE ANXIOUS THAT JUDAS SHOULD BECOME ONE OF THEIR NUMBER.  HE WAS A MAN OF…A KEEN DISCERNMENT AND EXECUTIVE ABILITY ,  AND THEY COMMENDED HIM TO JESUS AS ONE WHO WOULD GREATLY ASSIST HIM IN HIS WORK .  THE AFTER-HISTORY OF JUDAS WOULD SHOW THEM THE DANGER OF ALLOWING ANY WORLDLY CONSIDERATION TO HAVE WEIGHT IN DECIDING THE FITNESS OF MEN FOR THE WORK OF GOD .  DESIRE OF AGES, pp. 293-295
SIFTING—TWO SEALING  JESUS  CHOSE HIS DISCIPLES:  HIS ELECT/CHOSEN DISCIPLES WERE SEALED UNTO EVERLASTING LIFE… THE DISCIPLES [MEN] CHOSE JUDAS. HE DECEIVED THEM [ELECT] TO THE VERY THE END.
PARALLELS OF JUDAS:  O.T. & N.T. ACHAN’S —JOSHUA 7:16-26  SIMON  MAGUS–ACTS  13:6-8; 14:2, 4; 8:9, 10, 13, 18
THE TIME HAS COME WHEN WE CANNOT DEPEND UPON THE DOCTRINE WHICH COMES TO OUR  EARS, UNLESS WE SEE THAT IT HARMONIZES WITH THE WORD OF GOD.  REVIEW AND HERALD, MAY 3, 1887.  THE PEOPLE OF GOD MUST BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE GENUINE AND THE SPURIOUS. GOSPEL WORKERS, pp. 226, 227 (1892)

The Sifting Time

  • 1.
  • 2.
    WHAT IS SIFTING? ISAIAH 30:28 AMOS 9:8, 9 LUKE 22:31
  • 3.
  • 4.
    SELECTED MESSAGES, VOL2, p. 114 (1896) DIVISIONS WILL COME INTO THE CHURCH. TWO PARTIES WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE WHEAT AND THE TARES GROW UP TOGETHER FOR THE HARVEST.
  • 5.
    WHY SIFTING? MATTHEW 13:41
  • 6.
    SIFTING—OLD TESTAMENT EXODUS12:33, 37, 38 NUMBERS 11:1, 4, 5 NEHEMIAH 13:1-3 SIFTING—WHO…WHAT REASON…? God is sifting His people. He will have a clean and holy people. {10MR 21.2}
  • 7.
    SIFTING: ACCEPTANCE &REJECTION ACCEPTANCE REFINEMENT CLEANLINESS HOLINESS PURITY HIGH STANDARD EXALT—WORD LOVE GOD FIRST WORD REJECTION REBELLION MEDIOCRITY WORLDLINESS DEFILEMENT LOW STANDARD EXALT—OPINIONS LOVE SELF FIRST WOR L D
  • 8.
    SELECTED MESSAGES, VOL3, p. 422.2 We are now living in the last days, when the truth must be spoken, when in reproof and warning it must be given… If there are some who will become offended and turn from the truth, we must bear in mind that there were those who did the same in Christ's day . . . INSTRUMENT—SIFTING…? The world is the instrument that sifts the church and tests the genuineness of its members. {6BC 1102.5}
  • 9.
    SIFTING: DOCTRINE & DISCIPLINE ELIJAH—1 KINGS 18:17-40 THREE HEBREW BOYS—DANIEL 1:8 12—DISCIPLES THE APOSTLES
  • 10.
  • 11.
    SIFTING—TARES—SLEEPER CELLS REVELATION 2:9, 13 [SIN OF BLASPHEMY] JOHN 6:51, 53, 56, 60, 64, 66, 70 [SIN OF NEGLECT] MARK 15:1 [SIN OF HYPOCRISY] LUKE 4:28, 29 & MATTHEW 13:20, 21 [SIN OF OFFENSE]
  • 12.
    SIFTING SEALING SHAKING Seal Is a Settling Into Truth ….it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved--just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. (MS 173, 1902). {4BC 1161.6} SIFTING—12 DISCIPLES SEALING PENTECOST SHAKEN—UPPER ROOM
  • 13.
    SIFTING—SCRIPTURES —SPIRIT OFPROPHECY—SPIRIT OF GOD PRIOR—HOLY SPIRIT JUDAS: THIEF –NARCISSIST [PENITENT-PUNISHMENT] JAMES & JOHN: POSITION—FIRE PETER: BIGOT [GALATIANS 2:11-14; ACTS 10:9-23] THOMAS: SKEPTIC POST—HOLY SPIRIT PRESENT TRUTH –MESSIAH HOLY SPIRIT –DISCIPLES BIBLE TRUTH—STANDARD STUDY –PROPHECIES—LUKE 24:27
  • 14.
    GREAT CONTROVERSY, p.299 THE DOCTRINE OF THE SECOND ADVENT IS THE VERY KEYNOTE OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. 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. 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 Jews misinterpreted and misapplied the word of God. DESIRE OF AGES, p. 234
  • 15.
    SOUNDS & SIGNS—SIFTING
  • 16.
    SIFTING—STATE OF EMERGENCY VITAL SIGNS: HEART-PULSE-BREATHING CONSCIOUSNESS A prayer meeting will always tell the true interest of the church members in spiritual and eternal things. The prayer meeting is as the pulse to the body; it denotes the true spiritual condition of the church. (Ph 149) 32. {PaM 183.2}
  • 17.
    SIFTING: HIGH ALERT—STANDARD PROCEDURE—WARNING SIGNS
  • 18.
    EVEN ARM & HAMMER PRODUCTS: STANDARD PROCEDURE/WARNING LABEL
  • 19.
    MESSAGES OF WARNING—SIFTINGREVELATION 14:6-12 WARNING—CHURCH REVELATION 14: 6-10 THE HOLY SPIRIT—RIPEN—HARVEST REVELATION 14:13, 15 TARES—SIFTED OUT—WINEPRESS REVELATION 14:20
  • 20.
    MATTHEW 5:8 PURE IN HEART—GOD 1 PETER 2:9 CHOSEN—ROYAL—HOLY—PECULIAR DOES GOD’S WORD PROMOTE A STANDARD OF PURITY?
  • 21.
    SIFTING: “ PRIMITIVEGODLINESS ” Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God and who murmur in their hearts , if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against them and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed ! Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work and in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, they will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval. Mark this point with care : Those who receive the pure mark of truth , wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen , are those "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done" in the church. {3T 267.1}
  • 22.
    SIFTING—STORY: TEN VIRGINSMATTHEW 25:2-5 [FOOLISH VIRGINS] NO OIL LUKE 12: 45 [SERVANT—MY LORD…] HEBREWS 10:37-39 [NO DELAY—SON OF GOD] OBADIAH 1:3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee , thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation [is] high;…
  • 23.
    SIFTING—PROFESSION VS.VOCATION…WHO? RELIGIOUS PROFESSION & AN ATHEISTIC PRACTICE FIELD—NOT—FATHER “ GOD—GOLDEN PARACHUTE” “GO” IN THE SPIRIT—HOLY SPIRIT
  • 24.
    SIFTING—BELIEF: JAMES2:19 MESSIAH-NOT-MASTER JUDAS BELIEVED JESUS TO BE THE MESSIAH. THE DISCIPLES WERE ANXIOUS THAT JUDAS SHOULD BECOME ONE OF THEIR NUMBER. HE WAS A MAN OF…A KEEN DISCERNMENT AND EXECUTIVE ABILITY , AND THEY COMMENDED HIM TO JESUS AS ONE WHO WOULD GREATLY ASSIST HIM IN HIS WORK . THE AFTER-HISTORY OF JUDAS WOULD SHOW THEM THE DANGER OF ALLOWING ANY WORLDLY CONSIDERATION TO HAVE WEIGHT IN DECIDING THE FITNESS OF MEN FOR THE WORK OF GOD . DESIRE OF AGES, pp. 293-295
  • 25.
    SIFTING—TWO SEALING JESUS CHOSE HIS DISCIPLES: HIS ELECT/CHOSEN DISCIPLES WERE SEALED UNTO EVERLASTING LIFE… THE DISCIPLES [MEN] CHOSE JUDAS. HE DECEIVED THEM [ELECT] TO THE VERY THE END.
  • 26.
    PARALLELS OF JUDAS: O.T. & N.T. ACHAN’S —JOSHUA 7:16-26 SIMON MAGUS–ACTS 13:6-8; 14:2, 4; 8:9, 10, 13, 18
  • 27.
    THE TIME HASCOME WHEN WE CANNOT DEPEND UPON THE DOCTRINE WHICH COMES TO OUR EARS, UNLESS WE SEE THAT IT HARMONIZES WITH THE WORD OF GOD. REVIEW AND HERALD, MAY 3, 1887. THE PEOPLE OF GOD MUST BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE GENUINE AND THE SPURIOUS. GOSPEL WORKERS, pp. 226, 227 (1892)