Apostasy

Truth Will Survive

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Then the high priest rose up, and all those who [were] with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ‘Go stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.’ ” Acts 5:17–20.

When we think of the temple, we visualize, first of all, Solomon’s Temple. Though it was later destroyed by Babylon, Ellen White tells us that it was the most magnificent building the world had seen at that time. (Review and Herald, October 19, 1905.)

Then we think of the second temple, which was rebuilt after the captivity. It was beautiful, although it did not compare with the original. But this was the temple that Haggai the prophet prophesied about, “ ‘I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:7.

Desire of All Nations

This building, enlarged and rebuilt by Herod, was glorious, and as the prophet had promised, the Desire of All Nations did come. He was brought as a baby to be dedicated there. We would expect that there would be a glorious celebration, but there was not anything like that. Those who were in charge of the affairs of the temple did not see or feel anything unusual. They saw only a husband and a wife, clothed in the garments commonly worn by the poorer people, bringing the offering of the turtle doves that was the offering prescribed for those who did not have money enough to bring something more. They concluded that it was a matter of no consequence—another poor child.

But the Lord of heaven was not going to let the event pass unnoticed. He caused someone to be there who was spiritually tuned in. Simeon, who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Lord’s Christ before he died, came in by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Seeing the baby, he knew He was the One. Although the priest giving the baby back into the arms of Joseph and Mary did not have any awareness of what was going on, Simeon did. Simeon took that baby and made a prophecy about it, while the priest looked on in wonder.

So it is still. Events upon which the attention of all heaven is centered are undiscerned, and their very occurrences are unnoticed by religious leaders and worshippers in the house of God. What a tragic thing, but history does repeat itself.

Diminishing Returns

The prophecy was fulfilled; the Desire of All Nations did come. He went first of all to those who should have been foremost in recognizing Him, but something was wrong. They were not in harmony with the Spirit of God. They were desperately confused and did not know what was happening. Nevertheless, He came, fulfilling the promise and witnessing to the leaders of Israel. He witnessed to them several times and, of course, indirectly many times. Finally, He had to give up on the leaders of Israel, but He never gave up on the people.

There seems to be a law of diminishing returns, a point beyond which the Lord recognizes that there is still a little bit of good being accomplished; but the evil being done is so much greater that it does not justify the continuance of the system.

“The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth had become representatives of Satan. They were doing the work that he desired them to do, taking a course to misrepresent the character of God, and cause the world to look upon Him as a tyrant. The very priests who ministered in the temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the thing signified. In presenting the sacrificial offerings they were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these channels. The whole system must be swept away.” The Desire of Ages, 36.

But God does not give up on people, so, though the priests had put the apostles in prison for preaching in the temple, the angel brought them right out the same door through which they had entered and said, “Go back; go right back and stand in the temple and preach to the people all the words of this life.”

It was the time of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest occasion which drew people to the temple. They were gathered from far and near, and in the sheltered area in Solomon’s porch they gathered to hear messages of the kind the apostles were going to give them. So, that is where the apostles went to speak to them. God had to give up on the leaders of the church, but He never gives up on the people. This has been manifested ever so many times in the history of religion.

Gospel to the People

We read in The Great Controversy about the experience of Wycliffe, the Morning Star of the Reformation. That very brilliant man, whose work was not exceeded by those Reformers who followed him, even a hundred years later, took his message to the people.

“Wycliffe, like his Master, preached the gospel to the poor. Not content with spreading the light in their humble homes in his own parish of Lutterworth, he determined that it should be carried to every part of England. To accomplish this he organized a body of preachers, simple, devout men, who loved the truth and desired nothing so much as to extend it.” The Great Controversy, 87.

These ministers of the gospel were called Lollards. As nearly as we can learn from the records, the word lollard is a bit of an extension of a Dutch word which means to speak or sing softly. These simple, humble preachers went with such success that the new faith was accepted by nearly one half of the people of England. It is interesting to note that the organized church rose up against these humble ministers, these men called from their walks of life, charging them with heresy.

Have you ever noticed that no matter when in the history of religion heresy appears and heretics embrace heresy, they invariably accuse the faithful of being the heretics?

Zwingli also took his message to the people. “Another class received with gladness the tidings of redemption through Christ. The observances enjoined by Rome had failed to bring peace of soul, and in faith they accepted the Saviour’s blood as their propitiation. These returned to their homes to reveal to others the precious light which they had received.” Ibid., 175.

Calvin took his message to the people. Of him we read, “His work began with the people at their homes. Surrounded by the members of the household, he read the Bible and opened the truths of salvation. Those who heard the message carried the good news to others, and soon the teacher passed beyond the city to the outlying towns and hamlets. To both the castle and the cabin he found entrance, and he went forward, laying the foundation of churches that were to yield fearless witnesses for the truth.” Ibid., 222.

Wesley preached at the entrances to coal mines, in the fields, and in the streets. All of the Reformers had to take their message to the people when they were forced to give up on the leaders of the church—a tragic situation, but a very constantly reoccurring thing.

In 1888, Ellen White did the same thing. She found such resistance among the leaders of the church to the message of righteousness by faith that she and A. T. Jones, as well as others, took their message to the people. In response, in 1891 the leadership sent her to Australia to get rid of that problem.

The lesson for us is that God never gives up on the people, and true reformers never give up on the people. True reformers may have to give up on the leaders, but never on the people.

Obey God Rather Than Man

Right after the angel had brought the apostles out of the prisons, he said to them, “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”

I think that three and a half years earlier they would not have been able to handle that command; their childhood training would have been too strong. They would have said, “We cannot disobey the leaders of the church.” But after three and a half years-during which time they had seen the church leaders’ attitude of indifference harden into an attitude of opposition, then into an attitude of bitter hostility, finally ending in the crucifixion—they had no illusions about church leadership. They knew that church leadership can be led of God, but it does not necessarily have to be so. And so, without hesitation, they made their decision: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29.

Now, may I suggest that our problem today is not greatly different. We have been told to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Added to that is the mandate to take the Three Angels’ Messages to every nation, kindred, tribe, tongue, and people. As a people, we have made it our first work—so much so, that in our own Adventist cultural jargon, to speak of “the truth” means simply one thing: we are talking about the Three Angels’ Messages. To speak of “the work” means simply the work of spreading the gospel all around the world. This has been our all-encompassing concern, but in our time, we are seeing the uncaring indifference of church leaders hardening into opposition and open hostility. We ought to lay aside all of our illusions and look very carefully at this in the light of the question, What do we do under these circumstances?

We do not have to guess; we do not have to speculate; we are told very clearly what we should do. “The angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, ‘Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.’ We see here that the men in authority are not always to be obeyed even though they may profess to be teachers of Bible doctrine.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 69. [Emphasis added.]

Well, what does “not always” mean? When is it all right not to obey the leaders of the church? “Because those who were once the depositaries of truth became unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who would receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and would advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders.” Ibid., 69, 70.

No Truth, No Authority

That is pretty clear, is it not? When those who were once the depositaries of sacred truth become unfaithful to their sacred trust, they have no authority. Where there is no truth, there is no authority.

“Unless the truth is enthroned in the heart, and a thorough transition takes place from darkness to light, those who handle sacred responsibilities are ministers of darkness, blind leaders of the blind.” Ibid., 81.

O that God’s people would open their eyes! How many times I have tried to explain to people who question me that in the Seventh-day Adventist Church today there are three groups of people. On the one side is one group of people who know very well what they are doing; they are trying to change the doctrines and destroy the historic faith. On the other side is a group of people who know very well what they are doing; we call them historic Seventh-day Adventists. They are trying very hard to resist and oppose those unauthorized, ungodly changes. But in the middle is the vast majority who does not know what is going on. O that God’s people would open their eyes!

“If a brother is teaching error, those who are in responsible positions ought to know it; and if he is teaching truth, they ought to take their stand at his side.” Ibid., 110. [Emphasis added.]

I want to give credit where credit is due, but if any of our modern leaders have ever taken their stand at the side of an historic Adventist, that has not been reported to me.

We can go on from there to take some examples illustrating the principle that there is no authority higher than the authority of truth, that position without truth has no authority whatsoever. We read here of Caiaphas: “Though clothed with a gorgeous dress, he was acting under the inspiration of Satan.” The Youth’s Instructor, June 7, 1900.

“God has made His people the depositaries of His law. They must uphold the claims of that down-trodden law against the opposition of ministers of the gospel, against men of learning, position, and authority.” Sketches From the Life of Paul, 279.

So, we are not giving blind respect to authority.

“However great the confidence reposed in any man, whatever the authority given him by his position. . . . His position and authority depend upon his connection with God, upon the discernment and wisdom he receives from above.” Review and Herald, May 14, 1895.

The fact that a person has an office does not mean that he has authority from God. He may have authority from man, but not from God. Wycliffe faced this problem, as did Huss, Luther, Wesley, and many others.

According to the apostle Paul in Galatians 1:6, the position of an apostle is not enough if that person is not preaching truth. He must preach the truth, and so must we.

Bereft of Reason

But how shall we handle our problem? In our time, those who have brought apostasy into the church are accusing the faithful of apostasy. When asked to please point out the heresy, the accusers say, “We will not discuss theology with you; we are only here to talk about authority.”

“Because those who were once the depositaries of truth became unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who would receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and would advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders. And then these leaders, in the blindness of their minds, give full sway to what is supposed to be righteous indignation against the ones who have set aside cherished fables. They act like men who have lost their reason.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 69, 70.

When they are looking at a problem which is theological from the first word to the last, when they are looking at a relationship in the church of tension and stress that is entirely theological and they say that it has nothing to do with theology, have they not lost their reason? When they take heroes of the gospel of Christ and disfellowship them from the church, are they not acting like men who have lost their reason? When they exalt their rules above the Scriptures and above the Spirit of Prophecy, are they not acting like men bereft of reason? When they have taken the policy of credentials, which was established for the purpose of keeping falsehood out of the pulpit and keeping truth in, and prostituted and turned it around to keep falsehood in the pulpit and truth out, are they not acting like men who have lost their reason? But most of all, when they fantasize that they can destroy the historic faith of the Adventist people, have they not gone stark raving mad? God is going to protect His truth. This truth is going to survive.

God is calling out His people. When there is a crisis, God will raise up men and women to meet that crisis. This truth will survive! It will never be destroyed, because it is God’s truth!

Dr. Ralph Larson has completed forty years of service to the Seventh-day Adventist church, as pastor, evan­gelist, departmental secretary, and college and seminary teacher. His last assignment before retiring was chairman of the Church and Minis­try Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Far East. His graduate degrees were earned from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and An­dover-Newton Theological Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts. He now lives in Cherry Valley, California. His evangelistic sermons have resulted in more than five thousand persons being baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Bible Study Guides – Apostasy

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September 9, 2007 – September 15, 2007

Key Text

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Revelation 18:4.

Study Help: Selected Messages, Book 2, 381-383.

Introduction

“As God called the children of Israel out of Egypt, that they might keep His Sabbath, so He calls His people out of Babylon, that they may not worship the beast or his image. The man of sin, who thought to change times and laws, has exalted himself above God, by presenting a spurious sabbath to the world; the Christian world has accepted the child of the papacy, and cradled and nourished it, thus defying God by removing His memorial, and setting up a rival sabbath.

“After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations, every conceivable power of evil will be set in operation, and minds will be confused by many voices crying, ‘Lo, here is Christ; lo, He is there. This is the truth, I have the message from God, He has sent me with great light.’ Then there will be a removing of the landmarks, and an attempt to tear down the pillars of our faith. A more decided effort will be made to exalt the false sabbath, and to cast contempt upon God Himself by supplanting the day He has blessed and sanctified. This false sabbath is to be enforced by an oppressive law.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 984, 985.

1 What does Paul say must take place before the coming of the Lord can be expected? 11 Thessalonians 2:3.

note: “It has been the continual endeavor of the enemy to introduce into the church persons who assent to much that is truth, but who are not converted. Professed Christians who are false to their trust are channels through whom Satan works. He can use unconverted church members to advance his own ideas and retard the work of God. Their influence is always on the side of wrong. They place criticism and doubt as stumbling blocks in the way of reform. They introduce unbelief because they have closed their eyes to the righteousness of Christ and have not the glory of the Lord as their rearward.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 159.

2 What message goes to the world before the Saviour appears? Revelation 14:8. What is the meaning of the word Babylon?

note: “Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome’s example of iniquitous connection with ‘the kings of the earth’ the state churches, by their relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by seeking the favor of the world. And the term ‘Babylon’ confusion may be appropriately applied to these bodies, all professing to derive their doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects, with widely conflicting creeds and theories.” The Great Controversy, 383.

“The whole chapter [Revelation 18] shows that Babylon that has fallen is the churches who will not receive the messages of warning the Lord has given in the first, second, and third angels’ messages. They refused the truth and accepted a lie. They refused the messages of truth.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 68.

3 Who are in Babylon? Revelation 18:4. How did God’s people come to be a part of a fallen company?

note: “Satan and his angels are wide-awake and intensely active, working with energy and perseverance through human instrumentalities to bring about his purpose of obliterating from the minds of men the knowledge of God. But while Satan works with his lying wonders, the time will be fulfilled foretold in the Revelation, and the mighty angel that shall lighten the earth with his glory, will proclaim the fall of Babylon, and call upon God’s people to forsake her.” Review and Herald, December 13, 1892.

“The state of corruption and apostasy that in the last days would exist in the religious world, was presented to the prophet John in the vision of Babylon. . . . As in the days of Noah and Lot, there must be a marked separation from sin and sinners. There can be no compromise between God and the world, no turning back to secure earthly treasures.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 167.

4 What class of professors does Paul say will come up in the last days? 11 Timothy 3:5. What sins are found among them? Verses 1-4. Of what are they said to be lovers? Verse 4.

note: “I [Ellen White] was shown the churches in different states that profess to be keeping the commandments of God and looking for the second coming of Christ. There is an alarming amount of indifference, pride, love of the world, and cold formality existing among them. And these are the people who are fast coming to resemble ancient Israel, so far as the want of piety is concerned. Many make high claims to godliness and yet are destitute of self-control. Appetite and passion bear sway; self is made prominent. Many are arbitrary, dictatorial, overbearing, boastful, proud, and unconsecrated. . . . The Saviour’s curse pronounced upon the fruitless fig tree is a sermon to all formalists and boasting hypocrites who stand forth to the world in pretentious leaves, but are devoid of fruit. What a rebuke to those who have a form of godliness, while in their unchristian lives they deny the power thereof!” Testimonies, vol. 4, 403, 404.

5 What is the extent of the sins of Babylon? Revelation 18:5.

note: “Appetite and passion are overcoming thousands of Christ’s professed followers. Through familiarity with sin, their senses become so blunted that evil seems attractive to them, rather than abhorrent. The end of all things is at hand. God will not much longer bear with the crimes and debasing iniquity of the children of men. Their sins have reached unto heaven, and will soon be answered by the fearful plagues of God upon the earth. They will drink the cup of his wrath, unmixed with mercy.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 155.

“I [Ellen White] saw that since Jesus left the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and entered within the second veil, the churches have been filling up with every unclean and hateful bird. I saw great iniquity and vileness in the churches; yet their members profess to be Christians. Their profession, their prayers, and their exhortations are an abomination in the sight of God. Said the angel, ‘God will not smell in their assemblies. Selfishness, fraud, and deceit are practiced by them without the reprovings of conscience. And over all these evil traits they throw the cloak of religion.’ I was shown the pride of the nominal churches. God is not in their thoughts; their carnal minds dwell upon themselves; they decorate their poor mortal bodies, and then look upon themselves with satisfaction and pleasure. Jesus and the angels look upon them in anger. Said the angel, ‘Their sins and pride have reached unto heaven. Their portion is prepared. Justice and judgment have slumbered long, but will soon awake. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.’ The fearful threatenings of the third angel are to be realized, and all the wicked are to drink of the wrath of God. An innumerable host of evil angels are spreading over the whole land and crowding the churches. These agents of Satan look upon the religious bodies with exultation, for the cloak of religion covers the greatest crime and iniquity.” Early Writings, 274, 275.

6 What did Jesus say to His disciples about self? Luke 9:23. What is said of covetousness? Colossians 3:5. What of pride? Proverbs 6:16, 17.

note: “If we are indeed to overcome as Christ overcame, that we may mingle with the blood-washed, glorified company before the throne of God, it is of the highest importance that we become acquainted with the life of our Redeemer and deny self as did Christ. We must meet temptations and overcome obstacles, and through toil and suffering, in the name of Jesus, overcome as He overcame.

“The great trial of Christ in the wilderness on the point of appetite was to leave man an example of self-denial. This long fast was to convict men of the sinfulness of the things in which professed Christians indulge. The victory which Christ gained in the wilderness was to show man the sinfulness of the very things in which he takes such pleasure.” Confrontation, 66.

7 What are the duties of children to parents? Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1; Proverbs 23:22; Colossians 3:20.

note: “Many of the young have chosen to be their own counselor and guide, and have taken their cases in their own hands. Such need to study more closely the teachings of the Bible. In its pages they will find revealed their duty to their parents and to their brethren in the faith. The fifth commandment reads, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’ Again we read, ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.’ [Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1.]

“One of the signs that we are living in the last days is that children are disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. The word of God abounds in precepts and counsels enjoining respect for parents.” Messages to Young People, 444.

8 What position should God’s people sustain to holiness? Matthew 5:48; Hebrews 12:14.

note: “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Nothing but holiness will prepare you for heaven. It is sincere, experimental piety alone that can give you a pure, elevated character and enable you to enter into the presence of God, who dwelleth in light unapproachable. The heavenly character must be acquired on earth, or it can never be acquired at all. Then begin at once. Flatter not yourself that a time will come when you can make an earnest effort easier than now. Every day increases your distance from God. Prepare for eternity with such zeal as you have not yet manifested. Educate your mind to love the Bible, to love the prayer meeting, to love the hour of meditation, and, above all, the hour when the soul communes with God. Become heavenly-minded if you would unite with the heavenly choir in the mansions above.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 267, 268.

9 What is said of thankfulness? Philippians 4:6; Colossians 3:15.

note: “Is it not our duty to show the world that we appreciate the love of Christ? As we produce the fruit of thanksgiving, we bear living evidence that by connection with Christ we are placed on vantage ground. God is the fountain of life and power. He can make the wilderness a fruitful field for those who keep his commandments; for it is for the glory of his name to do this. Thus he witnesses to Christianity. He has done for his chosen people that which should inspire every heart with praise and thanksgiving; and it grieves him that so little praise is offered. He desires to have a stronger expression of praise from his people, showing that they know they have reason for manifesting joy and gladness.” Review and Herald, November 20, 1900.

10 What interest will the class mentioned in 11 Timothy 3:1-5 have in hearing the word of God? 11 Timothy 4:3, 4. What will those who are called out be doing? Verse 2.

note: “The masses of the people turn away their ears from hearing the truth and are turned unto fables. . . . The multitudes do not want Bible truth, because it interferes with the desires of the sinful, world-loving heart; and Satan supplies the deceptions which they love.” The Great Controversy, 594, 595.

“God’s workmen should not neglect any opportunity to help others in every possible way. If they seek God unselfishly for counsel, His word, which bringeth salvation, will lead them. They will engage in labor on the right hand and on the left, doing their best to remove from the minds of others every doubt and every difficulty in understanding the truth. The Spirit of God will make their labors effectual.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 497.

11 What should be the message for our time? Revelation 18:4.

note: “No longer have the hosts of evil power to keep the church captive; for [Revelation 14:8; 18:4 quoted]. As the captive exiles heeded the message, ‘Flee out of the midst of Babylon’ (Jeremiah 51:6), and were restored to the Land of Promise, so those who fear God today are heeding the message to withdraw from spiritual Babylon, and soon they are to stand as trophies of divine grace in the earth made new, the heavenly Canaan.” Prophets and Kings, 715.

12 What should be the character of those who give the message? Revelation 14:12; 11 Peter 3:14.

note: “What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world are receiving the worldly mold and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth—these are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 216.

Prisoners of Hope — A Time

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As we near the close of time, we all recognize that conditions in the physical world such as calamities; earthquakes; accidents by air, sea and land; conflict; immorality; killings; deceit; and unprecedented confusion exist because the conflict between Christ and Satan on this earth is reaching a climax.

Not only do we see physical signs, which portend the end of all things, but we see signs in the churches. We see signs also in the Seventh-day Adventist Church which indicate that we have reached a time which the Lord predicted would come, as foretold in the Spirit of Prophecy. We have reached, I believe, a very serious time not only in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but in each one of our lives, a time when each of us must make a choice as to whether we will follow God or man.

This Is A Time

This is a time when two parties have developed in the church. Ellen White wrote, “The wheat and tares grow up together for the harvest.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 114.

This is a time when the last of apostasy is seen lifting its head. It is a time when we have thought that to compromise with worldly churches would give us greater strength and power to carry on God’s work. (See Eternity magazine, September 1956.) It is a time when beliefs of the reformers and evangelicals appear to be more readily accepted than the fundamental beliefs established by the Lord. It is a time when certain basic beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists may be in question, and a time when a shaking may well reach its climax.

This is a time when the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded; a time when the third angel’s message should be not only truly understood, but promulgated in its fullness; and a time when the Lord wants this to be done. It is a time when the sanctuary question, the nature of Christ, and the plan of salvation should be given special attention; a time when Laodicea and each one of us should cease to be wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

It is a time when we should determine anew that we will not hold on to, cherish, and hug that one pet sin. This is a time when each of us should give our will completely to Christ, be born again, given a new heart, put on the wedding garment equivalent to accepting Christ’s perfect character, the divine nature and so be given the power necessary to live above sin and obey His commandments. “Christ in the weakness of humanity was to meet the temptations of one possessing the powers of the higher nature that God had bestowed on the angelic family. But Christ’s humanity was united with divinity, and in this strength He would bear all the temptations that Satan could bring against Him, and yet keep His soul untainted by sin. And this power to overcome He would give to every son and daughter of Adam who would accept by faith the righteous attributes of His character.” Ibid., Book 1, 223.

It is a time when the so-called impossible should not only become possible, but should permeate our lives and spill over into the lives of others. It is a time for us to live lives like Enoch and Elijah. We have reached a time when each person must study in order to understand the issues at stake and to escape the snares of Satan.

Rejected Message

“I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded.” Early Writings, 270. Now, the testimony of the True Witness – Christ – has to do with several things, repentance and the third angel’s message being among them.

We have again come to a time (the first time being 1888) when we should determine whether or not we have rejected the Lord’s message to us. Might it be that the same message of love given in 1888, which was rejected, we again reject today? In Christ’s Object Lessons, 271, we read, “To learn of Christ means to receive His grace, which is His character.”

“The Scriptures plainly show that the work of sanctification is progressive. When in conversion the sinner finds peace with God through the blood of the atonement, the Christian life has but just begun. Now he is to ‘go on unto perfection.’ [Hebrews 6:1.]” The Great Controversy, 470.

“None are living Christians unless they have a daily experience in the things of God and daily practice self-denial, cheerfully bearing the cross [the cross and the yoke are symbolic of giving the will to Christ as well as of service] and following Christ. Every living Christian will advance daily in the divine life. As he advances toward perfection, he experiences a conversion to God every day, and this conversion is not completed until he attains to the perfection of Christian character, a full preparation for the finishing touch of immortality.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 505. [Emphasis added.] This appears to me to be a time when we should plan to meet God’s standard.

Salvation and the Sanctuary

“As we near the close of time . . . we should devote ourselves to the study of the plan of salvation, that we may have an appreciation of how highly Jehovah has valued the salvation of man.” Review and Herald, October 7, 1890.

“We are in the great day of atonement, and the sacred work of Christ for the people of God that is going on at the present time in the heavenly sanctuary should be our constant study.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 520.

“The religion of Christ means more than the forgiveness of sin; it means taking away our sins . . . .” Christ’s Object Lessons, 420. Should we not be thinking about living above sin?

Now is the time to devote ourselves to the study of the plan of salvation. Now is the time the heavenly sanctuary should be our constant study. These are the two subjects which, in my mind, God gives us special instruction to study. Dr. Geoffrey J. Paxton, in his book, The Shaking of Adventism (Zenith Publishers, Wilmington, Delaware, January 1977), says that we are in a life and death struggle as to the nature of the gospel. I will attempt to show you what this means.

“We are not called to worship and serve God by the use of the means employed in former years. God requires higher service now than ever before. He requires the improvement of the heavenly gifts. He has brought us into a position where we need higher and better things than have ever been needed before.” Review and Herald, February 25, 1890.

As we think about all of this, it may seem to some a hopeless task and an unapproachable goal. Neither of these apply. I do not represent myself as having any new light only old light. The time has come when we should come to grips with the problems the Lord says we have, and not only know what these problems are, but get solutions to them.

As we consider, under the subject of salvation, such topics as the nature of Christ; the sanctuary; the straight truth; the divine nature; the shaking; man’s condition of being wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, may we not only see causes for our condition, but a solution and a cure for the conditions which confuse and plague most of us.

I have talked with some who believe we have no problems; that those who believe we have problems are either fanatics or offshoots. The time is here when we should look at things as they are and not as they appear or the way we may be told by some that they are. How can we read Revelation 3:14-22 and possibly conclude that we may meet our Lord in peace at His coming if we continue such a course?

It Is Time

One statement, appearing in the August 1, 1894, issue of Review and Herald, shortly after 1888, indicated the condition of that time and ours; it tells us why we are wretched and naked. One of the biggest questions is how we may become clothed in God’s clothing, of what this consists, and not only how we put on this clothing, but how we may keep this clothing clean. The statement referred to above follows: “What is it that constitutes the wretchedness, the nakedness of those who feel rich and increased with goods? It is the want of the righteousness of Christ. In their own righteousness they are represented as clothed with filthy rags, and yet in this condition they flatter themselves that they are clothed upon with Christ’s righteousness. Could deception be greater?” It is time we should become clothed in God’s clothing.

“Those who will be true to God and to duty will be menaced [threatened], denounced [condemned openly], and proscribed [condemned as dangerous]. They will ‘be betrayed [to deliver as an enemy by treachery] both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends.’ [Luke 21:16.]” Testimonies, vol. 5, 473. It is a time when we should love those who are true to God.

It is a time when we should look to God for wisdom. We need to recognize and appreciate His great love for us, as well as Christ’s death on the cross, His resurrection, and that He alone can save us. We need to know that we must be born again and given a new heart, that we must give our wills completely to Christ and become partakers of the divine nature.

We have reached a time when the following quotation should be prayerfully considered:

“For all that you have and are, dear friends, you are indebted to God. He has given you powers that, to a certain extent, are similar to those which He Himself possesses; and you should labor earnestly to develop these powers, not to please and exalt self, but to glorify Him.

“This earth is the Lord’s. Here it may be seen that nature, animate and inanimate, obeys His will. God created man a superior being; he alone is formed in the image of God and is capable of partaking of the divine nature, of co-operating with his Creator, and executing His plans; and he alone is found at war with God’s purposes.” Ibid., 311. [Emphasis added.]

May I repeat, this is a time when we should seriously consider the above quotation. It is a time when we must become like Enoch and Elijah, because we, like them, may be translated to heaven without seeing death.

It is a time when each one of us should study as to how we may become a partaker of the divine nature, as mentioned above, because it is through this means that God wants to give us the power to live and to become like Jesus.

Surely, we are all “Prisoners of Hope”!

Raymond L. Knoll, M.D. was born May 11, 1907. Becoming a Seventh-day Adventist in 1923, he has a love and devotion to the Holy Bible and to the writings of Ellen G. White. Graduating from a community college in Alberta, Canada, in 1928 where he majored in mathematics and science, he continued his education at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, graduating with a B.A. in mathematics and a minor in science. After teaching several years in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he entered the College of Medical Evangelists Medical School in Loma Linda, California, graduating with his M.D. in 1944. A freelance writer, he wrote and published the book, How to Live To Be 101 and Be Able To Enjoy It!

False Justification by Faith, Part I

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Allow me, please, to begin with a question: Why was justification by faith rejected in 1888 at the Minneapolis Conference? The answer: During the Dark Ages, God began to prepare a people for the Second Coming of Jesus by using Martin Luther to start the great Protestant Reformation in the preaching of justification by faith. Then, in 1844, God brought forth His Advent Movement preaching the additional truth that the divine Law of God, contained in the Most Holy Place within God’s heavenly sanctuary, must be obeyed in order for us to fully receive the righteousness of Christ.

Many within the church, in their zeal to preach the law, did so in a legalistic way, forgetting that we need Jesus in our hearts before we are able to keep the law and live the Christian life. Ellen White recognized this problem when she wrote, “As a people, we have preached the law until we are as dry as the hills of Gilboa that had neither dew nor rain.” Review and Herald, March 11, 1890.

To help the servant of the Lord meet this problem, the Lord sent E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones to preach justification by faith with the law. But many within the church, especially its leaders, thought they were trying to do away with the law. This is why the Minneapolis Conference of 1888 rejected the message of justification by faith.

Today, we are facing the imminent return of Jesus. Once again Satan has infiltrated God’s true church with the “Celebration” of New Theology that proclaims a false justification by faith in teaching that all that is needed for salvation is love and unity; that no one need be concerned about the law since Christ kept it for us. As a result, millions among us today have been duped to believe the lie of Satan that the divine Law of God cannot be kept, even in the power of Almighty God; therefore, we can sin until Jesus comes. May God help us! Surely our hearts faint within us as we see many within the Seventh-day Adventist Church today blindly following Babylon’s false teachings of justification by faith alone in love and unity, without equally emphasizing obedience to the divine law.

Turning to God’s Word, we read: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 11 Corinthians 6:14-18.

In view of this clear counsel from God’s Word not to mingle with the followers of Babylon, let us examine how this false teaching of justification by faith alone is affecting the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Willow Creek

In 1975, Bill Hybels started an interdenominational Pentecostal-style church near Chicago, Illinois, focused on church growth. Today, about 17,000 adults attend his weekend services and 6,000 his mid-week services. By all human standards, the Willow Creek Church is a great success. Further, this church has formed the Willow Creek Association (WCA). Presently over 2,200 churches have joined this WCA, and at least 56 of those are Seventh-day Adventist churches; three are Seventh-day Adventist conference organizations. (See The Remnant Herald #43, Melbourne, Australia, November 1998.)

Several of these churches have adopted names that do not reflect that they are Seventh-day Adventist Churches. We must at least credit these churches with professing that which they practice, for they are surely no longer Seventh-day Adventist Churches, however the conference may regard them; thus, they do not publicly shame the name Seventh-day Adventist.

The Willow Creek Association is an organization of a fallen church of Babylon. It is a charismatic, Sunday-keeping church. These conferences and churches have now gone to a fallen church of Babylon in order to be better Seventh-day Adventists! Just as well may they go to the witch of Endor. (See 1 Samuel 28.) These conferences and churches have entered Babylon. It will be well nigh impossible to recover such denominational entities, for they have done so in the full light of truth.

Confirmation

Lest it be thought that these conferences and churches have incurred the displeasure of the church organization, or even that the Willow Creek Association on the Internet is unreliable in its listing of these churches, we direct your attention to the documented evidence to the contrary. An editorial by Andy Nash in the Adventist Review of December 18, 1997, made these points: 1) “Adventists should give Willow Creek a fair shake”; 2) “Adventists should continue gleaning from Willow Creek”; 3) “Gleaning from Willow Creek’s message doesn’t mean forfeiting our message.” (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland, 6.) These subheadings contained two disgraceful admonitions and one absolute falsehood. How can we be so blind?

Just consider this statement from the same editorial listed above: “Adventists, both pastors and lay people, consistently make up one of the largest groups at Willow Creek’s half-dozen annual seminars . . . .” Ibid. This is not only so in the United States. In 1997, numerous Seventh-day Adventist pastors and laymen attended the Willow Creek Association meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden. This report is written to warn God’s flock worldwide concerning this phenomenon within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Already the fruitage of this union with Babylon is well-known to church administrators. Again quoting from the same Adventist Review article, it is admitted, “Fact: The three largest Adventist churches to divide or depart¾Oregon’s Sunnyside, Maryland’s Damascus, and Colorado’s Christ Advent Fellowship, were clearly influenced by Willow Creek’s ministry hallmarks . . . .” Ibid.

Apostasy

Robert H. Pierson, a former president of the General Conference, foresaw what was about to take place as a result of this New Theology of a false justification by faith when he wrote in The Ministry magazine of October 1977, “It would be well for every Seventh-day Adventist leader to prayerfully study the subtle plans of the apostate ‘angel of light’ as he seeks to thwart the triumph of the Advent movement. Get out your Bibles and the Spirit of Prophecy (especially Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 193-200). On your knees consider these startling facts faithfully chronicled by the Lord’s servant. . . .

“Note well what Ellen White warns:

“1. ‘The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded.’¾[Selected Messages, Book 1], p. 204.

“2. ‘The truth will be criticized, scorned, and derided.’¾Ibid., p. 201.

“3. ‘It will “make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin.” ’¾Ibid., p. 204.

“4. ‘Our religion would be changed.’¾Ibid., p. 204.

“5. ‘The Sabbath, of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it.’¾Ibid., p. 205.

“6. ‘The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error.’¾Ibid., p. 204.

“7. There would be a ‘supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith.’¾Ibid.

“8. ‘A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced.’¾Ibid.

“9. The new philosophy would ‘rob the people of God of their past experience, giving them instead a false science.’¾Ibid.

“10. It would seek to weaken the preaching of the Second Advent by teaching, ‘that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to be given special attention.’¾Ibid.

“11. ‘Books of a new order would be written.’¾Ibid.

“12. ‘A new organization would be established.’¾Ibid.

“13. ‘Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement.’¾Ibid., p. 205.

“Now go back over those thirteen points. Study them carefully and prayerfully. You may have to meet them sooner than you expect. The seeds of such apostasy are in the churches of Christendom all around us. Before Jesus returns, the Seventh-day Adventist Church may well be confronted with a crisis that will exceed in magnitude the Kellogg alpha apostasy. It ‘will be of a most startling nature.’ ” Robert H. Pierson, “The Omega of Apostasy,” The Ministry, vol. 50, No. 10, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C., October 1977, 8.

“Spiritualism is now changing its form, veiling some of its more objectionable and immoral features, and assuming a Christian guise. Formerly it denounced Christ and the Bible; now it professes to accept both. The Bible is interpreted in a manner that is attractive to the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect. A God of love is presented; but his justice, his denunciation of sin, the requirements of his holy law, are all kept out of sight. Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the senses of those who do not make God’s word the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verily rejected as before; but Satan has so blinded the eyes of the people that the deception is not discerned.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 405.

To be continued . . .

For over 60 years Pastor Lawrence Nelson served as an evangelist and minister for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Of that time, he served 13 years as the director of evangelism for youth at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Upon retirement from the General Conference, he continued to pastor, but when, as a result of his stand for truth, he was denied the opportunity to continue his pastorate, he started Keep the Faith Audio Tape Ministry, recording his sermons and making them available to individuals. Before his retirement from this ministry in 2004, over 18,000 audiotapes were being sent around the world each month.

The Alpha of Apostasy

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The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. … Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 204, 205.

“Be not deceived; many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature.” Ibid., 197.

“When men standing in the position of leaders and teachers work under the power of spiritualistic ideas and sophistries, shall we keep silent, for fear of injuring their influence, while souls are being beguiled? …

“Those who feel so very peaceable in regard to the works of the men who are spoiling the faith of the people of God, are guided by a delusive sentiment.” Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, 9, 11.

“Renewed energy is now needed. Vigilant action is called for. Indifference and sloth will result in the loss of personal religion and of heaven. … My message to you is: No longer consent to listen without protest to the perversion of truth. … We must firmly refuse to be drawn away from the platform of eternal truth, which since 1844 has stood the test.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 196, 199, 200.

“I hesitated and delayed about the sending out of that which the Spirit of the Lord impelled me to write. I did not want to be compelled to present the misleading influence of these sophistries. But in the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in must be met.” Ibid., 205.

“What influence is it that would lead men at this stage of our history to work in an underhand, powerful way to tear down the foundation of our faith—the foundation that was laid at the beginning of our work by prayerful study of the Word and by revelation? Upon this foundation we have been building for the past fifty years. Do you wonder that when I see the beginning of a work that would remove some of the pillars of our faith, I have something to say? I must obey the command, ‘Meet it!’ ” Ibid., 207, 208.

The alpha of apostasy had to do with at least the following theological points:

  1. the publication of the book Living Temple by Dr. J. H. Kellogg in which the doctrine of pantheism was taught. Ellen White said that the ideas presented in this book would undermine the doctrine of the atonement made by Christ;
  2. the teaching by A. F. Ballenger that Christ went into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary in 31 A.D. instead of 1844. Elder Ballenger used typology in the Old Testament to show that every text in the Old Testament that referred to “within the veil” had to do with the Most Holy Place and therefore Hebrews 6:19 said, according to him, that Jesus went directly into the Most Holy Place in 31 A.D.

Ellen White wrote about these matters as follows: “Satan is striving continually to bring in fanciful suppositions in regard to the sanctuary, degrading the wonderful representations of God and the ministry of Christ for our salvation into something that suits the carnal mind. He removes its presiding power from the hearts of believers, and supplies its place with fantastic theories invented to make void the truths of the atonement, and destroy our confidence in the doctrines which we have held sacred since the third angel’s message was first given. Thus he would rob us of our faith in the very message that has made us a separate people, and has given character and power to our work.” Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, 17.

“In the future, deception of every kind is to arise, and we want solid ground for our feet. We want solid pillars for the building. Not one pin is to be removed from that which the Lord has established. The enemy will bring in false theories, such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith. Where shall we find safety unless it be in the truths that the Lord has been giving for the last fifty years?” Review and Herald, May 25, 1905.

“The theory that God is an essence pervading all nature is received by many who profess to believe the Scriptures; but, however beautifully clothed, this theory is a most dangerous deception. … If God is an essence pervading all nature, then He dwells in all men; and in order to attain holiness, man has only to develop the power within him. These theories [pantheism, etc.], followed to their logical conclusion, … do away with the necessity for the atonement and make man his own savior. … Those who accept them are in great danger of being led finally to look upon the whole Bible as a fiction.” The Faith I Live By, 40.

“Only through Christ can men sunken in sin and degradation be led to a higher life. Theories that do not recognize the atonement that has been made for sin, and the work that the Holy Spirit is to do in the hearts of human beings, are powerless to save.” Signs of the Times, June 14, 1905.

“There is in it [pantheism] the beginning of theories which, carried to their logical conclusion, would destroy faith in the sanctuary question and in the atonement. I do not think that Dr. Kellogg saw this clearly. I do not think that he realized that in laying his new foundation of faith, he was directing his steps toward infidelity.—Signs of the Times, Jun. 14, 1905.)”

“I have seen the results of these fanciful views of God, in apostasy, spiritualism, and free-lovism. The free-love tendency of these teachings was so concealed that at first it was difficult to make plain its real character. Until the Lord presented it to me, I knew not what to call it, but I was instructed to call it unholy spiritual love.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 292.

Ellen White wrote several letters to Dr. J. H. Kellogg beginning in 1892, in an effort to help him see the path upon which he was entering. God was trying to help him understand the need of pointing people to Christ and His work in the heavenly sanctuary. God saw what was coming. Notice this clear testimony given to Dr. Kellogg almost ten years before the crisis erupted.

“I want you, my brother, to stand under the shadow of the cross. The beams of the Sun of Righteousness shine directly there. I have no time to write more now, but I do feel an intense interest for your soul. Talk less; exalt science less; let your Redeemer be the one exalted. The melody of heaven is praise to God and the Lamb. It sounds forth from the voices of ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. Why does not praise flow from our lips? Why are we so dumb? The Lord is ready to disclose to His church more and more of His wonderful power, and to open new lines of thought in regard to the great plan of redemption—the love, the matchless love, that moved Him to give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.—Letter 18, 1892, pp. 8, 9. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, April 15, 1892.) …

“The world is our field of missionary toil, and we are to go forth to our labor surrounded with the atmosphere of Gethsemane and Calvary. Those in our sanitariums are to take advantage of the opportunities given them to set before the sick and suffering the restoring efficacy [that] there is in Christ for the salvation of soul and body. How carefully should these precious opportunities be improved by nurses, matron, and physicians! They are to hold up the privilege which all have of becoming children of God by surrendering all they have and are to the keeping power of Christ. We have been bought with a price, and what a price!—even the blood of the only begotten Son of God. Shall we not, then, strive to bring our lives into conformity to His will?—Letter 122, 1901, pp. 6, 7. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Sept. 11, 1901.)

“We are in this world to lift the cross of Calvary. As we lift this cross, we shall find that it lifts us. Let every Christian stand in his lot and place, catching the inspiration of the work that Christ did for souls while in this world. We need the ardor of the Christian hero, who can endure the seeing of Him that is invisible. Our faith is to have a resurrection. The soldiers of the cross are to exert a positive influence for good. Christ says, ‘He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad’ (Matthew 12:30). Indifference in the Christian life is a manifest denial of Christ.—Letter 239, 1903, pp. 8,9. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Oct. 28, 1903.)…

“My heart aches as I see how faint a realization human beings have of what has been done for them. How I wish they could see as I see what is meant by the punishment of the guilty. The invitation comes to us, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29). Those who do not believe in Christ, receiving Him as a personal Saviour, must die in their sins. They must suffer the punishment of the second death. Those who remain in unbelief cannot appreciate the love that Christ has expressed for them, and they will never have an experimental knowledge of the suffering that Christ endured in order that their sins might be pardoned and they be received as children of God.—Letter 257, 1903, p. 5. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Nov. 26, 1903.)…

“ ‘It is Christ that died’ is an argument that cannot be refuted. To it nothing can be added. To the repentant soul it is Yea and Amen. Christ leads the penitent soul upward step by step, and gives to the mind His peace. ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9). Angels of God guard the penitent, believing soul, that evil angels may not intrude.—Letter 271, 1904, p. 3. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, July 29, 1904.)

“Christ died for us to make an atonement for our sins. He is now standing at His Father’s right hand, pleading for us. To all who receive Him, He will give power to become the sons of God. Had He not paid the redemption price for us, we could not be saved. But His intercessions prevail. He had power to take away our sins. He lives to make intercession, and because He lives, we shall live also if we are obedient to His will. He will keep us from falling.—Letter 368, 1904, p. 3. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Aug. 31, 1904.)” Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, 59–62.

In late 1904 and early 1905, A. F. Ballenger, who was working in England, began expounding views on the heavenly sanctuary that formed a direct attack on Christ’s ministry in the Most Holy Place. These views came to the attention of the leaders of the General Conference later that year. Ellen White, in the following statements, made it very clear that the views of Dr. Kellogg and A. F. Ballenger, if accepted, would remove the sanctuary message from the foundation of our faith.

These statements were excerpts from Manuscript Release 760 out of a pamphlet entitled, “The Integrity of the Sanctuary Truth,” released by the Ellen G. White Estate in 1980, 1981.

“Brother Ballenger does not discern what he is doing any more than Dr. Kellogg discerned that the book Living Temple contained some of the most dangerous errors that could be presented to the people of God. The most specious errors lie concealed in these theories and suppositions, which, if received, would leave the people of God in a labyrinth of error. Those who cherish these theories are building upon the sand, and when the storm and tempest shall come the structure will be swept away.” Manuscript Release Number 760, 8.

“The men who have lost their hold on the truths of the sanctuary question as they have been presented by men who have been under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, had better pray more and talk less. I testify in the name of the Lord that Elder Ballenger is led by satanic agencies and spiritualistic, invisible leaders. Those who have the guidance of the Holy Spirit will turn away from these seducing spirits.” Ibid., 5.

“I am bidden to say in the name of the Lord that Elder Ballenger is following a false light. The Lord has not given him the message that he is bearing regarding the sanctuary service.” Ibid., 10.

“God never contradicts Himself. Scripture proofs are misapplied if forced to testify to that which is not true. Another and still another will arise and bring in supposedly great light, and make their assertions. But we stand by the old landmarks.”
[I John 1:1-10 quoted.]” Ibid., 19.

“So you see that it is impossible for us to have any agreement with the positions taken by Brother A. F. Ballenger, for no lie is of the truth. His proofs do not belong where he places them, and although he may lead minds to believe his theory in regard to the sanctuary, this is no evidence that his theory is true. We have had a plain and decided testimony to bear for half a century. The positions taken in my books are truth. The truth was revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, and we know that Brother Ballenger’s position is not according to the Word of God. This theory is a deceiving theory and he misapplies Scriptures. Theories of the kind that he has been presenting, we have had to meet again and again.” Ibid., 23.

“I am instructed that we are not to enter into any controversy over the spiritualistic representations that are fast coming in from every quarter. Further than this, I am to give those in charge of our papers instruction not to publish in the columns of the Review and Herald, the Signs of the Times, or any other papers published by Seventh-day Adventists, articles attempting to explain these sophistries. We are in danger whenever we discuss the sophistries of the enemy. The publication of articles dealing with these sophistries is a snare for souls. Let these theories alone and warn all not to read them. Your explanations will amount to nothing. Let the theories alone. Do not try to show the inconsistency or fallacy of them. Let them alone.

“Do not perpetuate evil by talking of these theories in sermons or by publishing in our papers articles regarding them. The Lord says, Let them be unexplained. Present the affirmative of truth plainly, clearly, and decidedly. You cannot afford to study or combat these false theories. Present the truth, It is written.” Ibid., 24.

“The sanctuary question is the foundation of our faith.” Ibid., 26.

“There is a spirit of wickedness at work in the church that is striving at every opportunity to make void the law of God. While the Lord may not punish unto death those who have carried their rebellion to great lengths, the light will never again shine with such convincing power upon the stubborn opposers of truth.” Ibid., 29.

Satan is making a direct attack on the closing atonement ministry of Christ in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven. We believe that the time has come in the great second advent movement for God’s faithful people to reaffirm their faith in the sanctuary truth which is the foundation of our faith.

[All emphasis supplied.]

Pastor John Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org.

Keeping Up with the Light

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The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18. Notice, this verse does not say the room of the just, but the path of the just. As you walk that path, if you stay on it, the light is going to become brighter and brighter. But it is also true, friend, that if you do not keep walking on the path, the light is going to become darkness, because the light is moving.

The Bible talks about present truth. (See II Peter 1:12.) There are certain things that can be preached at one time that cannot be preached at another time. There are some truths that are timeless, but there is some truth that is present truth. What is present truth today is not exactly the same as it was 100 years ago.

I believe that very soon God’s servants are going to have to preach things that we have never thought we were going to preach. We are in a situation very similar to the Jews in the time of Christ. The devil had manipulated them into a situation, through what they had been taught, so that they were ready to reject the truth. They had developed a series of criteria which, if Jesus was the Messiah, they believed He would meet. Interestingly enough, they based these expectations on the Old Testament. Jesus did not, however, meet their criteria. It is interesting to note, in the study of history, that almost every time prophecy which is fulfilled is not fulfilled in the way expected.

Seventh-day Adventists used to wonder what Ellen White meant when she said, “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. Very soon we are going to find out.

This concept that spiritual light is moving and the person who does not keep walking in the light finds himself in the dark explains many spiritual phenomena that are happening all around us that otherwise would be very confusing. A few years ago, two Seventh-day Adventist ministers came to question me. One of them asked something like this: “Do you believe that the Seventh-day Adventist Church organization was ordained by God? Well, do you or don’t you?” Well, let me ask you some questions? Do you believe that the Jewish church organization was ordained by God, or that He had a hand in setting it up? Was there a time when the Jews were in the light? Yes, there was. The Jews had been called by God and chosen as His special people. They had been in the light. They had, friends, the spirit of prophecy. They had all of the Old Testament; that is the spirit of prophecy. But when the light moved, they did not move with it. God had more light for them, but they would not accept it. They stayed put and, as a result, they were left in the dark.

Jesus is the light of the world. I want you to notice Revelation 14:4 and what it says about the 144,000. “These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” When the light (Jesus) moves, the 144,000 follow. The problem today is that when the light moves, there are so many people who do not follow it; they stay put. They are left in the dark and are then spiritually blind. There was a time when they were in the light; but the light moved, and they did not move with it. “As the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation.” The Desire of Ages, 232. Did you notice that she said that this has taken place in every succeeding generation? “Again and again the history of Christ’s withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. When the Reformers preached the Word of God, they had no thought of separating themselves from the established church; but the religious leaders would not tolerate the light.” Ibid. What happened? The religious leaders refused to walk in the light. “And those that bore it were forced to seek another class, who were longing for the truth.” Ibid. Everyone who does not love the truth is going to be deceived and be lost.

“Few are listening for the voice of God, and ready to accept truth in whatever guise it may be presented. Often those who follow in the steps of the Reformers are forced to turn away from the churches they love, in order to declare the plain teaching of the Word of God.” Ibid. Did you know that there are many people who no longer believe that this statement can apply today? Have you ever heard people say, “Well, the cycles have to stop somewhere, and they stopped in 1863 because that is when we incorporated”? The trouble is, friends, The Desire of Ages was not even written until 1898.

We are living in a time that a few years ago no one expected to see. We believed that when persecution came, it would come from outside of the church. We failed to understand what Ellen White meant when she said that we have far more to fear from within than from without. (See Selected Messages, Book 1, 122.) Who would have thought that in Adventism the apostasy would become so great that in many places it would become spiritually dangerous to even attend the local Seventh-day Adventist Church because error was being “forced home to the people”? (See Early Writings, 125.) We were not expecting the true and faithful Seventh-day Adventists to be disfellowshipped and persecuted by their former brethren all over the world, as is taking place today. But when we go to the inspired writings, we see all of this prophesied—we just did not understand it. People have come to believe that these things would not happen until after the National Sunday Law. Friend, that theory is a dangerous deception. The National Sunday Law does not initiate the shaking; it brings the shaking to a climax! Those who are waiting to take a bold, unyielding stand for the truth until the Sunday law test comes are simply preparing to receive the mark of the beast.

You see, when anyone rejects the light of truth that God has given to this people, he has turned his back on the light and goes out in darkness. He may still call himself a Seventh-day Adventist, but if he does not believe the First Angel’s Message and the truth of the Investigative Judgment beginning in 1844, he has gone into darkness. You cannot, with safety, go to his church and listen to him preach. When a person rejects the truth of the great Day of Atonement that began in 1844 and says that instead of afflicting the soul (Leviticus 16:29, 30) it is time to celebrate, they have gone out into darkness. If a preacher says that you will sin until Jesus comes, he has accepted Satan’s fatal sophistry (See The Great Controversy, 489.), and you dare not go and listen to him preach lest you be deceived and lose your own soul. Finally, if you are not hearing the historic doctrines of Adventism preached in your church, if you are hearing the same kinds of sermons that you could hear in any other church, then you are endangering your soul if you do not either find a Historic Seventh-day Adventist congregation, or start a home church where you can teach the truth, at least to your own family.

Our opportunities for learning and knowing God’s last message to a perishing world and being prepared for what is coming on the world are very limited at best, and we dare not allow ourselves and our families to be exposed to either heretical preaching or “peace and safety” messages that come just before destruction. “I saw that we have no time to throw away in listening to fables. Our minds should not be thus diverted, but should be occupied with the present truth, and seeking wisdom that we may obtain a more thorough knowledge of our position, that with meekness we may be able to give a reason of our hope from the Scriptures. While false doctrines and dangerous errors are pressed upon the mind, it cannot be dwelling upon the truth which is to fit and prepare the house of Israel to stand in the day of the Lord.” Early Writings, 125.

Every Sabbath after church, you should be more fitted to stand in the day of the Lord than before. But the prophet wrote sadly, “Those who have been regarded as worthy and righteous prove to be ring-leaders in apostasy and examples in indifference and in the abuse of God’s mercies. Their wicked course He will tolerate no longer, and in His wrath He deals with them without mercy.

“It is with reluctance that the Lord withdraws His presence from those who have been blessed with great light and who have felt the power of the word in ministering to others. They were once His faithful servants, favored with His presence and guidance; but they departed from Him and led others into error, and therefore are brought under the divine displeasure. …

“Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed. There are many even among those who teach the truth to others who will not receive the seal of God in their foreheads. They had the light of truth, they knew their Master’s will, they understood every point of our faith, but they had not corresponding works. These who were so familiar with prophecy and the treasures of divine wisdom should have acted their faith. They should have commanded their households after them, that by a well-ordered family they might present to the world the influence of the truth upon the human heart.

“By their lack of devotion and piety, and their failure to reach a high religious standard, they make other souls contented with their position. Men of finite judgment cannot see that in patterning after these men who have so often opened to them the treasures of God’s Word, they will surely endanger their souls. Jesus is the only true pattern. Everyone must now search the Bible for himself upon his knees before God, with the humble, teachable heart of a child, if he would know what the Lord requires of him. However high any minister may have stood in the favor of God, if he neglects to follow out the light given him of God, if he refuses to be taught as a little child, he will go into darkness and satanic delusions and will lead others in the same path. …

“What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world are receiving the worldly mold and preparing for the mark of the beast.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 212–216.

Friends, it is a dangerous thing to fail to advance in the opening providence of God. The light is moving. Are you moving with it or are you in the dark? Early in her experience, Ellen White saw a vision about this light. You can read this vision in Early Writings, 15–20. In other places in her writings, she speaks about the light that was set up at the beginning of the path that the Advent company was traveling that shone all of the way up to the Holy City. This path, friends, is narrow, and if you do not have light on the path, you are going to stumble and fall off.

What was that light that was set up at the beginning? Sister White says that it was the Midnight Cry. The Midnight Cry was based on the Bible prophecies of Daniel 8 and 9, and Revelation 14:6, 7—the message of the 2300 days and the sanctuary and the Investigative Judgment. The devil knows that if we reject these truths, we will stumble and fall off the path. It is amazing how successful the devil has been in leading people to reject them.

We have been told that, “When the power of God testifies as to what is truth, that truth is to stand forever as the truth. No after suppositions contrary to the light God has given are to be entertained.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 161. Yet there are Adventist teachers and ministers today who no longer believe these truths. Friend, if you are in the situation where you listen to this error, you are in the dark; you are going to lose your way. The Lord is not going to work a miracle to save you; you have turned your back on the light. This idea that you can have a spirit of free inquiry and ask any question you want to is not according to the Scriptures. Jesus rebuked people for their doubt. Friend, if these truths are not being upheld in your church, your church is in the dark.

In Testimonies, vol. 2, 594–597, Ellen White describes a very impressive dream. “I dreamed of being with a large body of people. A portion of this assembly started out prepared to journey. We had heavily loaded wagons. As we journeyed, the road seemed to ascend. On one side of this road was a deep precipice; on the other was a high, smooth, white wall. … As we journeyed on, the road grew narrower and steeper. … We concluded that we could no longer travel with the loaded wagons. We … took a portion of the luggage from the wagons and placed it upon the horses, and journeyed on horseback. As we progressed, the path still continued to grow narrow. … We then cut the luggage from the horses, and it fell over the precipice. We continued on horseback. … A hand seemed to take the bridle and guide us over the perilous way. As the path grew more narrow, we … left the horses and went on foot, in single file. … At this point small cords were let down from the top of the pure white wall; these we eagerly grasped. … The path finally became so narrow that we concluded that we could travel more safely without our shoes, so we slipped them from our feet. … Soon it was decided that we could travel more safely without our stockings; these were removed, and we journeyed on with bare feet.”

One of the most interesting points of this dream is that several changes were made. They began with heavily loaded wagons, then changed to horses with a portion of the luggage, to horses with no luggage, to single file on foot, to removing their shoes, and finally to removing their stockings. Notice that “at every change some were left behind, and those only remained who had accustomed themselves to endure hardships. The privations of the way only made these more eager to press on to the end. … We pressed close to the white wall, yet could not place our feet fully upon the path, for it was too narrow. We then suspended nearly our whole weight upon the cords, exclaiming: ‘We have hold from above!’ ” Ibid.

The light, friends, is moving. Are you keeping up with the providence of God? Are you aware that the road we are traveling is getting narrower? Have you noticed it? How are you going to stay on the path and keep up with the providence of God? The only way is to have faith. These cords represent faith. A few years ago a good friend of mine told me that he was sorry that I had worked so many years for the Adventist denomination and now had to give up all of my retirement benefits. If you stay on the road all the way to the end, you are going to give up much more than retirement benefits.

Oh friend, how much time are you spending in prayer? If you are energetic enough to get up and to pray, God will hear and answer.

“Where there is no active labor for others, love wanes, and faith grows dim.” The Desire of Ages, 825. You must not only study your Bible and pray, you must be actively involved in missionary work. If you are not, ask the Lord to show you what to do to become involved in some type of outreach program spreading the Third Angel’s Message.

We did not follow the path to the end of the vision. The time came, however, when the path disappeared and all that was left were the cords that had been let down from above. When you come to this place in your experience, will you have a faith that will hold you? Do you want the Lord to let down a cord of faith today so that you can get a hold from above? If so, determine that from this day forward you will faithfully walk in the light as God sheds it upon your pathway.

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.

Walking with Jesus

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In a very confused and crooked world our beloved church is in the Omega of Apostasy. Dear brothers and sisters in the faith, many times in the Spirit of Prophecy and the Scriptures are references to the soon coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The evidence is now overwhelming that we are the final generation. As we look at Scripture referring to this hour of crisis, we are told of the awesome events.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” II Timothy 3:1–4.

This is a picture of the confusion that exists in our world—every television news broadcast and every headline of newspapers reveal the fulfillment of these Scriptures. There is confusion in the political world. There is also confusion in the financial world. We have seen some of the great leading institutions go bankrupt, and the government is doing everything it can to put business operations on a better foundation again.

“We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.

“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 11.

“There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching of God’s word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them.” Ibid., 13.

As we look at the financial picture of our world, the 2 million foreclosures of homes and businesses is shocking. People are losing their homes and losing their jobs. The American dollar was the leading of all our monetary systems of the world, but today, some nations are refusing to accept dollars in the monetary exchanges.

Money Depreciates Suddenly

Money will soon depreciate in value very suddenly when the reality of eternal scenes opens to the senses of man.

“God will have men who will venture anything and everything to save souls. Those who will not move until they can see every step of the way clearly before them will not be of advantage at this time to forward the truth of God.” Evangelism, 62, 63.

God’s Final Warning To The World And The Seventh-day Remnant Church Of God

“God cannot forbear much longer. Already His judgments are beginning to fall on some places, and soon His signal displeasure will be felt in other places.

“There will be a series of events revealing that God is master of the situation. The truth will be proclaimed in clear, unmistakable language. As a people we must prepare the way of the Lord under the overruling guidance of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is to be given in its purity. The stream of living water is to deepen and widen in its course. In all fields, nigh and afar off, men will be called from the plow and from the more common commercial business vocations that largely occupy the mind, and will be educated in connection with men of experience. As they learn to labor effectively they will proclaim the truth with power. Through most wonderful workings of divine providence, mountains of difficulty will be removed and cast into the sea. The message that means so much to the dwellers upon the earth will be heard and understood. Men will know what is truth. Onward and still onward the work will advance until the whole earth shall have been warned, and then shall the end come.

“A Present-Day Work—More and more, as the days go by, it is becoming apparent that God’s judgments are in the world. In fire and flood and earthquake He is warning the inhabitants of this earth of His near approach. The time is nearing when the great crisis in the history of the world will have come, when every movement in the government of God will be watched with intense interest and inexpressible apprehension. In quick succession the judgments of God will follow one another—fire and flood and earthquake, with war and bloodshed.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 96–97.

September 11, 2001—the world was awakened in that great tragedy. That great tragedy has changed the living; it changed the business world and complicated travel. We were reminded that we are living in a very dangerous time.

The curtain is now going up on the last act of the drama of the ages. “The world is a theater; the actors, its inhabitants, are preparing to act their part in the last great drama. With the great masses of mankind there is no unity, except as men confederate to accomplish their selfish purposes. God is looking on. His purposes in regard to His rebellious subjects will be fulfilled.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 27.

What is the responsibility of the Seventh-day Adventist people and their leaders and pastors in this final world crisis? The Seventh-day Adventist Church was raised up by God soon after 1844 to do a special work.

The Law Of God

We were ordained by God to present to the world the law of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, the Sanctuary message, the Three Angels’ Messages, the 2,300–day prophecy, the Seventh-day Sabbath, and the state of the dead, which separates us from the Protestant churches. The gift of prophecy was restored to the Seventh-day Adventist people soon after 1844.

The True Gospel Of Jesus Christ

The real gospel of Jesus Christ is portrayed in the following inspired words: “The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 415, 416.

So we see that the true gospel of Jesus Christ is to reveal His love, His holy law and justice. The true gospel of Jesus is power in the life to be a perfect overcomer; not by what we do, but what we want and let God do in us. This true gospel of Jesus gives men, women, and children the understanding of victory over sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Any gospel that does not reveal the love of God in daily living is a false gospel.

The Purified Heart From Sin Creates Obedience To All Known Truth

“To the heart that has become purified, all is changed. Transformation of character is the testimony to the world of an indwelling Christ. The Spirit of God produces a new life in the soul, bringing the thoughts and desires into obedience to the will of Christ; and the inward man is renewed in the image of God. Weak and erring men and women show to the world that the redeeming power of grace can cause the faulty character to develop into symmetry and abundant fruitfulness.” Lift Him Up, 286.

“The Christian’s life is not a modification or improvement of the old, but a transformation of nature. There is a death to self and sin, and a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit.” The Desire of Ages, 172.

We Can Be Perfect Overcomers Here

“The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God and being clothed with humility, possessing that love that is pure, peaceable, and easy to be entreated, full of gentleness and good fruits, is not an easy attainment. And yet it is his privilege and his duty to be a perfect overcomer here. The soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in knowledge and true holiness. The holy life and character of Christ is a faithful example.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 106, 107.

“We can overcome. Yes; fully, entirely. Jesus died to make a way of escape for us, that we might overcome every evil temper, every sin, every temptation, and sit down at last with Him.” Ibid., vol. 1, 144.

Every Seventh-day Adventist is to be an ambassador for Christ, revealing how God has transformed us by the renewing of our minds.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1,2.

Walking With Jesus Is Abiding In Christ

“Walk continually in the light of God. Meditate day and night upon His character. Then you will see His beauty and rejoice in His goodness. Your heart will glow with a sense of His love. You will be uplifted as if borne by everlasting arms. With the power and light that God imparts, you can comprehend more and accomplish more than you ever before deemed possible.” The Ministry of Healing, 514.

Abiding in Christ is walking with Christ and revealing the character of Christ in every thought, word, and action by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” John 15:4–8.

“Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” I John 3:6–9.

When we abide in Christ, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us from sinning. Those who will not yield their will, thoughts, and mind to God cannot abide in Christ. Therefore, they cannot be overcomers in Christ; they cannot be saved in God’s kingdom. According to the sixth verse of John fifteen, those who will not yield their mind and will to God will end up in the lake of fire. Only those who abide in Christ, walking with Him in this sin-cursed world as overcomers, will walk with Jesus in life eternal.

Dear friends, we have talked about the coming of the Lord and the final events that will lead us into the time of trouble; it is now before us.

God’ Last Call To His Remnant People In This Remnant Of Time

“ ‘The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.’ Zephaniah 1:2, 3, 8–18.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 94, 95.

“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Romans 13:11, 12.

“(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” II Corinthians 6:2.

Dear friends, let us remember what Jesus said, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14.

And again, our prophet, Ellen White, wrote:

“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.

Only a few are to be chosen. Who are they?—The loyal, true, and obedient to the law of God; keeping the Sabbath fully; revealing the character of Christ in daily living.

“The Holy Spirit never leaves unassisted the soul who is looking unto Jesus. He takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto him. If the eye is kept fixed on Christ, the work of the Spirit ceases not until the soul is conformed to His image.” The Desire of Ages, 302.

Let us remember that the only treasure we take from this world to the next is our character.

“A character formed according to the divine likeness is the only treasure that we can take from this world to the next. … To everyone engaged in this work Christ says, I am at your right hand to help you.

“As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 332, 333.

Perfect Obedience Is Possible And Mandated By God

“By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness.” Ibid., 312.

Elder Ron Spear served as field secretary for the Review and Herald, working at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. In the early 1980s, Ron Spear felt impressed that God was calling him to begin publishing a magazine that would feature the fundamental truths of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He has been and continues to be a leader in holding up the banner of Christ to help prepare a people for the soon coming of Jesus. He can be contacted by email at: landmarks@stepstolife.org.

Bible Study Guides – God’s Claims Forgotten—A Call to Repentance and Reformation

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January 15, 2006 – January 21, 2006

Key Text

“For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” Jeremiah 29:10.

Study Help: Prophets and Kings, 367–378; 618–627; 661–668.

Introduction

“In his study of the causes leading to the Babylonish captivity, Ezra had learned that Israel’s apostasy was largely traceable to their mingling with heathen nations. He had seen that if they had obeyed God’s command to keep separate from the nations surrounding them, they would have been spared many sad and humiliating experiences. Now when he learned that notwithstanding the lessons of the past, men of prominence had dared transgress the laws given as a safeguard against apostasy, his heart was stirred within him. He thought of God’s goodness in again giving His people a foothold in their native land, and he was overwhelmed with righteous indignation and with grief at their ingratitude. . . .

“The sorrow of Ezra and his associates over the evils that had insidiously crept into the very heart of the Lord’s work, wrought repentance. Many of those who had sinned were deeply affected. ‘The people wept very sore.’ Ezra 10:1. In a limited degree they began to realize the heinousness of sin and the horror with which God regards it. They saw the sacredness of the law spoken at Sinai, and many trembled at the thought of their transgressions.” Prophets and Kings, 620, 622.

1 What did God say would result from His blessings upon ancient Israel if they would carry out His will? Deuteronomy 28:10–13.

note: “God surrounded Israel with every facility, gave them every privilege, that would make them an honor to His name and a blessing to surrounding nations. If they would walk in the ways of obedience, He promised to make them ‘high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor.’ [Deuteronomy 26:19.]” Education, 40.

2 What illustration of the ingathering of the strangers came to Israel early in their conquest of Canaan? Joshua 2:3, 8–14; 6:25.

note: “The children of Israel were to occupy all the territory which God appointed them. Those nations that rejected the worship and service of the true God were to be dispossessed. But it was God’s purpose that by the revelation of His character through Israel men should be drawn unto Him. To all the world the gospel invitation was to be given. Through the teaching of the sacrificial service Christ was to be uplifted before the nations, and all who would look unto Him should live. All who, like Rahab the Canaanite, and Ruth the Moabitess, turned from idolatry to the worship of the true God, were to unite themselves with His chosen people. As the numbers of Israel increased they were to enlarge their borders, until their kingdom should embrace the world.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 290.

3 Because of their failure to be loyal, whom did God leave in the land to prove Israel? Judges 2:20–23.

note: “God had placed His people in Canaan as a mighty breastwork to stay the tide of moral evil, that it might not flood the world. If faithful to Him, God intended that Israel should go on conquering and to conquer. He would give into their hands nations greater and more powerful than the Canaanites. . . .

“But regardless of their high destiny, they chose the course of ease and self-indulgence; they let slip their opportunities for completing the conquest of the land; and for many generations they were afflicted by the remnant of these idolatrous peoples . . . .” Patriarchs and Prophets, 544.

4 When the service of God was established in the temple of Jerusalem, how did God signalize His acceptance of His sanctuary in Israel? 11 Chronicles 5:14; 7:1–3. In his prayer at the dedication of the temple, what petition did Solomon offer for the stranger? 1 Kings 8:41–43.

note: “In the prophetic prayer offered at the dedication of the temple whose services Hezekiah and his associates were now restoring, Solomon had prayed, [1 Kings 8:33, 34 quoted]. The seal of divine approval had been placed upon this prayer; for at its close fire had come down from heaven to consume the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord had filled the temple.” Prophets and Kings, 335.

“One of the most touching portions of Solomon’s dedicatory prayer was his plea to God for the strangers that should come from countries afar to learn more of Him whose fame had been spread abroad among the nations.” Ibid., 66.

5 What experiences show that rulers and people forgot the evidences of divine leadership? 1 Kings 11:1–8. As a result of their departure from God, what conditions eventually prevailed in Israel and Judah? 1 Kings 14:21–24; 12:26–31.

note: “So gradual was Solomon’s apostasy that before he was aware of it, he had wandered far from God. Almost imperceptibly he began to trust less and less in divine guidance and blessing, and to put confidence in his own strength. Little by little he withheld from God that unswerving obedience which was to make Israel a peculiar people, and he conformed more and more closely to the customs of the surrounding nations. Yielding to the temptations incident to his success and his honored position, he forgot the Source of his prosperity. An ambition to excel all other nations in power and grandeur led him to pervert for selfish purposes the heavenly gifts hitherto employed for the glory of God. The money which should have been held in sacred trust for the benefit of the worthy poor and for the extension of principles of holy living throughout the world, was selfishly absorbed in ambitious projects.” Prophets and Kings, 55.

6 When God could no longer bear with Israel’s rebellions and apostasy, what came upon them? 11 Kings 17:5; Hosea 4:17; Amos 7:11.

note: The Lord permitted Samaria to be invaded “by the hosts of Assyria under Shalmaneser; and in the siege that followed, multitudes perished miserably of hunger and disease as well as by the sword. The city and nation fell, and the broken remnant of the ten tribes were carried away captive and scattered in the provinces of the Assyrian realm. . . .

“The Assyrians were merely the instruments that God used to carry out His purpose. . . .

“Not all who were carried captive were impenitent. Among them were some who had remained true to God, and others who had humbled themselves before Him. Through these, ‘the sons of the living God’ (Hosea 1:10), He would bring multitudes in the Assyrian realm to a knowledge of the attributes of His character and the beneficence of His law.” Prophets and Kings, 291, 292.

7 As Judah failed to learn from the experience of Israel, what fate eventually overtook them and the holy city? 11 Kings 24:10, 14; 25:8–11.

note: “The king was even too weak to be willing that his courtiers and people should know that he had held a conference with Jeremiah, so fully had the fear of man taken possession of his soul. If Zedekiah had stood up bravely and declared that he believed the words of the prophet, already half fulfilled, what desolation might have been averted! . . .

“The enemy swept down like a resistless avalanche and devastated the city. The Hebrew armies were beaten back in confusion. The nation was conquered. . . . The beautiful temple that for more than four centuries had crowned the summit of Mount Zion was not spared by the Chaldeans. . . .

“Zion was utterly destroyed; the people of God were in their captivity.” Prophets and Kings, 458, 459, 461.

8 What promise had been made concerning the duration of the captivity? Jeremiah 29:10; 11 Chronicles 36:21. In order that the prophecy might be fulfilled, whom did God influence in behalf of Israel? Ezra 1:1–4. Under what Persian King was the promise to Jeremiah definitely and finally fulfilled? Ezra 7:11, 21–26.

note: “Jeremiah declared that they were to wear the yoke of servitude for seventy years; and the captives that were already in the hands of the king of Babylon, and the vessels of the Lord’s house which had been taken, were also to remain in Babylon till that time had elapsed. But at the end of the seventy years God would deliver them from their captivity and would punish their oppressors and bring into subjection the proud king of Babylon.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 169.

“Just as long as we are in this world, and the Spirit of God is striving with the world, we are to receive as well as to impart favors. We are to give to the world the light of truth as presented in the Sacred Scriptures, and we are to receive from the world that which God moves upon them to do in behalf of His cause. The Lord still moves upon the hearts of kings and rulers in behalf of His people, and it becomes those who are so deeply interested in the religious liberty question not to cut off any favors, or withdraw themselves from the help that God has moved men to give, for the advancement of His cause.

“We find examples in the word of God concerning this very matter. Cyrus, king of Persia, made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it into writing, saying: [Ezra 1:2, 3 quoted]. A second commandment was issued by Darius for the building of the house of the Lord, and is recorded in the sixth chapter of Ezra.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 202, 203.

“The decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus for the restoring and building of Jerusalem, the third issued since the close of the seventy years’ captivity, is remarkable for its expressions regarding the God of heaven, for its recognition of the attainments of Ezra, and for the liberality of the grants made to the remnant people of God.” Prophets and Kings, 610.

9 Because of their past sins and their punishments, what did the people seek to learn when they were restored to their own land? Nehemiah 8:1–3, 8.

note: “Wherever Ezra labored, there sprang up a revival in the study of the Holy Scriptures. Teachers were appointed to instruct the people; the law of the Lord was exalted and made honorable. The books of the prophets were searched, and the passages foretelling the coming of the Messiah brought hope and comfort to many a sad and weary heart.” Prophets and Kings, 623.

10 What followed the people’s study of the Law of God? What was to be their attitude toward the Sabbath? What pledge of support did they make for the house and worship of God? Nehemiah 10:28–33.

note: “The people took a solemn oath ‘to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His judgments and His statutes.’ [Nehemiah 10:29.] The oath taken at this time included a promise not to intermarry with the people of the land. . . .

“The people still further manifested their determination to return to the Lord, by pledging themselves to cease from desecrating the Sabbath. . . .

“Provision was also made to support the public worship of God. In addition to the tithe the congregation pledged themselves to contribute yearly a stated sum for the service of the sanctuary.” Prophets and Kings, 667.

11 While binding themselves thus carefully by vows to prevent apostasy, what weighty obligations were eventually forgotten? Matthew 23:23, 25–28.

note: “The Pharisees were very exact in tithing garden herbs, such as mint, anise, and rue; this cost them little, and it gave them a reputation for exactness and sanctity. At the same time their useless restrictions oppressed the people and destroyed respect for the sacred system of God’s own appointing. They occupied men’s minds with trifling distinctions, and turned their attention from essential truths. The weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and truth, were neglected.” The Desire of Ages, 617.

12 What was the attitude of the later Jews toward the stranger in their midst? John 4:9; Acts 10:28.

note: “The Jews and the Samaritans were bitter enemies, and as far as possible avoided all dealing with each other. To trade with the Samaritans in case of necessity was indeed counted lawful by the rabbis; but all social intercourse with them was condemned. A Jew would not borrow from a Samaritan, nor receive a kindness, not even a morsel of bread or a cup of water. The disciples, in buying food, were acting in harmony with the custom of their nation. But beyond this they did not go. To ask a favor of the Samaritans, or in any way seek to benefit them, did not enter into the thought of even Christ’s disciples.” The Desire of Ages, 183.

“The people who had been given every opportunity to understand the truth were without a knowledge of the needs of those around them. No effort was made to help souls in darkness. The partition wall which Jewish pride had erected, shut even the disciples from sympathy with the heathen world. But these barriers were to be broken down.” Ibid., 400.

A House Divided, part 2

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“A HOUSE DIVIDED.” These words come directly from the words of Jesus. In Matthew 12:25, He said, “A house divided against itself will not stand.” President Lincoln, in a speech that he based on these words, gave some very wise advice. He said, “If we first understand where we are and whither we are tending, then we could better judge what to do and how to do it.” How true this is today for Adventism. We must face reality. Only when we realize that we are in a divided house can we work to be a part of the solution.

A divided house is not new. A division came into the early church because of apostasy. God sought to lead His people back out of that apostasy through the reformation. At each stage there were people that would go so far and no farther. In the 1830s and 1840s, God sent the Protestant churches a special message of reformation, warning that the hour of God’s judgment was come. But most rejected it! With this rejection, they fell from favor with God. (See Early Writings, 237.) Only a few accepted God’s special message, and, out of that few, Adventism was born.

The devil hates this message regarding the investigative judgment, and he is trying to divide Adventism on this point. Tragically, he has been successful. We are living in a house divided. Let me explain. Some Adventist preachers say that we are, and always will be, slaves to sin, unable to keep God’s law perfectly until Jesus comes again. Others say that we can be delivered and set free from sin through the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit working within our lives. One group says we are hopelessly enslaved; the other that we can be set free.

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln said that our country could not long exist half slave and half free. His words proved true, and it took a civil war to solve the problem. Our church is in a parallel condition to the United States, at that time. We are divided. Some teach that you can be free from sin, while others teach that we are all slaves to it. Our church is half slave and half free. The more conviction both sides have, the greater is the guarantee of a civil war. And that is precisely what we have been experiencing in Adventism for several years.

 

Dividing Doctrines

 

Satan exults as he sees how successfully his different methods have worked to divide God’s people, through the years. One of his first major efforts was with the pantheism crisis around the turn of the century. By these theories he attempted to destroy the distinctive doctrine of the investigative judgment. Sister White wrote: “There are already coming in among our people spiritualistic teachings that will undermine the faith of those who give heed to them . . . I have seen the results of these fanciful views of God in apostasy, spiritualism and free-loveism. These theories followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They do away with the necessity for the atonement [which is a part of the investigative judgment].” Testimonies, vol. 8, 291, 292.

About the same time as the pantheism crisis, Albion Ballinger, one of our leading ministers, propagated the theory that Christ went into the Most Holy Place in 31 A.D. It did away with the doctrine of the investigative judgment, which began in 1844 when Jesus went into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. In 1905, Ellen White condemned the theory as contrary to the Bible, and, because of her opposition and that of other leading ministers, it failed to develop in the Adventist Church at that time. However, the devil kept trying until finally he was successful in persuading a large number of our people to accept this theory!

The teachings that were introduced by Desmond Ford in the 1960s and 1970s have their origin in Ballinger’s theories. It is the same old heresy and if you accept it you must throw out the investigative judgment and you will end up out of the truth. The Bible teaches that we are judged on the basis of our works. For every person, the deciding question will be, “Has this person kept My law?” The answer to that question proves whether or not you have been born again. If you have been born again, the Holy Spirit will give you the power to keep God’s law. (See Romans 8; 1 John 5; 1 John 3; Romans 6). You do not earn salvation by obedience. Salvation is a gift. But you cannot receive the gift if you have not been born again.

Ford’s teaching, which so influenced Adventism, and brought many to reject the investigative judgment, has born fruit and today the natural results—sinful indulgence—are rampant in Adventism. Thrown out with the doctrine of the investigative judgment is the standard by which we will be judged. Instead of teaching that one must keep God’s law to be saved, Adventist pastors now tell people that they can have the assurance of salvation, while they are living in sin, breaking God’s law. This presumption is plainly denounced by God. (See Christ’s Object Lessons, 155.)

These false doctrines have brought a division and civil war to the house. Those who have stood for the truth have been ridiculed and disfellowshipped. And the civil war will go on! Abraham Lincoln later said about the civil war in our nation: “It is possible that the Lord will let it go on until every drop of blood that has been extracted by the lash will be extracted again by the sword.” We do not know how long our war will go on. That is in God’s hands. But we cannot retreat from it. It will continue until there is only one side left and God’s truth has prevailed.

How fittingly inspiration describes our current condition: “The prevailing spirit of our time is that of infidelity and apostasy—a spirit of pretended illumination because of a knowledge of the truth but in reality of the blindest presumption. There is a spirit of opposition to the plain word of God and to the testimony of His Spirit. There is a spirit of idolatrous exaltation of mere human reason above the revealed wisdom of God . . . But the spirit of antichrist is prevailing to such an extent as never before . . . The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan clothed in angel robes will deceive if possible the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing [that is happening]. Those who have rendered supreme homage to ‘science falsely so called,’ will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 79, 80.

After describing these events, Mrs. White next describes the Sunday law crisis which she says will take place shortly thereafter. (See Ibid., 81.) Are we near this crisis? If you do not think we are near a Sunday law crisis, dear reader, you need to pray that the Lord will open your eyes! Signs all around tell us that it is right at the door.

It is through this crisis that the Lord is going to solve the problem of the divided house. “The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness . . . There are few really consecrated men among us, few who have fought and conquered in the battle with self.” Ibid., 81, 82.

What a solemn warning this is. We must ask ourselves, “Have I gained the victory over self? Have my words and thoughts been brought under the control of Christ?” A Christian does not allow his thoughts to run riot on anything that the imagination seems to suggest. The temptations the devil throws in at every step must be resisted. The devil tries in every possible way to get you involved in sinful thoughts. You cannot go to the grocery store without seeing lurid pictures. Billboards, television programs, videos, magazines, books, pictures and music all carry the devil’s messages. He works so hard in this line because he knows that if our thoughts are sinful, our feelings will also be sinful. And these together make up our moral character. (See Testimonies, vol. 5, 310.)

Another way the devil controls people is through their appetite. Have you gained the victory over appetite? This does not mean going to a monastery or a convent and fasting until you nearly kill yourself. That is what Ellen White calls voluntary humility and rigorous severe treatment of the body that is absolutely worthless. Paul says do not have anything to do with it. (See Colossians 2.) Victory over appetite involves eating temperately of good food, and eating for strength and not for drunkenness. Appetite is under our control, we are not controlled by appetite. This is a part of the battle that we must fight in order to conquer self.\

 

Liberalism and Kingly Power

 

Liberalism denies that we can win this battle. By denying such fundamental doctrines as the investigative judgment, the Three Angels’ Messages and the sanctuary truth, the power of the gospel is limited. Many will be lost because they have followed these liberal leaders and have been rocked into carnal security while they are enslaved to sin.

However, liberalism is not the devil’s final attempt to divide and conquer the people of God. Around the turn of the century, as Adventism was facing pantheism and the Ballenger crises, the General Conference leaders believed that they needed a strong centralized controlling power to safeguard against all the heresies that were dividing the church. Elder A. G. Daniels and his associates held that the General Conference should control all contributions (meaning all the power and decision making capabilities). This was one of the major disagreements between Elder Daniels and Sutherland, Magan and Ellen White when the self-supporting school in Madison, Tennessee was started.

Through this attempt to control the work by kingly power, the devil was very successful in dividing the house. This sin, which is all too commonly found among our ranks today, goes all the way back to the devil’s original sin in Heaven. He wanted to control others; in fact, he wanted to be a part of the godhead. Ellen White says God refused to let Lucifer be part of the godhead because he was not qualified. But that is what the great controversy started over. He wanted to be like God, but he was a created being.

The devil leads men to seek for the same thing. The result is always terrible trouble. God’s counsel says, “It is right for the workers to counsel together as brethren; but that man who endeavors to lead his fellow workers to seek his individual counsel and advice regarding the details of their work, and to learn their duty from him, is in a dangerous position . . . For years there has been a growing tendency for men placed in positions of responsibility to lord it over God’s heritage . . . In 1905, I had to bear my testimony of warning against it . . . I write thus fully because I have been shown that ministers and people are tempted more and more to trust in finite man for wisdom, and make flesh their arm. To conference presidents, and men in responsible places, I bear this message: Break the bands and fetters that have been placed upon God’s people.” Testimonies to Ministers, 477–480.

God’ people have been shackled, they have been in slavery. The house has been divided in parts—half slave and half free. How long can a house stand in this divided condition? The Bible says not long. The sure result will be civil war, and it will go on until God’s people have been set free.

Does this mean, then, that we should all work independently, refusing to work with others because we might lose our total independence? Inspiration answers: “The Lord desires His workers to counsel together, not to move independently . . . In this work there is no such thing as every man’s being independent . . .This does not authorize any one man to undertake the work of ordering his brethren arbitrarily to do as he thinks advisable, irrespective of their own personal convictions of duty . . . Organizations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan’s dictation to bring men under the control of men, and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth and for the advancement of the kingdom of God.” Ibid., 485–494.

It is in this context that she said that we are going down the track of Romanism. When you place men under the control of other men, you follow the track of Romanism. “All of Satan’s plans make of some men the slaves of other men.” That is the way the devil has worked from the beginning.

 

One Solution

 

How is this problem of a divided house to be solved? Many of God’s people are discouraged. They see civil war going on and they see divisions because of apostasy, fanaticism and kingly power, exercised in the church, and they are ready to give up. But there is a solution—and that solution can be found at the foot of the cross. There we see a lesson in humility, and a lesson in the denial of self and sacrifice for the salvation of others. As our heart is broken, we are freed from the desire to rule others.

In the cross there is also a lesson as to where this division, that was begun by Satan, would lead. You see, the division is also a division of the mind that causes a person to have sympathy for both sides. The problem of the divided house cannot be solved as long as people have divided minds.

An example of this is the angels who did not choose to follow Lucifer. Until the cross, a trace of sympathy lingered in their hearts for Lucifer. They said, “We are on God’s side but we still have some sympathy for the other side.” But at the cross, “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.” The Desire of Ages, 761.

 

A Division No Longer

 

The time is coming when there will no longer be a division in our house. The civil war will continue until one side or the other comes out conqueror. And we know that God will win the battle. He will set His people free and He does not need the majority to do it. He did not need the majority in Gideon’s nor in Jonathan’s time. He just needs a few people that are totally committed to Him.

As in the days of Christ, the house that is divided will not stand. It will perish, and every one in the house will go all the way to one side or the other. “In the day of final judgment every lost soul will understand the nature of his own rejection of truth. The cross will be presented, and its real bearing will be seen by every mind that has been blinded by transgression. Before the vision of Calvary with its mysterious victim, sinners will stand condemned. Every lying excuse will be swept away. Human apostasy will appear in its heinous character. Men will see what their choice has been. Every question of truth and error in the longstanding controversy will then have been made plain. In the judgment of the universe, God will stand clear of blame for the existence or continuance of evil. It will be demonstrated that the divine decrees are not accessory to sin. There was no defect in God’s government, no cause for disaffection. When the thoughts of all hearts shall be revealed, both the loyal and the rebellious will unite in declaring, ‘Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? . . . for Thy judgments are made manifest.’ Rev. 15:3, 4.” The Desire of Ages, 5.

God will solve the problem of a divided house, but not everyone will be saved. Your salvation depends on which side you decide to join. Have you learned the lesson of the cross? The cross solved the problem of the divided house for the angels. It solved the problem of the divided house for the apostles. And only if we come to the cross and understand what it means will the problem of the divided house in Adventism be solved. Are you willing to endure whatever you need to endure so that you can be on God’s side of the question? That is what I want and that is my prayer for you.

 

Ask the Pastor – Avoid Erroneous Teaching

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Question:

I have lived in the Netherlands for about five years. I am from the Netherlands Antilles. I have studied the book, None Dare Call it Apostasy [Part 1 by Dr. John J. Grosboll, Part 11 by Dr. Ralph Larson], and I have seen many of the things cited in the book happen in the church where I am a member. My question is: Do I have to keep going to this church, or should I study at home with my children and my brother and sister so that we can follow God the way He wants us to follow?

Answer:

You have asked a very basic and fundamental question that has come up in many Seventh-day Adventists’ minds. It is a very delicate and sensitive question. To answer such a question, in a way not in line with denominational policy, can create a great deal of prejudice, because it can be viewed as disloyalty. But we need to be honest and truthful to the Word and to God and not just pleasers of men.

With the many and varied doctrines which are floating through Adventism today both in the structure and in historic circles, it can be spiritually dangerous for us to attend meetings where we can be snared and caught off our guard and led astray. God never requires us to go into a place of danger unless He Himself directly requires this of us. If God requires us to go into a place where error is being taught, then it is His responsibility to protect us from suffering harm. But if we go on our own, then we could face serious consequences. If that place of danger is attending a church where spiritual harm lurks, then it is pretty certain that God would have us to go somewhere else so that we do not receive spiritual damage.

I want to share two quotations from the pen of Ellen White which might help us to focus on this issue.

“We can not afford to separate ourselves from Jesus for a single hour. Without Him we are in danger of being overcome of Satan, who is ever watching to suggest doubt, unbelief, and error. The world is flooded with error; it meets us on every hand. It is taught from the sacred desk, and lurks in theology, in literature, in philosophy, in science. Error perverts the judgment and opens the door to temptation, and through its influence Satan seeks to turn hearts from the truth; but an intelligent love for the truth sanctifies the receiver, and keeps him from the enemy’s deceptive snares.” The Signs of the Times, November 7, 1896.

“God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go; for unless He sends us to those meetings where error is forced home to the people by the power of the will, He will not keep us. The angels cease their watchful care over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and weakened by him and the power of his evil angels; and the light around us becomes contaminated with the darkness.” Early Writings, 125.

It becomes apparent that this can be a very serious matter. Each and every person must study the issues that they are confronted with in their church attendance and make their own decisions, but they must examine closely and carefully, so they are not deceived and caught in a snare from which there may be no escape.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, Steps to Life, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.