Many today have veils upon their faces. These veils are sympathy with the customs and practices of the world, which hide from them the glory of the Lord. God desires us to keep our eyes fixed upon Him, that we may lose sight of the things of this world.

As the truth is brought into practical life, the standard is to be elevated higher and higher to meet the requirements of the Bible. This will necessitate opposition to the fashions, customs, practices, and maxims of the world. Worldly influences, like the waves of the sea, beat against the followers of Christ to sweep them away from the true principles of His meekness and grace; but we are to stand as firm as a rock to principle. It will require moral courage to do this, and those whose souls are not riveted to the eternal Rock will be swept away by the worldly current. We can stand firm only as our life is hid with Christ in God. Moral independence is wholly in place when opposing the world. By conforming entirely to the will of God, we shall be placed upon vantage ground, and shall see the necessity of decided separation from the customs and practices of the world.

We are not to elevate our standard just a little above the world's standard, but we are to make the distinction decidedly apparent. The reason we have had so little influence upon unbelieving relatives and associates is that there has been so little decided difference between our practices and those of the world.

Testimonies for the Church Volume Six : Page 146


Happy Sabbath

~Ren

Thank you for that quote, Ren... Here is one that goes right along with it.

quote:

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When we reach the standard that the Lord would have us reach, worldlings will regard Seventh-day Adventists as odd, singular, strait-laced extremists. "We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men." {FE 289.1}

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When I read quotes like that, sometimes it makes me wonder, "Where are God's people?"

Another sad thought is that the standards of the church have been lowered instead of elevated in that we are more like the world than ever before.

It is so sad, Daryl. What do you think it is going to take to turn things around?

[quote="Tammy Roesch"]
Does it appear that we are getting closer to the standard, or further from the standard, as a Church, according to this quote?[/quote]

Happy Sabbath my Sister and an excellent question. I'd say there are two groups at the present time...one seemingly larger than the other. The larger of the two growing more acceptable in the eyes of the world and the 1st day churches, and at the same time moving further from the standard.

And on then the other, perhaps a "little company" that has been labeled with words like extremist, fanatics, etc. But they are only living and call others to the standard that our Lord requires. As they move closer to the Lord, they are seen more and more as strange and pecuilar in the eyes of the world.

Rev 14:4 ....These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth

The standard is more than saying I love Jesus. It is love demonstrated by obedience, sacrifice and love for the truth. When we embrace the high standards of the Bible we embrace the straight truth and since it is clear that not all will embrace the straight truth, the hight standard will result in the predicted shaking.

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people. {CET 176.1}

How many more Sabbath's do we have before the terrible predicted events are opon us? Let us all pray for the sealing, for the latter rain, the we may be prepared to stand. Not only self, but let us work to bring family, friends and neighbor with us.

Praise the Lord for His grace, mercy and love. Praise the Lord for the breath of life to share another Sabbath with him.

~Ren

It appears that it has to do with the teachings and foundation on which the Seventh-Day Adventist church was built, which is Christ and the Bible.
Some people within the denomination are rather out there on the fringe, and think the shaking has to do with how you look, or what you eat, but the fact of the matter is that alot of people don't want Jesus to come, think all spiritual gifts were for the apostolistic times, feel that the 7th day is just like any other day even when they know the truth.
Thats what the shaking is about. Lots of people think that Jesus didn't come as man, to be made like His brethren, will split hairs and make Him out to be superman, lots of people still think it has to do with the fact if youdont wear a black suit that you are not lifting up the standards.
When the truth is that the Holy and the common shouldnot mix in the church. An example of this is not to bring worldly music as part of the church service if youthink its not backed up by the Bible then please do read Ezekiel 24 where God is angry at the fact that the priests allowed the Holy and the profane be mixed in His Sanctuary. he did not like that and never did, and never will.
If He did then He would not tell us to not be of this world in the Bible. He makes things so simple, yet humans make it brutally, and painfully and excruciatingly painful to serve the Lord, you have to be vegan prior to becoming part of the SDA church, you better have a full blown 100% converted experience where you become sinless, you better understand that God will not destroy the wicked cause He revealed God's character on earth, and that you have to only use Ellen White as your Bible to appease the lawmakers. Never mind the obvious such as, accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior who came and died for you and is interceding for us before the Father, loving the Lord with all your heart and mind, loving your neighbor as yourself, keeping the Sabbath Holy, making disciples of all nations teaching them all that Jesus has said. Nah.. Thats too easy, lets make rules. Lets follow the letter of the law as we see fit. This is exactly what the pharisees did, and if the nation of Israel in Jesus time was and is any idication of the church's condition today (refer to Christ Object Lessons) then I would highly recommend doing as the publican did at church and say "God be merciful to me a sinner", and go home justified.
God Bless,
Will

That which shakes is truth. It is the truth about God that will shake the church, and the world. The last message of mercy to be given to the world is the revelation of God's character: "Behold your God!".

The standards of basically all of the churches have been lowered, including the SDA Church.

What wasn't permitted in the church in yesteryears is now flourishing in the church.

What will it take to turn it around? That's a good question. Endtime events in the form of catastrophic events such as happened in the USA in relation to 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina, and the latest push in relation to the Ten Commandments Commission with the call for the nation to turn back to God, and a call to the churches to stop desecrating the Sabbath in reference to the 1st day of the week, thus ushering us into the Early Time of Trouble, resulting in a real shaking within the SDA Church, that may be what is needed to turn the church around, beginning in some strange way with the other churches and bringing an awakening within the SDA Church itself to its handling of its own lowered standards.