We Have Misunderstood What Causes the Shaking

By admin On October 11, 2015 Under Uncategorized

preacherman2I was listening to an Anchors of Truth sermon by Lee Venden, and I was shocked as I realized that many of our leaders in Adventism are making a serious mistake. Lee quoted Ellen White in Early Writings:

“I was shown that it [the shaking] would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the true Witness to the Laodiceans.”

Then Lee went on to say:

“The counsel of the true witness is shown to be Jesus working in us through a close relationship with Him [represented in Revelation 3 as gold, white raiment, and eye salve]. The interesting part of this is that the shaking is not brought on by rebuke or raising standards, but by the counsel of the true witness. This is other way of saying that what causes the shaking is an increase focus and interest in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Why would this cause so many Christians to leave? It is because they have been substituting something else for their security. They have been substituting an intellectual understanding of truth and theological purity in doctrine for a relationship with Jesus. We can have both, but if someone gets unhappy with a focus on Jesus it is because they have been depending on something other than Jesus. And when someone says that doesn’t count, they get angry.”

Why do I bring this up? Because the message of many in our church today is “cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” They truly believe that rebuke and standard raising will bring on the shaking. Yet it is not discipline or bible thumping doctrine (especially when it means forcing the conscience of others) that brings on the shaking. What brings on the shaking is lifting up Jesus for all to see. What bring on the shaking is knowing Him so that our hearts reflect His perfect love to our brothers and sisters and to a world that is hurting. Read the whole of Isaiah 58 and see for yourself.

Bottom line? Relationship trumps doctrine. Or maybe, better stated, relationship is doctrine.

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