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The flame of the torch will become greater and greater.
Hence if you reject to carry the present, greater torch when the flame has been ignited by the power of the holy spirit, after a while you by default choose to carry the smaller torch, the fallen light. You will then be carriers of the counterfeit, lesser flame of Lucifer, rather than the true flame of Jesus Christ.
At the same rate we are not to condemn anyone, as we do not know the heart and mind of each individual. We are not always impressed in the same way, at the exact same time. But there is a danger and warning here. The pharisees would have been saved before the greater light of Christ came into this world, but when they persisted to reject Him, who is the light, Christ said: "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father."
John 15:24
Keep in mind, the church, the majority of the professed people of God, crucified Christ still thinking they loved and served God...
Most people who will be saved will not have carried the greatest torch. How so? First think of the examples with the Waldenses. They represented *for a time* that company who carried the greatest flame. However, that does not mean that individuals in other Christian churches, and even other faiths in some instances, were not being saved. Why? Because these individuals did not have as much light available within their reach, and received and lived up to the light they were granted. This same principle continued. Remember also that those who receive more light have a greater responsibility, God expect more from them. The potential fall is also greater for them. If they fall in the sense of falling away for good, they will receive a more severe punishment on the day of judgment. But we are all, no matter where we are, no matter what church or religion we are currently in, expected to receive and live up to the available light within our reach. We can not settle and think we have obtained all light there is, that is the Laodicean mind set. We should all walk and try to reach a higher state, growing closer to the heart and mind of Christ. Those who think they are good to go, and do not wish to continue walking, will by default express that they do not wish to come closer to the society of heaven. Hence by default then choosing the lord of the fallen, who claim to be light, but is at best a counterfeit light that more or less try to cover up the darkness, while trying to present darkness for light and light for darkness.
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A few quotes by Ellen G. White:
"God Has Jewels in All Churches. God has jewels in all the churches, and it is not for us to make sweeping denunciation of the professed religious world.
—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 4:1184 (1893).
The Lord has His representatives in all the churches. These persons have not had the special testing truths for these last days presented to them under circumstances that brought conviction to heart and mind; therefore they have not, by rejecting light, severed their connection with God.
—Testimonies for the Church 6:70, 71 (1900).
Among the Catholics there are many who are most conscientious Christians and who walk in all the light that shines upon them, and God will work in their behalf.
—Testimonies for the Church 9:243 (1909).
In the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation the people of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God's people must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant faith. —The Great Controversy, 383 (1911). Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ's true followers are still to be found in their communion .—The Great Controversy, 390 (1911). ---- SO....WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
It is not a sin to carry a smaller torch, *if* that is the only available flame within this individual's reach, because that means they live up to the only light they have for the time. However it is a sin to carry a smaller torch if a greater torch is available within the person's reach at the present time, as that would mean they do not live up to and receive present available light. FROM WHAT POINT DOES IT BECOME A SIN? From the moment there is sufficient evidence for the present doctrine at hand. Many wait far too long before they make a decision to receive "new" light, and think far too often it is safer to just stay put where they are, not understanding the great risk then to get stuck in a limited truth, which becomes to those who have had the mature truth presented to them, a fallen light. What was in the category of living up to present light last year, and not sinning, may be in the category of getting stuck in a fallen truth this year, and commit a sin against the Spirit of Truth. We are expected to walk in the greater light as soon as it has been revealed to us. So you see the danger here of not receiving present day light, but also how fair and righteous the ways of God are at the same time. WHY SHOULD WE ENLIGHTEN PEOPLE ABOUT AN ADVANCED TRUTH, IF THEY CAN BE SAVED IN A LESSER LIGHT STILL? 1. Because God want us to. We are commanded to share His truth far and wide. 2. Because to receive a more mature and fuller truth mean that the person can potentially come closer to the heart and mind of Christ. And who would not want that? And hence also be better protected to withstand the fiery darts and manifold deceptions of the enemy of souls. 3. Because in these last days the whole world will be given a choice between two main leaders and masters: A. The True Jesus Christ of the new, mature, everlasting law, covenant and order. B. The False, babylonian god or "Christ" of the old, immature law, covenant and order. WHY THIS MESSAGE IS NOT ELITIST THINKING Two simple reasons: 1. PERSONAL DAILY CHOICE. Because every single person, no matter race, nationality, gender, genes, status, regardless of any outward label (Galatians 3:26-29), are free to choose today, tomorrow or the day after, what way to choose. They can choose what torch to carry. They can choose if they want to embrace the light that shines on their pathway and walk in that light, or whether they to reject it and refuse to walk in it. Hence it is all by personal choice. Not by your pastor's choice, not by your president's choice, not by your spouse's choice, not by your human boss' choice. It is all by the individual's choice, no matter the circumstance and trials. "Choose Whom You Will Serve
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” -Joshua 24:14-15 1. Cor 15:31. Romans 8. Eph 3:16-19. 2. WE REAP WHAT WE SOW If we choose the limited light, if there is a higher more advanced light revealed to use in the present, we will by default choose the limited, fallen lord and his kingdom. (1. Corinthians 3). To choose the lesser or fallen light, is to choose the kingdom of darkness, which is death and hell. So if you sow God's idea of darkness, as the lord of the fallen will do everything in his power to turn darkness for light and light for darkness, you will end up in darkness. What appear as light to the eyes of the world, and the immature Christian, is in reality darkness and visa versa. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." - Galatians 6:7-8 "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." - Isaiah 5:20. "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." - Hebrews 5:13 ... See illustration. If you study this you will see it is both a individual heart issue..where we must receive the truth made available for the individual in the current time, see nr 2.
And a time issue in the sense that increased light is being revealed in Scripture over time. See nr.2.
But there will also always be increased light revealed from the throne of God throughout eternity. Probably on some issues, like the identification of the seal, the mark, the beast etc, prophecies concerning the Christian dispensation, it will cease. 1. Cor 13: 13:8-9
"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears."
Read also Ephesians chapter 3.
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