God's Purpose in Calamitites

What mean the awful calamities by sea--vessels hurled into eternity without a moment's warning?
What mean the accidents by land--fire consuming the riches that men have hoarded, much of which has been accumulated by oppression of the poor? The Lord will not interfere to protect the property of those who transgress His law, break His covenant, and trample upon His Sabbath, accepting in its place a spurious rest day.       The plagues of God are already falling upon the earth, sweeping away the most costly structures as if by a breath of fire from heaven. Will not these judgments bring professing Christians to their senses? God permits them to come that the world may take heed, that sinners may be afraid and tremble before Him.--3MR 311 (1902).       God has a purpose in permitting these calamities to occur. They are one of His means of calling men and women to their senses. By unusual workings through nature God will express to doubting human agencies that which He clearly reveals in His Word.     How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of disorganized, unregulated forces of nature, wholly beyond the control of man, but in them all God's purpose may be read. They are among the agencies by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.--
Coming Events Are in the Hands of the Lord

     The world is not without a ruler. The program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord. The Majesty of heaven has the destiny of nations as well as the concerns of His church in His own charge.     These symbolical representations [the fiery serpents in the wilderness] serve a double purpose. From them God's people learn not only that the physical forces of the earth are under the control of the Creator, but also that under His control are the religious movements of the nations. Especially is this true with reference to the enforcement of Sunday observance.--

     In the great closing work we shall meet with perplexities that we know not how to deal with, but let us not forget that the three great Powers of heaven are working, that a divine hand is on the wheel, and that God will bring His purposes to pass.--Ev 65 (1902).  {LDE 29.3} 
     As the wheel-like complications were under the guidance of the hand beneath the wings of the cherubim, so the complicated play of human events is under divine control. Amidst the strife and tumult of nations, He that sitteth above the cherubim still guides the affairs of the earth. [See Ezekiel 1:4, 26; 10:8; Daniel 4:17, 25, 32.]--Ed 178 (1903).  {LDE 29.4}
     In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as if
         dependent on the will and prowess of man; the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the Word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions, the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.--PK 499, 500 (c. 1914).  {LDE 29.5} 

Heaven's Regard for Earth's Affairs

     In sparing the life of the first murderer, God presented before the whole universe a lesson bearing upon the great controversy. . . . It was His purpose, not merely to put down the rebellion, but to demonstrate to all the universe the nature of rebellion. . . .The holy inhabitants of other worlds were watching with the deepest interest the events taking place on the earth. . . .  {LDE 30.1} 
     God carries with Him the sympathy and approval of the whole universe as step by step His great plan advances to its complete fulfillment.--PP 78, 79 (1890).  {LDE 30.2} 
     The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man would not only make heaven accessible to men, but before all the universe it would justify God and His son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan.--PP 68, 69 (1890).  {LDE 30.3} 
     The whole universe is watching with inexpressible interest the closing scenes of the great controversy between good and evil.--PK 148 (c. 1914).  {LDE 30.4} 
     Our little world is the lesson book of the universe.. {Last Days Events }

Holy Spirit will be taken first from those who had GREAT LIGHT and OPPORTUNITIES

DESTRUCTIVE JUDGMENTS A TIME FOR THOSE OUTSIDE OF CHRISTIANITY TO TURN TO GOD.THE MERCIFUL GOD GIVES OPPORTUNITY FOR REPENTANCE AND CHANGE OF HEART.


The time of God's destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have had no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter.-- Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 97.   56.2} 
     Soon the battle will be waged fiercely between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain.--Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 15, 16.  
     In the time of distress and perplexity of nations there will be many who have not given themselves wholly to the corrupting influences of the world and the service of Satan, who will humble themselves before God, and turn to Him with their whole heart and find acceptance and pardon.-- Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 269.   56.4} 
     There are many who are reading the Scriptures who cannot understand their true import. All over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in.--The Acts of the Apostles, p. 109.  {Christian Service 57.1}

WHO THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL LEAVE FIRST ?
"A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you." I believe with all my heart that the Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the world, and those who have had great light and opportunities and have not improved them, will be the first to be left. They have grieved away the Spirit of God. The present activity of Satan in working upon hearts, and upon churches and nations should startle every student of prophecy. The end is near. Let our churches arise. Let the converting power of God be experienced in the heart of the individual members, and then we shall see the deep moving of the Spirit of God. Mere forgiveness of sin is not the sole result of the death of Jesus. He made the infinite sacrifice not only that sin might be removed, but that human nature might be restored, rebeautified, reconstructed from its ruins, and made fit for the presence of God. . . .  {3 SELECTED MESSAGES 154.1}

WHY WILL THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT LEAVE FIRST 

There will be some terrible falls by those who think they stand firm because they have the truth; but they have it not as it is in Jesus. A moment's carelessness may plunge a soul into irretrievable ruin. One sin leads to the second, and the second prepares the way for a third and so on. We must as faithful messengers of God, plead with Him constantly to be kept by His power. If we swerve a single inch from duty we are in danger of following on in a course of sin that ends in perdition. There is hope for every one of us, but only in one way--by fastening ourselves to Christ, and exerting every energy to attain to the perfection of His character.  {3SM 154.3}

     This goody-goody religion that makes light of sin and that is forever dwelling upon the love of God to the sinner, encourages the sinner to believe that God will save him while he continues in sin and he knows it to be sin. This is the way that many are doing who profess to believe present truth. The truth is kept apart from their life, and that is the reason it has no more power to convict and convert the soul. There must be a straining of every nerve and spirit and muscle to leave the world, its customs, its practices, and its fashions. . .
     If you put away sin and exercise living faith, the riches of heaven's blessings will be yours.--Letter 53, 1887.  {3SM 155.2}

Seventh Day Adventist a Privilege People

See the PDF document entitled  "Great light and opportunities "  at this link http://db.tt/QzDaqA9I..

The enmity of the Jews..Persecution will come its starts in the church

CHRIST IN HIS OWN WORDS WRITTEN IN RED says : LukE 12:51  Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52  For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.  53  The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.  54  And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.  5  And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.  56  Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

  
Earl Belfast : Persecution will come when God's people stand for that which is right.
All the satanic instruments are awaken when a decision is made to follow  ALL of Gods word that is Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. First the enemies from within are chief instruments on this onslaught. As a people the Whole of Spiritual Israel do attack that which is true and honest to scripture. Satan moves upon the heart of individuals to accomplish His work;each man adding and spinning words of other men without verifying content or source of such information. Satan is left  happy knowing he has accomplish his work via the hands and tongues of those who consider themselves faithful,those who mount the pulpits those whose names are on the church records.They see a widening distance between the messenger of God and themselves and retain a false feeling of safety because they are among the majority and men of the cloth back them.They exclaim the man is pulling himself away, they have walked away from the platform of truth given in evidence pile upon evidence.But this is not simply so.for they go deeper and deeper into error,darkness and strong delusion over take them.At this point their blindness prevents them from identifying truth from error;and they call darkness light and light darkness. Then you know for a surety God's people are in trouble. But God has his 7,000 who will not bow. They will stand firm. Silence one and multitudes will rise.You cannot fight against the Holy Spirit.
The history has already been written ,the actors have already played the parts.What we witness is the repeat of History.

Here is the Story in Acts of the Apostles starting in page 413

"Paul had long looked forward to visiting Rome; he greatly desired to witness for Christ there, but had felt that his purposes were frustrated by the enmity of the Jews. He little thought, even now, that it would be as a prisoner that he would go.   } 
     While the Lord encouraged His servant, Paul's enemies were eagerly plotting his destruction. "And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy." Here was a fast such as the Lord through Isaiah had condemned--a fast "for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness." Isaiah 58:4.  {AA 413.3} 
     The conspirators "came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. Now therefore  ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though ye would inquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him."  {AA 413.4} 
     Instead of rebuking this cruel scheme, the priests and rulers eagerly agreed to it. Paul had spoken the truth when he compared Ananias to a whited sepulcher.  {AA 414.1} 
     But God interposed to save the life of His servant. Paul's sister's son, hearing of the "lying in wait" of the assassins, "went and entered into the castle, and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee."  {AA 414.2} 
     Claudius Lysias received the youth kindly, and taking him aside, asked, "What is that thou hast to tell me?" The youth replied: "The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they would inquire somewhat of him more perfectly. But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee."  {AA 414.3} 
     "The chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast showed these things to me."
                                                                          
     Lysias at once decided to transfer Paul from his jurisdiction to that of Felix the procurator. As a people, the Jews were in a state of excitement and irritation, and tumults were of frequent occurrence. The continued presence of the apostle in Jerusalem might lead to consequences dangerous to the city and even to the commandant himself. He therefore "called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; and provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor."
     No time was to be lost in sending Paul away. "The soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris." From that place the horsemen went on with the prisoner to Caesarea, while the four hundred soldiers returned to Jerusalem.   
     The officer in charge of the detachment delivered his prisoner to Felix, also presenting a letter with which he had been entrusted by the chief captain:       "Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council: whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment
 o his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell."
    After reading the communication, Felix inquired to what province the prisoner belonged, and being informed that he was of Cilicia, said: "I will hear thee . . . when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall."

     The case of Paul was not the first in which a servant of God had found among the heathen an asylum from the malice of the professed people of Jehovah. In their rage against Paul the Jews had added another crime to the dark catalogue which marked the history of that people. They had still further hardened their hearts against the truth and had rendered their doom more certain. 

May God have mercy on us.
Earl Belfast

10 Kings of Revelation 17

Revelation 16 describes the dragon the Beast and the False Prophet then leads us to further understand the 10 Kings of Revelation 17.Download and listen here.