Adventist

Editorial – The Church that Appears to Fall, Part V

by

This recent series of four editorials has been based on Letter 55, 1886, written to Elders Butler (then General Conference President) and S. N. Haskell, as published in Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, 318–328. In this letter, Ellen White divides the Seventh-day Adventist Church into two groups.

The larger of these groups, sometimes referred to as the “Professed Church,” is destined to go to ruin and destruction—to fall. They profess to be the “True Church.” (See Signs of the Times, September 4, 1883 and Counsels to Teachers, 491.)

The other group is destined to appear to fall, because it will seem that they are going to be annihilated. Since it appears that this group will be destroyed, we must face the reality that the majority of this smaller group could be martyred. (See Maranatha, 199.) But instead of falling, it will remain. This smaller group is referred to by Ellen White, in other places, as the “True Church.” (See Signs of the Times, April 22, 1889.)

Both of these groups profess the Seventh-day Adventist faith. They are both visible, and they both claim to be God’s special, denominated people.

The “Church” that only appears to fall but does not, according to Letter 55, has the following characteristics:

  1. They profess the Adventist faith and
  2. are actually practicing the truth.
  3. They come before God with repentance, humiliation, and deep heart searching.
  4. They are living representatives of the truth they advocate.
  5. They honor God’s law by strict and holy compliance.
  6. They walk before the Lord with purity and holiness.
  7. They honor God as did Daniel by righteousness, holiness, and truth.
  8. Support is withdrawn as they continue to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages.
  9. The members are overcoming and
  10. are the remnant who purify their souls by keeping the truth.

The “Church” that not only appears to fall but that actually does fall, according to Letter 55, has the following characteristics:

  1. They are not constantly becoming more spiritually minded.
  2. They are becoming self-righteous while not doing the will of God.
  3. They profess the Adventist faith but are keeping it apart from their lives.
  4. They do not bring their hearts to the test of God’s great moral standard of righteousness; they do not live it.
  5. They claim to believe the truth and advocate the law of God.
  6. There is internal corruption.
  7. God has promised not to forsake them if they do not forsake Him.
  8. God has promised to work for them if the sins which brought His wrath upon the old world do not become their crimes.
  9. God asks them to cleanse the camp of moral defilement and aggravating sins, because
  10. sin is cherished weakness, and ruin will come on all individuals and groups (churches) that allow a knowing violation of any commandment.
  11. God has been robbed by the withholding of money from His treasury.
  12. This church is advised to humble their souls before God with humiliation and fasting and prayer and repentance for sin so disaster and ruin might be avoided.
  13. This church finally ceases to exist because all the members who are continuing in sin fall.
  14. Many of the ministers in this church have only a human commission, not a commission from God, and they will be weeded out by the Sunday Law test.

Dear Friend, if that still, small voice is telling you that you are in the large group of professed Adventists who are not really true Adventists, it is not yet too late for you to change sides, to change leaders.

Four Old Things, Part I

by

This is a true story that happened to one of the most famous and out-standing sales trainers in the United States a few years ago. This man travels all over, teaching salesmen how to sell and how to be more successful. In a seminar on sales, the basic things of salesmanship are given, then some other things may be covered, but the basics are always provided first. Sometimes, after a person has been selling for a long time, they will say, “I don’t need to study that anymore. I know the basics already.”

In writing about his experience in one of the sales meetings, this trainer mentioned how people who are already in sales usually will not come to the seminar, but he noticed this one man who came to the seminar every year. He asked the man, “Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do? I notice that you come to the seminar every year; are there any of your colleagues with you?”

“No,” the man replied, “I am here all by myself.” He explained that his colleagues could not be convinced that they needed to come to the seminar. The man who was speaking revealed that he was the top producer in his organization, and he felt the need to attend; the rest of the salesmen did not. He continued, “I feel the need at least every year to review the basics about salesmanship.” You know, people who forget the basics, even when they have a lot of experience, make a lot of crazy mistakes.

Jesus, speaking to His disciples, said, “Do you understand all of these things? They say to Him, Yes. And He says to them, On account of this, every scribe who has been instructed in the things of the kingdom of the heavens is like a man who is a householder which brings out of his treasure things new and old.” Matthew 13:51, 52. As human beings, we have a natural tendency to want to hear the new, and that is not wrong, but sometimes we need to hear the old. We need to be sure that we do not forget the old things.

Who are you?

Who are you? How do you define yourself? If you are a Christian, if you believe the Bible, when someone asks who you are, the first thing that might come to your mind is what Genesis says. God and the Son had a conversation, and they said, “Let us make man in our own image and in our own likeness: . . . and so they created both male and female; they created man in the image of God.” Genesis 1:26, 27. Does it make a difference in your whole view of the universe and of yourself whether or not you think you are the son of God or the son of a monkey? Yes, it makes all the difference in the world. You see, in our educational system today, the children are being taught that they descended from animals. No wonder, then, that they act like animals!

More than this, it is not just that you have been created in the image of God, but if asked who you are, one of the answers that may come to mind is that you are a Christian. What is a Christian? A Christian is one who is Christ-like, who is following Jesus. Christians overcome the world. (See 1 John 5:4.) If you say that you are of Him, then you have to walk the way He walked, as John said. (See 1 John 2:6.)

In the Christian church, around the beginning of the fourth century, some people belonged to what they called the church universal—that is the Catholic Church. There arose a controversy between them and another group that were called the Donatists. The Donatists were a very interesting group of Christian people. The controversy with the Catholic Church centered on the point that the Donatists did not believe that the church should be associated with the state. They believed in separation of church and state, and they told the Catholic Church that they should not be using the Roman Government to try to get their way. The Catholic Church was in cahoots with the Roman Government of that day, and they actually arranged for the Roman Government to put pressure on the Donatists and to tell them that they could not call themselves Christians. You are Donatists, they said; you are not Christians. That has happened thousands of times since then, clear down to the present day.

Warning of Apostasy

As time went on, the early church fell away from the truth. This action was predicted in the New Testament. The New Testament writers repeatedly reminded the early church that the church was going to go into a terrible apostasy after the apostles’ death. Over and over again they repeated this warning. Peter told them point blank—all of 11 Peter is about the fact that apostasy was coming into the church after Peter died. In Acts 20, Paul told the elders from Ephesus the very same thing. After his departure, he said, grievous wolves are going to come in and not spare the flock.

Protestant Reformation

As time went on, people who were studying the Bible saw such a discrepancy between what the Bible said and what the church was doing that they said to the people in the church that they were not the church but were idolaters. The whole world became a spiritual battlefield for hundreds of years. Eventually, well over a thousand years later, we see the development of the Protestant Reformation, which took place over a 200-year period. When we study the Protestant Reformation, we usually start at the days of Martin Luther in the early sixteenth century, but Ellen White says that John Wycliffe was the morning star of the Reformation, and he lived in the fourteenth century. (See The Great Controversy, 80.)

I not only call myself a Christian, I call myself a Protestant. Are you a Protestant? What does a Protestant believe? A Protestant is someone who protests the apostasy. That is how they got the name Protestant—they protested the apostasy.

In the Protestant Reformation, there were three major beliefs that they could not harmonize with the Catholic Church.

Priesthood of Believers

The New Testament writer who explains most fully the concept of the priesthood of believers is Peter, the man whom Catholics say was the first pope. The priesthood of believers is the idea that Christ is our great High Priest, and we do not have to go through a human priest to talk with Him, because we are all priests. Peter distinctly taught that.

If that is the case, then when I have done something wrong, I do not have to practice auricular confession. Auricular confession is the idea that you must go to a human priest and confess your sins. The early Reformers said that did not have to be done. They taught that the people could go directly to the Lord and confess their sins.

You may not know this, but auricular confession is one of the great power structures on which the Roman Catholic Church is built. The Roman Catholic Church today has more and better intelligence as to what is going on in every country of the world than any secular government. How? Because of auricular confession.

Protestants do not believe in auricular confession. We believe in the priesthood of believers. We are all priests, and we go to Jesus directly as our great High Priest.

Sola Scriptura

Sola Scriptura is a Latin phrase that means Scripture alone; in other words, the Bible and the Bible only is our foundation of faith. The Protestant Reformation gave the Bible back to the common man. When people read the Bible before that time, they found so much that was different from what the Roman Catholic Church taught, that they accused the papacy, the church, of being an adulterer. The Catholic Church teaches that the Bible and tradition are the foundation of the Christian faith. But they essentially exalt tradition above the Bible. The church had to take the Bibles away from the people, or its foundation would have been destroyed.

When the Bible began to be printed, one of the vicars in London said, We will either have to destroy the printing press, or it will destroy us. But the Protestant Reformation gave the Bible back to the people in their own language. They determined that they would not have Bibles just in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, but that they would have Bibles in English and in German, and they translated the Bible in all of the different languages.

Sola Scriptura is still one of the basic differences between Protestants and Catholics. I have a very interesting Roman Catholic book, printed in 1999, which lists 21 points against Sola Scriptura. Unfortunately, most Adventists, even historic Adventists, do not know how to refute this book. We need to know why we believe in the principle of Sola Scriptura, which is the principle that the Bible, all by itself, can bring us to spiritual perfection and prepare us for the kingdom of heaven. From 11 Timothy 3:15 we know that the Holy Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The Roman Catholic book attempts to attack our position on this passage of Scripture, but the text still says the same thing. After being attacked, it is good to check to see if the Scriptures say exactly what we thought they said. This is how 11 Timothy continues: “Every Scripture is God-breathed [that is, given by inspiration of God] and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for discipline in righteousness, in order that the man of God might be complete, thoroughly furnished [or fully equipped] for every good work.” Verses 16, 17. So the Protestant Reformation gave the Bible back to the people. Without it we have no foundation.

Sola Fide

There is another principle in Latin, Sola Fide, which means by faith alone—we are saved by grace through faith alone. That was a major battlefield of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformers showed from Scripture that the seven sacraments and the various penances, fastings, pilgrimages, and other good works that the Catholic Church taught as necessary for salvation actually hold no merit with God. We are saved by faith in the blood of Christ, not by any good works we can do.

Sectarianism

I am still a Protestant. Not only a Christian, but also a Protestant. And I am not only a Protestant Christian; I am a Seventh-day Adventist Christian.

Have you ever heard anyone say to someone else, “You are not a Seventh-day Adventist”? That happened to one of my church members. An Adventist pastor said to her, “You are not a Seventh-day Adventist.”

She said to him, “Show me what there is in the doctrinal beliefs, in the baptismal vows, that I do not believe. I am a Seventh-day Adventist. I have been a Seventh-day Adventist since before you were born.”

The pastor said, “No, you’re not an Adventist.”

“Why then do you say that I am not an Adventist?” He reasoned that she did not belong to the same church organization to which he belonged.

Do you know, that is exactly the same thing that was going on in the early fourth century when the Catholic Church said to the Donatists, You do not have the right to call yourself a Christian. Why did they tell them that? Because the Donatists did not belong to their church organization. I do not know why it took me so long to get this figured out, but I was reading my Bible a few years ago and all of a sudden Mark 9:38 jumped out at me, and I said, Of course, why didn’t I know that all along! It says, “And John gave answer to Him, ‘Teacher, we saw a certain person casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.’ ”

There are some churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, that make a big thing about whether or not your church is apostolic. Was this church the apostolic church? Yes, this was the 12 apostles themselves. They saw this person casting out demons in Christ’s name and they told the man not to do it, that he was not part of them, that he did not have permission to work miracles because he did not belong to the right church! He was not part of the right organization. Jesus did not agree with them. “Jesus said, ‘Do not forbid him, for no one is able to do a miracle in my name and then is able quickly to speak against me or to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is on our side.’ ” Verses 39, 40.

That is what we call sectarianism—if you do not belong to our church organization then you are wrong; then you don’t have permission; you cannot call yourself a Christian; you cannot call yourself a Seventh-day Adventist; you cannot do this; and you cannot do that. The disciples had that problem, but the Lord corrected it. The Lord would still like to correct this problem.

What Name?

If you do not know who you are, the devil is going to blow you away with the storm that is coming. You need to know who and what a Seventh-day Adventist really is. You see, before the end, the devil might put all kinds of names on us, just like he put all kinds of names on Jesus. Jesus was called “that deceiver” (Matthew 27:63); they said “He is working miracles by Beelzebub” (Luke 11:15–19), and Jesus told His disciples, “If they call the Master of the house Beelzebub, what are they going to do to His followers?” (Matthew 10:25.) So they might call us all sorts of things. No matter what name they put on you, who you are is determined by what is inside.

Where are you from?

From where do you come? The people in the world say that we come from a church that started in 1863. “My church is 2,000 years old,” they say. Well, my church is 6,000 years old! Yes, we come from the Adventist movement; we still believe what the pioneer Adventist preachers taught and preached; we still believe what Ellen White wrote; but from where did they come? At that time, that was the extent of the development of the Protestant Reformation. You see, the Protestant Reformation kept going on after the sixteenth century reformers died. The Protestant Reformation eventually developed into the Second Advent Movement. We are the outgrowth of the Protestant Reformation, and the Protestant Reformation is the outgrowth of what the Waldenses taught and of what the people of God taught all the way back to the apostles. You see, the thing that determines whether or not you are apostolic is what you are teaching. It is not whether you can say you can trace the head of your church back so many years.

The Jews could trace their church all the way back to Abraham, and they told Jesus, “ ‘Abraham is our father.’ [We know where we come from.] Jesus said to them, ‘If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham, but now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You do the works of your father.’ Therefore they said to him, ‘We have not been born out of fornication; we have one father, even God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God was your father, you would love me, for I came out from God, neither did I come from myself, but he sent me. Why do you not know my speech? Because you are not able to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you wish to do. That one was a murderer from the beginning and did not abide in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie he speaks of his own, because he is a liar and the father of it.’ ” John 8:39–44. Jesus was teaching that our character shows where we come from. They said that they came from Abraham, but Jesus said, No, you did not; you came from the devil because you have the same character as the devil.

It is your character that determines your lineage, where you are from. The apostle John expressed it this way: “He who sins is of the devil.” 1 John 3:8. If I am living in sin, where am I from? Who is my spiritual father? The devil! Where is your lineage? There will be a group of people in the last days whose lineage will go all the way back to the beginning of time, and they will be called the sons of God, the children of God, because they keep the commandments of God and they accept and follow the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 12:17). Friends, I want to be in that little group. Over and over again we are told that this will just be a little group. Jesus said it, and the apostles said it. Almost all of the world will be deceived, but there will be a little group who will be saved.

Where are you going?

What is your future? The Bible does not teach that we are all going to the same place. It does not even teach that all Christians are going to the same place. Are all Protestants going to the same place? No, they are not. Are all Seventh-day Adventists going to the same place? No, they are not. Ellen White says, “I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 608. Startling statement!

Where are you going? “Well,” someone says, “I go to the right church!” Does that make you go to the right place? No. “I belong to the right church organization!” Does that make you go to the right place? No. “Oh, but I believe the right doctrines.” Does that make you go to the right place? No. Well, where are you going, and how do you know you are going to get there? Ellen White said that she saw in vision that many of those who were on the broad road had written on their garments that they were dead to the world and that they were headed to the New Jerusalem, but they were on the broad road. Ibid., 128. Scripture says, “Enter in through the narrow gate, because wide is the gate and spacious [or broad] is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are which enter in through it. Because narrow is the gate and restricted is the way which leads to life, and few there are who find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14. “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens; but the one who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? And in Your name we cast out demons. And in Your name we did many powerful works [miracles]. Then I will confess to them, Never, at any time, did I know you: depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.” Verses 21–23. They thought they were going to heaven, but when they got to the end, they discovered that was not where they were going.

Do you know for sure where you are going? Are you praying to the Lord that you will not be deceived and have some kind of pretend religion? What determines where you are going? Your character determines your destiny. Jesus taught that over and over. The people who are not saved are the people who practice lawlessness.

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

To be continued . . .

Pastor Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life Ministry and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas.

The New Testament Church

by

He [Jesus] who was the foundation of the ritual and economy of Israel would be looked upon as its enemy and destroyer.” The Desire of Ages, 111. The reason for this was that those who were in charge of the system viewed themselves as being the church and they realized that if Jesus were to be accepted, many of them would lose their positions.

Today, there is a similar problem in the professed church of God. There are some inspired counsels we are willing to deal with but others that we are not. If many of the counsels of Ellen White were really advocated, they would be considered to be dangerous to the church, possibly even capable of destroying it. I do not believe, however, we will ever receive God’s blessing until we feed upon every word.

Principles of church organization affect every aspect of the church, from the youngest member on up to the General Conference. In the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, there is a great deal of information dealing with church organization that is written not only to those in leadership positions but to laymen as well.

Throughout history, whenever doctrine becomes corrupted, organization also becomes corrupt. In fact, in Revelation, God is as concerned about false organization as He is about false doctrine. In the writings of Ellen White there is a great deal written about doctrine, but I also find hundreds of pages written about church organization which we are afraid to touch, because if we even read the quotation, we will be accused of criticism. It is time, however, that we have the courage of John the Baptist and, with the spirit of love, humbly look at the things God has given to us, praying that He will help us to implement these things so He can pour out His Spirit and finish the work He is seeking to do.

The Church is the People

In 1 Corinthians 1:2 we are told how the New Testament church is organized. “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called [to be] saints . . . .” The church at Corinth, identified by Paul, is not addressed as the church that is registered, but that is not the point. Nothing is said regarding their organization or where they meet, but that is not the point. The church in Corinth is those people in Corinth who are sanctified and called to be the saints of God. Now the church was to be organized, but the organization was not the church. The people were the church. These people could work in harmony, because this is possible when God is in their hearts. So they would meet and work together, send out missionaries and take up offerings, and do all those things which are necessary for God’s work to progress. But the church itself was the people. This is what the church has always been.

In a special sense, the church is those people who are registered in the books of heaven. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn [who are] registered in heaven . . . .” Hebrews 12:22, 23. The church, the true church of God, is composed of those people who are registered in the Book of Life in heaven.

Now this presents a very interesting situation. Who decides who is going to be a church member? Is it the pope who has the keys? If it is not the pope, is it the church board? Can they decide? What about the church body? Can we decide who is saved and who is not, whose name is written in heaven and whose is not?

Don’t we have anything to do? Oh, yes, we have something to do. We are called to recognize those whom God has registered in the books in heaven; and those whom He has registered there, we are to register here. He does not, however, follow our suit; we are to follow His, and there is a difference.

Let us suppose that God takes someone’s name off of the books in heaven, and they are disfellowshipped. Are they still church members? No. But suppose their name remains in the books on earth. This is an interesting dilemma. The church is purified when the books on earth match the books in heaven. You see, God has given mankind no authority to decide who can be a member and who cannot be a member, but simply to recognize those whom He has accepted or rejected.

God has local congregations here on earth, and we have organizations here to help organize the work, but the headquarters of our local church is in heaven, where only the sanctified are registered, not in some office in our state or some office in Silver Spring, Maryland. Some people find this rather disconcerting, believing such a policy could lead to all kinds of trouble.

Just suppose that a coup d’état took place in some local church or conference through politicking and some people who were not inspired by the Lord or filled with the Holy Spirit took over through manipulation, and because of their prejudices, certain people were unjustly disfellowshipped. Would those who were disfellowshipped cease to be church members? Certainly not! Suppose, on the other hand, that people were allowed to come into the church who were never converted. Because their names were in the books on earth, would they, therefore, be church members? Not in any way, shape, or form! God has never left His church to be manipulated and tampered with by the political whims of mankind. There is coming a time when He is going to turn and overturn the professed church that is called by His name. (See Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 372.) God’s true church remains the same as it has always been—those people who are registered in the books of heaven.

“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20). Where Christ is, even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church.” The Upward Look, 315.

Establish Churches

When Paul was ordained, he was ordained to baptize and establish churches—the two together. According to inspiration, the same ordination that gives people the right to baptize gives them the right to establish churches. More and more, however, there are increasing restrictions controlling the starting of new churches.

Not only has God alone reserved the right to start and to recognize a church, but if you and I decide to go out and start a church apart from His will, no matter what conference committee may approve it, it will never be a church. “For the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church.” Ibid. If God’s presence is not the center of His church, He does not recognize it as His church—whether or not it is recognized by a conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In New Testament times, the church was those who were called and sanctified. Wherever Paul went and converted a few people, he organized them into a church, right there and then, without seeking any other permission. It was not up to the church in Jerusalem to give permission or to decide if they were a church, but to recognize the fact that they were. Now, of course, if a church apostatized or if a local member apostatized, it was also up to the church in Jerusalem to decide that, as these people were no longer keeping the commandments of God, they were no longer recognized as being one of God’s churches.

For us individually to receive the Holy Spirit, we must study the Bible, pray, overcome sin, and witness. For the church body to receive the Holy Spirit, they must, as a body, also have these four things present. Not only is it necessary for us as individuals to be winning others to Christ, but God’s design for His church is that every church should start new churches.

Organization

One of the things that must take place, before God can pour out His blessing upon the church, is not only a revival of primitive doctrine but a revival of primitive organization. The New Testament churches had the freedom to go out and start new churches, but they were not just started and left to flounder by themselves; they were left with local organization. “And when they had preached the gospel to that city [Derbe] and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting [them] to continue in the faith, and [saying], ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’ So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” Acts 14:21–23.

Authority in the early church was to be earned because of a godly life, knowledge of the Scriptures, and the ability that God had given to one; but never was it to come just by virtue of office. Today our church is almost being destroyed in some parts of this world, because some have assumed the office of minister and decided that because they have that office they are the king of the local church. God never intended that office to be occupied by a king but a servant. (See Matthew 20:26, 27.)

Elders Protect

“From Miletus he [Paul] sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.” Acts 20:17. What elders were these that he called? These were the elders who had been appointed. Notice, it is elders plural, not the elder singular. “Therefore take heed to yourselves . . .” this is the instruction he is giving to these elders “and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” Acts 20:28–31.

Paul called the elders to guard the church from wolves. In a correlating passage to this in Testimonies, vol. 5, 77, Ellen White, writing of her own experience, says that she could scarcely keep from weeping when she saw the people who were taking charge of the church who were trained by Satan. Paul had the same concern, and the elders were called to protect the church from these wolves.

Now the question is, suppose that a wolf came from Jerusalem. Were the elders to protect the church from that wolf? “Oh, no,” someone says, “not a local elder.” Let’s read a most interesting passage in the New Testament in regard to this. “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I [Paul] withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.” Galatians 2:11–13. Paul stood up and rebuked Peter, but Paul was not happy about this, because he was not the one who should have had to do the rebuking.

God had established a local leadership to protect the church. “Not from Peter,” someone might say. “He was from Jerusalem. He was one of the pillars; he knew Jesus personally. No, not from Peter. They were only Gentiles who had been newly converted to the faith. You do not expect them, these Gentile Galatians, who had just come into the Christian church a few years before, to stand up and rebuke Peter, who was from the Jerusalem church, who had been a Jew all his life, one of the pillars in the church, a follower of Jesus—not Peter! I mean, Paul was an apostle. He could do that.” But Paul was most unhappy that he had to do that. “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?” Galatians 3:1.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1. Someone might say, “That scripture is dealing with circumcision and all those things.” Circumcision was involved, and eating with Gentiles was involved, but that was not the issue! The issue in Galatians was that Peter had caused them to transgress, and they were to stand in their freedom, even if it was Peter from Jerusalem who should come down and preach false theology.

“Strange fire has been offered in the use of harsh words, in self-importance, in self-exaltation, in self-righteousness, in arbitrary authority, in domineering, in oppression, in restricting the liberty of God’s people, binding them about by your plans and rules, which God has not framed, neither have they come into His mind. All these things are strange fire, unacknowledged by God, and are a continual misrepresentation of His character.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 357, 358.

God Makes the Rules

The Lord established the church upon the Rock, Jesus Christ, and he is to be the head of the church. (See Ephesians 1:22, 23.) The issue in the days of Martin Luther was who was in charge of the church, the Lord or the pope. That was the issue in Wesley’s day, and it was the issue in 1888. I have been amazed at how little Ellen White deals with doctrine in relationship to 1888. The problem with Jones and Waggoner was that they did not go through the “proper channels.” They were not approved by the “proper people.”

The following statements are from a letter that Ellen White wrote to Elder Butler. “God designs that men shall use their minds and consciences for themselves. He never designed that one man should become the shadow of another, and utter only another’s sentiments. But this error has been coming in among us, that a very few are to be mind, conscience, and judgment for all God’s workers. The foundation of Christianity is ‘Christ our Righteousness.’ ” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 1, 112. She goes on to tell us what Christ our Righteousness means: “Men are individually responsible to God and must act as God acts upon them, not as another human mind acts upon their mind.” Ibid. God is to decide what is right, not some human committee. God makes the rules, not some human rulebook. The Bible is our creed. We always used to say: “We do not have a creed book; the Bible is our creed.”

“For if this method of indirect influence is kept up, souls can not be impressed and directed by the great I AM. They will, on the other hand, have their experience blended with another, and will be kept under a moral restraint, which allows no freedom of action or of choice. . . .

“If we would be wise, and use diligently, prayerfully, and thankfully the means whereby light and blessings are to come to His people, then no voice nor power upon earth would have authority over us to say, ‘This shall not be.’ ” Ibid., 112, 113.

In the book Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, Ellen White wrote a great deal of material to the leadership and ministry in general after 1888. Much of this book is dealing with the very principle of church authority. Among other similar statements, she said, “The high-handed power that has been developed, as though position has made men gods, makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear. It is a curse wherever and by whomever it is exercised.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 361. “The spirit of domination is extending to the presidents of our conferences. If a man is sanguine of his own powers and seeks to exercise dominion over his brethren, feeling that he is invested with authority to make his will the ruling power, the best and only safe course is to remove him . . . .” Ibid., 362.

In the chapter “Under Which Banner?” she says, “Humanity is hailed as God.” Ibid., 365. She is talking to us dear friends. She continues, “God will not vindicate any device whereby man shall in the slightest degree rule or oppress his fellowmen.” Ibid., 366. A curse is pronounced upon all who do this. (See Jeremiah 17:5.)

“State conferences may depend upon the General Conference for light and knowledge and wisdom; but is it safe for them to do this? Battle Creek [Silver Spring, Maryland] is not to be the center of God’s work. God alone can fill this place. When our people in the different places have their special convocations, teach them, for Christ’s sake and for their own soul’s sake, not to make flesh their arm. There is no power in men to read the hearts of their fellowmen. The Lord is the only One upon whom we can with safety depend, and He is accessible in every place and to every church in the Union. To place men where God should be placed does not honor or glorify God. Is the president of the General Conference to be the god of the people?” Ibid., 375. Following this counsel does not make a person very popular, but we are told we must obey God, regardless of man’s approval.

God Second, Man First

Instead of teaching the truth God has commissioned to be taught, do you know what Mrs. White says we have taught? “For many years an education has been given to the people which places God second, and man first. The people have been taught that everything must be brought before the council of a few men in Battle Creek [Silver Spring, Maryland].” Ibid., 325. I want you to notice that this is a serious matter, because it is breaking the first commandment. God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3. “Let me entreat our state conferences and our churches to cease putting their dependence upon men and making flesh their arm.” Ibid., 380. Today we have gone far beyond where they were in 1888.

“In reference to our conference, it is repeated o’er and o’er and o’er again, that it is the voice of God, and therefore everything must be referred to the Conference and have the conference voice in regard to permission or restriction or what shall be and what shall not be done in the various fields. . . .

“We have heard enough, abundance, about that ‘everything must go around in the regular way.’ . . .

“He [God] wants every living soul that has a knowledge of the truth to come to their senses.” Spalding and Magan Collection, 162, 163. “The Lord wants his Spirit to come in. He wants the Holy Ghost king.” Ibid., 166. Today, we have come to the point, in many places, that if you invite someone to come and speak in the pulpit, you have to first get the permission of the local conference.

God is looking for every one of us, from the General Conference president down, to be broken on the Rock. When Jesus is the King, unity, peace, and love pervade. This does not do away with organization. It is the only thing that creates a working organization. We still have offices, but when God’s plan is followed, no one is striving for office, because everyone is striving to serve one another. (See Matthew 20:25–28.)

The message of Christ our Righteousness has to become practical. We need to exercise less and less control over one another and do more and more praying for one another. Let us not decide that God has given any one of us authority to tell everyone else how they are to serve God. God is calling for much more freedom in His church than what we have been willing to allow. There is a place for order, a place for leadership, but dear friend, God is calling for us to be broken on the Rock, to be filled with the humility and the love of Jesus. Then we will find that once again the Holy Spirit will be King.

[All emphasis supplied.]

Reprinted from LandMarks, October 1993.

Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life Ministry. In July 1991, Pastor Marshall and his family met with tragedy as they were returning home from a camp meeting in Washington state, when the airplane he was piloting went down killing all on board.

Where God Is Working

by

The third chapter of 1 Corinthians is rapidly becoming one of my favorite books in the New Testament. It is really one of the great books in the Bible about who and what the church is. Verse 2 of the first chapter says, “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus . . . .” We see that the church in Corinth were those people in that city who were sanctified in Christ Jesus.

One of the most astounding verses in the entire Bible is found in the third chapter. In fact, verse 9 was the verse that my brother Marshall used for his very last sermon. It says, “For we are God’s fellow workers.”

If you study the Spirit of Prophecy writings carefully, you will find out that this was one of Ellen White’s favorite verses and that she used it over and over again to show how we become workers together with God. There is no higher privilege that any person could have than to actually be a fellow laborer, a fellow worker with God!

Where Is God Working?

If you want to be a fellow worker with God, do you think it might be important for you to find out where God is working? Ever since the beginning of time, God has been working. The inspired writings always focus the attention on where God is working.

When I studied ancient history, I found out that there were many things going on during Abraham’s time, but inspiration does not go into any of that. It focuses all the attention on where God is working. If you want to be a fellow worker with God, you need to find out where God is working.

Even though Adam had many children, inspiration focuses only on a holy line of men through whom God was working. Seth had a son named Enos, and in his time, the Bible says that men began to call on the name of the Lord. That is where God was working. Then, in the seventh generation from Adam, Enoch was born. That is where God was working, and the people who chose to be fellow workers with God worked in cooperation with Enoch. After Enoch, there was Noah, and if you had been living in Noah’s time and you wanted to be a fellow worker with God, you would have been working with Noah.

By the time there had been 20 generations, the whole world had already rejected God twice. God looked over the world, and he found a man whose name was Abraham. He said to Abraham, “I am going to fulfill the plan of salvation through you and through your seed [Christ].” (See Genesis 12:3, 7; Galatians 3:8, 16.)

Conditional Promises

As you study the Bible record, you will find a certain characteristic in common among all those through whom God was working. In speaking of Abraham, God clearly identified what it is that qualifies a person to be a co-laborer with Him. “Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. Abraham was obedient.

At the time that God brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, He made them a wonderful promise: “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth [is] Mine.” Exodus 19:5.

Did this promise have conditions? God made a covenant with them. He said, “If you do this, I will do this for you; you will be My special people.” There have always been conditions.

Have you ever heard people say that there are unconditional promises? I decided to check this out in inspired writings, and when I looked in the writings of Ellen White, she says that all of God’s promises and threatenings are conditional. (See Evangelism, 695.) Do not let anyone tell you, unless they can show you from inspired writings, that any promise is unconditional.

Consequences of Disobedience

Israel wandered in the wilderness for 38 years longer than they had to because they were not obedient, and they rebelled. Finally, when they entered Canaan, they went into apostasy again and started worshiping idols. This went on for hundreds of years. During this time, the tabernacle was still with them, and they kept the yearly feast days.

Do you know where the tabernacle was located during all the period of the judges? It was located in Shiloh, in the land of Ephraim. Many people have almost forgotten that Ephraim was the center of divine worship for over three hundred years. The people of that time thought that it would always be that way. Look what it says about this in the Psalms. “Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.” Psalm 78:67, 68.

Why did God reject Ephraim and remove the tabernacle from Shiloh? “The ark remained at Shiloh for three hundred years, until, because of the sins of Eli’s house, it fell into the hands of the Philistines, and Shiloh was ruined.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 514

The leaders of God’s people fell into apsotasy and sin. As a result, the Lord told Eli, “You are not going to be a priest for Me. Your descendants are not going to be My priests forever.”

They were descendants of Aaron—God’s people, but the Lord said, “You are no longer going to be priests.” He rejected Ephraim as the religious center—something that they thought could not happen, happened. “The sanctuary service was finally transferred to the temple at Jerusalem, and Shiloh fell into insignificance. There are only ruins to mark the spot where it once stood. Long afterward its fate was made use of as a warning to Jerusalem.” Ibid.

A few hundred years later the people of Jerusalem thought the same thing. The temple there was the center of divine worship, and they believed that this was where God was working. Hundreds of years after the worship had been transferred from Shiloh, the Lord, through Jeremiah, said: “ ‘Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and [then] come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, “We are delivered to do all these abominations”? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen [it],’ says the Lord. ‘But go now to My place which [was] in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works,’ says the Lord, ‘and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren—the whole posterity of Ephraim.’ ” Jeremiah 7:9–15.

As you look at history, you see that God cannot work with people who are living in sin. If you want to be a fellow worker with God, you cannot link up and work with people who are living and working in sin. With God, character is what counts, and God is working with people who listen to His voice and who obey.

We are told of Israel: “Their calamities did not come because they kept the law of God, but because they disregarded that law. God had told them that if they did not obey His commandments, He could not keep His covenant with them. The history of the Israelites is portrayed for our warning. They had great light and exalted privileges; yet they did not live up to that light nor appreciate their advantages, and their light became darkness. They walked in the light of their own eyes, instead of following the leadings of God. Their history is given for the benefit of those who live in these last days, that we may avoid following the same example of unbelief.” The Signs of the Times, July 19, 1899.

Working Through His Son

Where was God working in the time of Jesus? When Jesus was brought to the temple to be dedicated, Ellen White says that the priest did not recognize anything unusual. Commenting on this experience, she says, “So it is still. Events upon which the attention of all heaven is centered are undiscerned, their very occurrence is unnoticed, by religious leaders, and worshipers in the house of God.” The Desire of Ages, 56.

The attention of all heaven was focused on Christ’s birth! And down here in this world the people who claimed to be God’s true people did not even know it had taken place. How could you be a laborer together with God if you did not even know where God was working?

So, during the time when Jesus was here, where was God working? God was working through His Son to bring salvation to a lost world. If you had wanted to be a laborer together with God, you had to connect yourself with Jesus and work with Him.

Be Not Deceived

The New Testament writers predict that a terrible change is going to take place among those who profess to be Christians. Paul speaks, addressing the elders from the church of Ephesus: “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves [church leaders] men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” Acts 20:28–30.

Speaking of this same great apostasy, Paul wrote: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for [that Day (the day of Christ) will not come] unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 11 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.

Peter talked about this apostasy, too. “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, [and] bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” 11 Peter 2:1, 2. [Emphasis supplied.] The word blasphemy means to speak evil of something. As a result of this new teaching, the real way of truth will be evil spoken of.

Notice that both Peter and Paul say that false prophets will secretly bring in destructive heresies. Whenever you find a book that is written to which the authors do not want to put their name, you ought to remember these texts.

Paul identifies this element as the mystery of lawlessness. This apostasy will, therefore, involve the breaking of God’s law and result in the way of truth being evil spoken of. Did this happen?

Keeping His Law

“The history of God’s people during the ages of darkness that followed upon Rome’s supremacy is written in heaven, but they have little place in human records. Few traces of their existence can be found, except in the accusations of their persecutors. It was the policy of Rome to obliterate every trace of dissent from her doctrines or decrees. Everything heretical, whether persons or writings, she sought to destroy. . . . Before the invention of printing, books were few in number, and in a form not favorable for preservation; therefore there was little to prevent the Romanists from carrying out their purpose.” The Great Controversy, 61, 62.

If you were living in that time and you wanted to be a fellow worker with God, it made all the difference in the world whether or not you understood that God was working with people who were keeping His Law. If you did not understand this principle, you could not be a fellow laborer with God. Do you realize, friends, that there have been millions of people who have believed that they were working with the Lord but who were working with the devil the whole time?

We find that all of the sixteenth century Reformers upheld God’s Law. They did not all understand the binding claims of the fourth commandment, but they did not reject it. There is a great difference between not understanding truth and rejecting it. Martin Luther preached a great deal on the Ten Commandments and believed in them. God was leading a people on step by step.

Today’s Work

When you study sacred history, you find that in the latter part of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth century, simultaneously, all over the world, God started raising up people from all the various Christian churches with the message that Jesus was coming soon. The great second advent movement emerged. We are not able in our limited space here to go into detail about what happened in the second advent movement, but out of that movement there was a group of people that eventually formed who were called Millerites, Adventists, and later Seventh-day Adventists.

As this group studied, they discovered the messages of the three angels of Revelation 14. Having learned the meaning of the sanctuary message in the books of Hebrews and Daniel, they realized that the Day of Judgment was to begin on October 22, 1844. This is not a message that the apostle Paul preached, because it would not have been true during his lifetime. The apostle Paul taught that the judgment was still in the future. (See Acts 24:25.) Martin Luther did not preach it either. But here is a message that the hour of God’s judgment has come. You cannot preach that the hour of God’s judgment has come unless you know it has started. But how do we know for sure that it has started? There is only one way that I know of that we know that the hour of God’s judgment has started and that is from Daniel 8 and 9.

Now, do you understand why the devil has made our understanding of Daniel 8 and 9 a focal point of attack? If he can destroy a person’s confidence in that truth, that person can no longer preach the first angel’s message. And remember, the second and third angels’ messages are built upon the first. You cannot preach the third unless you preach the second, and you cannot preach the second unless you preach the first. And if you do not understand Daniel 8:14 about the 2300 days, you are no longer a Seventh-day Adventist.

Where is God working today? God is working today with the people who are proclaiming the Three Angels’ Messages. That is where God is working today. If you want to be a fellow laborer with God today, you have to join up with the people who are doing this.

Let me ask you this question. How can you preach the second angel’s message if you do not know who Babylon is according to Revelation 18:1–5? In order to be a fellow laborer with God today, you have to know this message.

The third angel’s message is a warning against the beast, his image, and his mark. Notice how the message concludes. “Here is the patience of the saints; here [are] those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. If you are not even sure that you can really keep the commandments of God, how can you be a fellow laborer with God and preach Revelation 14:12? Have you noticed that it does not say that here are those who are trying to keep the commandments? It says they keep them. You cannot be a fellow laborer with God and be involved in His last work for the world if you cannot proclaim the message, and you certainly cannot proclaim the message if you do not believe it is true. Do you see how dangerous this idea is when people say that you are going to keep sinning until Jesus comes?

If you want to know where God is working, the first thing you want to look for is a group of Seventh-day Adventists who really keep the commandments and do not play around and say, “Well, we are doing the best we can.” Listen, friends, the best you can do is not good enough, unless you are keeping the commandments by the power of God. If you give your life to the Lord, He has the power to give you so that you can keep them. If you fail to keep them, when Jesus comes He will be able to show you millions of people who had the same besetting sins that you had, and He will say, “I gave all of these people power to overcome.” What are you going to say then? I want to tell you, you are going to be speechless.

Four Characteristics

The people described in Revelation 12:17 not only keep the commandments but they have the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 19:10 says that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Ellen White fulfilled this prophecy of giving the gift of prophecy to God’s remnant people. If you want to find the people who God is working through, you want to look for a people who have, believe, and obey the Spirit of Prophecy. That eliminates the large portion of those who make a profession of waiting for the Lord to come.

Revelation 14:12 points out that God’s people not only keep the commandments but they have the faith of Jesus. You will never find somebody who has the first qualification and does not have the third one, because you cannot keep the commandments unless you do have the faith of Jesus. People who have the faith of Jesus will be a sanctified people.

There is another characteristic that, unfortunately, disqualifies many that qualify according to the first three characteristics. Revelation 14:6 tells us that God’s last people will be giving His last message to the world. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.” If you want to find the people through whom God is working and if you want to be a fellow laborer with God, you need to find the people who are determined to take the Three Angels’ Messages to every single person in the world.

When you find those people, you will know what group to work with; you will know how to be a co-laborer with God, because that is where God is working. He is working with the people who have these four characteristics: they keep his commandments; they have the spirit of prophecy and live by it; they have the faith of Jesus; and they are taking the gospel to every single person in the whole world.

No Halfway Business

The catastrophe that I see taking place in Adventism today is that the great majority of Adventists are going to destruction, and when I try to warn them, they say, “You say that we are in total apostasy.” Looking at the destruction of Jerusalem, we get just a little idea of what is ahead for Adventism. The only way that you are going to avoid being part of that destruction is if you are a coworker with God, working where God is working, obedient to His Law.

The gospel is not a halfway business. Either you have to get into it all the way, or you might as well get out. Soon time will be no more, and when it is all over, I want to know that I have given it everything I have. I want all of my money, my time, my talents, everything I have, to be used in the finishing of God’s work. How about you?

This article is reprinted from LandMarks, January 1994.

Pastor Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life Ministry and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Editorial – The Imprimatur

by

It is easy to distinguish between authorized and unauthorized Catholic literature, because no book can be printed by Catholic printers or sold by Catholic booksellers or read by Catholic members—if they are obedient to their faith—unless that book or published statement has the imprimatur of a bishop or archbishop or a cardinal. Imprimatur is Latin for “let it be printed.” An official Catholic dictionary says that “no book treating on religion can be published until it has been examined by a bishop’s orders and has received his imprimatur.” Books not having this approval are forbidden books. This teaching has kept unnumbered Catholics from ever investigating their faith from the Bible. Incidentally, the Council of Valence placed the Bible on the list of forbidden books in 1229!

Protestants tend to think that they are liberated and free from such Catholic thinking and bondage, but they are not as different from Catholics as they might like to think. A friend of ours was recently discouraged from distributing an evangelistic book, which teaches the Three Angels’ Messages, by the conference church he was attending and the local conference president. One reason given for this opposition was that an official Seventh-day Adventist publishing association had not published the book! This premise was one of the reasons why both John the Baptist and Jesus were rejected. (See The Desire of Ages, 133, 737.)

LandMarks magazine is read by people who are part of the Second Advent Movement. Many are not part of any Seventh-day Adventist Conference but are members of home churches and lay churches around the world. This magazine exists to help them spread the Three Angels’ Messages to the world and to meet the fanaticism and apostasy that is prevalent all over the world today.

Partly because of their fear of reading something not exactly true, many historic Adventists have their own informal imprimatur. Their lists of forbidden books include certain so-called “Catholic versions” of the Bible (which interestingly are actually Protestant versions), the 1911 edition and, for some, even the 1888 edition of The Great Controversy! The list of forbidden literature includes any article written by a person who is not of the same persuasion as themselves—whether it has to do with the feast days or the name of God or the various doctrines of the godhead or doctrines of the church or any other point of theology. For this reason, people call and write Steps to Life when we publish articles by various individuals, telling us about the authors’ false theological ideas.

This editorial gives official notice that we have decided not to participate in the listing of forbidden authors. In selecting material for this magazine, our question is simple: “Does this sermon or article state the truth according to the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. White?” If it does, we will publish it, and no one needs to be alarmed if the author holds views on subjects that we believe are error. Our official disclaimer to this effect is stated in the facts of publication of this magazine.

“The Lord often works where we least expect him; he surprises us by revealing his power through instruments of his own choice, while he passes by the men to whom we have looked as those through whom light should come. God desires us to receive the truth upon its own merits,—because it is truth.” Gospel Workers (1892), 126.

“When a view of Scripture is presented, many do not ask, Is it true—in harmony with God’s word? but, By whom is it advocated? and unless it comes through the very channel that pleases them, they do not accept it. So thoroughly satisfied are they with their own ideas that they will not examine the Scripture evidence with a desire to learn, but refuse to be interested, merely because of their prejudices.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 105, 106.

Sinful Independence, Part I

by

God’s love is infinite—so great that I cannot understand it, but it is wonderful to meditate upon it. Have you meditated recently about why God made this world? Ellen White penned an interesting statement about why God created this world: “Infinite love—how great it is! God made the world to enlarge heaven. He desires a larger family of created intelligences (MS 78, 1901).” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1081. How interesting! God made this world because He wanted to enlarge His family of created intelligences.

From that statement, we know that in heaven there is a family. We, if we are God’s children, are destined to become a part of that family. In this great family of heaven, each one has individual responsibility; each one has freedom, but no one in heaven misuses that freedom to act independently, because all are held together by cords of humility towards self and love towards one another.

Jesus says, “Come unto me, all [ye] that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Then He says, “ I am gentle”—the Greek word praos means gentle, lowly, or humble. Matthew 11:28, 29. This is the way Jesus is. He is not proud.

God Not Independent

There is perfect harmony in heaven, with each one maintaining his own identity, uniqueness, and function, but with no one acting independently. Are you aware of the fact that even God does not act independently? Following are a few examples.

We could not create the world. Only God could do that; He created the world. But when He created Adam, God left it up to Adam to give names to all the animals. He wanted Adam to cooperate with Him in His work of creation.

Not only that, but God created the minimum number of people to populate the earth. Then He told them to be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth they were to populate. God would not have had to do that. God could have created several million perfect people, but He did not do it.

Choices

I suppose all of us who are parents can look back and think of many failures we have made, but, in spite of that, God has never taken this responsibility away from the human family.

As it was on the earth when Adam and Eve were created, so it was in heaven with the angels. God did not create a hierarchy or a dictatorship. He created a family. In Revelation 12:7, we are told that there was war in heaven. There never could have been a war in heaven if it had been a dictatorship or a hierarchy with an absolute totalitarian government, such as some that we have in this world. It never could have happened. The reason war happened was because the angels had total freedom.

When war broke out in heaven, as we read in Revelation 12:7, God could simply have banished Satan from heaven on the spot, and he would have had to go. But God did not do that. What did He do? God allowed the angels, as far as possible, to decide the issue. Every angel in heaven had to choose on which side he was going to be, and then he had to be willing to fight.

We do not know how angels fight. All we know is that war occurred in heaven, and Michael and His angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought with his angels. In other words, there was no neutral ground, and there is still no neutral ground. Jesus said, in Matthew 12:30, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathers not with me scatters abroad.” There is no neutral ground in this world; you are on one side or the other. The angels had to choose; every angel had to choose. And we are on one side or on the other side. We are going to have to get on one side or the other; every angel had to get on one side or the other. God allowed the angels to make up their minds and to decide the issue for themselves.

Family Council

Even after this war, when Satan was cast out of heaven, he was allowed to return to heaven to represent the earth at the councils in heaven. You can read about that in chapters one and two of Job. In those chapters, God presented Job’s fidelity and challenged Satan’s claim to represent the earth. Satan did not represent all the inhabitants of the earth, for God said, “Have you considered my servant Job? He is a perfect man [Job 2:3]; you are not representing him.”

Evidently the angels allowed the devil to remain in heaven; that is, he was allowed to come to heaven whenever they had a meeting with the representatives of the different worlds. He came as a representative of this world. But that time of tolerance ended at the time of the cross.

Representation Changed

We read from The Desire of Ages, 761, that when Jesus was crucified, “Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ’s brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.” So after Jesus was crucified on the cross, the devil was not allowed to return to the heavenly courts and stand outside and await the angels as they went to and fro.

How did that happen? The angels decided that Satan could no longer visit heaven as the representative of this earth, because, after the cross, only Jesus was allowed to be the representative of this planet. Are you happy about that?

After the angels decided that only Jesus was to represent this planet and that the devil was not allowed as a representative of this planet to come to any meeting, how were they going to keep him out? Have you ever thought about that? We do not know all the particulars, but Ellen White wrote, “All the angels that are commissioned to visit the earth hold a golden card, which they present to the angels at the gates of the city [the Holy City] as they pass in and out.” Early Writings, 39. Evidently the angels have been issued identification cards! They each have golden cards, and when they leave and are commissioned to go to this earth, upon their return, they have to present their card before they are allowed entrance back into heaven.

The devil has many, many angels, and they all can appear as angels of light, but they do not have the right card. They do not have the gold identification card.

Judgment

Today, there is a judgment going on in heaven. We have seen that God does not act independently. The angels of heaven do not act independently. Does God need a judgment? No, He does not need a judgment. He has known who will be saved and who will be lost from the foundation of the world. (See Ephesians 1:4; Isaiah 46:10.)

But even though God knows this, and He can make a correct judgment in just saying that it is all over, the angels do not know it, nor do the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds know. They do not have all the knowledge God has, so they have to keep records, and they have to review them. God could do it in a moment, but the angels need more time, and God is willing to spend the extra time and effort, so all the angels and all the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds can see that the right decision is made.

Heaven is built on the principle of cooperation and unity. That has always been the way it is. If you want to study into this, it is one of the fundamental reasons that, in the inspired writings of Ellen White, competitive sports are condemned, because they are based on a wrong fundamental principle. They do not play football in heaven. Are you aware of that? They do not play baseball either. They do not play those kinds of things, because those games are based on a different principle than the one on which they operate in heaven. Heaven is built on the principle of cooperation and unity. It has always been this way, and it will always be this way in the future through all ceaseless ages of eternity.

Independence

You know, from reading the story in Revelation 12, that there came a time when one of the angels decided that he was going to be independent. This is described in Isaiah 14, also in Ezekiel 28, and it is described briefly in Revelation 1. Lucifer began an independent organization, and this was sinful.

I want you to understand why it was sinful. It was sinful independence because it worked apart from God and His plans and organization. Independent ministry and self-supporting work were never part of God’s original plan. Are you aware of the fact that if Seventh-day Adventists had always followed the writings of the messenger that God sent to the remnant church, there never would have been such a thing as self-supporting work?

There was one who came along in the perfect environment and perfect government of heaven and acted, independently, in competition and opposition to the regular, established government and ministry, which had been in operation for ages. When that spirit of independence came to earth, this world entered into the darkness and misery of sin.

Temptation of Independence

Do you understand that the first great temptation to Adam and Eve was the temptation to be independent?

Genesis 3:4 says, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” Because, the serpent continued, in verse 5, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Can God do anything He wants? Yes, God can do anything He wants; He is above law. The angels are not above law; Adam and Eve were not above law; you and I are not above law. The first temptation was one of independence, claiming that Eve would be able to do whatever she pleased. She could be just like God.

The temptation was that Eve would be wise enough, if she ate of this fruit, to act independently, knowing good and evil herself without having to depend on God for guidance. There are still millions of people today who believe that lie. As a result of Eve’s choice, this earth became a part of the independent government of Satan, which made things rather confusing on this planet. Nearly the whole earth became loyal to Satan’s independent government.

Who is Really Independent

Those who remained loyal to God became, themselves, independent of the rebellion that existed on the earth. On the earth, the great mass of the population was independent from God and was, instead, loyal to Satan’s independent government or ministry. So those that were loyal to God were independent of Satan’s rebellion, but, because they were so few in number, they looked like the offshoot. Do you follow? The people that were loyal to God were few in number. Noah, for example, apparently was all alone. The rest of the world was independent of God and was following the philosophy of Satan and his leading and guiding.

Who was really independent? Who was really sinfully independent? Was Noah sinfully independent? The whole world was sinfully independent. They were following the leading of the devil. Noah was the only one who was not independent—just the opposite of the way it looked; he was dependent on God. But because such a few people were loyal to God, it looked like they were the ones that were independent. The others looked like they were all united; they were the establishment.

It has been that way over and over again—that the appearance was the exact opposite of the reality. God is in the business in this sinful world of training people and getting them ready for heaven. How is God going to get us ready for heaven?

Spirit of Submission

How do the heavenly beings operate up there? They love each other, and they have humble cooperation with each other. There is no competition or independence up there. God’s plan has always been for humble cooperation. That is why Jesus selected the disciples whom He selected. He had to select disciples who were teachable, who were humble. God is trying to teach each one of us the character traits of humility and submission. Those character traits do not seem to be easy for us to learn! Have you noticed? It does not seem easy for human beings to learn the character traits of humility and submission, but we all have to learn them, or we cannot be saved, because this is the character of heaven.

Every experience of life is to instill within us these precious traits of character, so we can fit into the society that Satan forfeited because of pride and independence. You see, pride is the opposite of humility, and independence is the opposite of submission. The Bible has a lot to say about submission, but we do not like to read it.

Have you read Romans 13 lately? It says that we are to submit to the civil government. When we decide that we are not going to obey the laws of the land, that we are not going to pay taxes, that we are not going to get liability insurance on our cars, or whatever else the government requires, this is a violation of Romans 13. Are you aware of that?

There are Seventh-day Adventists who seem to be proud that they are independent of the civil government, but that is not what the Bible teaches. People say, Oh, but the government is wicked. Let me tell you, our government is no more wicked than the government of Nero, and that is to whom Paul was referring when He wrote Romans 13. He told the very people living in probably the most wicked city in the whole world that they were to obey the civil government.

We are to submit. Why? Oh, friend, if we do not learn the lesson of submission, we can never be saved. We can never be saved with a proud, independent spirit—never.

Ephesians 6 talks about being submissive to employers. The kind of employers about whom Paul speaks is not the same kind about which we think. They actually had lords and servants in those days. Two-thirds of the Roman Empire was in slavery and not free; about one-third was free. Yet in Ephesians 6:5, he talks about being submissive to these people.

People say, Oh, you mean I have to be submissive to them? Well, yes; if we are going to develop the spirit of heaven, we have to learn the lesson of submission. How are we going to learn the lesson of submission if we do not ever submit to anybody? Someone says, Yes, but I am a Christian; I am free; I am a sovereign; I am not going to submit to anybody. Friend, that is not the spirit of heaven.

Husbands like to remind us that the Bible says that the wife is to submit to the husband. (Ephesians 5:22.) But the previous verse talks about both husbands and wives submitting to each other. It talks about all of us submitting to each other. In both 1 Peter and Hebrews, it talks about submitting and being in submission to the leaders in the church.

In 1 Peter 5:5, we are told even that the younger are to be in submission to those that are older. Why is that? For the simple reason that the older people have more experience, and, therefore, younger people should submit to their judgment. Now the older people will make mistakes in judgment; sometimes they did in Bible times, but they will make mistakes fewer times than people who do not have that experience. So, the Bible says to submit to those who are older, and then it says that all are to be in submission to each other.

None of us can go to heaven if we have a proud, independent spirit. We will never be admitted. We have to learn the lessons of submission given in the Bible—submission to the leaders in the church, submission to leaders in the family, submission to civil government, submission to employers.

No Further

Revelation 14 talks about the 144,000. The last part of verse 4 tells us that the 144,000 are people who have learned the lesson of submission. It says, “These are they which follow the Lamb whither-soever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” Notice that these are followers; they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They are in submission to His authority, period. And they will follow Him—they do not just submit until they go so far and then say that they are not going any further.

Have you ever met somebody like that? Perhaps you have studied the Bible with someone, and they accept everything until you get to some doctrine that cuts so hard across their practice that they say, “I have accepted everything so far, but I cannot go that far.” I have seen it happen with tithing, with the Sabbath, with the state of the dead, with jewelry, and all different kinds of things. Some people will go to a certain point, and then it cuts so hard across their belief, their thinking, or their practices, that they say, No, I cannot go any further.

Followers

The 144,000 are people that go wherever the Lord leads. They do not say that they are just going so far; they follow wherever He goes. Do you want to be a person like that? If you do, then you have to learn the lesson of submission.

However, if you look at the first part of Revelation 14:4, you will see that the 144,000 appear to be independent, just as it was in the days of Noah. “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.”

Women in Bible prophecy represent churches. The 144,000 are those who have not been defiled by women. They have not been defiled with Babylon, who is the great harlot defiling the whole world, as you can read in Revelation 14, 17, and 18. They have not been defiled with false religion. They have not been defiled with false religious philosophy that is prevalent throughout the world, because they are independent from manmade tradition. They will be thought to be a crazy and fanatical offshoot that is independent from the entire rest of the world. But the reason they are independent of the rest of the world is because the world is on the wrong side. They are loyal and faithful to God, and they are in the minority.

The Bible says that these people are followers. In this world, very often the reality is exactly the opposite from appearance. From the beginning of sin, those who have remained submissive and dependent upon God by following the Lamb wherever He goes have found themselves out of step and independent from the world—like Noah. When the rest of the world remained independent of God, can you imagine what people said? They said, “That man Noah is so aloof from counsel; he is so independent.” But actually Noah and his cohorts were the only ones in the world that were not independent. They were dependent on God. They were loyal and faithful to Him.

Loyalty

In the Book of Numbers, the experience of the organized church in the days of Moses is recorded. When the unfaithful spies returned from surveying the Promised Land, they got together and said, “Let us select another leader, and go back to Egypt.” (See Numbers 14:2–4.) It was probably the first great nominating committee in the organized church! They decided to select another leader instead of the one that God had chosen for them. Caleb and Joshua remonstrated with them and tried to talk some sense into them, because they were making the wrong decision (verses 9 and 10), and the situation became very heated.

Caleb and Joshua, in this instance,—now think this through—became independent from the organized church. That sounds awful; but is that what happened? Caleb and Joshua became independent of the organized church, and the people in the organized church said, “This Caleb and Joshua are not accepting the leader that we are choosing, and they are not accepting the decisions that we are making, so we are going to disfellowship them.” Do you know how they were going to disfellowship them? They said, “We are going to stone you.” That is the ultimate in disfellowshipping! That is permanent.

Here is the question: Who was right? Was it those who remained loyal to the church and the church organization? Or was it those who appeared to be independent and were, therefore, to be disfellowshipped? It is easy to give the answer when looking back at the Bible account, but it is not so easy when you are in an identical situation yourself. This situation was not solved at that time, even though the Lord Himself intervened so that Caleb and Joshua were not stoned.

This feeling in the church (this is the church—they are called the church in the wilderness by Stephen in Acts 7:38, and they were organized) continued. Feelings are some of the most difficult things with which any teacher or pastor must deal. Feelings become very deep-rooted in individuals, and quite often the only way they can be changed is by divine intervention. Sometimes God has to send some terrible experiences for people to get their feelings changed.

As I have studied these things, I have prayed, “Lord help me to become submissive, so I do not have to go through judgments to get my feelings changed.” Have you ever prayed a prayer like that?

Representative Government

Several chapters later, in Numbers 16:1, 2, Moses himself, and also Aaron, are accused of being independent. At that time, the children of Israel had a representative form of government. A representative church government is one where a number of churches each select delegates, and the delegates come together in what we call a conference and make decisions for the sisterhood of churches. Actually, that is all a conference is ever supposed to be.

If you have ever been to a constituency meeting, you know that a vote is taken at the end of the meeting. The constituency meeting is the only group that has the authority to act for the sisterhood of churches. A resolution is made at the end of every constituency meeting authorizing the conference committee to act on behalf of the constituents until the next constituency meeting. This is one reason a constituency meeting should be held at least every 12 months.

Of the children of Israel, 250 leaders, or representatives of the people, came together in a conference. These leaders, it says in the Hebrew Bible, were men of renown. Have you ever heard it said that when the leadership of the church gets together, it is as the voice of God? This is what the children of Israel thought too. These leaders accused Moses and Aaron of being independent from the church and taking too much upon themselves without the approval of the church. They said, “God has chosen this church, and, surely, when the entire church through its appointed representatives decides on something, it is as the voice of God to the people.”

To be continued . . .

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

Pastor John Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

If the Foundations be Destroyed, Part III

by

In this article, we will study the departure from truth, especially about the coming of the antichrist and how it has come into the ranks of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. You may think that it could never happen, but it is happening, and the devil is preparing Seventh-day Adventists to take the mark of the beast, which is going to come upon those who have not overcome all sin. You see, you and I can know all these truths; we can know all doctrine and all theology, but unless we have overcome all sin, the devil will overcome us. We can know it all, but if we do not have victory in our lives, that means the devil has a foothold there. He can introduce subjects and doctrines of devils into our minds.

In Part I of this series [February 2006], we learned from Psalm 11:3 that if the foundations be destroyed, the righteous must stick to the original foundation. We must not get off that foundation or leave it. The apostle Paul warned the believers not to be laying any other foundation than that which had already been laid. (1 Corinthians 3:10, 11.)

Which Coming?

From The Signs of the Times, February 10, 1898, we read from Ellen White’s article, “Christ and the Pharisees,” that “The priests and elders made great professions of piety. They claimed to be looking eagerly for the promised Messiah, and apparently they were waiting with anxious expectancy for the call to the great supper, when they would immediately go in. They were proclaiming everywhere the great events that were to take place when the King of the Jews should come. They boasted constantly of how He was to conquer their enemies, and set up His own kingdom. But they applied to His first advent the prophecies relating to His second coming, and when He did come, they knew Him not.”

How successful was this deception? Do you realize that even the disciples were still asking Jesus when He was about to ascend into heaven, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6. This thought had so permeated the minds of the people that many Jews perished. They did not know Him because they had applied the prophecies of His Second Coming to His first coming.

With such great former success, the devil has introduced the same thought within the Christian world today. This probably ranks as one of the top deceptions of the Christian age, along with Sunday keeping and spiritualism. This idea has been reversed by the devil by applying the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming to his Second Coming. How has he done this?

Second Coming Divided

Read Daniel 9:27: “. . . in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate.” This one week of prophecy that belongs to Jesus’ ministry has been applied to the seven years of an end time secret rapture, to the coming of antichrist, and to the glorious coming. Jesus’ Second Coming has been divided into two parts. It is believed that this antichrist is going to be a single individual who will come and stop the sacrificing in the temple that the Jews have made in Jerusalem and make a covenant with them. Have you ever wondered what Jews who have accepted Jesus and believe they are the 144,000 evangelists that are to go out and spread the gospel once again to the ones who did not accept it the first time would be doing sacrificing in a temple? The connections have not been made! So the prophecies that we are talking about here have been reversed by the devil.

Christian Edwardson wrote: “So great a hold did the conviction that the Papacy was the antichrist gain upon the minds of men, that Rome at last saw she must stir herself and try by putting forth other systems of interpretation to counteract the identification of the Papacy with the antichrist.” Christian Edwardson, Facts of Faith, Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tennessee, 1943, 201. This occurred during the time of the Council of Trent. This was called the counter-Reformation period. It was during the sixteenth century, at the height of the Reformation. The Catholic Church was losing many of its converts. It wanted to reverse this trend, so other systems of interpretation were introduced.

“Accordingly, towards the close of the century of the Reformation, two of her most learned doctors set themselves to the task. Each endeavoring by different means to accomplish the same end; namely, that of diverting men’s minds from perceiving the fulfillment of the prophecies of the antichrist in the papal system. The Jesuit Alcasar devoted himself to bringing into prominence the Preterist method of interpretation.” Ibid. That is, they believed that the antichrist arose before Jesus came or that it applied to Nero.

On the other hand, the Jesuit Ribera tried to set aside the application of these prophecies to the papal power by bringing out the futurist system, which asserts that these prophecies refer properly not to the career of the papacy but to that of some future supernatural individual. Note the words, “who is yet to appear and to continue in power for three and one-half years.” All of this comes from Daniel 9.

Thus, as Alfred says, that Jesuit Ribera, about 1850, may be regarded as the founder of the futurist system in modern times. It is a matter for deep regret that those Protestants who hold and advocate the futurist system at the present day are, for the most part, really playing into the hands of Rome in helping to screen the papacy from detection as the antichrist.

Futurism or Preterism

Has this been successful within Protestantism? Absolutely! Perhaps a brief study of history would be useful. Francisco Ribera founded the futurist system of the antichrist arising in the future. This has been the most successful one of all, as we just read. Alcazar had the preterist view, in which he applied the antichrist to Nero and some to Antiochus Epiphanies before the coming of Christ. Both of these prophecies were to accomplish the same end, and that was to divert the people from studying that the papacy was the antichrist. Both of these prophecies accomplished this, but the most widely believed was Ribera’s interpretation. The belief systems are called preterism and futurism, and they apply the last seven years of Daniel 9:27 to an end-time prophecy.

Many Christians today are looking into the future for some supernatural individual to arise and for a temple to be rebuilt. Then the antichrist will come and stop the sacrificing during the middle of the seven-year period, which applied to Christ. It is an abomination!

Toward the end of the 1700s, a Jesuit priest by the name of Manuel Lacunza wrote a book entitled The Coming of the Glorious Messiah. (Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2000.) He was from South America, so he wrote in Spanish under the pen name of Ben-Ezra.

Ellen White wrote about Lacunza as a person who began to search the Scriptures about the coming of Christ but did not have all the truth. “In South America, in the midst of barbarism and priest-craft, Lacunza, a Spaniard and a Jesuit, found his way to the Scriptures and thus received the truth of Christ’s speedy return. Impelled to give the warning, yet desiring to escape the censures of Rome, he published his views under the assumed name of ‘Rabbi Ben-Ezra,’ representing himself as a converted Jew. Lacunza lived in the eighteenth century, but it was about 1825 that his book, having found its way to London, was translated into the English language. Its publication served to deepen the interest already awakening in England in the subject of the second advent.” The Great Controversy, 363.

Future Antichrist

In this book, The Coming of the Glorious Messiah, Lacunza asserts that the antichrist is going to arise in the future. John Edward Irvin obtained a copy of Manuel Lacunza’s book in London and translated it. As he was translating it, he grasped this theory that the antichrist was going to arise in the future.

Following are some excerpts from the translation of the book. “That there shall be an antichrist and he shall be revealed and publicly declare toward the last times in that he shall commit in the world the greatest evils making formal war against Christ and all that pertains to him. These are three certain things of which no Christian can doubt.” Ben-Ezra, vol. I, Pt. II, Phenomenon III, 259.

Here is another excerpt: “According to all the signs given in the Holy Scriptures and others not equivocally offered to us by time which is want to be in the best interpreter of the prophecies the antichrist or the counter-Christ, with whom we stand threatened in the times immediate, upon the coming of the Lord is nothing but a moral body composed of innumerable individuals, divers in themselves but all morally united and animated with one common spirit and against the Lord and against his Christ.” Ibid., 260. Notice those words, it is “composed of innumerable individuals.”

Theories Accepted

Now, there are other people. For example, Margaret McDonald was a 15-year-old in John Edward Irvin’s church who started having visions of a secret rapture. She then started proclaiming that this secret rapture was going to happen and started studying John Edward Irvin’s books. John Darby then grasped Margaret McDonald’s visions and began publishing them and proclaiming about the antichrist arising in the future. Then Cyrus Schofield, who edited and annotated the Schofield Bible, included all the notes of Darby and McDonald in his edition of the Bible and introduced it into the Protestant theological seminaries, such as the Dallas Theological Seminary and the Moody Bible Institute.

By the early 1900s, people had already been introduced to these theories. Well-known theologians such as LaHaye and Jenkins attended these seminaries and grasped these theories. You perhaps recognize that LaHaye and Jenkins wrote the Left Behind book series that has sold more than 65 million copies. The theory propagated in their books is being permeated throughout all of Christendom, and now it has even come into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. There is no doubt that this teaching, which is pretty fundamental, is a fallacy.

Fallacy

Following are statements from an article entitled “Who is the Antichrist?” which appeared in the June 1999 issue of The Signs of the Times (Pacific Press Publishing Association, Nampa, Idaho). As you read through the statements, consider whether or not you detect anything wrong in the statements.

“Since the whole idea of antichrist comes out of the New Testament, it seems best to go to the Bible for the answer to our question.” What is wrong with that statement? Where in the Bible do we first discover mention of the antichrist? In the Old Testament, in Daniel 7! So there is something seriously wrong with this quote.

I was just a baby Christian when I started studying this subject, but when I began reading through this article, I was certain there was something wrong, because I had studied Daniel 7 where the antichrist is revealed. In fact, this chapter has more pertinent information that is not found anywhere else in the Bible, especially verse 25, where it says that he “shall intend to change times and law.”

Look at this next quote: “And he told us that the appearance of these false Christs will be a sign of the nearness of the Second Coming, making it clear that these antichrists will especially be an end-time phenomenon.” It is almost a mimic writing of what we read in Lacunza’s writings. Now, is this an end-time phenomenon?

A Historical View

How could you prove from the Bible that our understanding of the antichrist has already come, has been here, has ruled, and is with us today? Turn to Daniel 7. We may know these prophecies by heart, but the Bible says that we need to give an answer. We need to have a biblical reason for what we are doing, what we are saying, and what we are teaching.

In Daniel 7, there is something that is repeated three times, and when God repeats something, He most certainly is trying to make a point. Teachers use this method to teach their students; it is called repeat and enlarge. In Daniel 7, the little horn as the antichrist is described; then notice the pattern of repeating in verses 8, 20, and 24: “I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, [were] eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.” “And the ten horns that [were] on its head, and the other [horn] which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance [was] greater than his fellows.” “The ten horns [are] ten kings [Who] shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first [ones], And shall subdue three kings.” What is repeated in those texts? The three horns. What is so significant about those three horns? Those three horns tell exactly when the antichrist would arise! How do we know that?

What were the three horns? Well, the horns represent earthly powers or kingdoms. The first one to fall were the Heruli in a.d. 493; the second were the Vandals in a.d. 534; and, lastly, were the Ostrogoths in a.d. 538. You will certainly recognize the significance of the a.d. 538 date, as it marked the beginning of the 1260 year prophecy. That date is being attacked in Adventism today by theologians.

The a.d. 538 date also marked a very significant change in the papacy. I have read from several different sources that at that time the popes were no longer just men of the church, but were men of secular power. The popes were considered to be men of the state.

In 11 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, we are told: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for [that Day will not come] unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” This is the Papacy; is it not? This is what Paul predicted.

But, notice verse 7: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” To what time period does this refer? to the days of the apostles, to the pagan Roman Empire in Daniel 8. How are the pagan Roman Empire and the papal Roman Empire described in this chapter? They are described the same as in chapter 7, as a little horn. Both pagan and papal Rome are described as a little horn. It is the antichrist system, because the papal system is but Christianized paganism. That is all it is.

Paul says that the mystery of iniquity is already at work; “only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” Verse 7, last part. We know that is paganism. Paganism was taken away, and papal power took its place. It was just a transition. Many say that the papacy is baptized paganism.

Who/What is Antichrist?

Returning to the 1999 The Signs of the Times article, consider this quote: “And it is clear from the context of 11 Thessalonians 2:1-12 that Paul’s antichrist would appear just before the Second Coming of Jesus.” That is exactly what Lacunza and the Jesuit Priest Ribera had taught and introduced to Christendom today. Remember that the apostle Paul said, “Let no one deceive you by any means.” There has to come a falling away first.

Here is another quote: “However, Paul departs from Jesus and John in two important ways. First, his antichrist is a single individual¾a ‘lawless one.’ Second, Jesus and John’s antichrists were apostate Christians¾that is, ‘ordinary human beings.’ ” The Signs of the Times, June 1999. Is the antichrist a single individual or a system? It is the papal system, and each head of that system is the lawless one.

“As the storm [persecution] 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. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.” The Great Controversy, 608.

Exposing the Papacy

Does the third angel’s message expose the papacy? It does. God warned us not to worship the image or the beast or receive his mark. Why is the devil introducing this into Adventism? Will it have the same effect that it had on Protestantism? People of today do not know who the antichrist is. I have asked Seventh-day Adventists to tell me who he is, and they tell me it is the devil. When the devil hears that, he surely laughs and cheers. He loves to be called the antichrist, because then the papacy is not detected.

So much pressure is going to come upon us. Those who continue to preach the gospel message are going to become so unpopular that many will succumb to the pressure. We will see an abandonment of all of these principles of Seventh-day Adventism all over the world. There are going to be only a few left proclaiming this truth.

Pray daily that we will be part of that group. Jesus has given us the commission to take the gospel, which includes exposing this antichrist system, to the entire world. May He help us to stand firm when those about us are abandoning the truth¾even His professed people. May we not succumb to any pressure, but stand firm and continue to proclaim these truths until probation closes.

To be continued . . .

Pastor Mike Bauler serves as pastor of the Historic Message Church in Portland, Oregon. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mbauler@earthlink.net.

Why Home Churches, Part 1

by

In this article, we will begin to answer the following question: Why is there a worldwide home church movement in Adventism today?

In the New Testament church there were many home churches as there have been among God’s people ever since. It should not be a surprise then, that there is a growing number of home churches in Adventism, worldwide, today. The fact that there are a growing number of home churches, however, is not the main point. The point of contention is not that there are home churches, or even that there are constantly increasing numbers of the same. The point of contention is that there are increasing numbers of home churches in Adventism which are not under conference control. These churches are not affiliated with conferences or missions, but rather are cooperating with other home churches, which are in similar circumstances.

It has been claimed, far and near, that such a development is contrary to the writings of Ellen White. The quotations commonly used, in an attempt to prove this, are from the Stanton articles, written by Ellen White in 1893, and other statements about the necessity of church organization and about the church not fragmenting into separate atoms.

Is there any foundation in these claims? Are home churches unnecessary and unwarranted? We will answer these questions by looking at the broader question, Why has the development of home churches, not under conference control, taken place?

(This actually is a very involved question related to the Christian experience of millions of people in very diverse circumstances over many decades, in fact, for over 100 years.)

The Divisions of the Work

To understand how and why this has happened, we must first look at the divisions of operations within Adventism and see how the present phenomenon developed in these various divisions.

Anyone who has read the nine volume set of Testimonies for the Church, written by Ellen White, can discern that the major divisions of Adventist work for the world can be divided into the following:

  1. Publishing Work
  2. Medical missionary operations
  3. Educational Work
  4. Ministerial and evangelistic work. (There are other smaller divisions but these four are the major ones.) All four of the divisions involve the organization of the church.

There was a time when little, if any, work in any of these four areas was done outside of the church organization. Independent work outside of the church organization was definitely not the plan for Adventist work, for the world, that God had in mind. Consider, for instance, the following forceful testimonies by Ellen White:

Concerning independent medical missionary work: “Medical missionary work is not to be drawn apart and made separate from church organization. The medical students are not to receive the idea that they may regard themselves as amenable only to the leaders in the medical work.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 164.

“Special light has been given me that you are in danger of losing sight of the work for this time. You are erecting barriers to separate your work and those you are educating from the church. This must not be. Those who are receiving instruction in medical missionary lines should be led to realize that their education is to fit them to do better work in connection with the ministers of God. You are to remember, my brother, that the Lord has a people upon the earth whom He respects.” Ibid., 519.

“I was instructed by the Lord that your temptation would be to make your medical missionary work stand independent of the conference. But this plan was not right. I saw that you could not plan as you had been doing, or carry out your ideas, without injury to yourself and to the cause of God.” Ibid., 187.

Concerning independent publishing work: “As I consider the matter I see that at this time, when so much is being said against organization, we must be careful not to work for disorganization. We must not get out of line. I am fearful regarding any plan that would take the work out of our publishing houses; for this might lessen the confidence of our brethren in these important agencies for the dissemination of present truth.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 169.

Concerning independent educational work: “Our schools are under the supervision of the General Conference. This body decides as to the advisability of establishing new schools, as to how much means it is wise to invest, and also as to the educational force to be employed. Our medical institutions should stand in the same relation to the General Conference and the great whole. The establishment of a health institution is too important a matter to be left to the independent management of a few interested individuals. If the enterprise is under control of the General Conference, the way is open for deliberate counsel and a careful consideration of the matter, and if it is undertaken, there will be a united force to give it influence and standing, and this will contribute largely to its success. Under such management, a class of workers could be enlisted that otherwise could not be secured, and thus the enterprise would prosper when it would prove a failure in ordinary hands. And furthermore, there must be an authority to guard such an institution, so that persons who are not qualified shall not be allowed to grasp responsibility through selfish ambition in their professional line as physicians.” General Conference Bulletin, January 30, 1893.

It is plainly evident, in the above quoted testimonies, what God’s plan was. It was that all of His remnant people should work together in concert, in harmony and unity with representative and deliberate counsel so as to avoid mistakes and serious pitfalls which would certainly occur if a few individuals, however talented, were to strike out on their own without counsel from their brethren or support from their church, and in such an independent way establish schools, sanitariums and publishing houses.

If this was God’s plan then how did we get to where we are now? To understand how this came to be we must go back to that watershed event in Adventist history, the General Conference, in Minneapolis, in 1888.

Changes in 1888

Many people today seem to believe that this conference, in 1888, had mainly to do with the doctrine of righteousness by faith. The 1888 Materials by Ellen White reveal that such a conclusion is very far from the truth. Ellen White describes the controversy over the law in Galatians as follows: “He stretched out his arms toward Dr. Waggoner, and to you, Elder Butler, and said in substance as follows: ‘Neither have all the light upon the law, neither position is perfect.’ ‘Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.’ Psalms 97:11. There are hundreds that know not why they believe the doctrines they do.” 1888 Messages, 93.

“The different views in regard to the law in Galatians need not have produced any such exhibitions. I have not the slightest burden upon that subject. God has not inspired all this intense feeling over that subject. I have not a particle of burden on that subject. My only trouble is the position of those ministers who were at that conference who manifested so little of the spirit of Christ and possessed more largely the spirit which controlled the scribes and Pharisees which planned the betrayal and acted a prominent part in the trial of Christ, in false statements, in accusing of Christ and making Him appear before the people in the worst possible light.” Ibid., 295.

Notice that Ellen White had not a particle of burden on the law in Galatians—that was not the major issue. What then was the real issue in 1888? And why did Ellen White, over and over again, accuse us of being like the Jews (or the Pharisees) in the 1888 General Conference? (She makes this accusation at least twenty times just in volume one of the 1888 Materials.) For example: “I want to tell you, brethren, whoever you are, I want to tell you, that you are just going over the very same ground that they went over in the days of Christ. You have had their experience: But God deliver us from having the come-out of it as they had. But notwithstanding you have heard my testimony, notwithstanding it was the testimony of the Spirit of God, you have braced yourselves,—a few of you, strong men of determined will,—to carry it out on your line, to fight it out on your line. May God have mercy upon your souls, because you need it. You have stood right in the way of God. The earth is to be lighted with His glory, and if you stand where you stand today, you might just as quick say that the Spirit of God was the spirit of the devil. You have said it now in your actions, in your attitudes, that it is the spirit of the devil. You have said it thus, and you will say it when the crisis will come.” Ibid., 593, 594.

Notice that the real nature of the opposition was the rejection of the Holy Spirit both in the messages of Jones and Waggoner and the testimony of Ellen White. The outcome of this is prophesied: “The Third Angel’s Message will not be comprehended, the light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light, by those who refuse to walk in its advancing glory. The work that might have been done, will be left undone by the rejecters of truth, because of their unbelief.” Ibid., 673.

The Problems in 1888

To understand how this awful condition of things came to be, in 1888, let us first look at how Ellen White described the problem in Adventism in the years just prior to 1888. “The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones.…Many had lost sight of Jesus.… Now, it has been Satan’s determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Therefore God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the Third Angel’s Message, in clear, distinct lines.” Testimonies to Ministers, 91–93.

Notice what the problem was—“For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus.” Ibid. Now the question needs to be asked, What men do you think Ellen White is talking about that the church had been looking to and expecting much help from? And what would the response of these men be if the church began to look to someone else for help and not looking to them so much?

This is the exact problem that the chosen people of God faced when Jesus was here, and this problem, in Jesus’ day, resulted in the crucifixion of Christ. This is also the exact problem which developed in the Roman church. “Some who think that they preach the gospel are preaching other men’s ideas. Through some means they have come to the decision that it is no part of a minister’s calling or duty to think diligently and prayerfully. He accepts what other men have taught without asserting his individuality. This doctrine, taught by the church of Rome, is entire dependence upon the leaders. The individual’s conscience is not his own. Judgment must be controlled by other men’s ideas. His intelligence is to go no farther than that of those who are leaders.” 1888 Messages, 834.

Opposition to God’s Message

The response of the leaders in Adventism, to the message that God sent in 1888, has been discussed and debated since that time. Their opposition has been well documented by many writers and will not be reviewed here except to ask the question, What really was the nature of their opposition? What was behind their opposition?

The following statements will reveal the nature of the opposition and what was behind it. “Those whom God has sent with a message are only men, but what is the character of the message which they bear? Will you dare to turn from, or make light of, the warnings, because God did not consult you as to what would be preferred? God calls men who will speak, who will cry aloud and spare not. God has raised up His messengers to do His work for this time. Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticize the men and their imperfections, because they do not speak the message of truth with all the grace and polish desirable. They have too much zeal, are too much in earnest, speak with too much positiveness, and the message that would bring healing and life and comfort to many weary and oppressed souls, is, in a measure, excluded; for just in proportion as men of influence close their own hearts and set up their own wills in opposition to what God has said, will they seek to take away the ray of light from those who have been longing and praying for light and for vivifying power. Christ has registered all the hard, proud, sneering speeches spoken against His servants as against Himself.” Ibid., 673.

Character assassination never occurs without a motive or purpose. As human beings we cannot read the motive or purpose behind actions, but the Spirit of Prophecy, the testimony of Jesus, can do this. The Spirit of God can discern what is in the spirit of any and all men. What did the Spirit testify? “There was a spirit coming in taking possession of the churches, that if permitted would separate them from God as verily as the churches who refused light that God sent them in messages of warning and of light that they might advance in regard to His second coming to our world.…I was told this spirit had been gathering strength for years and the leavening influence was at work and spiritual life was going out of the churches.” Ibid., 296, 297. [All emphasis supplied throughout.]

“I could but have a vivid picture in my mind from day to day of the way reformers were treated, how slight difference of opinion seemed to create a frenzy of feeling. Thus it was in the betrayal, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus—all this had passed before me point by point. The Satanic spirit took control and moved with power upon the human hearts that had been opened to doubts and to bitterness, wrath and hatred. All this was prevailing in that meeting. I decided to leave the meeting, leave Minneapolis.” Ibid., 309.

“The Spirit of God is departing from many among our people. Many have entered into dark, secret paths, and some will never return. They will continue to stumble to their ruin. They have tempted God, they have rejected light. All the evidence that will ever be given them they have received, and have not heeded. They have chosen darkness rather than light, and have defiled their souls. No man or church can associate with a pleasure-loving class, and reveal that they appreciate the rich current of truth which the Lord has sent to those who have simple faith in His word. The world is polluted, corrupted, as was the world in the days of Noah. The only remedy is belief in the truth, acceptance of the light. Yet many have listened to the truth spoken in demonstration of the Spirit, and they have not only refused to accept the message, but they have hated the light. These men are parties to the ruin of souls. They have interposed themselves between the heaven-sent light and the people. They have trampled upon the Word of God, and are doing despite to His Holy Spirit.” Ibid., 1335, 1336.

“While at Minneapolis many things were opened before me in regard to the propositions made by A.R. Henry and others. These plans were not inspired by the Spirit of God. If you had then stood in the love of God, you would have been able to distinguish between righteousness and unrighteousness. Plans were formed regarding the anagement of the work which could not bear the light of day; for the signature of heaven was not upon them. Those who made these propositions had no idea of where their plans and imaginations would carry them. They did not realize that they would be led to subvert right principles, to obtain control of facilities that they might manage matters according to their own ideas, to build up what they pleased and to bind about what they pleased. This planning and devising was not carried on in a frank open way, but in a way which caused God to write opposite their names, they have dissembled. They have falsified. They have worked according to the deceptive practices of Satan, in order to establish a confederacy.” Ibid., 1684.

“God would have the church roll away her reproach, but as long as men who have felt fully competent to work without accepting counsel of God are kept in office year after year, this cannot be done. This state of things is leavening every branch of the work, because men do not feel their need of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When men feel competent to pronounce judgment and condemn the Holy Spirit, they do a work for themselves which will be difficult to counteract. The whole head becomes sick and the discernment so weak that it is apt to judge unrighteously. The Spirit still calls, but they do not hear nor heed the call of God.” Ibid., 1292, 1293.

From the above statements (similar ones could be greatly multiplied) the following conclusions can be drawn:

  1. Men of influence (leaders) were engaged in character assassination of the messengers. A wrong spirit was in control. A Satanic spirit and a slight difference of opinion created a frenzy of feeling.
  2. The Spirit of God departed from many who had interposed themselves between the light and the people.
  3. One of the main factors involved in the rejection of the light was that certain leaders were making plans regarding the management of the work which would allow them to obtain control of facilities and manage matters according to their own ideas to build up what they pleased and bind about what they pleased.
  4. And these leaders were kept in office year after year, without accepting counsel of God, and this was leavening every branch of the work.

When Satan Rules

An acceptance of the message in 1888 would have made it impossible for #4 and #5 above to be carried out. But Ellen White said: “To-day, as in Christ’s day, Satan rules the minds of many. O that his terrible, fearful work could be discerned and resisted. Selfishness has perverted principles, selfishness has confused the senses and clouded the judgment. It seems so strange that notwithstanding all the light that is shining from God’s blessed word, there should be such strange ideas held, such a departure from the spirit and practice of the truth. The desire to grasp large wages, with a determination to deprive others of their God-given rights, has its origin in Satan’s mind; and by their obedience to his will and way men place themselves under his banner. Little dependence can be placed in these that have been taken in this snare, unless they are thoroughly converted and renovated; for they have been leavened by wrong principles, which they could not perceive were deleterious in their effect. . . . If men would only give up their spirit of resistance to the Holy Spirit, the spirit which has long been leaving their religious experience, God’s Spirit would address itself to their hearts. It would convince of sin. What a work! But the Holy Spirit has been insulted and light has been rejected. Is it possible for those who for years have been so blind to see? Is it possible that in this late stage of their resistance their eyes will be anointed? Will the voice of the Spirit of God be distinguished from the deceiving voice of the enemy?

“There are men who will soon evidence which banner they are standing under, the banner of the Prince of life, or the banner of the prince of darkness. If they could only see these matters as they are presented to me, if they could only see that, as far as their souls are concerned, they are as men standing on the brink of a precipice, ready to slide over to the depths below.” Ibid., 1493, 1494.

Could it really be? Could it be that leading men in Adventism were under the control of Satan and had insulted the Holy Spirit and were on the brink of a precipice? Could it be that the leaders in the Second Advent Movement who had dedicated their lives to spreading the Third Angel’s Message were actually standing under the banner of Satan and not under the banner of the Lord? Can you believe it? According to the Spirit of Prophecy this was the situation.

The question now is not just what should you do as a church member in a situation like this. The question is not just what should you do if you were one of the leaders in this situation. The question is not just what should a prophet do in a situation like this. The question is, What will God do in a situation like this? We know that, “Our divine Lord is equal to any emergency. With Him nothing is impossible.” Signs of the Times, January 3, 1906.

Because of what happened in Minneapolis, in 1888, Seventh-day Adventists were to learn the same bitter lesson that ancient Israel experienced in the wilderness when the Lord said to them, “ye shall feel My breach of promise.” Numbers 14:34. (Geneva Bible).

After this, no longer could they hope that of “the company present at the Conference” (in 1856) some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 131, 132. No longer could they imply assume that everything would progress with no change until the Second Coming of Jesus. Big changes, in the way God was going to finish the work, were on the horizon because they would not accept correction in 1888. Big changes were far less than twenty years away.

To be continued …

Your Bible Questions – Nominal Adventists

by

QUESTION:

To whom was Ellen White referring when she used the term “nominal Adventists” or “nominal churches”?

ANSWER:

There is no doubt that when Ellen White said, “Adventists,” she was referring to a group or a church of people who believed that Jesus was going to return to this earth, for that is virtually what the word means, looking for the advent of Christ.

However, she used the word nominal, meaning “in name only,” a number of times in different situations and different settings; therefore, one can hardly say that she was always talking of the same group of people when she used that expression.

For instance, we will use an example that is easy to figure out about whom she was talking: “I saw that God had children, who do not see and keep the Sabbath. They had not rejected the light on it. And at the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully. This enraged the churches, and nominal Adventists, as they could not refute the Sabbath truth.” Review and Herald, July 21, 1851.

We can plainly see here that she is not talking about Seventh-day Adventists, but Adventists who do not keep the seventh-day Sabbath. Undoubtedly she was referring to first-day Adventists, and other Sunday-keeping churches.

Another example of this is: “This is the word of the living God. The law is God’s great moral looking-glass. He is to compare his words, his spirit, his actions with the word of God. If we decide that in these last days we have no work assigned to us that is out of the common course of the nominal churches, we shall meet with great disappointment. The great question to be investigated, weighed, and decided is, ‘What can I do to reach souls that are lost?’ ” Special Testimonies to the Battle Creek Church, 1898, 18, 19.

Here we can plainly see that she was not using the word nominal as referring to Seventh-day Adventists but to other churches. Now, let us look at another statement that seems to refer to another group of people:

“Much of the faith which we see is merely nominal; the real, trusting, persevering faith is rare. Moses realized in his own experience the promise that God will be a rewarder to those who diligently seek Him. He had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Here is another point in regard to faith which we wish to study; God will reward the man of faith and obedience. If this faith is brought into the life experience, it will enable everyone who fears and loves God to endure trials.” Conflict and Courage, 85.

There are many more statements in the inspired writings about nominal Christians. Sometimes she was referring to first-day Adventists, but we must be careful that we do not miss the point of instruction that the Lord was seeking to give to Seventh-day Adventists.

When there is a warning against being a nominal Christian, we need to take heed to it and not get careless with our habits. We need a close walk with Jesus and a constant awareness of His presence in our lives. We need to develop a close relationship with Him. This will take earnest prayer and determination to follow all the instruction that divinity decides to give us.

We are living in a day and age of this world’s history when it is fatal for anyone to be a nominal Christian, and we dare not brush off the instruction by saying that that was written to the first-day Adventists. It will be impossible for a nominal Christian to go through the time of trouble and be saved in the kingdom of heaven.

The Crisis in Adventism

by

The warfare against God’s law, which was begun in heaven, will be continued until the end of time. Every man will be tested. Obedience or disobedience is the question to be decided by the whole world. All will be called to choose between the law of God and the laws of men. Here the dividing line will be drawn. There will be but two classes. Every character will be fully developed; and all will show whether they have chosen the side of loyalty or that of rebellion. Then the end will come.” The Desire of Ages, 763.

What is the last great crisis that is facing the world? Not the symptoms, but what is the fundamental issue? It is the Law of God. “That the law which was spoken by God’s own voice is faulty, that some specification has been set aside, is the claim which Satan now puts forward. It is the last great deception that he will bring upon the world. He needs not to assail the whole law; if he can lead men to disregard one precept, his purpose is gained. … By consenting to break one precept, men are brought under Satan’s power.” Ibid.

When Jesus was on earth, the disciples asked what was going to be the sign of the end of the age. “And Jesus answered, and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ and will deceive many.” Matthew 24:4. The first thing that Jesus said to His disciples was a warning about being deceived. This was so important that Jesus repeated the warning at least three times in Matthew 24.

Who was it that Jesus warned could be deceived? He said, “For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; inasmuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive, the very elect.” Matthew 24:24. Jesus warned the elect against being deceived. Who are the elect? They are the godly. They are the church. They are the Seventh-day Adventists.

The devil has a special plan for deceiving Seventh-day Adventists. He is causing a great crisis in Adventism, because he wants to deceive those who have been given the greatest light—the elect.

This clear warning has been given to Seventh-day Adventists. “In the last vision given me I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 608, 609.

That is not good news to me. I grew up in the Adventist Church. I went entirely through the Adventist educational system. All my friends, when I was growing up, were part of the Adventist Church. Those are my best friends today, scattered all over the world. It is startling to read that only a few of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved. The great majority of Seventh-day Adventists will be deceived by the devil’s sophistries. I repeat God’s warning because I do not want you to be one of the many people who are going to be lost.

What will be the test for those who will be among the faithful who stand strong despite the devil’s greatest deceptions? “To stand in 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.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 136.

What is the great crisis for Adventism?

“Satan hopes to involve the remnant people of God in the general ruin that is coming upon the earth. As the coming of Christ draws nigh, he will be more determined and decisive in his efforts to overthrow them. Men and women will arise professing to have some new light or some new revelation whose tendency is to unsettle faith in the old landmarks.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 295.

This great crisis in Adventism is predicted in Matthew 24. “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:12. The antichrist power teaches people to break part of God’s law. Revelation and 11 Thessalonians 2 show clearly that almost the whole world is going to be deceived.

God’s people are going to be living in the midst of an ocean of lawlessness. In that environment, Jesus said that the love of many will grow cold. This does not take place suddenly. You do not go from a position of spiritual health and strength, filled with the Holy Spirit, then immediately turn and be ready for ruin and destruction. It happens over a period of time.

The message to the Laodiceans is that they need to repent, because they are lukewarm. They are no longer hot. Their love has grown cold. This is the great crisis in Adventism. Many are in the process of going from hot to cold, but sadly, they do not realize the change, because they do not feel any different today than they felt yesterday. How does the devil work it so that someone can go from hot to cold and not even know anything has happened? That is the insidiousness and the subtleness of the crisis in Adventism.

The story is told of a Seventh-day Adventist minister in California who lost his life in a tragic vehicle accident. When the autopsy was performed, the physicians found that he was full of cancer. He would have died in a short time anyway, but neither he nor his wife knew it.

Why did he not know about it? Because the cancer, itself, does not hurt. The results of cancer can hurt as a nerve is eaten up, or pressure from a tumor pushes on something and causes unbearable pain. The cancer itself does not hurt. You can be full of it and not know that you are sick.

Safeguard Against Deceptions

If you have the truth and the devil is trying to involve you in the ruin that is coming upon the world, how is he going to do it? “It is not alone those who openly reject the Testimonies, or who cherish doubt concerning them, that are on dangerous ground. To disregard light is to reject it …

Many are going directly contrary to the light which God has given to His people, because they do not read the books which contain the light and knowledge and cautions, reproofs, and warnings.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 680, 681.

Many people go directly contrary to God’s instructions because they do not read. Your pastor, Sabbath School teacher, and elder cannot teach you everything in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. God holds us responsible when we do not take advantage of the light available to us. God expects you to learn on your own.

As we approach the end, there will be people who will say, “I am a Seventh-day Adventist. I believe the Bible. I believe the Spirit of Prophecy.” But they will be involved in the ruin coming on the entire world because they are not following God’s instruction. They do not read. They choose not to understand.

We are living in the most deceptive time in this world’s history. How will you know if you are deceived? (Remember that no one who is realizes it.) If you do not want to be deceived you must study for yourself. No one can do it for you. If you are not studying, watching, and praying for yourself, the devil will bring a deception for you, and cause you to lose confidence in the truth.

We are living in a time of unbelief and doubt. All throughout Adventism, and especially on Seventh-day Adventist college campuses, skepticism is running rampant. The devil is using his cleverly developed methods to secure his end. He rarely makes a frontal attack, because he is a deceiver. To gain control of us, he starts to chip away at our belief, to undermine our confidence in the inspired writings.

We are no match for the devil. We are not as intelligent as he is, or as old. The devil knows that the only way we can escape is by reading the inspired writings, believing them, and acting upon them. (See James 2.)

The chapter called “Snares of Satan,” in the book The Great Controversy, shows how the devil tries to rob people of their faith. We have had one attack after another in Adventism on this point. For instance, in 1976 an Adventist scholar wrote a book called, Ellen G. White, Prophetess of Health. Many intellectual Adventists lost their confidence in Ellen White on the basis of this book. This book asks a lot of questions to bring in doubt.

We need to learn that if we involve ourselves in asking questions that no one can answer, we will eventually lose our faith, become skeptics, and lose our souls. This was the devil’s first tactic after he rebelled in heaven. He planted doubt in the minds of his fellow angels by asking questions.

Ellen White warned us that this is one of the principal deceptions of the devil.

“It is a masterpiece of Satan’s deceptions to keep the minds of men searching and conjecturing in regard to that which God has not made known and which He does not intend that we shall understand.” The Great Controversy, 523.

Mysteries in the Bible

Seven mysteries are mentioned in the New Testament. One of the seven mysteries is the incarnation—God manifested in flesh. That is spoken of as a great mystery in 1 Timothy 3:16. When an inspired writer says that something is a great mystery, it is something we are never going to be able to explain fully. Yet, I get letters from Seventh-day Adventists who want me to explain the Godhead, and every detail about the nature of Christ. They want the unexplainable explained for their finite minds.

The early church, between the second and sixth centuries, wanted the same thing. Large church councils were called over and over again, to try to settle the controversy. In the end, fighting broke out, and there was actually war over the issue. All this took place because people were trying to explain what God had not revealed.

The devil uses philosophical and scientific arguments that are pleasing to the mind to lead many astray. Friend, if the devil can rob you of your faith and confidence in inspired writings, he will prevail. You may not know that he has won, because you will be deceived, but you will still be lost. He leads many people to think that if they can ask a question that cannot be answered, they have gained some point. These people put their own finite mind above the infinite mind of God.

Many today are like the Greeks, who required a rational explanation for everything, or like the Jews, who wanted a sign before they would believe. But faith is not based on demonstration. It is based on evidence.

“The Word of God, like the character of its Author, presents mysteries that can never be fully comprehended by finite beings. But God has given in the Scriptures sufficient evidence of their divine authority. His own existence, His character, the truthfulness of His Word, are established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. True, He has not removed the possibility of doubt; faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration; those who wish to doubt have opportunity; but those who desire to know the truth find ample ground for faith.” Education, 169.

Evidence

The Word of God is the only thing in this world that you can really depend upon all the time. Are you asking, “What is the evidence?” If so, study carefully the following two evidences from the Bible.

The first is the evidence that God Himself is the One true God. He gives this as a challenge in Isaiah 44, 45, and 46. He supports His claim with the evidence that He can do something that no one else can ever do. He says, “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” Isaiah 46:9, 10. God says that not only has He created everything that exists, He also knows the end from the beginning, and can reveal the future.

Several months ago we held a Prophecy Seminar in Wichita and we went over these things the first night. A young woman came to this Prophecy Seminar. Her mother, who was a Christian, upon learning that her daughter was attending our meetings, became worried that she might be becoming involved with a cult. I am sure she had heard some of the things that Seventh-day Adventists are called today. The mother said, “I should go and be sure that my daughter is not becoming a cultist.”

The mother came about the sixth or seventh session. By that time we were studying the Sabbath and the Law of God and what prophecy said about it. The mother listened carefully the first night. She could not find anything cultic in the messages she heard from the Bible. She came every single night after that. After several nights, she realized that there was a message in Bible prophecy that she could see was being fulfilled all over the world. The prophecy was true, and the evidence was overwhelming. In many seminars I have conducted, I have heard people from many religions come to the same conclusion; the evidence is overwhelming that Bible prophecy is true.

There is a confirmation of the truthfulness of God’s Word that is far more profound than simply prophecy or the ability to foretell the future. This powerful evidence is found in Romans 8:16: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” Romans 8:16. The evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the gospel is true, the Bible and Ellen White’s works are inspired comes as you study. The Holy Spirit comes into your life and changes your heart. Then the Lord can use you to win others who do not know Him, even if they do not know anything about prophecy. If you have been changed, and can share your testimony with others, you can be a mighty witness for the Lord.

The Holy Spirit’s Power

What changes does the Holy Spirit make when He comes into your heart? First, the Holy Spirit gives you power to witness. “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.

The Holy Spirit gives you power to overcome sin. “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:4, 5. (See also Romans 8:1–14.)

Sometimes people say, “I have a besetting sin and I cannot overcome it.” Of course, you cannot overcome it. No one can overcome a besetting sin in their own power. When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, he gives you the power to overcome. Your thoughts will be pure, your language will be pure and your actions will be in harmony with God’s law. You will begin to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbors as yourself. You will be a different person. Then you become a powerful witness.

Are you having that experience? Is the Holy Spirit inside? Or is the Holy Spirit outside, pleading with you to give your heart in surrender to Jesus, not only as your Savior, but as the Lord of your life? The Holy Spirit is with all who have not committed the unpardonable sin.

Jesus told His disciples that up to that time the Holy Spirit had just been with them, but in the future it was going to be different. “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you.” John 14:17.

What is your condition today? Is the Holy Spirit just with you? Or is the Holy Spirit in you? If the Holy Spirit is in you, you will be living a sin-free life, bearing witness to the gospel. It will have a powerful effect on other people. That is the most powerful sign that God’s Word is true, that Ellen White is a prophet, that Jesus is the Christ, and that He is coming soon to take the faithful home. [Emphasis supplied.]

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

Pastor John Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.