Adventist

Silver and Marik Betrayed

by

The Merikay McLeod Silver Case

Due to her writing capabilities, Merikay McLeod, author of the book, “Now,” was offered a position as Assistant Book Editor at Pacific Press. She was just a young woman, not yet out of college, and she was flattered that the brethren were impressed with her work. During the interview, when she inquired as to her salary, no dollar amount was mentioned, so she assumed she would be making about $600 a month, which is what the woman she was replacing had been making.

She described her feelings when starting work at Pacific Press: “I have a good ‘family’ feeling when I walk into chapel. These people are my people, my family, since their God is already my own…This is where I am supposed to be.”

Throughout the first week, various employees stopped by her office to introduce themselves, and to compliment her on her story, “Now.” She felt welcome and admired.

Confrontation

During the second week of her employment she was informed that the hiring committee was concerned over her lack of having a college degree. Although disappointed over this upset so early in her employment, Merikay stated that she “hates controversy and confrontation. I don’t want to start having to defend myself.” She still had not been told what her salary would be, and was concerned due to her living costs. When she was called in for a meeting, she assumed it would be to discuss her lack of a degree. Instead, she was questioned in regard to her beliefs.

After working at The Press for a month she received her first paycheck – $400. She was devastated. This was not enough money to even make ends meet. When she confronted her supervisor, she was told that this is how they had worked out the “hiring problem.” Since she had not finished college, the Committee had decided to give her the title “Editorial Assistant,” instead of Assistant Book Editor—justifying the lower wage.

To help make ends meet, and at her husband’s urging, Merikay submitted a collection of her own short stories to pacific press for publication. After changing the title, the book publishing committee decided to print the book.

Merikay was relieved. She enjoyed her work and was making friends, one of whom was Lorna Tobler, secretary to Lawrence Maxwell.

While still pursuing an acceptable salary, Merikay was told that Pacific Press had a wage system based on need. “The Church’s institutions take care of their workers,” she was told. “It’s a family centered concept.” So, in an effort to improve her financial position, Merikay returned to school to get her degree. Although Press workers were routinely released from work to complete degree requirements, Merikay put in a full eight-hour day and continued with her schooling. She decided she would not ask for a raise until she had her degree.

Discovery

At the copy machine one day, she saw a male worker copying his W2 form. They were both shocked to find that he made 40% more than she did, even though they were both doing the same work. Even though the “law” requires equal pay for equal work and sex discrimination is illegal, Merikay felt she should wait until she had her degree before asking for a raise. However, she then wondered if her work was acceptable, and confronted her supervisor. She told him she learned of the pay difference and wondered if it was because her work was not satisfactory. She was told, “Our system is called ‘Head of Household’…we believe a family’s main wage-earner should receive more because of his added burdens. Merikay was mollified.

A short time later, Merikay’s husband, lost his job. She was sure she now qualified for “Head of Household” pay since she was now the sole wage earner. About this time, a pamphlet came down from the General Conference basically stating, “on the basis of need determined by marital status, dependents and financial responsibility, an additional amount of money may be paid to employees without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, age, national origin or color.” According to the General Conference, Merikay qualified! She was thrilled!

While discussing this with her supervisor, he offered to write a letter to his boss praising Merikay’s work and asking that “a liberal, conciliatory attitude” be taken in this case so Merikay would not become discouraged.

Check Your Rights

Merikay’s husband asked her to see Joan Bradford, an attorney he had heard lecture a few months earlier, just as a precaution. When Merikay told the attorney the situation at Pacific Press, Joan Bradford stated that “the system is illegal,” and asked if Merikay wanted to sue? No, Merikay only wanted to know if she was within her legal rights to ask for “Head of Household” pay. Joan assured her that she was. The Pacific Press “Head of Household” system is illegal,” Joan stated, and Merikay had the right to ask for equal pay.

As moral support, a fellow male employee agreed to go to the boss with Merikay. The boss responded that this male employee had an advanced degree and six years of editing experience. Merikay countered with the fact that she had ten years professional writing experience. “If we do something for you—then the women in the bindery will want something too,” the boss replied.

The fellow employee attempted to defend Merikay by stating that when he got married he got a big raise in pay, plus his wife was covered by company insurance. He also stated that men in the book department who have not even finished high school are making big salaries. Merikay was simply asking for the same pay and benefits that a married man in her position would get. The boss said, basically, “Merikay’s having a dependent (her out of work husband) is not our problem.”

The Light Dawns

The light began to dawn. Merikay now realized that no woman in the institution was getting “Head of Household” pay, whether divorced with children, widowed, or retired missionary women taking care of a sick spouse. Nothing was resolved, and Merikay decided to write a follow-up letter to the boss, and wait to see what happened.

She realized something was very wrong at the Press. “Head of Household” really meant “male.” A lot of women (100-150 female workers) were supporting children, invalid husbands or parents; none of which were receiving “Head of Household” status.

Merikay received a message that if she would just humble herself and agree to forget what had happened, she would get more money; but if she took a hard line, she would get nothing at all. Merikay went to Joan Bradford and expressed her fears. Joan offered to write a letter to the Press in which she would offer to help legalize their employment practices.

In 1972, Joan sent a letter to Merikay’s boss, pointing out the illegalities of Pacific Press’ practices and offering to help them out. The attorney also stated; “In view of the fact that you have so far failed to make any responsive communication to Mrs. Silver in regard to these matters—we are notifying you that all future communication to Mrs. Silver regarding her rights to equal employment benefits are to be made through this office.”

Merikay was accused of not being loyal, and Lorna Tobler informed her that she was told, “Merikay will never, never, never get equal pay.”

The Press did not respond to the attorney’s letter until July. Then it was through an attorney. They claimed they were not breaking the law, there was no sex discrimination—Now or ever! Joan Bradford wanted Merikay to file an official complaint with the EEOC. Merikay was stunned! The Press was denying the truth! Did they not want to obey the law?

Letters flew back and forth between Joan Bradford and the attorney for Pacific Press, but there was no word from the Press, themselves. Letters were sent to the chief executives of Pacific Press. There was still no response.

Lorna photocopied all pay scale records and gave them to Merikay’s attorney. The basic wage scale was the same, except men got higher promotions than the women did. However, if women would be allowed to go into those jobs, they would have received the same basic wage, but the rent allowance was sex related. All married men got $1.00 per hour rent allowance. Single men received $.75 per hour, and women earned $.30 per hour.

Lorna received a letter of reprimand for her part in counseling “younger workers to contact attorneys.”

Merikay wrote a letter to her boss showing many Spirit of Prophecy quotes to substantiate her position. (MS 47, 1898; MS 142, 1903; Gospel Workers 452-453 (1915). In response, she received an executive letter of rebuke: “I don’t think there is a single statement on that sheet which would give anyone the impression that women should have the same wages as men, although I am not opposed to the idea. We should be careful that we don’t make the Spirit of Prophecy say something that was not intended.”

The chairman of the board came to town but refused to see Merikay if her attorney was present at the meeting. He did, however, see Lorna and claimed Pacific Press would obey the law and tell the truth. Lorna met with the General Conference President and the chairman of the board. They both assured her the General Conference wanted to do what was right. However, the chairman of the board asked Lorna to go easy on the brethren. He asked for patience and understanding. He said, “If we don’t ease up, if we insist on pursuing this thing, the brethren will burn us at the stake.”

Out of the blue, Lorna Tobler’s husband received a “call” to Germany. However, they decided Lorna would not go with him immediately—she would stay and help fight Merikay’s battle.

Someone filed a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. Everyone thought it was Merikay, but it was not. Her supervisor chastised her—”I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you, single-handedly, kicked off the time of trouble!” he yelled.

In November 1972, Merikay and Lorna filed an official complaint with the EEOC. In December 1972, Guy Guerrero, Department of Labor investigator arrived at the Press. After completing his investigation, he told Merikay, “Yes” he had found discrimination, and that it should all be taken care of shortly after the first of the year.

When Merikay received her January pay envelope, her check was the same, but there was $1,000 shown in the total-to-date column. She was puzzled by this, and called Guy Guerrero for an explanation. He told her it was the back pay Pacific Press owed her, and that they would cut her a check in a few days. Merikay explained there was an error. Her co-worker earned $11,000 a year while she earned $6,676.41. Guy Guerrero came to Merikay’s office—solemn faced he admited he never thought they (the Press) would lie to him. “Don’t cash any checks,” he instructed her, then left her office to confront the boss with copies of the W2 forms showing the discrepancies. He was dismissed from the office, and the statement was made, “The next time the Press sees you, it will be in court!” Guerrero began the process to sue Pacific Press.

Through this incident, Merikay realized that the Press would not do what was right because it was right, would not obey the law, because it was the law, nor would they treat their employee’s right because it was the moral thing to do. If the Press would work with her to correct the inequities, the government’s suit would automatically disappear, but they would not. She felt she had but three options. Either she could stay and leave things just as they were, which was unthinkable; file suit herself, or quit her job and find other work, which would not be hard with her talent. But what about all the other women, the ones who could not quit? Those who were afraid to speak up for themselves? The ones who could not find another job so easily? She was hurt and confused. She wrote, “All the love, all the idealism, all the pride I’ve had in my church and its institutions bubbles to the surface, only to be snuffed by the reality I’ve experienced.” Her days filled with confusion over what she should do, she finally decided that she “must file suit.” Eight months after asking for “Head of Household,” she filed suit in January 1973. The Press received notice of this filing in March.

The news traveled quickly, and Merikay received flowers from three women working at the General Conference headquarters in Washington D.C.—”Right on! Fight the good fight!” the card said.

The Press offered to settle for $10,000 for Merikay, which would have to be split with her attorney. No other women were to receive anything; no money, no promise of equal pay, no opportunity to move up through the ranks to higher positions. Merikay could not accept. Twice they came close to a settlement, but the Press refused to accept monitoring of potential settlements by anyone other than the Press or General Conference appointees. They were still denying, through their attorney, any wrongdoing.

The boss called a meeting of all the women employees. Attorney Bradford wrote a letter to Don McNeil, attorney for Pacific Press, stating that she was shocked and dismayed to learn that management had, without notifying her, called a meeting of certain employees, at which time management would, without attorney’s present, discuss employment policies with female employees. This was in direct contradiction to management’s agreement with her that they would meet with her, provide her with personnel records and attempt to set up employment guidelines before meeting with the women. “I regard management’s calling of the April 17 meeting to be another demonstration of the Press’ pattern of expressing superficially its desire to conform with the law, while at the same time, preserving its own authoritarian position over its female employees—instructing them without allowing them to receive information of appropriate employment practices from anyone other than their own employer.”… “I view these tactics by the Press to be another form of intimidation and coercion of its female employees…”

Merikay continued to receive letters of support from women (and some men) in all branches of the denominational work, while at the same time she had to sit through countless morning worship services while the men of the Press tore her to pieces in veiled words. Management was flexing their muscle through the morning worship period. A well-known editor spoke for an hour about modern Judas’s who sell the Lord’s work to the goat for a few pieces of silver.

Because of the many rumors circulating around the Press, Merikay decided to call a meeting of all of the women employees to explain her side. She and Lorna rented a building less than a mile from the Press office in which to hold this meeting. The day of the meeting, the Press executives, and their Attorney, Don McNeil had a Rah! Rah! session for worship, in which the women were urged to “divorce” themselves from the Class Action Suit by signing a form. Of course, they were assured that they were not being “told” to sign; they were simply being given the opportunity. That evening 50 women showed up at Merikay’s meeting.

The Press management ignored Joan Bradford’s request for information. They post-poned meetings with her and did not cooperate. Joan finally went to the Press offices and spent the day reviewing records, books, and files.

Finally, a new manager was brought into the Press. Shortly thereafter, in October 1973, Management sent Lorna Tobler a letter stating that they had agreed that she was to be terminated with two weeks severance pay so that she could join her husband in Germany. Lorna responded, “this action would certainly be viewed by the law as a reprisal.” Five days later the Press officially “clarified” the use of the word ‘terminated’—stating that they only meant she was free to go if she chose. However, the new boss visited Lorna, and a clear threat was made. Either she moved to Germany immediately or “something terribly serious will happen.”

In December, a letter from the General Conference, was sent to all SDA publishing houses instructing them not to accept articles or manuscripts written by Merikay, “because of her tendency to ignore Christian counsel,” and Lorna received a very strong letter from the German Conference stating that she must come to Germany immediately.

In January 1974, Lorna met with the Board Chairman. She showed him the letter she had received and asked if that meant her husband would lose his job.

“Well, those are some of the hazards,” he replied.

“That sounds to me like some little game or something,” Lorna stated.

He replied, “It’s not a little game, it’s a big game!”

The stress was beginning to cause Merikay to have migraine headaches, but the barrage continued. The Adventist Review published an article on the authority of the church, and her attorney, Joan Bradford, had back surgery. The rumor went about the Press offices that Joan had been struck down with cancer by ‘the Lord.’

In February 1974, an official of the General Conference came to see Merikay. He set aside the whole day for her, he stated, and she realized that this was an impressive gesture. After general “getting to know you” chitchat, he asked Merikay what she thought of the new boss. He then stated that he had the utmost confidence in the men in leadership at the Press. He asked her how negotiations were going, and Merikay informed him there were no negotiations.

“You know, Merikay,” he stated, “you aren’t shooting blanks in this. The main thing that bothers me about all of this is that I don’t think the government has any right coming into our publishing house and telling us what to do. Well, what can we do to end this thing?”

Merikay replied; “Talk, negotiate. Do what is right and lawful. I do not know what is so all-fired difficult about doing what is right.”

He opened the letter Merikay sent him and pointed to various items, asking what he could do about each of them. As they talked he took notes. Merikay was thrilled! He was the first leader who had actually listened to her. However, in March 1974, he urged Merikay to find a compromise.

In an April 1974, Settlement conference, the new boss refused to talk. He simply sat with his arms folded. Later a fellow employee told Merikay that her supervisor was laying the groundwork to fire her. “Be sure to keep a diary so you can document the things he says.”

The new boss read a letter in chapel, which was addressed to all the women employees of the Press. If the Silver lawsuit went to court, every woman’s name and how she voted on the Class Action Suit would be revealed.” One hundred ten women withdrew from the Class Action Suit. Sixty did not respond—which was counted as a “yes” we want to withdraw vote. Seventy-seven women now remained in the Class Action Suit.

EEOC Files Suit

The EEOC filed a preliminary injunction suit against the Press for harassing Merikay and Lorna.

The Press got a new attorney. They argued that they did not discriminate. “We’re a religious organization and as such do not have to answer to the government for our activities. The First Amendment protects us.” They also came up with a new argument. “The Press is the church and all workers are, in reality, ministers of the church. Matters of church government and administration are beyond the purview of Civil Authorities.” Press attorney, Dungan, argued that “church policy forbids members to use the court system to sue a church institution for any reason, let alone to determine intra-church, intra-family disputes. By continuing her suit, Merikay has put herself at variance with the church and has become a prime candidate for early disfellowshipping.”

In December 1974, the trial hearing began. The opening brief by the Press attorney included the following statements:

“Only members of the church who are in good standing are eligible for employment in the SDA church…”

“Determination by proper church tribunals respecting ecclesiastical matters…are accepted as binding. What the church cannot tolerate is for members to bring church disputes into civil courts.”

“Those who work for the Seventh-day Adventist church respond to a religious vocation in exactly the same sense as does a cloistered nun.”

“The church claims exemption from all civil laws in all of its religious institutions.”

In February 1975, the General Conference Committee recommended that the Press terminate Merikay and that she be disfellowshiped from the church. Action was also initiated to have Lorna disfellowshipped. A friend informed Merikay that a General Conference official was trying to get her fired and disfellowshipped. Her attorney instructed her to take some days off immediately so she would not be available to receive the termination notice. Merikay took a vacation. Her attorney also instructed her to leave her home, because the Press was going to try to serve notice to her there. Joan Bradford filed for a Temporary Restraining Order and the judge upheld the Order. Both Merikay and Lorna returned to work the following Tuesday.

In March 1975, a motion was made to the Board of Mountain View Church to have Lorna disfellowshipped.

The Trial Begins:

The Pacific Press attorney stated, “The Pacific Press Publishing Association is owned and operated by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

Many people in the courtroom gasp! But the vice president nodded in assent.

A friend of Merikay’s leaned over and told her, “The General Conference is not the church!”

The Vice President of the General Conference testified: “The General Conference is the highest authority in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.” He claimed “when we join the church we agree to give up our individual rights for the good of the whole…When we are no longer in harmony with those principles…one is considered to be at variance with the church.”

Merikay was stunned by the testimony of these leaders of the church. “There is no truth or integrity in this room full of church men,” she stated.

On May 29, 1975, Merikay was fired, and in July, Judge Renfrew decertified the suit since Merikay was no longer employed by the Press.

One year later, May 1976, the 9th Court of Appeals reversed the decision, and two years later, April 1978, Merikay Silver settled out of court for $60,000; half of which went to her attorney. The very next month, the EEOC took Pacific Press to court.

Five years later, in February 1983, Lorna Tobler received $77,000, and in October 1983, the court ordered Pacific Press to deposit $600,000 to an account to be disbursed in non-traceable checks to Pacific Press women employees.

Sadly, Merikay reported, “The spirit of Christ and the spirit of the church are contradictory.”

The John Marik Case

In 1984, John Marik, a lay-pastor, received a letter from an attorney for the General Conference, regarding his use of the name Seventh-day Adventist Congregational Church. In this letter, John Marik was asked if he could furnish the General Conference with information on this offshoot group, showing the “offensive usage of Seventh-day Adventist.” Apparently this letter was sent to Pastor Marik by mistake, since John Marik was asked to report on his own church (as an offshoot group.)

Cease and Desist

A short time later John Marik received another letter in which the attorney corrected himself for having sent the previous letter. He stated the General Conference would be “moving to enforce our trademark registration…and will ask you and your congregation to agree to cease using the term Seventh-day Adventist in the name of your church.”

The President of the Hawaii Conference of Seventh-day Adventists wrote Pastor Marik asking him and his eleven member church to cease using the name Seventh-day Adventist.

In 1985, John Marik received a letter from another General Conference attorney which stated in part, “therefore, assuming that your use of ‘Seventh-day Adventist’ was done without intent to create confusion, even though such confusion is manifested by your use of Seventh-day Adventist, particularly as in your church name, we trust that upon receipt of this letter you will immediately cease and desist from utilizing the expression or any names or expressions equivalent… We consider your use of ‘Seventh-day Adventist’ to be an infringement of the SDA Church’s trademark/service mark rights, and also to constitute unfair competition and false designation of origin.”

Marik’s Reply

John Marik replied, “We are sorry that this situation has been such a cause of distress; that was certainly not our motives. We have had no intention or desire—neither do we now have—to confuse, mislead, or deceive anyone in regards to our congregational church and its reason for existing independently of the denominational church. We, just as you, are concerned about the prospect of people being confused. We do not at all want or wish that any Seventh-day Adventist visitor, who is from some other place and not knowledgeable of the difference, to be tricked or deceived into attending our church—being unaware of the fact that we are not associated with the denomination.

“We understand very well that our name and existence as an independent body of Seventh-day Adventists has been, is, and probably will continue to be an offense to the Denomination. This is not our desire, but this unfortunately, is the way it is. We also do not, in the least, feel that we are in the wrong! And this is the reason why: Our faith and beliefs are those of a Seventh-day Adventist as is described in the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. White (who we also hold to be an inspired prophet of God). If we were to call ourselves by some other name, wouldn’t the general Christian community question our reason for not expressing what we really believe, wouldn’t that be concealing our true identity, and wouldn’t that give just cause for our Sunday-keeping brethren to consider our honesty in what we verily believe and who we truthfully claim to be?

“We do not apologize for our convictions in regard to the counsel that God has given us as a people who are honoring the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment of the decalogue, and who very much long for and believe in the near advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Hence the name, “seventh-day” + “adventist.” We believe, and very much so, that the name “Seventh-day Adventist” is not a denomination name—it is a name or term which describes a particular Christian faith or body of beliefs. We also are convicted, even against our own judgment, that this name is especially approved and ordained by God as testified to in the inspired counsel given to Ellen G. White (Testimonies to the Church, vol. 2, page 223, 224.) And contrary to our judgment, we have yielded to what we solemnly believe to be in harmony with the revealed will of God. We have sought to obey His counsel on this matter, and by His grace we must continue to do so; and this can be our only reply to our brethren of the Denomination.”

“Please consider our faith and conviction in this matter. We ask that you please read the inspired testimony mentioned above. Do we not have the liberty and the freedom to conscientiously follow what we, just as many other Seventh-day Adventists, believe to be the truth? Just because we are not under the authority of the Denomination, does that mean we have no right to live the message as given to those who wish to honor God’s commandments and anticipate His soon second advent, does that imply that we can’t seriously take to heart the counsel given in the writings of Ellen G. White?

Plea for Understanding

“…We would ask that you please be understanding; for these convictions involve our faith, beliefs, and conscientious study of the Word of God.…We, along with others, are rather amazed at the intentions of the Denomination toward our little self-sustaining church. Not too long ago, we would never have considered that the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination could resort to such things as this—to appeal to a secular court of law to force others to conform to their wishes! Dear brothers and fellow Adventists, this is the very thing true Seventh-day Adventists have stood against for years! These are the tactics the enemy will use against every conscientious Sabbath-keeper. Where is the great principle of religious liberty? What should the SDA department of Religious Liberty say about this kind of action? Moreover, what does God say about it?

“…Another thing which we find strange, is the idea of the church and its message being a business. Since when has that come to be? Is the church of God in business with the competition such that it needs a protected trade name? …Surely God will prosper His faithful people; if they are wronged He will make it right. Why can we not let God decide what is right? If we of the congregational Adventists are in the wrong and you of the denominational Adventists are in the right, then will God not reprove us and uphold you? We have ample testimony of God’s dealings pertaining to this.

“…We would like to have a friendly relationship with the Denomination. We realize that there is a tremendous work for all of God’s people to do; each has a sphere of influence which is special; certain souls will be won to Christ by certain individuals; and likewise certain people will be reached for Christ by certain churches.

“…We want peace if it is possible to be secured without having to compromise our convictions and conscientious understanding in regards to God’s testimony. We do not know what farther course you may pursue in this matter; but we are standing on the clear counsel of God.”

The reply to this letter of appeal was that the matter was put in the hands of the General Conference law office or legal counsel.

A General Conference attorney wrote to Marik, “We would recommend and will favorably consider your using, for example, the name ‘Seventh-day Congregational Church.’”

In 1987, John Marik wrote a pastoral letter explaining their position in regard to this lawsuit, and the General Conference attorneys submitted a formal, legal complaint. A court order was given, and a Scheduling Conference was set for July 1987.

In April 1987, John Marik sent a letter to friends telling them that he had just been informed that the General Conference had filed suit against him. He then wrote a
4-page letter to the General Conference giving Bible and Spirit of Prophecy reasons why they could not do as they had been asked.

Several years ago, after the Merikay Silver case, the General Conference set down a new ruling that if anyone initiated a lawsuit against the General Conference, or any church entity; he was subject to being disfellowshipped. Since the leadership at the General Conference is involved with suing local Adventist believers, should they not then be subject to their own laws and suffer the penalty of being disfellow-shipped?

Some of the complaints against John Marik were:

  1. “Defendants’ conduct of selecting and commercially using the Seventh-day Adventist name for defendants’ services and goods in direct competition with the Plaintiff was done willfully, wantonly, and maliciously for the purpose of unjustly enriching themselves and injuring Plaintiffs good will and trade identity rights…
    Wherefore, Plaintiff prays for judgment against the defendant…from using, promoting, or in any way displaying any name or mark which includes the term Seventh-day Adventist, or any term that is confusingly similar to ‘Seventh-day Adventist’ or is a colorable imitation thereof…”
  2. That each of them deliver up to Plaintiff for destruction, all labels, signs, prints, advertising materials, and other literature…bearing the term Seventh-day Adventist and all plates, molds, matrices and other means of making same.”

John Marik argued that the phrase Seventh-day Adventist described a system or set of Bible-based Christian beliefs, doctrines, and standards. One was a Seventh-day Adventist because of what he believed, not what organization he belonged to.

If each local church was not duly incorporated, then losing a lawsuit might strip every member of their property.

John Marik did not go into court with an attorney, and because of this, the General Conference submitted a paper to the court requesting no court trial be held, but that the court proceed directly to issue judgment. In July 1987, a hearing was held in the Judge’s office. Since John Marik, nor his church members had obtained legal counsel , a “Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, or in the Alternative, Motion to Strike” was submitted. Since John Marik did not object before or during the hearing, it was accepted by the judge and became official—no trial would be held, only a court judgment that would be based on the legal papers the judge received. Therefore, without realizing it, John Marik had just waived his right to trial.

In a lawsuit, whenever either party files a legal paper with the court, they are required by law to send a copy of that paper to the other party in the suit. The second party must then sign and date that they have received it. It is called a “Certificate of Service.” This certificate is then attached to the legal paper and filed with the court. In this case, John Marik claimed that he had not received this action paper, before or after the hearing. The General Conference claimed they sent it, and they filled out the “Certificate of Service” to guarantee this fact to the court. All the while, John Marik and his membership were praying for guidance and awaiting a chance to defend their faith at a trial that would never happen.

In August 1987, the group prepared a paper stating why they could not give up the name Seventh-day Adventist, and submitted it to the judge, and in September he filed a paper with the court declaring that the group would prefer not to enter into litigation with the General Conference.

An Order granting Motion on Judgment for Pleadings, given by the court, accepted the Motion that had been submitted by the General Conference attorneys, and in December 1987, the Federal Court handed down a verdict prohibiting the defendants from using the name Seventh-day Adventist and enjoined them to remove the sign from their church and hand over to Federal Agents all of their personal books, magazines, and other property with the name Seventh-day Adventist on it. The Federal Judge handed down his decision. There would be no trial.

A major position paper was submitted to the court by Max Corbett, now acting attorney for John Marik’s group. He requested that the Judgment be set aside, or dismissed, with the possibility of having a new trial. The small group submitted a paper explaining that they considered the December 8 court Order invalid “because of lack of jurisdiction” in religious matters, while the General Conference submitted a paper asking that the court decision be carried out immediately. The defendants must comply or be visited with civil penalties.

Attorneys for the General Conference requested that the court order the group to explain why they should not be considered in contempt of court for not complying with the judge’s decision, and requested that the hearing be held speedily. The court granted a date in February 1988.

In February 1988, John Marik’s attorney, Max Corbett, appeared in court and reminded the General Conference attorney about this problem of their stifling an open court hearing. This judge observed that the first judge may have made a wrong decision—but he felt duty-bound to uphold it. He counseled the General Conference to seek to come to a mutual agreement out of court to avoid the jailing of someone who believed the same thing the General Conference believed.

For the next two months papers continued to be filed by both sides of the suit, and in May 1988, the Federal District Court of Hawaii entered an Order for John Marik’s arrest, and a $500 a day penalty for every day of non-compliance. The Bench Warrant stated Mr. Marik, once jailed, was not to be released until the fine was paid and the books and related possessions bearing the name Seventh-day Adventist had been seized. This request was not for what they printed—but for what they possessed. It included:

  1. Adventist song books
  2. All Spirit of Prophecy books
  3. Back issues of denominational journals, and many more.
  4. Possible out of print books or papers dating back to 1800s.

All would be confiscated by the government agents and destroyed at the General Conference request.

The Southwestern Union Record, May 13, 1988 stated, “The church does not sue the offending organization for the purpose of obtaining damages or punitive judgments.” Yet the General Conference requested the judge “for an accounting to be determined, the damages that Plaintiff has suffered and the profits that were derived as a consequence of defendants acts as aforesaid; for an award of the damages suffered by Plaintiff and the profits derived by the defendants, as determined by the accounting, and that the award of profits be trebled (or 3 times as much) all pursuant to 15 U.S.C. Section 1117 and other applicable Law. For costs of suit herein.”

John Marik was subsequently arrested, and lost everything. Later he was a fugitive running from place to place, kept in hiding.

There are many others that the General Conference has pursued; Raphael Perez is just the latest. It is not needful for us to be prophets to understand motives; the actions speak for themselves without further comment.

(Emphasis supplied.)

Sources:

  • Betrayal, by Merikay McLeod
  • The John Marik Case, by Vance Ferrell

Are You a Seventh-day Adventist? Can anybody Tell that you are?

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Hundreds of years ago, with unerring accuracy, the Apostle Paul described the end times, which would surround society in general, and God’s professed people in particular. “Perilous times shall come,” he wrote in 2 Timothy 3:1. Various versions of Scripture render this warning sign posted by Paul as “difficult times will come,” “Times of great stress and trouble, hard to deal with and hard to bear.” One version says, “I want you to realize that as bad as times are now [in a.d. 66], this is nothing compared to the perilous times of the last days.”

Choose Ye This Day

Whichever rendering you prefer, the textual context of this warning describes the conditions of the end times that will affect and test the character and spirituality of all people. While 2 Timothy 3 and 4 could be given a wider application, nothing could be more tragic than to miss the application of these Scriptures to Adventism as today constituted. Furthermore, nothing would please Satan more than for God’s professed people to keep reading this biblical warning only “historically” as in the past, or “prophetically” as in the future. If we are ever going to benefit from this warning, then at some point in our experience and growth in character development, we must read and teach this warning as applying to us today! Therefore, 2 Timothy 3:1 would be read, not perilous times “shall come,” “could come,” or “may come,” but “have come.”

Far too many within the Adventist community believe that some time in the future the world conditions will be of such a nature that they will be led to take a bold stand for the truth, and pattern their lifestyle accordingly. But nothing could be more difficult and most unlikely. Generally, the end of such thinking in spiritual matters is disastrous. Without a doubt, such a mentality avoids and postpones the present preparation desperately needed for it delays dealing with the issues confronting us all today. It produces a quality of Adventists who oppose and resist correction. The duties imposed by present truth anger them, and unwittingly, but nevertheless by a choice, they become persecutors of their own brethren. This pattern of living and thinking confirms people deeper in Laodiceanism, and allies them with the popular churches of the world.

“Many are quieting a troubled conscience with the thought that they can change a course of evil when they choose; that they can trifle with the invitations of mercy, and yet be again and again impressed. They think that after doing despite to the spirit of grace, after casting their influence on the side of Satan, in a moment of terrible extremity they can change their course. But this is not so easily done. The experience, the education of a lifetime, has so thoroughly molded the character that few then desire to receive the image of Jesus.” Love Unlimited, 33.

Popular Deception—Do Nothing

And then there is another deception just as popular as the one described above, and just as perilous and fatal to Adventism. It is apparent everywhere. Clerics like it, teach it, and encourage it. It makes the membership “spectators” instead of “participants.” It has defrauded the membership from carrying out the divine assignment of the priesthood of all believers. It is doing nothing in a religious crisis; it is leaving for God to do that which He has mandated for us to do! This idea has so affected our belief that the teachings of the fallen churches have, in part, become ours. “You cannot stop sinning,” is heard in many of the Adventist churches, and it has become so bold that without hesitation, the teaching that you will continue to sin until Jesus returns, is widely spread.

This do-nothing concept Ellen White was inspired to label as an “astonishing deception,” and “apostasy,” and though rehearsing the history of Israel in this context, the Lord’s messenger makes it applicable to us in this day. The do-nothing, wait-and-see deception, she calls a “crime.”

“If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is doing nothing in time of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime, and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God.” Testimonies to the Church, vol. 3, 281.

The apostles’ warning and Ellen White’s testimony come painfully close to home to the Adventist community! Characteristics visible among the professed people of God are accurately described in the chapters of Timothy referred to above. The “perilous times” here mentioned are to prevail “in the last days.” To what time shall we apply this expression, “in the last days?” We have been so spiritually sedated by the ways of this world, accepting their praises, preoccupied with maintaining an acceptable image, lavishing in the fellowship of other churches, that Apostle Paul’s prophetic warning has been relegated to the times and events that mark the final test. But what a shocking revelation it must be to many to realize that we have been living in the last days, the perilous times that precede the “final test.” Expressions such as “the last days,” “perilous times,” “time of trouble,” “little time of trouble,” need to be applied to the present times. Ellen White places these perilous times of trouble while “Christ is still in the heavenly sanctuary,” and “while the work of salvation is closing.” Early Writings, 85. Lest anyone conclude that these scriptural warnings applied to our present time is unwarranted, consider the following from the Inspired writings:

“A storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it? We need not say the perils of the last days are soon to come upon us. Already they have come.” Testimonies to the Church, vol. 8, 315. (Italics supplied.)

And this is not the only statement making this application. Two more should suffice:

“We are living in the perils of the last days.” Manuscript 148, Notebook Leaflets, 53.

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.’ (1 Timothy 4:1.) The time of this apostasy is here. Every conceivable effort will be made to throw doubt upon the positions that we have occupied for over half a century.” Letter 410, August 26, 1907.

Please Stand Up

If the above statements are correct, then the Scriptures, the Testimonies and these perilous times call for the real Seventh-day Adventist to stand up! Would you please stand up and identify yourself by the message you are proclaiming, the work you are doing, and by the lifestyle you are living? Was it not Jesus who said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.”? Just think of it, we have been living in the end time, surrounded by the perils of the last days prophesied almost 2,000 years ago, and did not even know it!

“We must learn to stand alone and depend wholly upon God. The sooner we learn this the better.” Early Writings, 105.

The list of characteristics mentioned in 2 Timothy 3 and 4 is quite indicting. They are applicable to all Adventists in general, and to some in particular. The truth is that the entire list applies to Adventism. We have just arbitrarily selected several of the characteristics for the purpose of this presentation:

  1. Boasters
  2. Blasphemers
  3. Unholy
  4. Traitors
  5. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof
  6. Ever-learning, never coming to the knowledge of the truth
  7. Will not endure sound doctrine
  8. Turn away their ears from the truth

Heavy charges, would you not say? Very much so, and these characteristics must be so damaging to character development, that Apostle Paul, under inspiration, called the real Adventist, the truthful Adventist, to action—”from such turn away.” Why such a drastic move? The experience of the first Christian Church is used by Ellen White to give us the reasons and to teach us our duty, as unpleasant as it may be, when such conditions continue to exist.

“But there is no union between the Prince of Light and the prince of darkness, and there can be no union between their followers. When Christians consented to unite with those who were but half converted from paganism, they entered upon a path which led farther and farther from the truth. Satan exulted that he had succeeded in deceiving so large a number of the followers of Christ. He then brought his power to bear more fully upon them, and inspired them to persecute those who remained true to God. None understood so well how to oppose the true Christian faith as did those who had once been its defenders, and these apostate Christians, uniting with their half-pagan companions, directed their warfare against the most essential features of the doctrines of Christ.

“It required a desperate struggle for those who would be faithful to stand firm against the deceptions and abominations which were disguised in sacerdotal garments and introduced into the church. The Bible was not accepted as the standard of faith. The doctrine of religious freedom was termed heresy, and its upholders were hated and proscribed.

“After a long and severe conflict, the faithful few decided to dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused to free herself from falsehood and idolatry. They saw that separation was an absolute necessity if they would obey the word of God. They dared not tolerate errors fatal to their own souls, and set an example which would imperil the faith of their children and children’s children. To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.” The Great Controversy, 45.

They Will Put You Out of the Synagogue

By now, many of you who are reading this article may be stirred with displeasure and even anger; and that is good! But remember the Scripture admonition, “sin not, and give no place to the devil.” Ephesians 4:26, 27. But wait, have you thought it through? That which may unsettle and disturb most is the truthfulness of the condition within the professed Adventist family. The issue is that the message is either true or false. We either live in “the perilous times” or we do not. We are either in the end of time or we are not. Either the Three Angels’ Messages have done their work in our lives or they have not. We are either ready to enter the judgment session to be judged, or not!

Some of the members have been terrorized with the threat of being put out of the “synagogue,” if they become vocal; others, not having done their homework by studying for themselves, have been intimidated with “Remnant Church not Babylon” sermons—a technique that the ministry has used for decades hoping to keep the world-wide membership docile. But who said the Seventh-day Adventist church as constituted and functioning today, is the remnant church? Where is the evidence for that notion? Neither secular nor biblical history supports the infallibility idea that has been projected by misapplying this statement through the years. Adventism never taught the infallibility of any church in the past! That is not Protestant theology. Only those who are not the remnant church, but want to appear they are, make this claim! No Seventh-day Adventist group can claim the distinction of being the remnant church before the judgment has done its work—investigated the records and rendered its verdict in keeping with the unerring record of righteousness! And by the way, nowhere in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy writings does it say that “a backsliding church” (Signs of the Times, February 19, 1894) “drifting to sea without chart or compass” (Christ Our Righteousness 50, 51. 1937 edition,) charged as having “become a harlot” (Testimonies, vol. 8, 250,) can “never” become a part of Babylon or receive the same condemnation! To the surprise of many, the truth of the matter is, in fact, quite the opposite. Ellen White did sound the warning; “we are in danger of becoming a sister of fallen Babylon.” Letter 57, 1886. Why were you not told this before?

Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are living in these perilous end times; we have acted a part in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy; we have been given the opportunity by God to act and react to the perils of the last days. What testimony have we borne? Every choice we have made in issues that have arisen in the family, the church or society at large has served to shape our character for the final pronouncement, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11. The final test does not fit us for salvation, it only reveals whether the preparation was made.

Given the nature of this public presentation, we cannot dwell in detail upon the individual application of the issues as they affect us personally. It is hoped that each will draw out the lesson for himself, “for God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14. However, let it be clearly understood that we have reached a sad chapter in the history of Adventism. There must be no uncertainty about the spiritual condition that exists within the broad spectrum of the professed people of God. Whether we care to admit it or not, the fact is that Adventism which started in 1844 is not what we have today. And when we lose the power of the truth, the loss is made up by coercion and man-made laws bringing us to one of the main issues of the Third Angel’s Message.

Whatever Happened to Religious Liberty?

Whatever happened to the religious liberty principles and doctrines that our Adventist forefathers contended for and taught as being part of the Three Angels’ Messages? Has that divine plant gone to seed? Do we now believe in religious liberty and freedom of conscience only for ourselves, while we deny it to others? Such perversion breeds persecution and invites tyranny. It does that which even God does not do. It violates the God-given freedom of choice and coerces the conscience of anyone and everyone that displeases. This divine principle of liberty of conscience and freedom of choice, given and bequeathed by God to mankind, offered in the Garden of Eden to our first parents, exemplified by the Lord Jesus Christ through His death on the cross, contended for by the first disciples of Christ, restored by the great Reformation of the 16th century, and again recognized and legislatively provided for by that divinely Inspired document, the Constitution of the United States of America, then embedded in the end-time message of Revelation 14:6–12, to be presented to the world by God’s people has been the basis and reason for heaven’s blessing that has followed all those who have recognized this principle, defended it, and regarded it as sacred.

Yet, sinister forces, working under satanic direction, have always tried to eliminate this freedom under one pretext or another. By divine revelation prophecy has indicated that when our nation, combined with apostate religious powers, shall mandate, by use and force of law, to deny the “free exercise” of this divine right to choose to follow the dictates of conscience, this should be a signal that God’s special favor and recognition are being removed. The result can only be devastating. But what if this divine principle is denied to believers within the family of Adventism? The words of Christ uttered to Jerusalem (the church), “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate,” Matthew 23:38, can only mean one thing—rejection! “Any house becomes a house of desolation when God leaves it.” Church Membership, 8.

It is right here at this point many become confused in their understanding. They conclude that the prediction of Christ, “your house is left unto you desolate,” means that the house (religious denomination, church) ceases to exist. But not so. Its existence continues. It functions. It progresses. It is vocal and still claims the former promises of God. It remains a recognizable entity in the world and by the world, but it operates without the divine approval or presence of God in its midst. Its so-called success, as the world sees it, is due to its having become, as Jesus said, “a house of merchandise.” John 2:16, Testimonies, vol. 8, 250. And how only can a “house of merchandise” function when the divine presence is lacking? The only way that a “house of merchandise” in a worldly environment can protect itself is by trademark laws enforced against others through state laws! Has this scenario, generally referred to by Christ almost 2,000 years ago and applied by Ellen White 97 years ago, found, at least in part if not in totality, fulfillment in our time? The use of a name, that at one time identified the faith and belief of God’s people, has now been applied to a house of merchandise to protect “goods and services.” Yet, just such an experience made headlines that not only received attention from Christians in particular, but the world in general. Every Seventh-day Adventist should make it their business to be acquainted with this issue, and prayerfully see the larger picture at stake here. On March 13, 2000, the Federal Court for the Southern District of Florida, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists petitioned the Court for an injunction (a judicial order) that would compel and require, under the threat of punishment, that none but those whose names are on the records of the merchandising Seventh-day Adventist church, with headquarters in Maryland, may use the name “Seventh-day Adventist” as an expression of this historic faith.

Our Disgraceful Witness

What a disgraceful witness to the universe and the world—Adventists suing Adventists! Those who, because of their employment or vested interests, try to excuse or defend, or simply do nothing to condemn such abomination, and also those who continue to support with their tithes and offerings have become a persecuting party against their brethren. By this action every rule of the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy counsel has been violated, and also by this action the leadership has, by their office representing the entire membership, made every individual member throughout the world a party to this unrighteousness.

“Church members [through their leadership] who appeal to the courts of the world show that they have chosen the world as their judge, and their names are registered in heaven as one with unbelievers.” Manuscript 64, 1898.

So what then is a true Adventist to do under such circumstance? The answer is simple and straightforward. “Duties change in character with the increase of light.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 435. Just stand up and be counted! Disassociate yourself from its fellowship. Stop financing this persecution with your tithes and offerings, lest you be partakers of the sins of those who are promoting this work.

“Today, men are choosing Barabbas and saying, ‘Crucify Christ.’ They will do this in the person of His saints.” Testimonies to the Battle Creek Church, 27.

“When brethren manifest the spirit of the dragon, it is time to exert your liberty….” Testimonies, vol. 4, 245.

Adventism has fragmented into many groups for various reasons, from the most conservative to the most liberal. And make no mistake; the issues that have brought about this fracturing have not yet been solved as some hoped—within the structured church. Therefore, the fragmentation continues. Perilous times have come. They are here! And the results have been hazardous. Leadership has been frantically trying to keep intact the membership that supplied the gross revenue. They resent being questioned. The pleas from membership to change the direction of policies, mergers with non-Adventists and fraternization with Babylon and her daughters go unheeded. They have become a law unto themselves. Fundamental truths that made Seventh-day Adventists a unique and peculiar people at the outset are gradually but consistently attacked and undermined. Flagrant disbelief in the directives found in the Spirit of Prophecy writings is common and frequent.

To Excuse the Existing Situation is to Defend It!

This presentation should not be construed as a tirade against every Seventh-day Adventist. To the contrary, it is to show that the enemy of all righteousness, through men, has succeeded to introduce a worldly system within Adventism that is diluting the precious message that is designed to prepare people for eternity. To excuse the situation existing is to defend it. Do not do it! Let the authoritative word of God do its work, and may we each benefit from its warnings.

The divine messages that carved out the Advent believers from the other communions and set them aside as a distinct people have well nigh lost their sanctifying power, its preserving property. We are brain-damaged by the forces of the world. The secular tide is proving too strong, and we are voluntarily giving up our distinctiveness. We’ve been mesmerized by the educational norms of the world to the point that what started in 1844 is not what we have today. It is immoral to claim that we have a message that is designed to convert the world, when that work has not been accomplished in us.

But let it be heard loud and clear, that there are some, a very small number, who still believe that those historic messages of Revelation 14 still mean what they meant when first given. The application of these truths today carries the same divine mandate that stirred the world when the message was first given. “We have no new message,” wrote the Lord’s Messenger in the Review and Herald, January 19, 1905. “We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches.”

That being so, the message, “Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come,” must go out as the final warning to professed Adventists and to the world! “Worship Him,” not “our church,” “our educational accomplishments and institutions, not even our name” but “Him that made heaven and earth.” “It was to separate the church of Christ from the corrupting influence of the world that the First Angel’s Message was given.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 231.

The Second Message cannot and must not be separated or divorced from the first. Make no mistake; this message applies to all the churches that have rejected present truth. The message was designed to separate and keep distinct God’s people from all others. “This message announced the moral fall of the churches in consequence of their rejection of the First Message….Thus are represented those churches that cling to the doctrines and traditions of Rome and follow her worldly practices.” Their fall “is announced in the Second Angel’s Message.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 232, 233.

The Third Message draws a sharp distinction between the Sabbath observer and the entire rest of the world. It is a separating wall. There is no partnership or fellowship with any who do not acknowledge the binding claims of all the law of God.

“I saw that the holy Sabbath is and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers; and that the Sabbath is the great question, to unite the hearts of God’s dear, waiting saints.” Early Writings, 33.

“Satan rejoices when he can lead souls to follow mistaken ideas, until their names are blotted out of the Book of Life and recorded among the names of the unjust.” This Day With God, 322.

The heavenly diagnostician has clearly spelled out our sickness. Do not argue with the True Witness.

Is there a remedy, and is there hope? The majority will reject the remedy, that has been predicted, but you, dear reader, can be made willing to accept the counsel of the True Witness and inherit, not only the following promise, but life eternal:

“Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Revelation 3:10.

“…In this Scripture is brought to view the hour of temptation that is to try them that dwell upon the earth. We are now living in this trying hour. There is no escape for any from this conflict.” Review and Herald, July 9, 1908.

Please, for Christ’s sake, stand up and be counted!

———————————————

John Nicolici is an ordained minister, living in Sacramento, California, providing a teaching and support ministry within the Adventist community of self-supporting ministries and home churches.

Facing the Crisis – With Supernatural Intervention

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This is such an important article that you will probably wish to read it several times in order to understand every detail. May I suggest that you encourage other church members to also read this article.

The greatest hope of the Christian today is centered in the coming final climax when Jesus returns to gather His saints and take them to their eternal home. Jesus has promised, “…I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John

Today we are surrounded by scores of signs that Jesus is coming soon. But one of the signs that He foretold we seem to have ignored. It is the one sign that tells us exactly when the Second Coming is to take place. In Matthew 24:14 Christ states, “…this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

This truth is emphasized by the Three Angels of Revelation 14:6 in which it is proclaimed that the everlasting gospel is to be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.

Christ’s Soon Return Not Possible

Here I must level with you. The fulfillment of a soon-coming Saviour is absolutely impossible without divine intervention. For at the present rate of progress, to reach every nation, tongue and people with the everlasting gospel will take thousands of years.

In the Review and Herald of December 17, 1987, we were told that 80% of the world’s population today has no knowledge of Christianity. At present, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is witnessing, by its presence, to only fifteen percent of the people of the world. Over 2.4 billion people living on this planet have never been reached by any church with the gospel.

Now let me clarify that. I have traveled across India by train and car. In this densely populated country there are approximately one-half million villages. Of these, 475,000 villages have never received any knowledge of Christianity by any denomination. The alarming truth is that we have done so little.

“Our penetration in the Indian languages is, likewise, scant. India has sixteen languages but more than 1,600 dialects. The Bible is available in only 74 of these languages and dialects. The Oriental Watchman Publishing House publishes Adventist literature in only 21 languages. And so we have no publications in hundreds of Indian languages and dialects. The language problem is further compounded by an average literacy rate of 36%.” North Pacific Gleaner, November 11, 1989.

And what about China—over one billion people, and other unentered lands? Yet we find this precious promise. “For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” Romans 9:28. So comes the question, “Just how can this be accomplished?”

Will you pray, with me, that God will help us discover the answer to this perplexing situation? We must acknowledge that our loving Father created us by His hands. He made us with an inquisitive mind, unable to foresee the future as He sees it. But we read in His Word that He will do nothing without revealing it to His prophets. We must ask for heavenly guidance as we search for an answer in the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy, so we may grasp, by faith, the answer of how the Three Angels’ Messages can be preached quickly to every nation and people and tongue so Jesus may come.

The Eleventh Hour Workers

Let us look in the Bible, to the parable of the eleventh-hour workers. (See Matthew 20:1-9.) In this parable we will note that the kingdom of heaven is compared to a vineyard owner who hires laborers at different times of the day. In fact, he hired five separate groups of men to work in his vineyard. At the end of the day these men were all given the same wages, irrespective of how long they had worked.

The basic lesson being taught is that salvation is by faith. The redeemed will receive eternal life, not according to their works, but according to the generosity and the grace of God. (See Christ’s Object Lessons, 394–404.) However, take note that their works were not ignored, for only those who worked were paid. Furthermore, this vineyard owner was in great need to quickly gather in his harvest, for no employer pays a full day’s wage for one hour of labor.

As you read the Scripture, you will realize that the one-hour workers, at the close of the day, were indispensable for the need to quickly finish the task. Now let us look at this parable.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.”

Ellen White, as an agent of the Holy Spirit, gives us an understanding insight as to how God plans to quickly finish the work with the help of these eleventh-hour workers. Scattered through her writings, you will find that she made seven clarifying statements concerning this parable.

We will examine each statement carefully and discover that this parable is actually a prophecy of what is soon to take place. It will change your thinking of what we have been taught that only the remnant will finish the work. As we study these quotations, you will be enlightened and encouraged, but, I also must add, be prepared for some very painful information.

The Storm Within

Now let us discuss the bad news first. As the coming storm of persecutions burst upon us by the beast and its image from without the church, Ellen White also describes an internal storm, which will face the faithful from within the church. These quotations which, when read together, reveal that apostasy will become so bad within the church that only a small remnant will be left to participate in giving the Loud Cry. But God is prepared.

“Already the judgments of God are abroad in the land, as seen in storms, in floods, in tempests, in earthquakes, in peril by land and by sea. The great I AM is speaking to those who make void His law. When God’s wrath is poured out upon the earth, who will then be able to stand? Now is the time for God’s people to show themselves true to principle. When the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in the defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test. At this time we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason…. All who will gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their defections, and loyalty from their treason, will triumph with the Third Angel’s Message.” Sons and Daughters of God, 201. Praise the Lord for such assurance.

How sad to learn, from this quotation, that few within the church will remain faithful; the majority will forsake the truth. Those that are left will need courage as they witness such deflection. How painful as these thoughts may be, yet this is but the beginning.

“We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world…. But how often have the professed advocates of the truth proved the greater obstacle to its advancement! The unbelief indulged, the doubts expressed, the darkness cherished, encourage the presence of evil angels, and open the way for the accomplishment of Satan’s devices.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 122.

Oh, what a terrible picture of what is to come! “As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the Third Angel’s Message, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren.” The Great Controversy, 608.

Promoting Sunday Sacredness

Now, as the result of this, let us see what takes place within our church. “Men in responsible positions will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath themselves, but from the sacred desk, will urge upon the people the observance of the first day of the week, pleading tradition and custom in behalf of this man–made institution.” Signs Of The Times, January 17, 1884.

Beloved, this sounds unbelievable! But do not forget, it is true, for the tares within the remnant church are not going to change. “The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God.” The Great Controversy, 615.

But take courage! The remaining wheat, though few in number, will be filled with the Latter Rain and will give the Loud Cry. The results will be amazing! “Servants of God, endowed with power from on high with their faces lighted up, and shining with holy consecration, went forth to proclaim the message from heaven. Souls that were scattered all through the religious bodies answered to the call, and the precious were hurried out of the doomed churches, as Lot was hurried out of Sodom before her destruction.” Early Writings, 278, 279.

It is at this time that we will discover that God has a plan by which He will quickly finish the work, for the honest souls who have answered the call and who have come out of Babylon will join the remnant and become the eleventh-hour workers, making it possible to quickly give the everlasting gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Then we will see “…the Lord can do more in one hour than we can do in a whole lifetime, and when He sees that His people are fully consecrated, let me tell you, a great work will be done in a short time, and the message of truth is to be carried into the dark places of the earth, where it has never been proclaimed.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 5, 347, 348.

Who are the Eleventh Hour Workers?

Now we are ready to explore these seven quotations describing the eleventh-hour workers. The first quotation tells us who the eleventh-hour workers are. “The laborers for the Master were His official servants, upon whom He laid the weightiest responsibilities to do His work…. Some were found waiting for work at the eleventh hour, only one hour before the close of the working–day.” Review and Herald, June 28, 1898. So these are going to be His official servants.

In the second quotation we find where these workers are now located. “There are diligent students of the word of prophecy in all parts of the world, who are obtaining light and still greater light from searching the Scriptures. This is true of all nations, of all tribes, and of all peoples. These will come from the grossest error, and will take the place of those who have had opportunities and privileges and have not prized them. These have worked out their own salvation with fear and trembling, lest they should become deficient in doing the ways and will of God, while those who have had great light, through the perversity of their own natural heart, turned away from Christ because they were displeased with His requirements. But God will not be left without witnesses. The one-hour laborers will be brought in at the eleventh hour, and will consecrate their ability and all their entrusted means to advance the work. These will receive the reward for their faithfulness, because they are true to principle, and shun not their duty to declare the whole counsel of God. When those who have had abundance of light throw off the restraint which the Word of God imposes, and make void His law, others will come in to fill their places and take their crown.” Review and Herald, June 15, 1897.

They are Not Seventh-day Adventists

Now let us analyze these two paragraphs.

  1. The eleventh hour people are scattered all over the world. They are native citizens of every country.
  2. They are not Seventh-day Adventists. How do we know this? Because the eleventh hour people are in gross doctrinal error. Adventists are not in doctrinal error. Ellen White specifically defines gross error as belief in Sunday sacredness, and in the immortality of the soul. (See The Great Controversy, 588.)
  3. Her use of the expression “great light” and “abundance of light” is confined to Seventh-day Adventists.
  4. She says that these (Seventh-day Adventists) would be the ones to throw off the restraints because they were displeased with God’s requirements.
  5. The eleventh-hour workers will take the place of the early workers who have not been true to principle for they had turned away from Christ. And here we find her most astounding prediction that these Seventh-day Adventists will make void the law of God.

The eleventh-hour people will take the crowns of those who failed to walk in the light.

How amazing!

Now we come to the third quotation, which tells us from where these eleventh-hour workers will come. “At the eleventh hour the Lord will gather a company out of the world to serve Him. There will be a converted ministry. Those who have had privileges and opportunities to become intelligent in regard to the truth, and yet who continue to counterwork the work God would have accomplished, will be purged out, for God accepts the service of no man whose interest is divided. He accepts the whole heart, or none.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, 320.

As we meditate upon this third quotation, we discover it is not referring to some reform movement that comes out of the body of Adventism, but to a people who come out of the world, for the problem of the early workers was that they lacked conversion. Worse than that, they have counterworked God’s will. Their interests are divided. They will be purged out. The eleventh-hour workers, who are coming, come out of the world and will take their place. What painful words are these.

Who Will Finish the Work?

Now the fourth quotation reveals how the eleventh-hour worker will finish the job. “At the eleventh hour the Lord will call into His service many faithful workers. Self-sacrificing men and women will step into the places made vacant by apostasy and death. To young men and young women, as well as to those who are older, God will give power from above. With converted minds, converted hands, converted feet, and converted tongues, their lips touched with a living coal from the divine altar, they will go forth into the Master’s service, moving steadily onward and upward, carrying the work forward to completion.” The Youth’s Instructor, February 13, 1902.

Did you notice that the word “converted” was used three times? This is the problem of our church today. Only faithful workers will be called to the work. The eleventh-hour people carry the work to completion.

The fifth quotation describes the speed and the special power bestowed upon the eleventh-hour worker. “But I speak not my own words when I say that God’s Spirit will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity, but who have not distinguished the voice of God or appreciated the movings of His Spirit. Then thousands in the eleventh hour will see and acknowledge the truth.… These conversions to truth will be made with a rapidity that will surprise the church, and God’s name alone will be glorified.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 16.

A previous quote said the early workers within the church were purged. Quotation five said they were passed by. Why? Because they failed to understand their day of opportunity. The early workers did not know God’s voice when they heard it. They did not appreciate the work of the Holy Spirit. They did not glorify God. Thousands of people will see and acknowledge the truth at the eleventh hour. The work will be finished so fast that the church will be surprised.

“A great work is to be done in a short time.” Review and Herald, December 18, 1888. “In Ezekiel’s vision… The bright light going among the living creatures with the swiftness of lightning represents the speed with which this work will finally go forward to completion.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 754. What a promise!

The sixth quotation reveals that these eleventh-hour workers will enter the vineyard and make possible a finished work. It says, “There are many souls to come out of the ranks of the world, out of the churches—even the Catholic Church—whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank and file to proclaim the truth heretofore. For this reason the eleventh hour laborers will receive their penny. These will see the battle coming and will give the trumpet a certain sound. [Praise God!] When the crisis is upon us, when the season of calamity shall come, they will come to the front, gird themselves with the whole armor of God, and exalt His law, adhere to the faith of Jesus, and maintain the cause of religious liberty which reformers defended with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives.…” Selected Messages, Book 3, 386, 387.

Keeping the Commandments of God

Now let us take note. These eleventh-hour people come out of the world and out of other churches, even the Catholic Church. They are not a movement coming out of Adventism. The people who will finish God’s work are still in the ranks of the world, that is, in other churches. Nothing could be more plainly stated. And, consider carefully, will these eleventh-hour workers observe the Sabbath? The answer is “Yes, beyond any doubt.”

How do we know this? Because they will “exalt His law.” How could they possibly exalt His law and not keep the Sabbath? How could they have the faith of Jesus and not understand the conditional immortality and other connected and essential truths? They are the eleventh-hour people.

The sixth quotation ties the parable beyond any doubt to a future time. We have not yet entered a season of calamity as a church. As yet there has been no overwhelming religious liberty crisis. I believe this will take place when the mark of the beast is enforced. We will be faced with a crisis of persecution and difficulty such as we have never dreamed. But praise the Lord! God has a plan to finish the work with the eleventh-hour workers.

The seventh and last quotation reveals the saddest information of all, for it tells us that the early workers within the church will find that their lamps will go out. “Many souls who have come from other denominational churches and, at the eleventh hour, will obey all the truth because they have not set themselves in array against heaven’s light but lived up to all the light they had; while those who have had great light, large privileges and opportunities and have failed to live in the light and walk in the light will drop out by the way. Their light will shine less and less until their lamps will go out for the want of the oil of the grace in their vessels with their lamps.” Letter 36a, 1890.

Remember, “As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the Third Angel’s Message,… abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy popular side….They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren.” The Great Controversy, 608.

Opposing Heaven’s Light

These quotations are painful for us to read, but they are not difficult to understand. With slight variation they each tell the same basic story. For want of grace the lamps of the early workers go out. Why? Because they have opposed heaven’s light. “The majority forsake us.” That means more than half. Half may be a conservative estimate. Ellen White says a large class currently in our pews will unite with the world and become our bitterest enemies. They will deceive and mislead souls.

Finally, it is clear beyond any misunderstanding that, in the last hour of time, God will call a new team of workers into His vineyard. People from other churches will pick up the torch of truth and finish the work. We have always felt that no one else could take our place. Ancient Israel had the same false security—and how wrong they were.

Mrs. White has made plain that God’s people will go through, but shaken and sifted. There is no question that truth will triumph. God has expanded this parable in her writings, not to sadden us, but to give us courage for the future. God has His people everywhere. They will come from unexpected places. Praise the Lord! Thus unfamiliar names and unfamiliar faces may largely lead the work of God in the eleventh hour.

We may try to avoid the unpleasant character of these predictions. We might look for a fulfillment sometime in the past, but the internal evidence in these quotations rules out any past fulfillment. These eleventh-hour events are obviously all still future. These are final hour events, eleventh-hour events, to take place just before our Lord returns.

Humble and Uneducated

“Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the daytime we look toward heaven but do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 80, 81.

On examining this comment it is clear that education and talent are not the ultimate qualifications of the eleventh-hour workers, for “few great men will be engaged.” What God needs is a total dependence on Him. We are told that the faithful servants are not yet disclosed to view. They do not have our light, but they have a genuine Christian character.

When everything turns dark, we will see them. Beloved, here is a description of the coming massive interchange. “In vision I saw two armies in terrible conflict. One army was led by banners bearing the world’s insignia; the other was led by the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel. Standard after standard was left to trail in the dust as company after company from the Lord’s army joined the foe and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the commandment-keeping people of God.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 41.

Thank God for such heavenly insight. “As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in our ranks…. Those who have had great light and precious privileges, but have not improved them, will, under one pretext or another, go out from us.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 400.

So we have been given the nature of this final conflict to come. It is a time of mortal conflict, when company after company will leave us. Such an exodus has not yet taken place. We have not yet seen the day that tribe after tribe, from the ranks of the enemy, have joined us. It is true that, from time to time, individual ministers from other faiths have joined us, but the picture given here is one of an enormous interchange, not an individual or a few people here and there.

Filling the Ranks

The scenes appear to be simultaneous. While the companies leave us, whole tribes will join us.. It would be rational to believe that these tribes are the eleventh-hour laborers. Soon we may expect a manifestation of the great power of God, for Ellen White says, “The Lord can do more in one hour than we can do in a lifetime, and when He sees that His people are fully consecrated, let me tell you, a great work will be done in a short time, and the message of truth is to be carried into the dark places of the earth, where it has never been proclaimed.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 5, 347, 348.

As you have read these inspired quotations, I trust you have felt the divine impression that God is only waiting for an adequate number of fully consecrated people who will cooperate with Him in finishing the work. Will you be ready? I hope so, for God will soon put His hand to His final work. He will call faithful, humble people wherever He can find them. He will finish His work using only consecrated people. This work will be accomplished against incredible resistance. God will do His work quickly, and He will do it to the eternal glory of Jesus Christ.

Beloved, it is now time for the faithful remnant to prepare for this coming crisis in total consecration to God and His message. The servant of the Lord has told us in The Great Controversy, 464, “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children.”

We, as God’s end-time people, have now come to the time of this last great revival and reformation which is to take place among the remaining wheat. This will prepare the faithful few for the great outpouring of the Latter Rain which will enable the sealed saints to call out of Babylon the eleventh-hour workers, who will then join with us and together, with converted minds, converted hands, converted feet and converted tongues, with lips touched with a living coal from the divine altar, carry the work forward to completion.

Praise God! It will happen! And Jesus will come for His saints. Will you not pray and prepare for this final revival of primitive godliness, which has not been seen since apostolic times, that we, with the eleventh-hour workers, may quickly gather in the harvest that Jesus may come?

The Sacred Duty of Disobedience

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Most converts to the Seventh-day Adventist faith are required to sort out their thoughts about authority and obedience quite early in their experience. When the challenge came to me, I was a teenager working on Friday nights. I had learned about the Sabbath truth and was feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit. But I was under the authority of the owner of the plywood factory where I worked, and friends warned me that I would be fired if I did not work on Friday nights. On the other hand, God had commanded Sabbath observance. What should I do? I had to think it through carefully. I finally came to the conclusion that I had a sacred duty to disobey the factory owner and to obey God.

Choose Ye this Day

Thousands of other converts to our faith have had similar experiences. They have been brought to the realization that, strange as it may seem, under certain circumstances disobedience can be a duty, even a sacred duty. For many, the challenge came, as it did to me, at the very beginning of their Christian life. And for many the experience has been repeated quite frequently as they have made their way through life. Soldiers have had to disobey their officers; students have had to disobey their principals and teachers; citizens have had to disobey government officials, and members of some churches have had to disobey their church leaders in order to obey God. This has led to the formulation of clear concepts of authority in the minds of most Seventh-day Adventists. When forced to make a choice between obeying God or man, they unhesitatingly choose to obey God. They consider that, under such circumstances, they have a sacred duty of disobedience to man.

It would be well if such choices were forced upon us only outside of the church, but the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy make it clear that it can happen within the church. In Acts 5:17–20 we find the record of a situation in which church leaders commanded the apostles to not preach any more about Christ and imprisoned them, but an angel opened the prison doors and ordered them to go back to the temple and continue preaching. Thus, they had a sacred duty of disobedience to church leaders.

Ellen White’s inspired comments on this situation are most instructive. She writes: “’The angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.’ We see here that the men in authority are not always to be obeyed, even though they may profess to be teachers of Bible doctrine.…Because those who were once the depositaries of truth became unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who would receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and would advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders.” Testimonies to Ministers, 69, 70.

An even more startling passage is found on page 81: “But unless the truth is enthroned in the heart, and a thorough transition takes place from darkness to light, those who handle sacred responsibilities are ministers of darkness, blind leaders of the blind.” Ibid.

A Horrifying Situation

This is appalling. We can hardly imagine such a horrifying situation. What could be the cause of such a condition? Look again at the first quotation above. A careful reading of this entire chapter in Testimonies to Ministers will reveal that the issue is truth, sacred truth. The word “truth” is used over and over in the chapter. Church leaders have an obligation to the truth of the Bible. This is a sacred trust. If they become unfaithful to this sacred trust by ignoring or rejecting the truth of the Bible, they become ministers of darkness in their handling of sacred responsibilities. What then of those who nevertheless obey them? On page 91 where there are three usages of the word “truth” we find this warning: “I call upon God’s people to open their eyes. When you sanction or carry out the decisions of men who, as you know, are not in harmony with truth and righteousness, you weaken your own faith and lose your relish for communion with God.” Ibid.

There is, then, such a thing as a sacred duty of disobedience even within the church. This grim reality forces us to look at our leaders, as our prophet admonishes us to do, with open eyes. The history of Israel places a tragic example before us: “The Jews perished as a nation because they were drawn from the truth of the Bible by their rulers, priests, and elders. Had they heeded the lessons of Jesus, and searched the Scriptures for themselves, they would not have perished.” Ibid., 109.

Ministers of Darkness

They were drawn from the truths of the Bible by their church leaders. Obviously there is nothing about high position that guarantees spiritual authority. Church authority is grounded in Scripture and is limited by Scripture. In order for the church and its leaders to speak with “duly constituted church authority,” they must say about sin what God says about it in His Holy Word. “She [the church] must say about sin what God says about it.” The Desire of Ages, 84.

If church leaders reject the Scriptural definitions of sin and advance their own human opinions as “duly constituted church authority,” they betray their sacred trust, they blaspheme God, and they become ministers of darkness. We then have a sacred duty to disobey them.

The Sin of Christians Suing Christians

No sin that is mentioned in the Bible is defined more clearly, or denounced more emphatically, than the sin of Christians suing Christians in worldly courts. “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you. because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?” 1 Corinthians 6:1–8.

To this unmistakably clear admonition from the Apostle Paul must be added the equally clear and emphatic warning from Ellen White: “Those who justify their course of action in going to law, and that with their brethren in the church, are acting out the spirit that developed the rebellion in heaven.” A Message to our Physicians, 5. We must understand this to be the spirit of Satan.

“Lawsuits between brethren are a reproach to the cause of truth. Christians who go to law with one another expose the church to the ridicule of her enemies and cause the powers of darkness to triumph. They are wounding Christ afresh and putting Him to open shame.” Acts of the Apostles, 306.

“I have written largely in regard to Christians who believe the truth placing their cases in courts of law to obtain redress. In doing this, they are biting and devouring one another in every sense of the world. ‘to be consumed one of another.’ They cast aside the inspired counsel God has given, and in the face of the message He gives they do the very thing He has told them not to do. Such men may as well stop praying to God, for He will not hear their prayers. They insult Jehovah, and He will leave them to become the subjects of Satan until they shall see their folly and seek the Lord by confession of their sins.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 302.

Read that paragraph again, and then prepare yourself for a shock. “Why,” you are probably asking, “are these grim warnings being published to our readers?”

Because, dear reader, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is now launching a series of lawsuits against Seventh-day Adventists.

Duly Constituted Church Authority

Why are these Seventh-day Adventists being sued? For the “crime” of correctly identifying themselves as Seventh-day Adventists. The first successful suit was against Pastor John Marik and his congregation in Hawaii. Now they have succeeded again with Pastor Rafael Perez and his congregation in Florida. Though the case was won by the General Conference in a Federal court, it is now being appealed, and the final outcome is uncertain. Meanwhile, many other suits are in preparation, in a demonstration of total contempt for both the Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy.

The procedure, with some variations, is as follows:

A group of true Seventh-day Adventists is found whose members are worshipping separately, in a home or some suitable place in an effort to protect themselves from the false doctrines that are being taught in many Seventh-day Adventist churches today.

The group is ordered to stop using the name “Seventh-day Adventist.”

If they do not obey this order, they are disfellowshipped on the charge of failing to obey “duly constituted church authority.”

Then it is announced that a group of non-Adventists has been found using our church name. It is claimed that it is all right to sue them, since they are “non-Adventists.”

But are they really non-Adventists? Most emphatically not! They are believing, teaching, and practicing the true Seventh-day Adventist faith, with no corruptions from Liberalism, Calvinism or Modernism. This fact is carefully obscured by the misrepresentations that they are troublemakers and rebels who are “refusing to submit to duly constituted church authority.” Their appeals to church leaders to consider the theological problems with which they are concerned are ignored.

Therefore, when confronted with a choice between submitting to the threat of a lawsuit conducted in total contempt of both the Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy, they consider it their sacred duty to disobey men in order that they may obey God. They hold that authority, which is exercised in contempt of Scripture, cannot be “duly constituted.” Under these circumstances they believe that there is a sacred duty of disobedience to man and obedience to God.

One Day Closer to “Home”

Distressing as these apostate prosecutions (persecutions) may be, they should not discourage us. We have been clearly forewarned. God’s special messenger, Ellen White, has written that in the last days our worst enemies will be those who once shared our faith.

“As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the Third Angel’s Message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren.” The Faith I Live By, 336.

How comforting it is to know that our heavenly Father is not surprised or shaken by all of this, as we may be. He knew all about it and gave us an abundance of advance information to bolster our courage. When we see these things happening, we need not panic nor be discouraged. We can remind ourselves that the prophecies must be fulfilled, and say with Jesus: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28.

Organization

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A Touchy Subject

The idea of organization has been a touchy subject among us as Seventh-day Adventists, even in the situation we now find ourselves in. It is a subject that needs to be approached with much tact, prayer and concern. However, I have observed, over the last few years, that we have been too quick to throw the baby out with the bath water. If something did not work correctly for us in the past, we are a little more gun shy now.

Why are we, as a movement, here? Because we want true fellowship; we want to be where God’s people are; we want cooperation; we want to hear the truth; we do not want it watered down.

Jesus is doing something here, folks, and we really need to do some deep thinking so that we understand the whys and the wherefores of what is really happening. It will give us a better understanding of what God expects from us in the future. We are where we are today because what we receive and what we desire to get we are not getting in the regular Seventh-day Adventist Churches.

I want to present to you our thoughts and concepts as we began to organize an association of small churches in Maine. We have had to come to grips with a lot of things, and I want to share these with you. I am not telling you that we have something with which you need to fall in line, but I hope this article will reaffirm concepts you have been forming.

Many of the things that I have mentioned are the exact reasons why I started going to independent meetings in my area almost 12 years ago. I wanted to hear things that were actuated and empowered by the Spirit of God! I would sit in the regular church, and I would say, “Why do I want to go to sleep? I should listen, but what am I hearing? Even though I am hearing words, I am really not hearing anything.”

Missing the Point

Communication is more than just words. It is the concepts and the spirit behind the communication. The idea that we see many of the things that are wrong within the regular church does not mean that we have really come clear of that completely. Often times my heart has been wrung over the years as we have basically licked our wounds and talked a lot about what the conference has done to us, and we have missed the whole point.

Take a look at some of the early settlers in this country who fled severe persecution in Europe, only to come here and pass religious laws and put people in stocks who did not follow their rules and regulations. I have often seen, in our groups in Maine, the same spirit that we condemn within the conference. So we have to ask, what is happening?.

What is happening is that the regular Seventh-day Adventist Church is not organized. You say, “What do you mean? They have conferences, pastors, teachers, conference presidents and all that.”

I want to introduce into your mind the concept that the Adventist movement, before it formed an organization in 1863, starting when the Michigan Conference was organized. They were spiritually organized, and this spiritual order is what we need to understand.

We seek to become involved in an outward organization that will facilitate doing God’s work, which I believe is necessary. But it is the icing on the cake. We have to understand true spiritual order, in order to have physical organization really function. Otherwise all we have done, again, is form another situation that will follow the track of Romanism at some point in time.

Some time ago I heard a friend of mine speak on apostasy. He quoted many things from the Bible and a lot of things from the Testimonies dealing with the alpha and the omega. Our eyes were opened. A lot of things that I had thought about were confirmed. I was thrilled to hear my thoughts echoed in what he said.

When I shared these things with fellow members in the Adventist Church, I was set back when I saw the displeasure on their faces. So my wife and I learned that there were places where we would be fed and there were other places where we would not.

Divisive and Disloyal?

After awhile we said, “Why should we go someplace where we are not fed when we can go to a place where we are fed?” To make a long story short, after two or three business meetings at the church, we were disfellowshipped for belonging to a divisive and disloyal organization. Well, I am sorry to say, brothers and sisters, to my disappointment and to the disappointment of others, within a year that organization folded.

It was an embarrassment to the Lord, and it was heart–rending to most of the participants. I now understand that even though it was an organization, it was not truly organized in gospel order. That was why, as soon as something came along that was controversial, everybody ducked and ran for their corners.

The problem is, brothers and sisters, our thinking, as Seventh-day Adventists, is in the same mode as the children of Israel when they said, “Let us make us a king.” (See 1 Samuel 18:5.)

Still Looking to Man

This organization was formed around a man. He was a very charismatic speaker, so people said, “Let us get together and raise funds so that you can speak.” It was based on an individual.

Now there is room for personal ministries, and they have filled a void, but if we look for people like that to fill those voids, instead of taking our own place in service, we are going to be in big trouble.

It is a human tendency to sit back and say, “Let us make us a king that will judge among us” and then have some kind of central government. But I believe that God would have a kingdom with Jesus as the Head. Christ said, “All ye are brethren,” (See Matthew 23:8) with an invisible but obvious Leader. When we learn to order ourselves in that manner, then we can go forward. Without ordering ourselves in this manner we cannot accomplish the work, neither can we have personal victory.

Some of us think, “I just cannot deal with other folks. I just want to go off by myself and get this right.” If we do this, at some point in time we are going to be missing out on the interaction that occurs among brethren and in the strengths and weaknesses that bind us together. When we work in concert, we can be balanced.

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffer-ing, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1–3.

Many times I have seen division after division after division take place. If you have not, brothers and sisters, I feel thankful for you, but I have seen this so many times in so many groups. I have heard of it in so many different places and people ask “Why?” Oftentimes we think these divisions are of little consequence, because we are in the shaking time. There are those who are going to depart from us.

But in Ephesians 4, Paul said that we must endeavor to keep “the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.” He did not say endeavor to make it but endeavoring to keep it. You would not get married to someone you did not love with the hope that, just because you were getting married, you would love each other eventually.

Just Living Together, but Never Married!

Oftentimes that is what so-called Christianity is doing today in ecumenism. “Well, let us just get together and live together because we have some common goals and we will put all these other things aside for now.” That is not what God is asking for. He is wants us to become one, as He and the Father are one. That occurs through sanctification of the truth.

The disciples did not fully understand it, being brought up in the system in which they were. They had been taught to look for a temporal kingdom and a temporal king. Jesus would often try to teach them a lesson but their minds would be darkened because of their own preconceived ideas. Jesus would tell them, “Oh, but My kingdom is like this,” and He would try to give them an example. (See John 18:36.) They did many things which showed that, even though they were teachable, there were still wrong ideas within them.

We are dealing with the same thing today. We cannot make unity. God in His Spirit, within us, draws us into unity, but we have to understand the concepts of Christian conduct among ourselves so we know how to conduct ourselves in the church for God.

There are things that we are doing that God would not have us to do, and there are things that we are not doing that God would have us to do. There is conduct that is acceptable, and there is conduct that is not acceptable. If we have an intelligent faith, God expects us to study His Word and come into line.

We may talk to 20 different people and come up with 20 different ideas of organization. My friend has often said, “There is the “Big O” organization and there is the “Little o” being organized.” There is no way that anybody can efficiently do anything or amount to anything unless they are organized.

In the Testimonies the Servant of the Lord has told us that God’s angels are not authorized to work with confusion. (See Testimonies, vol. 1, 649.) Orderly conduct, “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He saith When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that He ascended, what is it but He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.” Ephesians 4:3–10.

New life, new spirit—the human carnal nature that is within us must be eradicated in order to have true unity.

I am not saying that we cannot go forward unless we all have perfect victory. I am saying we need to be aware of what spirit is within us and what that Spirit leads us to do, as far as conduct within our family, within the church, or within larger groups.

Responsibility Within the Church

When there is no order within the home, that disorder spills over into a lack of order within the church. I am not talking about being a hard, dictatorial individual who drives your family. We, as men and fathers, women and mothers, grandparents or children, have a place within the family, a responsibility, and we must fulfill it in a diligent manner. Otherwise there is going to be trouble in the family.

It is also true in the church. There are those whom God has given to fill places of responsibility in the church. If those people take more responsibility than what God has given them, there is trouble. If they do not take the responsibility that God has given them, there is trouble. So we cannot go either way; and since we are gun shy of organization, because of what the “Big O”organization has been doing, we will find ourselves going to perdition because we lack order and organization among us.

Brothers and sisters, there is no option. It is mandatory that we have order. We are forming no new organization, and we encourage no one else to form a new organization. This organization has been around since before this world existed. This organization is still there, existing, in place. The only problem is that we do not understand where our place is to function within it.

Jesus Christ is now calling for all of those who have faith to fall into line and to understand their place within the temple of God. When we fall into line, it will start a domino effect for perfection of character, for the building up of the church and for an understanding of the truth. We will no longer be divided and will not be tossed around by every wind of doctrine. Those things have come in among us and have given us all heartache, trouble, contention and confusion. It is not God’s will. It is because we are not organized.

“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Ephesians 4:11. Here are the gifts. He has given gifts to men, not positions of authority but positions of responsibility. These positions of responsibility are given straight from the Commander to those generals whom He has chosen as leaders.

Christ has set these positions in place. If these are not soon coming about within historic Adventism, we are in trouble. We have no right to point to the regular Seventh-day Adventist Church and say, “Shame on you.” Shame on us! We are in as much trouble, if not more than them, because our knowledge of truth should be greater than those who say, “Well, I just do not care. I think we just ought to love.”

If we serve God with a faith that is based upon correct and right principles, we have an intelligent faith. These positions of responsibility Jesus put within His church, not to function as independent atoms but to culminate and work in concert with all the rest of the people and with the other gifts within the church, “For the perfecting of the saints,” (See Ephesians 4:12), bringing about character development.

Do We Really Love God?

We have talked many times in groups, as brothers and sisters, about the concept of character perfection. I am sure that most of us understand that God expects us to overcome every sin. Just to say that I love Jesus is not good enough.

The overcoming of every sin is not going to happen until things come to order in the church. Yes, sin is personal between you and God. It effects the group, however, when individual problems come to the surface. How do you deal with that? There is a tactful way to give counsel. If my brother is at fault, or if people begin to realize that I am off balance, then we say, “Help me, brother. Help me, sister, to see where I should put my next footstep.”

Working in concert within a group, as brethren, begins to give balance and provides a format where people can see those deep rooted tendencies they have not seen. The way things are now, if someone is continually coming up with a problem, how are they to know? They will think it is because so-and-so put them in that situation. They have no way to sit down to bring about justice, to have good counsel and to deal with problems that arise in the church.

How are you really going to follow Matthew 18 through in most cases? It is impossible. “…for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:12–16.

How is this working together in concert to happen? This is the key to understanding where we stand before God and how we proceed. Often we have said, “Well, let us just go do the work.” We have tried that with sometimes success and sometimes very limited success. I dare say that God is not going to bring in that great influx of people, which we have been promised, until things are done decently and in order.

People are not foolish. They are not spiritually dumb, and they are not ignorant. These people are wide awake. They understand issues. They just have not had everything revealed to them, and I dare say that God is not taking the blinders off, in many cases. Oftentimes, all they would be brought into is a very discouraging circumstance of wrangling, faultfinding, backbiting, gossiping, self-righteousness, and condemnation of someone because they are not following the convictions of the one doing the condemning.

There are going to be problems, but when people come in and see the love of God brought about in an orderly fashion, they will know this is completely different than what they experience anywhere else.

Choose Ye This Day—God or Man?

Everywhere else man rules! And where man rules, one man is exalted and other men are put down. That situation is never going to bring about perfection of Christian character. All it is going to do is discourage character development and produce fanaticism.

Another situation we have to deal with is that God expects us to come into unity and all speak the same thing. Unless you are greatly immune from what we in New England have experienced, every wind of doctrine has also blown your way. In many cases some of these winds of doctrines have not necessarily been that far off from truth. We have kind of puzzled over them to see what is really occurring. Remember, communication is more than words. We have to learn to detect the spiritual undertow of what is presented.

We have come to the conclusion that many of these people have one prominent issue. It is on their mind, and they come and teach this one prominent issue. Even if you may not disagree, they want you to stand fully for that issue. Sister White calls these people “one-idea people.” (See Gospel Workers, 1915 edition, 119.) They have made this one issue the prominent test. That is it.

So accepting or rejecting that one issue determines whether you are in their group or whether you are not in their group. This has caused more division or heartache than is imaginable. If you have had trouble with that, and I am sure you have to some extent, remember, there are testing truths that God has given, which are not optional.

The Issue

The message we have to take to the world, to warn the world; the information we need in order to put together the nuts and bolts of a practical Christian character; the sealing of ourselves, our families and those out there in the world, is the issue.

If we are ever going to accomplish this work and go home to see our Saviour, we must come to the point where we ask, “What is the priority?” The concepts that are involved in the Three Angels’ Messages apply to our lives, and when taught and applied to the lives of others, they are the key to going home. It is the key to finishing the sealing so Christ can finish His work in the Most Holy Place, is it not?

If Satan can distract us on any other issue, so that we are waylaid, held up, and resources expended in any other way, even though it may be an important issue, we have failed to address the prominent emergency of the day. That is where we need to get centered. What are those issues?

In New England, we are, as you know, very strong personality people, and there have been issues that have divided us. We have had to come together and say, “We believe at this point in time that some of these issues can be tabled for now because there is a situation on which we must go forward, otherwise things will not progress, and we will not progress personally either.”

Remember the divisions in Corinth? Paul wrote them a letter. He said, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” 1 Corinthians 1:10.

Isaiah 9 says that Christ’s kingdom is going to be set up and He is going to order it in justice and judgment. How many folks have gone out from groups like ours because there was no justice and there was no judgment?

We Cannot go Back

That has to stop! Jesus would bring in justice and judgment, but He wants us to all speak the same thing! What is it? Now truth runs close to error. You have those people out there saying, “You believe one thing; we believe another. Let us just put aside our differences and work together.” My reply would be, “No, we cannot just put our differences aside. We need to resolve our differences.”

There needs to be some fence mending. There needs to be some prayer and fasting so we can find out where we are not in harmony with God’s order. That is a must! “I will have you all speak the same mind,” He said. Why were they not speaking the same thing and why were they not of the same mind?

It is very obvious that in Corinth the people were choosing men to lead them. “For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:11, 12.

It is the human tendency to make a king. This was brought out to me on one of our brother’s back lawns a few weeks ago. As we began to come together, we read the chapter in Patriarchs and Prophets of when the children of Israel finally asked for a king. They came to Samuel. They had already been thinking about this, and they said, “Your sons are not just. So we want a king to reign over us and to judge us.” Ibid., 604.

How often I have heard it said that if the regular church would stop celebrating; if they would stop some of the erroneous training of the pastors; if that (and the list goes on) was corrected, then we could go back. I say to you what Jesus said to His disciples when they suggested the same thing: “You cannot put new wine into old bottles lest the old bottles burst.” (See Matthew 9:17.) Brothers and sisters, I believe that we could not go back into the regular church unless the whole thing was set up on completely different principles.

In order to do that you would have to dismantle it from top to bottom. To say that just putting different men in those positions would correct the problem is not the right concept. Look around you. We have done that. It is still a human tendency to set up these kingdoms with a prominent individual that we can look at and say, “Here, world, here is a charismatic individual, a steady, spiritual individual. He is our leader.”

Are You Asleep in the Pew?

As we have looked at the regular church with the pastors who are man–made leaders just because they have gone through the system and have been ordained, it seems the people think, “Well, he has to be God’s appointed.” Well, no! Then you have the people who sit in the pews and say “Amen” to whatever they hear. But if somebody new comes along who is not endorsed by those in authority, then these same people find fault with him, no matter what is said.

I have also seen this within the independent ministries. It is still not so much what is spoken as how it is spoken and by whom it is advocated. We have to get over that hump. We have to come to the place where we stop looking for a human king and start looking for our King Jesus. Then all of us can come into line and say, “All of us are brethren.” (See Matthew 23:8.) Paul said, “I would have you all of the same mind, the same judgment.” (See
1 Corinthians 1:10.) The reason they were not of the same mind is that they were following different leaders and receiving a different spirit.

You know, the disciples had their problems. Upon their return from a missionary tour, John said to Jesus, “…Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My name, that can lightly speak evil of me.” Mark 9:38, 39.

So even the disciples had the concept that if someone was not part of their group, then they were not with the program. This is the thinking that we have.

We are No Man’s Master!

There have been more ills caused in Adventism because we have not understood that we are not mind and judgment for our brothers. We are to be wise counselors, but we are not another man’s master. Christ is the Master of all. In giving counsel we can give information, but then, if the individual is not involved in open error or open sin, that brother or sister must follow their own convictions, even though we do not agree.

Many times we have not discerned the difference between counsel and law. For instance, we are told that Eve was counseled not to leave the side of her husband. (See Early Writings, 147, 148.) Did she sin when she left his side? No, she did not. She did not sin until she ate of the tree, but departing from that counsel was the first step leading up to her sin.

So there are things we have been counseled to do and not to do. We need to heed that counsel very closely, and if we expect to honor God, we will. When someone else has departed from that counsel, we cannot treat them as though they have transgressed.

There is a great difference there. Out of that misunderstanding we have the “dress police,” and we have the “food police.” We have people who will, at a potluck dinner, scrutinize the food to the point where they do not even want to be there, or eat, because somebody has brought something that is not quite what they are convicted ought to be on the table. God is not asking us to be somebody else’s policeman. We are not to be mind and judgment for someone else. Many times we watch our brethren to see where they are in the faith, rather than examining our own hearts to see whether we are in the faith.

Louder than Words?

There is, however, a condition where we seek Christ’s approval, and then we go ahead and do things to the contrary. How many times have we made mistakes because we want to be seen as good Christians, yet we have neglected to do the things that God says constitutes being a good Christian. “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:9–12.

So the idea of being exalted, as opposed to being brethren and servants, was formed. I think if we sat down with His disciples at the time, they would not realize that they thought that way. I think it is that way among us, too, even though we talk about being a servant and being the least; our natural tendencies like to take over. Actions speak louder than words.

Often our actions have said that we would like to be first. Jesus said this could not be. You know, we talk about the pope and all of these things that go on in Romanism, and a lot of times we miss the point that what is wrong with Romanism is the exaltation of man in the place of God and the putting down of other men. That exists among us today. You do not just have to look to the structured church to see that.

Primitive Godliness?

If there is anything that I can impress upon your minds, it is this: we have not fully understood the deep underlying reasons and concepts of what has really happened within the structured church and why we are where we are. We need to understand those, and we need to understand it like the disciples did.

Look at Acts 1:6. The disciples had gone through so much. They had Jesus, Who was raised right before their faces, and still they asked, “…Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” These men still had not come to an understanding of what Jesus was saying when He said, “My kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is spiritual. The words that I speak unto you are spirit and they are life.” (See John 18:36.)

They were still looking for a temporal kingdom and they wanted somebody on that throne. However, Jesus said to them, “…It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8. You know, it is so wonderful how Jesus does things, and it is something that we have to learn about counseling people.

Oftentimes people are doing something, and we would like to say, “Do not do that!” Jesus, rather than hitting them on that point would draw them onto a higher plane of truth. He would almost avoid the subject, but He would take them beyond that situation.

Another place He said, “…but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49. So these individuals were put in a situation where they were to tarry. They fellow-shipped together. They prayed together and something began to happen. “And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots….” Acts 1:24, 25.

Now look at Acts 2:1. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Now everybody in the world cannot get together in one place, but it says to not neglect the gathering of yourselves together as you see that day approaching. As these men were together in one place, the Spirit of God began to work on their hearts and they began to see how they had been treating each other.

Me, First!

They had been putting themselves first; they were looking for a king, but who did they really want for a king? They wanted to be a king themselves. They realized of what spirit they were, and they then began to confess their faults among one another.

They started to mend some fences and go to their brothers and say, “Look, I am sorry how I did this, and said that, and how I injured you.” I believe they started to get very specific in how they had been doing things to one another.

That is what I think needs to be done among groups where there have been divisions. There may be such a broad area of doctrinal difference that healing cannot occur. There may be other individuals who cannot work closely together because of their strong tendencies. But certainly these things, the strife and contention that we have had among us, must be put away. It cannot be shuffled under the carpet. It has to be resolved.

The apostles began to repent of their sins before God, and that prepared the way. “…suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And their appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:2–4.

Some have said that Acts of the Apostles would be more rightly titled, the Acts of the Holy Spirit. These men came into order; they came to a place where they could go no other way. They realized that what they had been taught was going nowhere. They had run right into a theological wall, and they had to rethink everything. There was no place for them to go. They could not turn around and go back to the Sanhedrin; they knew that was not going to work. So they had nothing left to do but to resolve things. They saw, that even though there was contention, differences and strong personalities, these were the people whom God was going to use to move His work forward as soon as they received the Spirit of God.

In that situation, God could fill them. Then they were teachable. They were no longer like Peter saying, “I can do it!” But they were meek, saying, “Let us have faith and God will guide us.”

Suspicious of Ourselves

They became what the Servant of the Lord has often talked about; we should be more suspicious of ourselves than we are of others. (See Review and Herald, April 15, 1880; Ibid., October 29, 1901.) Many of you have probably been in the Adventist Church all of your lives. I think that we should be more suspicious of ourselves than we are of the structured church.

We have a great knowledge, and we need to be suspicious of ourselves. As we come before God and allow Him to point out where we have erred, we will be a lot more gracious with our brothers and sisters as they err.

Acts continues to tell about how they preached; and many dwelling in Jerusalem were added to the church that God would have saved. God is not adding all to the church today that need to be saved, and there is a good reason for it.

Gun Shy

Brothers and sisters, I want to appeal to you today. We, as Seventh-day Adventists have been so gun shy of organization, because it has been drummed into our heads from the time we were small that the Adventist Church is the last church. It is God’s only church. Just stick with the church. But God is going to sift the sinners out of Zion. Quotes from the Testimonies have been misused to contradict clear and plain “Thus saith the Lord” from Scripture on coming into order. We must come into order!

Over one hundred years ago, the Servant of the Lord wrote, “I would hope there would not be another coming out.” She lays down principle, and the principle is bigotry. If you look it up you will find that bigotry comes from a term that is meant to take an oath, to dig in your heels, personal opinion. “This is where I am going to stand. I am not going to move.” That is not what God would have. It is also synonymous with what the Scripture calls a heretic. Someone who is an opinionated person. We need people who are able to move with a “Thus saith the Lord.” If you have taken a position and you are not willing to move when more light is given, you have a serious problem. That is going to cause division, too.

There is much need of men who will hold to principle, who are able to say, “I am sorry,” when they have erred. That is what we need today. People who are able to say, “I am sorry. I really messed up. I believed that this was the issue. I believed this is where we were supposed to stand, but now that I have had more light revealed to me, I see where I have been mistaken, and we need to move along in this other area.” That would be a great change of spirit from what I have seen over the years.

To be Organized?

So these are the principles and concepts that we need to understand to move forward. This is the “Little o” that my friend is talking about, a physical organization on top of the spiritual organization.

Just because the “Big O,” which has become a monster of its own, is coming after the church, does not mean that we should not have the “Little o” organized. We must be organized. You cannot do anything officially without being organized, and God and all beings in the universe are very well organized. Order must come into our ranks.

Break Every Yoke

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Do you remember the experience of Moses where the children of Israel had sinned? God said, “Look, let me destroy them. Let them go and I will make of you a new beginning and a new nation and you will be the promised people.”

“And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” Exodus 32:31, 32.

There is a book, friends, which contains the names of God’s people. If God would not forgive the children of Israel for the golden calf, Moses was willing to give up his leadership, and the chance for his descendents to be the promised people and the great nation that is going to receive the covenant. “If you cannot forgive the sin of the children of Israel,” he said, “blot me out of the Book of Life.” Do you know what that means? That means that he was willing to give up his right to heaven.

God then told Moses what His policy is. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” Verse 33. Now how many of you have not sinned against God? That is the way to get your name out of the Lamb’s Book of Life, right? We are all sinners. So your name goes into the Book of Life, and your name can go out of the Book of Life if you are a sinner. What hope is there for us if we have sinned against God?

Let us take a look at the Bible, for there we find how to keep our name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5.

These two Scriptures contain the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment. You get your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. If you continue in sin, your name will be taken out of the Lamb’s Book of Life. But if you overcome, with God’s help it will be left in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Very simple. Now then, there has to be an investigation of the names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, right?

And it makes a difference, friends, whether you are continuing in sin or whether you overcome. If I took the position that evangelical Seventh-day Adventists take, that you cannot stop sinning, then, of course, I do not want an Investigative Judgment, because if I cannot stop sinning, my name will be blotted out of the Book of Life. So, along with their idea that you cannot stop sinning, they have to do away with the idea of an Investigative Judgment, because if they do not, friends, the people who accept the idea that they cannot stop sinning are all doomed to be lost.

If you believe that you can overcome, then your name will be left in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and you are going to be in a select group of people at the end. “…all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8. Whom shall they worship? The first beast of Revelation 13. Who is that? It is the Papacy and, indirectly, it is the devil.

Now, friends, this select group of people, those who overcome and whose names are left in the Lamb’s Book of Life, are the only ones who will not worship the devil. It is important that your name remain in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Church Books vs. Heaven’s Books

How do you get your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life? How do you know that it is there? I have actually cringed and felt like standing up and saying, “No, it is not so,” when I have been in Seventh-day Adventist meetings and heard the minister say, “As soon as you are baptized and voted into the Seventh-day Adventist Church, your name is inscribed in letters of gold in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

No, friends, that is not how you get your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I dare say that the majority of the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church never have their names put in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

“And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the Book of Life.” Philippians 4:3.

Now, friends, you have to be a fellowlabourer, a true yokefellow, and then you may be assured that your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life. In other words, it is not a matter of baptism and being voted into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is a matter of accepting the invitation of Christ found in Matthew 11:28–30, where He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you [You must take the yoke of Christ if you hope to have your name inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life. You must be a true yokefellow, wearing the yoke of Jesus and no other yoke.] and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

After Isaiah tells us that what the children of Israel were doing was not what God wanted, he says, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” Isaiah 58:6. You cannot wear two yokes at a time.

Breaking the Yoke

The yokes that Isaiah calls to be broken are the things that, for many, many years, I did not understand, and I do not believe that most people understand them. I do not believe that the people of the denomination, or the leadership in particular, understand what he is talking about and what this appeal means.

There is more than one yoke. There is the yoke of Christ, and if you are wearing that yoke, then you may be positive and certain that your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life. If you are wearing any other yoke, you have no assurance at all that your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Christ says His burden is light. That is the big difference between the yoke and the burden of Christ and that of any other yoke that you can find.

If we continue reading in the book of Matthew, we find that Christ gives a little sermon on the church of His day. “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” Matthew 23:1–4.

What was the purpose of their life? “But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.” Verses 5–7.

Yokes of Bondage

Now, friends, this is a description of another yoke. What kind of a yoke? It is a yoke of bondage, of heavy burdens. All other yokes, except the yoke of Christ, are yokes of bondage, of heavy burdens, and these are the yokes that we are called to break in Isaiah 58. Was it a political yoke that they had foisted on the people, or was it a church yoke? They were sitting where? Not on the throne of King David, but in Moses’ seat.

In my reading I came across an address by Ellen G. White. Sometimes I think we should not use her name. I think we ought to say we have an address from the Holy Spirit to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, because that is what she says we have. She says that if you slight the Testimonies and belittle them you have thereby insulted the Holy Spirit. I take this as a message from God. (See Testimonies. vol. 5, 234.)

The Holy Spirit Speaks

In my studies of the early pioneers, the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Ellen G. White, I find that Mrs. White did not go around looking for problems in the church about which she could write testimonies to people. It was her nature to always look on the good side and always give people the benefit of the doubt. She was always on the positive side and she had difficulty writing these kinds of testimonies.

When Sister White writes these things, friends, it is the Holy Spirit speaking, not Sister White. She was not a genius who knew all the things that the brethren were doing and all that was going on in the church. Those things had to be revealed to her by God. So she says, “I write thus fully, because I have been shown that ministers and people are tempted more and more to trust in finite man for wisdom, and to make flesh their arm. To conference presidents, and men in responsible places.” Testimonies to Ministers, 480.[To whom is she talking? To the world? No! She is talking to the leaders in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.] “I bear this message: Break the bands and fetters that have been placed upon God’s people.” Ibid., 480, 481. I am afraid that most baptized Seventh-day Adventists have taken a church yoke on their necks, instead of the yoke of Jesus. I did, and I fully believed, for most of my life, that the yoke of the church and the yoke of Jesus were one and the same.

I believe that most Seventh-day Adventists regardless of the group they belong to, believe that the yoke they have taken is the yoke of Jesus. And when I first read this quote, it did not fit my thinking. It did not fit what I wanted to believe. What I am going to say, friends, may not suit your thinking or your beliefs, either.

“I bear this message: Break the bands and fetters that have been placed upon God’s people.” Ibid. Every Seventh-day Adventist, according to this testimony, is wearing bands and fetters put on them by conference presidents and men in responsible positions. “To you the word is spoken, ‘Break every yoke.’” Ibid. How many? Every one except Christ’s, because you cannot wear the yoke of Christ until you have broken from off your neck every other yoke, whether it be the yoke of the church, the yoke of the American Medical Association, Labor Unions, Fraternal organizations, the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis Club, or you name it. All of these organizations put a yoke upon your neck. Yet we do not perceive this because our thinking is not tuned to it.

Divorces from God

I worked for the Seventh-day Adventist Church for 27 years as a minister. I grew up in the church. Before I went into the ministry, I worked at the Glendale Sanitarium; I worked there when it was really doing sanitarium work. I worked in an academy. I went through our schools, friends, and I did not know that I was wearing a yoke. I thought I was wearing the yoke of Jesus. I had my doubts at times, because the yoke of Jesus was always described as being light, easy. “To you the word is spoken, Break every yoke, [What yoke is she talking about? Well, she tells us.] Unless you cease the work of making man amenable to man.” Ibid.

Have you ever been called to account to the church for what you did? Have they ever come to you and said, “You cannot do this?” or, “You do that!” “Unless you cease the work of making man amenable to man, unless you become humble in heart, and yourselves learn the way of the Lord as little children, the Lord will divorce you from His work.” Ibid.

We are to treat one another as brethren, as fellow laborers. In other words, fellow yokefellows, as Paul calls it, wearing the yoke of Christ, not any other yoke.

“… as men and women who are, with us, seeking for light and understanding of the way of the Lord, and who are jealous for His glory. God declares, ‘I will be glorified in My people.’” Ibid.

Friends, there is going to be a group of people in this world who are going to throw off every other yoke and wear only the yoke of Christ and glorify God. The world is going to be lightened with the message they bring. Is that not what it says?

So, “God declares, ‘I will be glorified in my people;’ but the self-confident management of men has resulted in putting God aside, and accepting the devisings of men.” Ibid.

That is exactly what the Pharisees were rebuked for all the time while Jesus was here. “Ye teach for doctrines the traditions or commandments of men.” (See Matthew 15:9.)

Books of a New Order?

When I was born there was no General Conference working policy. There was no General Conference educational policy. There was no church manual. When people wanted to know what to do, they only had two places to go: the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. When I was three years old, the brethren put together the first General Conference Constitution and By-laws and Working Policy. I do not remember the exact number of pages then, but now it is over 500 pages of rules and regulations to be followed by you and the leaders of the church. If time goes on, it will probably expand to a thousand, and the next thing we will have to do is train scribes to interpret it!

We need them right now, because when I used to attend committee meetings where the brethren would be laying plans, I would say, “Do you not know that in the Working Policy it says such and such?” And they would say, “No, we do not,” because nobody can remember 500 pages of rules and regulations, not even the leaders.

A few years back I checked on the educational policies. I went to the local church school, pulled open the teacher’s file and took out the Pacific Union Conference Educational Code. Then I pulled out the supplement, because the rules of men are never adequate and consequently they are always adding to them. I counted 1,000 pages! This was not fine print, like the General Conference Working Policy; this was 1,000 mimeographed pages of rules to govern the colleges and church schools in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.

When I was nine years old, the first Church Manual was issued. The statement as to the reason for voting a church manual was, “We hope this will stop the headlong plunge of the church into apostasy.” Has it?

The first Church Manual was advisory. It had no authority; nobody had to follow it or pay any attention to it. But in 1946, when I had been in the ministry one year, the General Conference in session gave full authority to the Church Manual. This is a yoke, friends, made by men and put on your neck and on their own necks.

Would you like to know what the apostle Peter and the brethren in Jerusalem had to say about the yoke of the Jewish Church? Acts 15:10 tells us the people in Jerusalem were starting down the same headlong rush to put a yoke other than the yoke of Christ upon the church:

“Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples? [How long did it take the early Christian church to start putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples? Why, they had just barely gotten started. A yoke] which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.” Oh, friends, all human yokes are heavy, difficult. The yoke of Jesus and His burden is light.

You may say, “Well, I do not think I have a yoke on my neck.” Maybe you feel quite comfortable with it because you have gotten so used to it. Or maybe, like I did for many years, you believe that the yoke of the church is the yoke of Jesus. Sometimes I wondered how He ever thought to say that His yoke was easy and light, though, and I used to really puzzle over those two words describing the yoke of Jesus when I had the two confused.

Calling Sin By It’s Right Name

I have been puzzling over this question of yokes for years and years. What was Sister White talking about? I know that we cannot be amenable to mankind. I know that making men responsible to man puts God aside, and that was at least part of the yoke. “For years our physicians have been trained to think that they must not give expression to sentiments that differ from those of their chief. Oh, that they had broken this yoke.” Series B, 28.

The belief that you cannot express an idea that differs with the pastor or the church is a yoke that you must break. I cannot break the yoke from off your neck unless I put it there. And even then, you may not let me remove it. Only you can break a yoke off your neck. These physicians had accepted a yoke which required them to agree with the boss, the head of the Battle Creek Sanitarium and Hospital, even though they differed with him.

Sister White said, “Oh that they had broken the yoke.” Ibid. Have you worn that yoke and kept your mouth shut? Have you accepted that yoke? If so, you had better break it, because they did not, and Mrs. White said, “Oh, that they had called sin by its right name!” Ibid.

Have you ever been quiet when you should have spoken out and called sin by its right name? A yoke you have to break. A yoke the church puts on your neck. I know, because they put it on my neck and when I threw it off, they immediately rushed in to replace it.

Oh, friends, the yoke to keep quiet, to not disagree with your boss, your leader, so you do not call sin by its right name is a yoke you have to break before you can wear the yoke of Christ.

Mrs. White continues, “They would not be regarded in the heavenly courts as men who, though bearing weighty responsibilities, have failed of speaking the truth in reproof of that which has been in disobedience to God’s Word.” Ibid.

A Yoke of Silence

This yoke that the brethren impose upon the necks of the ministry, upon the necks of the laity, and anyone else, is a yoke of silence when it comes to denominational policy and procedure. If you dared to open your mouth, you were a faultfinder, condemner and criticizer.

It was not until the brethren disfellowshipped me that the yoke of the church was actually fully removed. I am not saying you have to be disfellowshipped, but I would like to see Seventh-day Adventists fully remove the yoke of the church from off their neck without being disfellowshipped. All you have to do is to throw off the yoke that has you not disagreeing with the leadership, the one that has you not calling sin by its right name, not reproving things that are contrary to God’s Word.

I cannot support things contrary to the Spirit of Prophecy. The only program that I hope anybody can trust me to support is the one found in the Bible and in the Spirit of Prophecy. That which is found in the Church Manual and Working Policy I cannot support if it is contrary to the Bible and to the Spirit of Prophecy.

So continuing in Series B, and again addressing the people under the Alpha of apostasy, here is what was wrong that caused the church to go into the Alpha of apostasy: “Our physicians have lost a great deal out of their lives because they have [1] seen wrong transactions and [2] heard wrong words spoken, [3] and seen wrong principles followed, and have not spoken in reproof, for fear that they would be repulsed.” Ibid., 29.

The yoke of man silences you so that you will not object to a policy of the church that is contrary to the Spirit of Prophecy.

Anything else that is contrary to the Bible and to the Spirit of Prophecy is a yoke of man who says, “Do not speak out, be a loyal Seventh-day Adventist.” Are you wearing that yoke? Have you refrained from speaking out about something? Have you seen wrong principles followed and not spoken in reproof? It worked on me, friends, for years. I wore a yoke of silence when I should have spoken out, and yet the brethren always thought I was speaking out too much. But I kept quiet too often, friends.

If things need adjusting at the heart of the work, what do we do? Well, friends, if we do not speak out, if we wear this yoke of silence, God will take care of things, but how much better it would be if we did it ourselves. Every wrong within the Seventh-day Adventist Church is going to be taken care of, either by God or by the membership.

Worst Sins are Unrevealed

Sister White states: “The abominations for which the faithful ones [These are the ones who did not wear the yoke of silence.] were sighing and crying were all that could be discerned by finite eyes, but by far the worst sins, those which provoked the jealousy of the pure and holy God, were unrevealed. The great Searcher of hearts knoweth every sin committed in secret by the workers of iniquity. These persons come to feel secure in their deceptions and, because of His long–suffering, say that the Lord seeth not, and then act as though He had forsaken the earth. But He will detect their hypocrisy and will open before others those sins which they were so careful to hide.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 211.

The sad thing I have observed is that people take the yoke off from their necks that is imposed by the Adventist Church, and run right over to some other group and put that yoke on their necks. The only yoke I am interested in you having around your neck, is the yoke of Jesus, so your name will be in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

The yoke of Jesus has no stress, no tension, no frustration. It is a yoke of victory. It is a yoke of being an overcomer. It is a yoke that is easy and the burden is light. Oh, yes, it promises you persecution, but it says you will be able to “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad when man shall persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely.” (See Matthew 5:12.)

When you wear the yoke of Christ, then and then alone, you are God’s free man. If you are not wearing the yoke of Christ, then you are in bondage. You cannot be God’s free man until you become Christ’s servant. You must! God will not place the yoke upon your neck. You must willfully choose to take the yoke of Christ. He says, “Take My yoke.” He does not say, “Accept it and I will put it on your neck.” He says, “Take up the cross.” He does not say, “Lean over and I will put it on your back.”

No yokes can be forced on your neck. You may die resisting it, but you do not have to accept any yoke.

The Final Warning

“The Final Warning,” is a chapter in The Great Controversy that we need to study and restudy. If you take the yoke of Christ, understand that you are enlisting the opposition of the hosts of darkness. Your life will become very interesting. You will probably not have another boring day. “Evil angels will assail him, alarmed that his influence is taking the prey from their hands. …Evil men, rebuked by His example, will unite with them in seeking to separate him from God by alluring temptations.” The Great Controversy, 610.

You want a lot of the luring of temptations? You just put on the yoke of Christ.

“When these do not succeed, then a compelling power is employed to force the conscience.” Ibid.

You have an interesting life ahead of you, never a dull moment.

Mrs. White tell us: “It is the first and highest duty of every rational being to learn from the Scriptures what is truth, and then to walk in the light and encourage others to follow his example.” Ibid., 598.

We had better get busy on the first and highest duty of every rational being.

“We should day by day study the Bible diligently, weighing every thought and comparing Scripture with Scripture. With divine help we are to form our opinions for ourselves, as we are to answer for ourselves before God.” Ibid. I beg of you, throw off every other yoke and put on the yoke of Christ because your life depends on it; your eternal life depends upon it. Soon, very soon, your name will be called in the Investigative Judgment and it is either going to be blotted out of the Lamb’s Book of Life, or it is going to stay.

Wonder and Perish

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God has set His hand to finish His work and you can see it—if your eyes are open. But have you ever tried to tell somebody something and either it was so wonderful or so terrible that they just could not believe it? Did you know that God has that problem?

God talks about this problem in Isaiah 29:14 the Lord said, “I am going to work a wonder among you and you are going to be astonished. Just pause and wonder.” Then in Ezekiel He said, “You think that it is going to be a long time before these prophecies are fulfilled but it is going to happen right now.”

Friends, what has happened before is happening again. That, which some people are looking forward to a long time into the future, is happening right now, and they do not realize it.

Watch, be Utterly Astounded!

This is God speaking: “’Look among the nations and watch—Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days, Which you would not believe, though it were told you.’” Habakkuk 1:5.

The Lord says, “Look! Look and see what is happening in the world.” Do you see anything happening in the world? Do you see any signs that we are right at the end? The Lord says, “Look at what is going on in the world and be utterly astonished.” Utterly astounded by what? Well, the Lord says, “I am going to work a work in your days—not a hundred years from your day, but I am going to work a work in your generation, in your lifetime. If I told you what I am going to do, you would not believe it.”

I wonder, can you believe what God says He is going to do, or are you among the people who are astounded by what they see, and they just cannot believe that it is really happening?

Habakkuk 1:5 is quoted in the New Testament. As you know, those of you who speak more than one language, a word can be translated more than one way into another language. I want you to look at this text in the New Testament because, when they quoted it and it was translated, they used a few different words.

Wonder and Perish!

Let us see how the apostles quoted it. The apostle Paul is preaching, and he is preaching especially to his Jewish brethren. He says,

Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware [Now, notice. Here is a warning.] therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: ‘Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you. Acts 13:38-41.

Who are these people about whom the apostle Paul is talking? He says, “Watch out that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you.” Then he quotes the text from Habakkuk, “Behold, you despisers. Marvel and perish!” Or the Old King James Bible says “…Wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.”

I want to tell you, friends, this verse from Habakkuk 1:5 was fulfilled in the life and times of Jesus, and it was fulfilled again in the life and times of the apostles. Now as the Jews looked out at the world, when Jesus was here, they saw that something was happening, and they were astonished by what they saw. They were astonished when they saw people who had been blind from birth who could now see.

Astonished, but not Saved

They had reports of an individual who had been in the grave for four days and was alive. They actually saw that person, and they got so mad when they saw him that they decided to kill him. They knew that something was happening. They were astonished by what they saw. But even though they marveled, even though they wondered, they were not saved.

That is what it says, marvel and perish, wonder and perish. They knew that something was happening, but they would not confess that God was in it. They said, “This Man is working miracles by the chief of the devils.”

They knew that something big was going on when the apostles went all over the world, and they saw the Christian churches arising. In fact, there were so many churches in the lifetime of the apostle Paul that he wrote to Titus and said, “Go and ordain elders in every city.” (See Titus 1:5.) Why did he have to do that? Because there was a church in every city.

The leadership knew that something was going on, and Paul was appealing to them, “Watch out that this prophecy does not come true for you; that you marvel, that you see something is happening, but you will not believe that it is the work of God. You say it is something else.”

Marvel and perish. Who are these people? They are the people who profess to be the true people of God but they will not accept; they will not cooperate with what God is doing in the world. They fight it. Is that not what the Jews did?

The Condemnation of the Jews

Now for some reason, I do not know why, there are some people who get upset when we preach about this subject. They say, “Please do not compare us with the Jews.” Friends, I must tell you that Ellen White compared us to the Jews over and over again. In fact, she says, “Let every soul be careful lest he prove himself to be among those who despise and wonder and perish, who turn from Christ in the person of His saints, and bring upon themselves the condemnation that fell upon the Jews.” Signs of the Times, May 26, 1890.

So, what is the warning? Well, she says watch out lest the very same thing that happened to the Jews happens to you. Let us look at this Scripture about the despisers who wonder and perish from the viewpoint of a very well known parable of Jesus. This parable helps us to understand what the apostles and prophets were talking about when they said, marvel and perish, wonder and perish.

In the Greek New Testament it says that Jesus told the Jews a dark saying, or a riddle, a mystical saying, and they did not understand what He was talking about.

A Dark, Mystical Saying

What was this proverb, this dark, mystical saying that they did not understand? It was the parable of the sheepfold. This is a very interesting parable, and it has many interesting symbols in it. It says:

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. John 10:1

The New King James Bible calls it an “illustration” in verse 6, that is a dark saying, a mystical saying, a proverb, a riddle. They did not know what He was talking about, so He goes on to explain. This is one of the most wonderful parables that Jesus told, because of its meaning.

…Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. John 10:7–11.

Jesus talks about the hireling and the wolf that enters in. He says again, “I am the good shepherd; and I know those that belong to Me and I am known by them.” And then He talks about laying down His life for the sheep, and He talks about there being only one flock, one fold, one shepherd. (See John 10:12–16.)

Then Jesus is talking to the Jews and the Jews surround Him and they say, “How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” (See verse 24.) Jesus said, “I have already told you and you would not believe what I told you. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. (See John 10:25, 26.)

Notice, these people were astonished; they were marveling; they were astounded by what they were watching, but they did not believe. So they perished.

…you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one. John 10:26–30.

Notice the symbols in this parable. We look first of all at the fold which Jesus calls the sheepfold. What is the fold? “The church of Christ is very precious in His sight. It is the case which contains His jewels, the fold which encloses His flock.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1118.

What is the Fold?

So the fold is the church. A fold is a place that has walls of protection around it. “…the church is very precious in His sight. It is the case which contains His jewels, the fold which encloses His flock, and He longs to see it without spot or blemish or any such thing. He yearns after it with unspeakable love.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 261.

There is, friends, a fold. Are you in it? The fold is the church. Now I meet some people who say, “Well, I want to go to heaven, but there are so many hypocrites in the church. I am just going to go alone.” There are a lot of people like that in the world today. “God has a people whom He is leading, guiding, and instructing. They must be subject one to another.” This Day With God, 295. You see, you cannot be subject to one another if you are all by yourself. Have you ever thought that through?

“If one undertakes to go alone, independently, to heaven he will find he has chosen the wrong path that will not lead him to life.…” Ibid. How many people do you know who have decided that they are going to go to heaven alone? They lose their way spiritually.

God would not establish the church if we did not need it. We need each other. We need to be helping each other toward heaven. We are not going to go to heaven all alone. Now, we need to be ready to stand alone at any time for Jesus, just like Daniel did, but we are not going to heaven alone.

God has a people whom He is leading, and if we try to go alone, independently, we will find we have chosen a path that will not lead us to life. There are many sheep today that are out of the fold. It is dangerous for a sheep to be out of the fold. We are not condemning anybody who is out of the fold, but we would still like to get them back in the fold. It is safer there.

Listening for the Shepherd’s Voice

“He came to help us live without sin. This He calls bringing us back to the fold.” The Story of Jesus, 77. What is it that draws us back into the fold? An eastern shepherd does not go to his sheep with a club to beat them back into the fold. That does not work. Sheep do not respond very well to that. They just get all confused and do not know where to go or what to do. In the East, where Jesus spoke this parable, they knew what He was talking about because we are told when he leads them out, he calls his own sheep by name. (See John 10:3.) As the sheep learn their name from the shepherd, they learn to respond and follow when their name is called.

We are living in a time when the true Shepherd is calling for His sheep to come back into the fold. Have you heard His voice? Are you listening for His voice? No one can return to the fold, of course, without the drawing of the Holy Spirit. “It is His love that encircles us, bringing us back to the fold.…” In Heavenly Places, 76.

The fold is where you belong. It is dangerous outside of the fold. People say, “There are hypocrites in the church.” Well, let me tell you, there are even more hypocrites out of the church. Are you in the fold? If you have strayed from the fold, would you like to come back?

Jesus said in John 10:16, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be [one fold] one flock and one shepherd.”

The Church Organization is Not the Fold

The fold is the church. Now there are some people who get a little mixed up on this, and they think that the fold is the church organization. Now, I believe in church organization. I have always believed in church organization. We have elders; we have deacons; we have church board meetings; we have church business meetings, and we try to conduct all of our business in an orderly way because heaven operates in order. It does not operate in chaos and confusion. So, we believe in church organization, but the church organization is not the fold. That is very important to understand.

Here is an illustration that will show that is the case. In John 9 the story is told of a man whom the Jews decided to kick out of the fold. He was a Jewish man, a member of the church, and they decided to disfellowship him.

Ellen White comments on the experience of this blind man. She says,

The sheep was cast out of the fold for being a living witness to the power of Christ. Many have been cast out of the church whose names were registered upon the Book of Life. Wolves in sheep’s clothing were ready to cast out of the fold and devour one who was entitled to the Lord’s pasture; but Jesus, the True Shepherd, sought him, [You find that in the last few verses of John 9.] and gave him a place within the fold. Signs of the Times, December 4, 1893.

I have pondered that statement many, many times. It says that Jesus went to this man, the blind man whom He had healed, and He gave him a place in the fold. We know that the fold is the church. Now I want to ask you, How do you think that happened? Did Jesus go to Caiaphas and say, “Look, I have restored sight to this man, so I want you to put his name back in the church book”? Is that how it happened? No.

In the Fold of Jesus

Well, then, what does it mean? It says He gave him a place in the fold, in the church. You see, the church is not what people think it is. It is not the church organization. The real books of the church are kept in heaven. Did you know that? I like that. That man’s name was written in the book and Jesus gave him a place in the fold. If you are a believer in Christ, if you have chosen to surrender your life to Him and follow Him, He will give you a place in the fold. The Bible tells us that “God is no respecter of persons.” (See Acts 10:34.)

There may be some church in this world that disfellowships you. The Jewish church disfellowshipped this man, but Jesus gave him a place in the fold. Notice, in John 10:16 He says there is one shepherd. Now some people cannot figure that out. What that means is that there is one chief Shepherd, and He has other shepherds who are under Him.

One Head of the Church

Peter talks about these under-shepherds who are appointed by the Lord to do His work; but there is one chief Shepherd. That is an important point to understand. People were confused in Jesus’ day, and people are still confused today about who the shepherd is or about how many there are. There is one chief Shepherd, every other under–shepherd is under His authority. According to the Bible there is only one Head of the church, there are not two or three. (See Ephesians 1 and 4.)

But now we come to a third point, and this one is exceedingly important for you if you want to have eternal life. “’To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:3, 4.

Notice, it says, “the sheep know his voice.” We are living in a time when there are many voices. Have you noticed? And the different voices are not all saying the same thing. Here is the question: Can you distinguish the voice of the true Shepherd from all the other voices?

Let me give you a tip on how to distinguish the true Shepherd’s voice from all the other voices. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (See Hebrews 13:8.) Since He does not change, since He is the same, if the true Shepherd speaks to you through any messenger today, what He says to you now will agree with what He said 2000 years ago; it will not contradict. Does that make sense?

The Voice of the True Shepherd

Many voices today are saying that all you have to do to be saved is love Jesus, just have a relationship with Jesus; even if you sin, it is all right because He will forgive you. Do not worry about it. But that is not the voice of the true Shepherd, because that is not what Jesus said in the Bible.

Jesus talked about this in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, “’Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled.’” Matthew 5:17, 18.

What did Jesus say about the Law? He said that it was not going to pass away, it was going to stay the same. Ellen White talked about this. In 1895 she wrote:

The voice that magnifies the Law of God we recognize as the voice of the true Shepherd; but we know that those who would make of no effect the commandments of God, are false shepherds, who would exalt tradition above the commandments of Jehovah. Signs of the Times, July 4, 1895.

If the preacher, teacher, Sabbath School teacher, friend, brother or whomever you are studying with and listening to, magnifies the Law of God, that is the voice of the true Shepherd. But if they tell you, do not worry about it; the Lord loves you, and He will save you anyway. That is the voice of a false shepherd.

Jesus said until heaven and earth pass, not the smallest part of the Law is going to be changed. This fold has a door. Did you notice that? And that door is narrow. You cannot drive a truck through it. Jesus said it is a narrow gate, a narrow way, and He said we must agonize to go through the narrow gate.

Over the Wall

Some people say, “Well, I cannot get all my baggage through the door, so I am going over the wall.” Jesus talked about that, too. Do you know the voice of the Shepherd? The true Shepherd’s voice will magnify the Law. Unfortunately there are many people in the church today, even in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, who do not recognize the true Shepherd’s voice. They cannot tell the difference between the voice of Christ and the voice of a stranger.

The result is that the church, right now, is going through some dark times, and it is going to get darker before it gets brighter.

Dark hours of trial are before the Church because they have not obeyed the warnings and reproofs and counsel of God. What a bewitching power comes upon human minds to do contrary to the oft repeated will of God, and close the eyes and stop the ears, when Jesus is calling to them to hear His voice. He says, ‘My sheep hear My voice.’ The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 3, 1002.

Mrs. White talks about people in the church who close their ears and shut their eyes so they will not hear and see what Jesus is trying to communicate to them. Jesus is saying, “If you are My sheep, you would hear My voice.” What is going to happen?

The dark hours of trial are to come to every one as a part of his education for higher work, for more devoted, consecrated effort.… Before the great trouble shall come upon the world such as has never been since there was a nation, those who have faltered and who would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths will reveal this before the real vital test, the last proving, comes, so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the True Shepherd. Ibid.

Revealed

Now that is a very interesting statement. Did you get what it is talking about? Before the great time of trouble comes, those who would ignorantly lead in wrong paths, it says, the Lord is going to arrange things so that they are going to be revealed. That is why you see some of the strange things happening today. The Lord expects you to be learning from what you are seeing and hearing. Do not be like the people who are just astonished, and go ahead and perish.

Mrs. White says, “…so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the True Shepherd.” A time of trouble is coming, friends, and if you are listening to the wrong voice, you are not going to make it. Mrs. White said, “The time of our educating will soon be over. We have no time to lose in walking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty because of uncertain voices.” Ibid.

To whom are you listening, friend? There is counsel after counsel in inspired writings, and in the Bible, about people who used to be in the light but are not now. If you are reading the word of the true Shepherd, you know that what they are saying today is not the voice of the true Shepherd, even though 20 years ago what they were saying might have been.

They are revealing who they really are. Are your eyes open? Are your ears open? Are you comparing what you are hearing with the Bible? Does it agree?

The fourth point is, to me, one of the most interesting points in the story. Notice this sheepfold, this church in John 10, has a door, and the sheep go in and out through the door. Jesus goes in and out through the door. In verse 2 it says, “’But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.’”

I am the Door

But notice also it says in verse 7, “…Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.’” A double symbol is used here. Jesus says He goes through the door, but then He says that He is the door. This door is the same door that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 7. It is the narrow gate, a narrow door. Jesus says that He Himself goes through this door. If you want to be part of the flock, if you want to be in the fold, you have to go through this door.

Now let us think, for just a moment, about going through the door. Any time you go through a door, there is a time before you go through the door, then you are going through the door, and then there is a time after you have gone through the door and are on the other side. Does that make sense? Remember that.

Now I am going to ask you some questions. Was it always true, throughout all eternity, that Christ was a Divine Person equal with the Father? Yes. There are many Scriptures and many inspired passages to show that. Jesus said there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with His Father. He was a Divine Person. So, when Jesus says that He goes through the door, that could not at all apply to His divinity because there never was a time when He was not divine.

But let me ask you the second question. Was there a time before Jesus Christ had become a man? Yes, there was. You see, going through the door has to do with the divinity of Christ. He always had that. It has to do with the fact that there was a time before He went through the door and there is a time after He went through the door. It has to do with the humanity of Christ.

This is one of the major themes of the New Testament! Remember Jesus used to say you are to be in Me and I am to be in you? (See John 14:20; 15:4.) And a Christian is a person who is Christ–like. In other words, Christ is living His life in Him. Not the life of a god, but the life of a man, because Christ had a perfect humanity.

Going Through the Door

To go through the door means that, just as Christ united His divinity with humanity, we unite our humanity with His divinity. Going through the door represents a union of divinity and humanity. In order for Jesus to go through the door He had to unite humanity to His divinity. If He had not done that, Ellen White says there is no way we could have been saved. (See Review and Herald, December 30, 1909.) There is no way.

If He had not come down to this world and become one flesh with us, there would be no way that we could be saved. But it is also true that unless we become one spirit with Him, there is no way we can be saved either. We have to go through the door just like He went through the door. He went through the door by uniting His divinity with humanity. We go through the door by uniting our humanity with His divinity.

Peter talks about that in 2 Peter 1:3, 4. It says we have become “partakers of the divine nature.” Oh, friends, that is what is involved in going through the door and becoming part of the church. If you have not gone through that door, even if you have been baptized by water, you are just playing church.

There are some people who decide to get inside the church without going through the door. Have you ever met someone who said, “I am listening to what you are preaching. I see that I am supposed to keep the Law of God; you say I am supposed to keep it perfectly, and I want to, but I cannot. I want to overcome this; I want to overcome that, and I cannot do it; I have tried a hundred times.”

I do not argue with anybody like that because what he or she is telling me is the truth. But do you know why it is the truth? Because there is no union of divine power with their humanity. Do you know how long we can keep ourselves from sinning if we are not united to divinity? Mrs. White says we cannot do it for one moment. (See The Ministry of Healing, 180.)

Why cannot we overcome? People are looking for a new gospel, a new theology, a different way to get to heaven because they have tried and tried, and they cannot do it. They think the Lord is going to have to save them in their sins.

Baptized into One Body

The reason that the sheep cannot overcome is because they have not yet gone through the door. That is what baptism represents. (See Romans 6 or 1 Corinthians 12.) It says in 1 Corinthians 12:13 “…by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…” The body is the church, the fold. And we become members when we are baptized with one Spirit—that is the Holy Spirit.

Baptism by water represents baptism by the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 says that when you are baptized by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit gives the power to put to death the deeds of the body so you can overcome sin. You could not do it before, but the Holy Spirit will give you the power to do it. The only way you will overcome a besetting sin is through the power of the Holy Spirit. Are you asking for the power of the Holy Spirit to come into your life every day?

I hope you will pray about this and ask the Lord to help you to go through the door and not try to just climb over the wall to get into the church. There are a lot of people doing that today.

Jesus is the Door

There is not room to enter in at the strait gate and carry the things of this world along. He who would enter in at the strait gate must make an entire consecration of his all to God.… he who would carry the world with him, will never enter in at the strait gate. There is no room for one to walk the narrow way and yet carry along evil surmisings, doubts, criticisms, jealousies, and unkindness. Review and Herald, March 28, 1912.

Do you want Him to lay that aside so you can go through the door? Do you want to go through the door? That is where the safety is.

Oh, yes, we come now to some other people who are inside. Do not get discouraged about it, because the Shepherd is still watching over His sheep, whether they are outside the fold or inside the fold. When people become members of the church, after awhile they come to the pastor and they say, “I thought, when I became a member of the church, that it was going to be heavenly in here and that I was going to be with the saints. I am with some people that I cannot understand what is happening!”

Well, the reason that people have those kinds of experiences is because there are people in the church who did not go through the door. They climbed over the wall. Jesus called them wolves in sheep’s clothing. (See Matthew 7.) As I studied this, I found out that these wolves in sheep’s clothing, who are also called the blind leaders of the blind and hirelings, are the people specified in inspiration who will “wonder and perish.”

They will be astonished at what they see happening. They cannot comprehend some of the things that they see going on in the church because there are people in there who have not gone through the door, the thieves and the robbers.

Not Really Part of the Flock

Ellen White talked about these people. She said,

This strait, and self-denying path is too narrow for many to walk in who profess godliness. They want an easier path and are climbing up some other way. They refuse to follow in the footsteps of our Redeemer. Christ calls all such thieves and robbers. They take the name of Christian” [Notice, they have come into the church, and they call themselves Christians, and they are in the fold with the sheep.] which does not belong to them. This Day With God, 155.

In other words, they are not really part of the flock; they are not really in the church. They are in the fold but they are not really part of the group. Just like a person who does not go through the door into your house but climbs through the window. They are not part of your household, even though they are inside. There are people like that in the church. They are not part of the flock, even though they are inside, all zipped up in their sheep’s clothing.

They take the name of Christian, which does not belong to them, because they do not represent in their life the life of Christ. They claim the privileges which belong to the sons of God while they are none of His. They live selfish lives upon the earth and have done nothing for the truth and the salvation of souls as they ought to have done. Sad indeed for these self-deceived ones. They will never see heaven, because they are not willing to share the shame, the reproach, that Jesus suffered for them. Ibid.

…we should consider it the highest exaltation to be accounted a child of God, an heir of Heaven; and we should rejoice that we can walk with Jesus in His humiliation. But our Saviour assures us that there are some who would like to climb up some other way than the toilsome, self-denying way of the cross. They would avoid reproach and shun sacrifices. Christ calls such thieves and robbers. If we are not willing to breast the storm of opposition, if we choose to float with the current, we shall lose eternal life.” Signs of the Times, July 31, 1884.

Do not say, “I am too weak.” Remember, if you go through the door, you have Omnipotent power on your side. You could be the weakest person around; it does not matter. If you have been united to divine power, you are going to have all the strength and power that you need.

Thieves and Robbers

So who are the thieves and robbers? Oh, they are the Pharisees. They are the blind leaders of the blind. They are the wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are those who wonder and perish. They are in the church, but they are not actually part of the church. In Christ’s day, they were the leaders of God’s professed people. Ellen White says that these people are counted as true by many of their brethren but they end up being part of the synagogue of Satan. They are none of Christ’s and He does not accept them as being His own.

These people who wonder and perish are in the fold, but they end up being part of the devil’s church, the synagogue of Satan, just like the Jews in Christ’s day. (See Early Writings, 30.) They say, “We are God’s professed people” and Jesus said, “You are actually the children of the devil.” (See I John 3:10.)

The Lord has shown me that we are in just as much danger [of rejecting truth] in our day as were the people in the days of Christ. The Lord is speaking through His delegated messengers; but the same unbelief is exhibited. Men close their hearts against Jesus and hold themselves in the veriest bondage to Satan, supposing that they are preserving their dignity as free men; that they are maintaining their right to think and act for themselves, to believe or doubt; and like the despisers of the gospel in the apostolic times, they wonder and perish. Manuscript Releases, vol. 11, 283.

What is Our Danger?

What is our danger? Our danger is rejecting what God is doing in the world. We have leaders in Adventism today who say, “Oh, all these newspaper ads, you ought to just stop that. All this distribution of The Great Controversy, just stop that. It is not time now.” Well, friends, if it is not time now, when is it going to be time? Do you want to wait until you are in prison and then try to distribute it?

The Bible says, “wonder and perish.” I want to tell you this is not just about apostolic times. This is happening today! We have multitudes of professed Adventists today who are wondering; they are astonished; they see that something is happening—but they do not believe that they are going to perish.

There will be, even among us, hirelings and wolves in sheep’s clothing who will persuade the flock of God to sacrifice unto other gods before the Lord. We have reason to know how Paul would act in any emergency. ‘The love of Christ constraineth us.’ (II Corinthians 5:13.) Youth who are not established, rooted and grounded in the truth, will be corrupted and drawn away by the blind leaders of the blind; and the ungodly, the despisers that wonder and perish, who despise the sovereignty of the Ancient of Days and place on the throne a false god, a being of their own defining, a being altogether such an one as themselves—these will be agents in Satan’s hands to corrupt the faith of the unwary. The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 2, 484, 485.

It says they despise the sovereignty of the Ancient of Days. Well, what sovereignty do they want? They set up a false god. What is the false god? It is the same false god that the Jews set up in the days of Christ. The false god that they set up was their church organization, which they put in the place of God Himself.

Friends, it is no idle talk when somebody says that Jesus is the Head of the church. And watch out what Jesus impresses a group of people to do, lest in fighting it you be found to be fighting the Lord Himself. Let us get right down to the bottom of the problem. Seventh-day Adventists have been given the mission to take the Three Angels’ Messages to every single person in the world.

There is a Cross Involved

But here is the catch. Here is what keeps people from doing it. Here is why they are afraid to do it. It is the same thing as in the days of Christ. You see, there is a cross involved in taking the Three Angels’ Messages to all the world, because the majority of people will not accept it, and they will oppose it. Obviously, Babylon will oppose it.

In order to avoid going through the strait gate, enduring persecution, enduring opposition, we are in the time right now when the majority of Adventists are in the process (I am not saying it is final, I am not saying they cannot turn around.) of turning traitor to the Three Angels’ Messages because of the cross involved in promulgating it.

That is the bottom line. In Jesus’ day you could not be saved if you were not willing to take up your cross, and you cannot be saved if you are not willing to take up your cross today. It is not enough to know the truth. These people who were astonished, who were wondering and who have perished, they knew truth but they would not submit to it and follow it.

How is it going to be with you, friend? Are you willing to take up your cross and say, “Lord, I am willing to do whatever you want me to do to get Your work finished in all parts of the world.” Or are you just going to stand back and be astonished at what you see going on and say, “No, it is not time now, there would be too much trouble if we did it now. We have to wait for a different time.”?

Let me tell you, it is not going to get easier next year. It is not going to be easier in three or four years. It will only get harder. Do not be one who is astonished at what you see, but you do not have any part in it and end up perishing. Millions of Jews lost eternal life that way. Millions of Seventh-day Adventists are about to lose eternal life today. Do not let it be you.

Watchman, Beware! – Part I

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As we see things of this world coming very rapidly to an end, we must rejoice! That is what Christ told His disciples to do (See Luke 21:28.) Rejoice when you see these things coming to pass because redemption is at hand. However, the things that have been happening are still a surprise to many of us. It never even came to my mind that I was going to be facing what I am facing today. [Editor’s note: Pastor Perez, the Eternal Gospel Church and its directors have been sued by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in November, 1999.]

The more that I read the Federal Judge’s ruling, the less it makes sense. It is just a secular law being applied to a religious group, to a religious institution. I invite each one of you to go to our website when you have a little time, www.eternalgospel.com. There you can see the entire 16 pages of the Judge’s decision protecting the order of the structure church. They have a trademark that they have to protect, and the Judge states that he has to protect that trademark.

I never, brothers and sisters, even dreamed that a Federal Judge from this great nation would come out with a ruling calling God’s people, the worshippers of the Most High, “customers”! And he repeats the word “customers” time after time throughout the document.

Running a Business

So what the General Conference, the structure from Silver Springs, Maryland, had requested of the civil government of this nation was that they be able to protect their business, their customers. I never thought—and I am sure that none of you ever thought—that the General Conference is running a commercial business.

This is a very serious thing! I understand that some of you still feel a need to be part of the structure, because you are trying to help some brethren over there. My heart goes out to you, and I hope you will be able to help some brethren. But if that is not the main purpose for you to still be attending a structure church, brothers and sisters, pray! I am sure the Lord will guide you to be completely separated from that structure.

How do you suppose they are going to go to the Federal government and request that their customers not be stolen away? Back in 1990, 1991, when I heard some of the Seventh-day Adventist pastors accusing me of stealing their members, I took it as a joke. I still take it as a joke; but do you know what? It is a very serious thing.

180 Degree Turn Around

We have come to a point in this nation, where the institution that God called out to give the last message of warning to mankind has been turned 180 degrees, and they are opposing the people who are, by the grace of God, giving this very message to the people. So, it has been shocking to me. It has been like a nightmare.

Is a church a commercial business? I do not think any of the brethren think of it that way. I want you to think, those of you who are still going and will be going next Saturday to your local churches; think of this: your leaders consider you a customer, just as if you were going to MacDonald’s, to Burger King, or to the grocery store.

I do not think you want to be treated like a customer. It is about time, brothers and sisters, that we try, not only with words but also with our actions, to stop this ind of action in our land.

The Judge’s ruling also says that the Plaintiff’s registration covers religious books, magazines, pamphlets, newsletters and more. And then he concluded the list by saying, “Also religious services.”

What does that mean? Do you see, brothers and sisters, the Lord is trying to wake up His people before it is too late. I have a copy of a letter from New Zealand addressed to the President of the United States. This New Zealand brother wrote a letter on my behalf, and I hope that somebody high up in government levels will read it. It says, “The only church in the whole world that has trademarked the name of the church, is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

Even the Roman Catholic Church has not done that. Right in the county where we live, Palm Beach County, there is an independent Catholic Church and, as far as I know, the Bishop and the Catholic Diocese are not trying to sue them. This Catholic Church calls the pope the antichrist, by the way. I mean, it is like God is trying to speak to us through the stones.

Learning a Hard Lesson

Part of the message, part of the warning that we should be giving to the world, now God is using people of the world to give us a lesson. We received one of the most beautiful letters from Bob Jones University. You know they are not Adventists, they are Baptists. Bob Jones has written a nice letter on our behalf!

I called him, and he said, “As you know, I cannot agree with everything that you are putting in these newspapers, The Earth’s Final Warning. But one thing that I agree with you 100 percent, you are under the Constitution of this nation, and you have the right to express your religious beliefs.” He went on to say, “Who do those people in Silver Springs, Maryland, think they are, trying to stop you from expressing your religious faith?”

I said, “Well, that is the question I have been trying to resolve for quite a long time.” Yet, it is so sad to see so many of our brethren being appeased. Their conscience has been compromised. The General Conference will be making them believe that the Three Angels’ Messages is being preached, because they are doing that Net ‘95, ‘96, ‘99, 2000 program.

Do a little testing, if you do not want to believe me. If some of you sincerely believe that the presentation of these global nets are giving the Three Angels’ Messages to the world, test it out. Ask your pastor, or call your Conference leader, and ask them to put those same messages out on secular television where you live and see what they do.

A Time of Double Standards

Let us not be so naïve, brothers and sisters. We put in our newsletter a copy of a letter from Pastor Doug Bachelor, the same pastor who was preaching on the so-called Net ’98 and ’99 programs. He said he was telling the people in America to pray for the heart of Pastor Perez to be converted, so he would not give so much trouble to the General Conference. He does not even know me! You see, we are living in a time of double standards.

There is a beautiful quote from Mrs. White about how no voice should be stopped in preaching the Three Angels’ Messages (See Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, 308.) Yet, look what they are doing! You see, there is a double standard. The same brother out in California, after he wrote that letter, said, “Oh, we have to try to stop this terrible thing that the General Conference is persecuting a little group in Florida.” This same brother! How long are we going to be playing games with our salvation and the salvation of so many people?

The time has come, brothers and sisters, that we have to take seriously the calling which God has given to us. God has called you and me, not only to be part of His kingdom but also to bring souls to His kingdom. Do we understand that? Do we understand that there cannot be a greater commission, a greater appointment by anybody given—even by God—than the commission of being made an instrument of salvation to others?

Luke 21 talks a little bit about the experience that we are going to be facing in these last days. For example, it states in verse 12, “‘But before all these, [Jesus is talking about all the signs that would happen before the Second Coming], they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake.’”

Misapplied Scriptures

You know, many of us, when we used to read these verses, especially those of us who have come out of Roman Catholicism, thought that these verses meant people would be fleeing from the Roman Catholic Church. We thought it was the Roman Catholic Church that would go after us. I remember, about twenty years ago, coming out after attending a Roman Catholic Seminary, and coming to this beautiful light. I said, when I came to this message, “In the near future we are going to see the Roman Catholic Church persecuting us and taking us to the court.” To be honest with you, until seven or eight years ago, that was my mentality. All of a sudden we are learning, through experience, that our worst enemies are our own brethren!

I could imagine the Roman Catholic leaders sitting down in their big palace, crossing their arms and laughing at us: “Look at them; we have to deal with these ‘offshoots.’” But my own General Conference brothers have taken care of it for them.

Now they are laughing at each one of us. They say, “Look, we do not have to do it, we have been doing a good job by even trying those churches. They are doing what we are supposed to be doing against those ‘offshoots.’”

And, of course, Luke 21:16 goes on to say, “‘And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends, and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.’” So we see in the book of Luke, very clearly, that we would be used for the sake of testifying for Christ; for verse 13 says, “‘And it shall turn to you for a testimony.’” Like Sister White says, that may be the only means that those men and women will have to come across the message. (See The Desire of Ages, 630.)

In the book of Matthew, we see another aspect of these words from Christ that we may not have seen in Luke 21. Look what it says in Matthew 24:10. Jesus is talking about the last days, “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” Why do you suppose many were going to be offended? because of the Three Angels’ Message.

Confronted with Opposition

You know, it is the same principle, the same method that Satan has been using against mankind forever. Every time that God has raised up His people, to give a special truth for a particular generation, a hatred has developed. People get offended and they go against the message and against the messenger. That has happened time after time. Sister White says very clearly that God has a message of present truth for this time. “Who dare refuse to publish it?” The Great Controversy, 609.

Because she knew that it is part of our human makeup to want to be accepted, God created us to live together. Remember that. God created all of us as a family. And it is part of our nature to want to be accepted by everybody. Everybody wants to be popular. Everybody wants to be in accord with the rest of the people. I am sure that is the same way you feel.

Brothers and sisters, very soon, we are going to come to our heavenly place, and then, yes, there will be forever and ever that unity, that one family for the rest of eternity. But while we are here, we are going to be confronted with opposition.

You know, it is not a surprise that in Matthew 24:14 it says He presented us a clear sign for the aid of the preaching of this gospel. “‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.’”

Look how clearly the book of Mark presents it. Notice how Mark registered that quote: ” “‘And the gospel must first be published among all nations.’” Mark 13:10. We have been told, time after time, that the reason God raised up the Seventh-day Adventist people was to give this message, the last message.

Speak Smooth Things, Brother

On pages 94 and 95 of the book, Counsels to Writers and Editors, we are told that the people of the world will try to induce us to soften our message.

Have they done that? Of course!

For those of you who have not read it, I have a report from the General Conference, which they proudly post on their network. They have announced, how after more than 15 years of meetings between the Catholic Church in Poland and the Adventist Church, they have now come to agreement. The Catholic Church will no longer treat the Adventist Church as a sect or a new religious group. This is declared in a joint statement drawn by the Roman Catholic Church and the Adventist Church. So, again, the structure church has been doing a good job by allowing the infiltration of the Roman Catholics into the church to soften the message.

Oh, let us not preach anything negative about the people, they say. But God tells us to unveil the man of sin. God said to unmask the things of Babylon, but the world says, oh, no, no, do not do it! Do not do it! And Satan’s agents are not only saying do not do it, but they are persecuting the ones who are doing it. Satan has been very successful with the saints.

The world, Mrs. White says, will try to suppress one of our more distinctive features. “They say: ‘why do you in your teaching make the seventh-day Sabbath so prominent? This seems to be always thrust before us; we should harmonize with you if you would not say so much on this point.’” Ibid., 94.

Compromise, Compromise

Do you know what was the very first complaint from the evangelical leaders, Barnhouse and Martin, to the General Conference leaders back in 1956? It is recorded in the book, Letters to the Church, by M. L. Andreason. The very first thing that Martin noticed when he sat down in the office was a book that talked about the mark of the beast, according to Pastor Andreason’s report. He said, How can you be seeking to be accepted into the mainstream churches when you are teaching those things about the mark of the beast?

According to Pastor Andreason, the very next quarter the scheduled Sabbath School Quarterly had an entire chapter dealing with the mark of the beast. Do you know what happened to that chapter? It disappeared from the Sabbath School Quarterly.

For those of you who have not read the book, Letters to the Church, by M. L. Andreason, I recommend that you get the book. It is available from Steps to Life. You will be surprised.

You see, these things have been happening for quite a long time; the thing is, we have been asleep. People have been asleep. Satan has been trying to keep us just conforming. Many of us are conforming ourselves in a selfish manner. I do not even see how he knew a person could pretend to be saved by himself, because God called you and me for His kingdom, and with the same calling, He also called us to disciple others.

Run, Hide, Do Nothing!

Some feel that you can be saved, just by trying to ensure that only you are going to be saved. I have found, especially in the Spanish countries, a little wind of doctrine blowing. Recently, in Puerto Rico, some brethren have been going and hiding in places. Now it is good to be going into the country, but they are going beyond that. They said, “We do not see the need for you to be putting these messages out, because the law is going to be in control of all the message, anyway.”

I looked at one of the leaders, and said, “Who do you suppose God has been calling to get this message out?” God help us to accept this responsibility. We are going to be responsible for those souls, thousands and thousands of souls, who are perishing because of lack of knowledge, and their blood will be on us.

We were recently in Guatemala, and we were hardly able to find people to take care of a little work, because everybody was running and leaving the whole responsibility to finish the work for God.

Betraying a Sacred Trust

It does not matter which means Satan uses to keep the message from going out. He does not care which way he does it. We are not to get worried about that. But we are to be very aware. Look what Mrs. White says, “Shall we for the sake of policy, betray a sacred trust? If the world is in error and delusion, breaking the law of God, is it not our duty to show them their sin and danger? We must proclaim the Third Angel’s Message.” Ibid., 95.

This is not a matter of choice, whether we want it or do not want it. I came from a very strong Roman Catholic background. I have five or six cousins who are Roman Catholic priests. One of them was made a Bishop in the Dominican Republic not too long ago. He recently came to see me. They are still working hard to get me to go back home, so to speak, back into the “house.” They see me as the black sheep of the family.

And my heart is broken, because I know they are being deceived. I know them. They grew up with me, and still they cannot see that they have been, not only deceived, but manipulated by the Roman Catholic Institution. They are now deceiving the whole church; they are being manipulated. It is a heartbreaking experience. The message should be going out. It is so late, brothers and sisters, to be playing with the salvation of so many souls. Their blood will be on our hands.

It Has Nothing to do With the Name

We have been very anxious to go out and preach, even more than ever, because we know that the trial and the lawsuit is not really because of the name, Seventh-day Adventist. We are not deceived. It is because of the work that has been going on. Knowing that, we are trying to go as many places as possible to spread this message, even outside of North America.

There is a need for this message to go out. I just heard a brother from California. Their board has already made a decision to do some of this work out there, too, even though we have already done this several times in California. But California is huge, and I believe that some other people should start doing this, too, so the General Conference will see that it is not only a little “offshoot” people down there in Florida, but it is God’s people, around the world. Some of you told me that you took the Earth’s Final Warning to a local paper, and they refused to print it, even though you offered to pay. You can always bulk mail it to the zip codes. That is what we are doing. Also give it out; pass it out to the people. Very soon that is not going to be accepted, we know that, but sometimes the Lord opens up little opportunities and big opportunities.

Setting the Record Straight

Not too long ago somebody sent me a copy of an article that was in the Cairo, South Carolina, paper. It was almost a half page article entitled, “Thus Shall it Rest.” It says that every minister of the ministerial association officially declares a day of rest. I called the brother who sent this, and I said, “Did anybody in South Carolina answer this article? I know there are a lot of Seventh-day Adventists there.”

They said, “No, everybody has been quiet.”

“You mean not even one letter to the Editor, sent by somebody who is a Seventh-day Adventist?”

“Not as far as we know.”

So I called information, and I asked for the phone number of the newspaper. I had in front of me a copy of the articles of both the evangelical and the Roman Catholic churches. They said that they are trying to introduce the idea, or trying to implement the idea, of Sunday worship—you know, not enforcing, but presenting a day of worship.

“I am a Seventh-day Adventist,” I told the lady who was taking care of me over the phone, “and we believe that that is wrong.”

She said, “Well. . .”

“Will you allow me to write an article and put it in the paper?” I asked.

She said, “Well, let me see what can be done.” After a moment she said, “We can sell you some space.”

I said, “Okay, that is fine. I need you to give me a full-page ad.”

She said, “A full page?”

I said, “Yes, a full page. Not a quarter of a page, a full page.”

“Well, send me the material” she said. Then she wanted to charge me like a business.

I said, “No, we are a church, and we have a non-profit status.” I know, after a while of dealing with them, you have to press hard to get the cheapest rate possible. I always ask, “Do you have a stand-by program?” You know, like you set it aside.

That is what I recommend to you, if you are planning to do this. When you talk to the newspaper, tell them not only to give you the non-profit rate but also what they call Ramen, like a remnant space. If, at the last minute, they cancel an ad, they have your material right there, ready, and they will call you and say, “Okay, we have a page available, now. Do you want to go?”

“Yes!” We do not have a specific date to come out. It can come out any time.

That is the way we have been doing it. And let me tell you, in the Los Angeles Times, we were able to get the price down from $78,000 to only $21,000 by using this method. And the U.S.A. Today ad went from $150,000–$160,000 worldwide, to $52,000. You send them the material, they keep it there; and when they have had some other advertisers cancel, they put in your ad. It works well.

One time we did that with the Miami Herald, and the day the Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, was coming to Miami, there was a cancellation of a full page ad in the Miami Herald, and our Earth’s Final Warning came through right on the same day that she was in Miami! A $5,000 ad, and we got it for $1,600.

Madeline Albright is a very, very strong Roman Catholic lady. But do you not feel that she needs to be confronted with the Three Angels’ Messages, too? Yes, of course.

Then we received a lot of letters. You know, brothers and sisters, for the grace of God 80 percent of the people were requesting more books and materials. The other 20 percent were upset. When I give the 1-800 phone number, whoever calls, it is because they are in need of calling. And whoever sits down and writes a letter is either very angry at the message or is very interested in the message.

To be continued . . .

Where Does God Deposit Truth – Part II

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God’s Noblemen

“In the past, the servants of God wrestled with principalities and powers, and with the rulers of the darkness of this world, and with spiritual wickedness in high places, the same as we, who bear aloft the banner of truth, do today. These men were God’s noblemen, His living agencies, through whom He wrought in a wonderful manner. They were depositaries of divine truth to the extent that the Lord saw fit to reveal the truth that the world could bear to hear. They proclaimed the truth at a time when false, corrupt religion was magnifying itself in the world.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 345, 346.

“If the Bible was studied and obeyed; if we had the spirit of Christ, we should make determined efforts to be laborers together with God. We should better appreciate the worth of the soul; for every soul converted to God means a vessel dedicated to a holy use, a depositary of truth, a bearer of light to others. God expects more of the schools than has yet been brought forth. Christ has said, ‘Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life; which the Son of man shall give unto you; for Him hath God the Father sealed.’ [See John 6:27.] Christian Education, 82.

“‘Wake up, brethren and sisters, wake up. Sleep no longer. ‘Why stand ye here all the day idle?’ Jesus calls you, saying, ‘Go work today in My vineyard.’ Whoever has received the Holy Spirit, will make it manifest; for all his powers will be employed in the most active service. All, who actually receive Christ by faith, work. They feel the burden of souls. God now calls upon every one who has a knowledge of the truth, who is a depositary of sacred truth, to arise and impart the light of heaven to others. Those who have been illuminated by the Holy Spirit, will show its office work upon life and character. They will be mediums through which the Holy Spirit will communicate light and knowledge to others. The wonderful truth revealed to us in these last days, is to be revealed to others. ‘The end of all things is at hand.’ The Lord has been speaking to you in America, and may the Lord forbid that at the time of great illumination, darkness should come upon you because you fail to walk in the light that has been given. Darkness corresponding to your light will surely come upon you, if you do not now arouse from your slumbers, and shake off your useless musings and selfish indulgences, and trade diligently with your Lord’s goods. Move out from your pleasant homes. Develop the talents God has given you, and tell to others what the Holy Spirit has communicated to you. God requires you to work in proportion to the light He has given.” (Concluded next week.) — The Review and Herald, December 5, 1893.

“Ministers of Christ whom God has made the depositaries of His law, you have an unpopular truth. You must bear this truth to the world. Warnings must be given men to prepare for the great day of God. You must reach those whose hearts are callused by sin and love of the world. Continual and fervent prayer, and earnestness in well-doing, will bring you into communion with God; your mind and heart will imbibe a sense of eternal things, and the heavenly unction, which springs from connection with God, will be poured upon you. It will render your testimony powerful to convict and convert. Your light will not be uncertain, but your path will be luminous with heavenly brightness. God is all-powerful, and Heaven is full of light. You have only to use the means God has placed in your power to obtain the divine blessing.” Ibid., August 8, 1878.

A Sacred Responsibility

These statements are clear enough, and there are more like them. As individuals we have a sacred responsibility as depositaries of God—; indeed, vessels to be filled with all the fullness of Him who fills all in all, human safety deposit boxes entrusted with the most important message ever given to mortals.

Now look at some statements dealing with the church as a body of individuals being the depositary of God.

“Jesus came to the world, lived a holy life, and died, to leave to the church His legacy in the valuable treasures He entrusted to them. He made His disciples the depositaries of most precious doctrines, to be placed in the hands of His church unmixed with the errors and traditions of men. He revealed Himself to them as the light of the world, the Sun of Righteousness. And He promised them the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father was to send in His name.” Signs of the Times, November 16, 1891.

“Christ has said, ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ Then let us individually send forth clear, steady rays of light to the world. Our light is never to grow dim, never to burn low. The Lord is at the door; who will prove to be the wise, and who the foolish virgins? Who will be revealed at last as those who have the lamps, but no oil of grace in their vessels with their lamps? The church has been made the depositary of truth. Light has been imparted to her members, and they are to have works corresponding to their privileges and opportunities. They cannot correctly represent the truth in a single instance, unless they are sanctified through the truth. To sanctify is to set apart for a special service. Those who are controlled by worldly ambition will never shine as lights. ‘Ye cannot serve God and mammon.’” The Review and Herald, February 27, 1894.

“Let all understand the words that I now write. Those who are laborers together with God are but His instruments, and they in themselves possess no essential grace or holiness. It is only when they are cooperating with heavenly intelligences that they are successful. They are but earthen vessels, the depositaries in which God places the treasure of His truth. Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but it is God alone that gives the increase.

“God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. But Satan is a vigilant, unsleeping foe, ever at work upon human minds, seeking a soil in which he can sow his tares. If he finds any whom he can press into his service, he will suggest ideas and false theories, and make them zealous in advocating error. The truth not only converts, but works the purification of its receiver. Jesus has warned us to beware of false teachers. From the beginning of our work, men have arisen from time to time, advocating theories that were new and startling. But if those who claim to believe the truth would go to those who have had experience; would go to the word of God in a teachable, humble spirit, and examine their theories in the light of truth and with the aid of the brethren who have been diligent Bible students, and at the same time make supplication unto God, asking, Is this the way of the Lord, or is it a false path in which Satan would lead me? They would receive light, and would escape out of the net of the fowler.

“Let all our brethren and sisters beware of anyone who would set a time for the Lord to fulfill His word in regard to His coming, or in regard to any other promise He has made of special significance. ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.’ False teachers may appear to be very zealous for the work of God, and may expend means to bring their theories before the world and the church; but as they mingle error with truth, their message is one of deception, and will lead souls into false paths. They are to be met and opposed, not because they are bad men, but because they are teachers of falsehood and are endeavoring to put upon falsehood the stamp of truth.” Testimonies to Ministers, 53–55.

“But we see that the God of heaven sometimes commissions men to teach that which is regarded as contrary to the established doctrines. Because those who were once the depositaries of truth became unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who would receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and would advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders. And then these leaders, in the blindness of their minds, give full sway to what is supposed to be righteous indignation against the ones who have set aside cherished fables. They act like men who have lost their reason. They do not consider the possibility that they themselves have not rightly understood the word. They will not open their eyes to discern the fact that they have misinterpreted and misapplied the Scriptures, and have built up false theories, calling them fundamental doctrines of the faith.” Ibid., 69.

“Can we then be surprised to hear of ministers falling under temptation and sin, disgracing the cause they were professedly advocating? Can we wonder that there are apostasies when men who urge conversion upon others are not themselves converted; when they commend to others the love of Christ which does not glow in their own souls; preaching repentance which they themselves have not practiced, and faith which they have no experimental knowledge of; telling of a Saviour whom they have never known except by rumor? They are self-deceived men, not far from destruction. Pitiful indeed is their situation. All may seem peaceful to them, because the palsy of death is upon them. We are fully aware that dishonest men, immoral men, who preach the Word, are not always reproved and warned. They are not unmasked. They learn to hold the truth in unrighteousness, and can tamper with it without a trembling of heart and rebuke of conscience. Oh, that with pen and voice we might lead the people who claim to be the depositaries of sacred and eternal truth to feel the necessity of enthroning the Word of God in their heart, and bringing every thought, word, and action into subjection to Jesus Christ. It is a fearful thing to be in daily connection with the truth of God, telling others of eternal truth, and yet be unsanctified through that truth.

“It is not safe to place men in the position God should occupy, for men cannot be trusted. If they do not constantly live as in the presence of God, if they do not walk humbly before God and their brethren, they will diverge almost imperceptibly, and by slight degrees, from the straight line of God’s work. Trusting to their own wisdom, they will deceive themselves and their fellow men. Their ideas become so confused that they offer strange fire before the Lord.

“The Word of God is to be the man of our counsel. With pen and voice I proclaim to all who bear credentials, to all licentiates, to all colporteurs, and all canvassers, that the Bible, and the Bible only, studied on your knees, laid up in your heart, and practiced in your life, attended by the Holy Spirit’s power, can be your safeguard. It alone can make you righteous and holy, and keep you thus. Every human influence is weak and varying unless the truth of God’s Word is brought home to the soul, and placed upon the throne. Not till this is done will the heart be sanctified, purified, and made holy, a fountain out of which are the issues of life.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 11, 89, 90.

No One is Free from Failing in Responsibility

Needless to say, such warnings are not being heeded by the majority of professed believers in this hour of earth’s history, and it will get worse, as we have been warned. The point to be made here is that individuals making up a group have as much or more responsibility as depositaries as an entire group of people claiming depositary status. No individual is free from failing in responsibilities as a depositary of sacred things. Common sense would conclude no group of individuals is free either. Let us look at some statements dealing with the church as a working body.

“The people whom God has made the depositaries of His law are generally from the poorer classes, and they have not had the advantages of wealth and culture. As they wish to make a good impression, and win souls to the light of truth, they must become intelligent and refined. They should stop at no low standard; for they will be hated and criticized by all who choose darkness rather than light. .” The Review and Herald, May 6, 1884.

“We have a message of warning to the church. God says to you, ‘Be zealous and repent’ ‘I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.’ Precious time has been squandered in which you might have won souls to Christ,—souls that through your love of ease are now lost. Every member of the church should awake to duty now. May God help you to take on the burden. Let the church-members pray and fast and believe. Let the hearts of parents be turned to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents, ‘Lest I come,’ saith the Lord, ‘and smite the earth with a curse.’ Your souls are in peril. Shall the Sun of Righteousness set, and leave you enshrouded in the darkness of eternal night?

“Great light and privileges were given to the Jewish nation, but their sin was in neglecting to improve these blessings. Great privileges are granted to those whom God has made the depositaries of His law. These privileges are not evidences of our piety, and do not commend us to God; but they lay us under most solemn obligation to respond in holiness of life to the benefits received. Privileges abused will ever result in corresponding darkness and judgment from God.

“But God never forsakes a people until they first forsake Him. ‘Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause My anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever.’” Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 286, 287.

“The Lord Jesus has made His church the depositary of sacred truth. He has left with her the work of carrying out His purposes* and His plans to save the souls for whom He has manifested such interest, such unmeasured love. Like the sun in relation to our world, He rises amid the moral darkness—the Sun of Righteousness. He said of Himself, ‘I am the light of the world.’ He said to His followers, ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ Jesus came to the world in the garb of humanity, to instruct the world and guide them in the way of light, to eternal happiness. The followers of Christ are His representatives in the world. By reflecting the image of Jesus Christ, by the beauty and holiness of their characters, by their continual self-denial and their separation from all idols, large or small, they reveal that they have learned in the school of Christ. They are continually catching the spirit of love and forbearance, meekness and gentleness, and they stand as representatives of Christ, a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.” Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 778.

[* “In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them.” The Great Controversy, 593.]

Separated from the World!

“God has called His church in this day, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth, the messages of the first, second, and third angels, He has separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to Himself. He has made them the depositaries of His law and has committed to them the great truths of prophecy for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred trust to be communicated to the world. The Three Angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God’s messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth. Christ declares to His followers: ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ To every soul that accepts Jesus the cross of Calvary speaks: ‘Behold the worth of the soul: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”’ Nothing is to be permitted to hinder this work. It is the all-important work for time; it is to be far-reaching as eternity. The love that Jesus manifested for the souls of men in the sacrifice which He made for their redemption, will actuate all His followers.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 455. (See Also 619.)

“We profess to have more truth than other denominations; yet if this does not lead to greater consecration, to purer, holier lives, of what benefit is it to us? It would be better for us never to have seen the light of truth than to profess to accept it and not be sanctified through it.” Ibid., vol. 5., 619, 620.

Words of Warning

“I have been instructed to trace words of warning for our brethren and sisters who are in danger of losing sight of the special work for this time. The Lord has made us depositaries of sacred truth. We are to arise and shine. In every land we are to herald the Second Coming of Christ, in the language of the revelator proclaiming: ‘Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.’ Revelation 1:7.” Ibid., vol. 8, 116.

“It is a solemn and terrible truth that many who have been zealous in proclaiming the Third Angel’s Message are now becoming listless and indifferent! The line of demarcation between worldlings and many professed Christians is almost indistinguishable. Many who once were earnest Adventists are conforming to the world—to its practices, its customs, and its selfishness. Instead of leading the world to render obedience to God’s law, the church is uniting more and more closely with the world in transgression. Daily the church is becoming converted to the world. How many professing Christians are slaves of mammon! Their indulgence of appetite, their extravagant expenditure of money for selfish gratification, greatly dishonors God.” Ibid.. vol. 8, 118.

“The world must not be introduced into the church and married to the church. Through union with the world the church will become corrupt, — ‘A cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’ The customs of the world must not have a place; for they will open doors through which the prince of darkness will find access, and the line of demarcation will become indistinguishable between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.” The Review and Herald, February 26, 1895.

“There are many who, if they understood the spirit and the result of religious legislation, would not do anything to forward in the least the movement for Sunday observance. The world is overborne with falsehood and iniquity, and those whom God has made the depositaries of His law and of the pure religion of Jesus, must be determined to let their light shine. If they do nothing to disabuse the minds of the people, and through ignorance of the truth our legislators should abjure the principles of Protestantism and give countenance and support to the Roman fallacy, enforcing allegiance to the spurious sabbath, God will hold His people, who have had great light, responsible for their lack of diligence and faithfulness. But if the subject of religious legislation is judiciously and intelligently laid before the people, and they see that through Sunday enforcement, the Roman apostasy would be re-enacted by the Christian world, and that the tyranny of past ages would be repeated, then whatever comes, we shall have done our duty. The Review and Herald, March 9, 1911.

Plain Speaking

“In these last days God has brought to His people a knowledge of His law. A flood of light has been poured upon the New Testament, revealing the truths of the Old. God has brought out from the world and from the church a people whom He has made the depositaries of His law. They are to teach that that law must be obeyed if men would enter into life. To those who keep His commandments He will be a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, to lighten and lead the way in the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in.” Signs of the Times, July 19, 1899.

That last quote is very interesting, is it not? It is as plain as can be how God passes the torch to those who remain faithful to duty as individuals or religious bodies. It gets even plainer.

The Seventh-day Adventist church, or any of its actual congregations, interestingly enough, is only mentioned by name a few times in all the references available on this subject. Some are now included here. Pay close attention to the messages Mrs. White sent them.

“God is leading out a people. He has a chosen people, a church on the earth, whom He has made the depositaries of His law. He has committed to them sacred trust and eternal truth to be given to the world. He would reprove and correct them. The message to the Laodiceans is applicable to Seventh-day Adventists who have had great light and have not walked in the light. It is those who have made great profession, but have not kept in step with their Leader, that will be spewed out of His mouth unless they repent. The message to pronounce the Seventh-Day Adventist Church Babylon, and call the people of God out of her, does not come from any heavenly messenger, or any human agent inspired by the Spirit of God.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 66.

Well, here is one that is at the heart of great controversy among God’s professed people in our day. What would principle declare about the historical and present meaning of this passage, and others like it, in light of what you have already read and will now read? You decide, because God will, indeed, judge each one of us in how we relate to and judge heavenly principles.

“But the heart of the work, the great center, has been enfeebled by the mismanagement of men who have not kept pace with their Leader. Satan has diverted their money and their capabilities into wrong channels. Their precious time has been passing into eternity. The earnest work that is now being done, the aggressive warfare that is being carried on, might long ago have been just as vigorously carried forward in obedience to the light of God. The whole body is sick because of mismanagement and miscalculation. The people to whom God has entrusted eternal interests, the depositaries of truth pregnant with eternal results, the keepers of light that is to illuminate the whole world, have lost their bearings. Has God made a mistake? Are those at the heart of the work chosen vessels that can receive the golden oil, which the heavenly messengers, represented as two olive trees, empty into the golden tubes to replenish the lamps? Are those in Battle Creek, the men and women that God has appointed to do the most solemn work ever given to mortals, in partnership with Jesus Christ in His great firm? Are those whom He has bidden to communicate the light from the burning lamps to others, that the regions of darkness may have opportunity to hear the saving message, doing their duty? … “ Testimonies to Ministers, 397.

God Does Not Make Mistakes!

Does God make mistakes? No, of course not. His choosing of Israel was not a mistake. His choosing of the early church over the Jewish church was not a mistake. His choosing of the faithful few as the early church majority went into apostasy was not a mistake. His choosing of the Protestant Reformers was not a mistake. His choosing of the Adventists prior to 1844 was not a mistake. His choosing of another faithful remnant to carry on after 1844 was not a mistake. Now, given that God does not make mistakes, will the real depository please stand up?

Read this next statement carefully:

“The church at Battle Creek has had great light. As a people they have been peculiarly favored of God. They have not been left in ignorance in regard to the will of God concerning them. They might be far in advance of what they now are, if they had walked in the light. They are not that separate, peculiar, and holy people that their faith demands, and that God recognizes and acknowledges as children of the light. They are not as obedient and devotional as their exalted position and sacred obligation as children walking in the light require them to be. The most solemn message of mercy ever given to the world has been entrusted to them. The Lord has made that church the depositaries of His commandments in a sense that no other church is. God did not show them His special favor in trusting to them His sacred truth that they alone might be benefited by the light given, but that the light reflected upon them from heaven should shine forth to others and be reflected again to God by those who receive the truth glorifying Him. Many in Battle Creek will have a fearful account to give in the day of God for this sinful neglect of duty.

“Many of those who profess to believe the truth in Battle Creek contradict their faith by their works. They are as unbelieving, and as far from fulfilling the requirements of God and from coming up to their profession of faith, as was the Jewish church at the time of Christ’s first advent. Should Christ make His appearance among them, reproving and rebuking selfishness, pride, and love of the friendship of the world, as He did at His first advent, but few would recognize Him as the Lord of glory. The picture He would present before them of their neglect of duty they would not receive, but would tell Him to His face: ‘You are entirely mistaken; we have done this good and great thing, and performed this and that wonderful work, and we are entitled to be highly exalted for our good works.’

“The Jews did not go into darkness all at once. It was a gradual work, until they could not discern the gift of God in sending His Son. The church at Battle Creek has had superior advantages, and they will be judged by the light and privileges they have had. Their deficiencies, their unbelief, their hardness of heart, and their neglect to cherish and follow the light are not less than those of the favored Jews, who refused the blessings they might have accepted, and crucified the Son of God. The Jews are now an astonishment and reproach to the world.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 199, 200.

“Jerusalem is a representation of what the church will be if it refuses to walk in the light that God has given. Jerusalem was favored of God as the depositary of sacred trusts. But her people perverted the truth, and despised all entreaties and warnings. They would not respect His counsels. The temple courts were polluted with merchandise and robbery. Selfishness and love of mammon, envy and strife, were cherished. Everyone sought for gain from his quarter. Christ turned from them, saying: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,’ how can I give thee up? ‘How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!’ Matthew 23:37.

Christ Weeps Over our Failed Churches

“So Christ sorrows and weeps over our churches, over our institutions of learning, that have failed to meet the demand of God. He comes to investigate in Battle Creek, which has been moving in the same track as Jerusalem. The publishing house has been turned into desecrated shrines, into a place of unholy merchandise and traffic. It has become a place where injustice and fraud have been carried on, where selfishness, malice, envy, and passion have borne sway. Yet the men who have been led into this working upon wrong principles are seemingly unconscious of their wrong course of action. When warnings and entreaties come to them, they say: ‘Doth she not speak in parables?’ Words of warning and reproof have been treated as idle tales.

“When Christ looked down from the crest of Olivet, He saw this state of things existing in every church. The warnings come down to all that are following in the tread of the people of Jerusalem, who had such great light. This people is before us as a warning. By rejecting God’s warnings in this our day, men are repeating the sin of Jerusalem. The Lord sees what the human agent does not see and will not see—the outcome of all the human devising in Battle Creek. He has done all that a God could do. He has flashed light before the eyes of the people, that their sins might not reach the boundary where repentance cannot be felt. But by a long process of departure from just and righteous principles, men have placed themselves where light and truth, justice and mercy, are not discerned. This course has become part of their very nature.

“I call upon all who have united in a course of action that is wrong in principle, to make a decided reformation and forever after walk humbly with God .…

“These are no idle tales, but truth. Again I ask: On which side are you standing? ‘If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow Him.’ I Kings 18:21.” Ibid., vol. 8, 67, 68.

Frankly, dear reader, I am not into idle tales, and we should have no doubt in our minds that the Seventh-day Adventist denomination walks no safer ground than presented to any other group in religious history. Nay, she is held more accountable because of all the examples given her.

Who Are the Disfellowshipped and Disenfranchised?

If the Seventh-day Adventist denomination and its recognized, authorized membership is the depositary of God, who are those thousands now disfellowshipped and disenfranchised from her borders? If the Seventh-day Adventist denomination is God’s depositary, let it be proven from “true theology and common sense,” not sentimentality, false reasoning, or human wisdom and philosophy. It is Rome who says, “We are the true church. We are holy, no matter what was done in the past, or is done now, because the church is Christ’s and He is holy.” God forbid such Romanism should exist within that movement which was called into being as the final spearhead movement of the Protestant Reformation! But it does; God help us!

The church is the pillar and ground of truth. It cannot be the pillar and ground of error. It cannot be the pillar and ground of a mixture of truth and error, once light has shined on its pathway. The mixture of truth and error is the track of Satan and deception and the makeup of the prophetic family of Babylon. The Depositary and the Second Angel’s Message are now on the table for discussion as never before. If principles mean anything, if warnings mean anything, if circumstances mean anything, if conditions mean anything, they had better mean something now, because our present and future depend on it.

There is God; there is Baal. There is the true Mother and the remnant; there is the false Mother and her daughters. There is Protestantism; there is Romanism. There is light, there is darkness. There is Christ; there is Satan.

Pray tell, on whose side are you?

“He that has ears to hear . . . . “

[All emphasis supplied]

The End

Will the Real Seventh-day Adventist Protestant Please Stand Up?

by

Seven score and eighteen years ago our pioneers brought forth, line upon line, our distinctive message for the sole purpose of fulfilling a mission by manifesting it to the world. We are now at a crossroads, a fork, a great divide, attesting whether or not the Second Advent Movement will withstand in the hallowed footsteps of its founders.

“I was shown three steps—the First, Second, and Third Angels’ Messages. Said my accompanying angel, ‘Woe to him who shall move a block or stir a pin of these messages. The true understanding of these messages is of vital importance. The destiny of souls hangs upon the manner in which they are received.’ I was again brought down through these messages, and saw how dearly the people of God had purchased their experience. It had been obtained through much suffering and severe conflict.” Early Writings, 258, 259.

Dedicated to the Work

Our brave predecessors struggled against all odds. We may long forget what we do, but we can never forget what they did, what God did through them, for us! Those courageous pioneers now dead, struggled for us, so that we could be dedicated to the great task of completing the work that they started.

“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.” Revelation 14:13.

It has been said that all a man hath will he give for his life. While we are required to contribute our substance, these honored dead gave their lives and devotion to our cause. The greater merits are due to them, and we should be highly determined that these shall not have died in vain.

“God had led them along step by step, until He had placed them upon a solid, immovable platform. I saw individuals approach the platform and examine the foundation. Some with rejoicing immediately stepped upon it. Others commenced to find fault with the foundation. They wished improvements made, and then the platform would be more perfect, and the people much happier. Some stepped off the platform to examine it and declared it to be laid wrong.” Early Writings, 259.

We expect to maintain this task come what may. Whether we triumph or are conquered, through life or death, come rain or shine, whether men embrace or forsake us, it must be well understood, once and for all, that we will not surrender or turn away from our stern purpose in making known our old, historical, timely, beloved messages to the world.

Proclaiming the Final Invitation

We urge you again, we admonish you not to let go but to be steadfast and do all you can do, which is your duty as well. It is your business to rise up and preserve this work. Do it for yourselves. Do it for your Lord. Do it for those that are still in Babylon, to whom the Lord declares, “Come out of her, My People.” Revelation 18:4. Let us readopt our mission, and together, let us harmonize with it. Let all Seventh-day Adventists, lovers of the Three Angels’ Messages, join in this great and marvelous work.

If we do this, we will not only save souls, but we will save ourselves and fulfill our destiny by proclaiming the final invitation from God to this dying world. The millions and millions of celestial inhabitants, and the holy people in the world made new, shall rise up and call us blessed, for we labor in the final era of the plan of salvation.

For now, this unpopular work must continue. The cause of God must not be surrendered, even though there may be one or a hundred obstacles.

Do Not Falter

So many find fault with our course of action, which can sometimes bring sorrow. Yet it is a perfect certainty that if we stick to our resolution, if we do not falter or give up, one day, very soon, God will turn all our sorrow into everlasting joy. We would be most happy indeed if we could be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, by perpetuating the real issues of the great controversy.

We must never remain silent. It is the eternal struggle between the two principles, right and wrong, that we endeavor to proclaim. These are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and have ever continued to struggle. In your hands, my fellow Adventist, is the momentous issue of the great controversy. Get involved. When you do, you will be assailed. You will be in conflict. You will meet with aggressors, but you will be registered in heaven as a co-laborer with God. Heaven will guide, preserve, protect, and defend your efforts.

My fellow Adventists, we are not enemies. We must not become enemies. Though many difficulties may have strained our bonds of fellowship, let it not affect our bonds of affections. The same Spirit that leads in every mission, every battlefield, whether past or present, will yet swell in our hearts again.

Kiss the Protestants Good-bye

“Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with far greater favor than in former years.” The Great Controversy, 563.

“It is not without reason that the claim has been put forth in Protestant countries that Catholicism differs less widely from Protestantism than in former times. There has been a change; but the change is not in the papacy. Catholicism indeed resembles much of the Protestantism that now exists. . . . Instead of standing in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were, apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her.” Ibid., 571, 572.

“The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. . . . Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery.” Ibid., 565, 566.

We, as Seventh-day Adventists, have already seen what has happened to Protestantism today. There was a time when Protestants would protest all the corrupt practices of apostate churches and promote true, biblical Christianity. By this unholy union with Rome, we shall see how Protestants have ceased to be what they once were. Rome has perpetuated a change, a “liberation” of the Protestants. This was accomplished through Vatican II. Adventists have seen this and know this to be true, so why do we believe that, if we do the same thing, somehow we cannot be affected in the same way? Why, then, should Seventh-day Adventists make compromises and concessions with ecumenical Babylon? We would be very foolish to do this, knowing what the consequences would be. It would be appropriate for us to review how this change has taken place and to review our Protestant-Christian heritage.

One “Catholic” Church

Soon after Christ’s ascension into Heaven, churches began to appear. In the New Testament, the word church means an assembly or body of people. The first Christian church was in Jerusalem. Most of its members, if not all, were Jews who had accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah. As the disciples of Christ began to carry the gospel to the Gentile nations, there were many churches established. Even though there were several churches started, God looked down from heaven and saw only one church made up of all true Christians.

The term catholic, which means universal or one, was used to describe the great church of all believers. The idea of a catholic church was gradually accepted to mean a single, visible, large, organized church for all Christians. Perhaps their motives were at first innocent—a desire to unite all believers (which Christ had taught) and to defend Christian beliefs, but the visible catholic church soon began to distort and change Christianity.

In time, the organization of the churches had changed. Bishops had come to the forefront and had become very powerful. A single bishop ruled several churches. The bishops tried to maintain and to justify their supremacy in the church by the idea of apostolic succession. They said that the apostles were the guardians of the gospel. Instead of emphasizing the New Testament as the Christians’ permanent link to the apostles, they claimed that the apostles had appointed bishops as their successors. They also claimed that these successors had, in turn, appointed successors of their own and that much, if not all, of the authority of the apostles had, therefore, been passed down in an unbroken line to the bishops of this day. During the first century, the bishops of Rome began using the scripture to support the Petrine theory, that Christ made Peter the head of the Catholic Church, and that Peter passed his power to the bishop of Rome. Yet, the Bible never shows Peter acting as if he were the head of the church nor does it refer to Peter as the church foundation.

The Petrine theory permitted the supremacy of the church in Rome to emerge, resulting in the idea of the Roman Catholic papacy that the bishop of the Church of Rome is supreme over all churches. The bishop of Rome, eventually called the pope, meaning papa or father, began to rule the Catholic Church as supreme ruler or king.

The Reformation

The word reformation is a term that describes the fragmentation of the Roman Catholic Church during the Sixteenth Century. Several Christian groups rose up to protest the way the established Roman church was distorting the truth and denying people access to the Word of God. Bible-believing Christians protested the corrupt practices of the Catholic Church and at first sought to reform the church, restoring it to the authority of the Scriptures, rather than to withdraw from it. The followers of this movement were called Protestants. By the 1530s all of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and much of Germany, Austria, and France had severed their ties with Rome. The Protestant Reformation so shook the Roman church that the pope soon responded with the Counter-Reformation. The main objectives were to prevent any more Catholics from becoming Protestants and to force Protestants back into the Roman fold. The Counter-Reformation put life into the Inquisition. Throughout Europe, the Inquisition used torture and terror to destroy Protestantism.

Babylonian Captivity of the Church

Most of the Protestants compared the pope to ancient Babylon, which had taken the Chosen People captive. They declared that the pope held the church in captivity by his distortions of Biblical Christianity. They believed in the freedom of the Christian. They declared that one thing, and one thing alone, is necessary for life, justification, and Christian liberty. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Protestants said nothing new; they simply revealed that what the Catholic Church had put between man and Christ was a distortion of the Word of God. They only tried to restate the Bible and restore the authority of the Scriptures to men’s lives. The work of the Reformation resulted in the formation of the first Protestant churches. Roman Catholic doctrines and practices incompatible with the gospel of Christ were rejected. The sermon came to occupy a central place in public worship; in it the preacher exposed sin and then proclaimed forgiveness, life, and salvation in Christ through faith in the gospel. The formation of these Independent-Protestant churches completed the breach with Rome. In spite of intense persecution from Rome, the newly formed Protestant churches continued to greatly influence the world.

Second Vatican Council and the Ecumenical Developments

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) brought about enormous changes to the Catholic Church. Vatican II produced 16 council documents in all. During the third session of 1964, The Decree on Ecumenism was produced. The decree describes the ecumenical movement as one of seeking Christian unity.

We know, from Bible prophecy (Revelation 13), that the decree on ecumenism is really an attempt to destroy the Protestant Spirit and to bring Protestants back to the already existing unity of the Roman Catholic Church.

Protestants once taught that the Roman Catholic Church was the whore and beast of Revelation 17. During the Reformation there were men like Martin Luther, John Knox, and John Calvin; and then you had the great preachers like Moody, Finney, Spurgeon and so on. They all believed the same thing—that the papacy was the anti-Christ. It wasn’t until lately, after Vatican II, that things have changed.

Liberals, Moderates, and Conservative Protestantism

In the past, when a person professed to be a Protestant Christian, this meant that they identified their theological beliefs by the list shown on page 7. But recently, after Vatican II, Protestants are finding themselves internally divided. Protestants today talk about the existence of two Christian religions. They are not referring to a split between Roman Catholics and Protestants, as in the past, but rather a division among the Protestant denominations. The terms, such as fundamentalist, conservative, evangelical, mainline, modernist, and liberal, all refer to Protestants today.

Religious conservatives and fundamentalists are viewed negatively, as overly strict on moral issues, close-minded, intolerant of other religious views, fanatical about their beliefs, too harsh, too much emphasis placed on guilt or sin, too concerned about their own salvation, and too rigid and simplistic. Many people would not like to have them as neighbors.

Liberals, mainline, and modernists are viewed as substituting social concerns for the true Gospel, too compromising with the world, morally loose, having a shallow knowledge of the Bible, and influenced too much by the world. The chart on the previous page spells out some of the differences between liberals and conservatives. Moderates fall somewhere in between.

Roman Catholic leaders have been trying to accelerate a change in the Protestant churches. They call it the modernization of the church. Vatican II is responsible for changes within Protestantism. The Roman church is trying to liberate (called liberation theology) Christians from fundamentalism. Rome’s objective is complete—Keep the Protestants fighting among themselves so that they are not protesting.

Protestants must wake up. Romanism, as a system, is no more in harmony with the gospel of Christ now than at any former period in her history. (See The Great Controversy, 566.) Does this mean our fight is with the Roman Catholic people who have been betrayed by their leaders? No! Our job is to rip that mask off her face, and let Roman Catholics and Protestants see that to which they are really tied. They have to be set free. They have to find Christ as the answer. It is not Mary and the rest of the unscriptural practices that will save them. It is our job to win them to the truth.

Protestants are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. Liberalism and modernism (New Theology) have taken over Protestantism and have even made their way into the ranks of Seventh-day Adventism. Historic Seventh-day Adventists must proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages, the only remedy for this spiritual disease that plagues this world. Catholics and Protestants must wake up! They can only do so by the faithful missionary efforts of the true, Protestant-historic Seventh-day Adventists.

“We are not to cringe, and beg pardon of the world for telling them the truth. We should scorn concealment. Unfurl your true colors to the gaze of men and angels. Let it be understood that Seventh-day Adventists can make no compromise.” Review and Herald, January 31, 1893.

Seventh-day Adventists should never apologize to Rome for the Three Angels’ Messages. Rome should apologize and repent for what it has done. We are not out to please pastors, churches, or denominations. The truth is worth everything, and we must be willing to share it regardless of the opposition. It is worth enduring persecution, when it is for the truth’s sake. But how do we expect to stand for the truth during the terrible crisis that is before us, when we have been compromising, acting political with the truth, and apologizing to Rome? Why do we keep deceiving ourselves?

“The persecutions of Protestants by Romanism, by which the religion of Jesus Christ was almost annihilated, will be more than rivaled when Protestantism and popery are combined.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 16, 239.

“Protestants will throw their whole influence and strength on the side of the papacy; by a national act enforcing the false sabbath, they will give life and vigor to the corrupt faith of Rome, reviving her tyranny and oppression of conscience.” Signs of the Times, June 12, 1893.

The fields are ripe for the harvest now! It is now time to go forward with the work and win precious souls for Christ. God bless you; may you “Prepare to meet thy God.” Amos 4:12.