church

1 Corinthians 12 and 13, Part I

by

To the believers in Corinth, the apostle Paul delivered some of the most definitive and eloquent illustrations and instructions regarding relationships with one another. Beginning in chapter 12 of his first letter and continuing on through chapter 13, he clearly describes what must be for there to be unity and harmony among believers in the church.

These chapters are so important that we have been counseled to memorize them.

“The twelfth and thirteenth chapters of 1 Corinthians should be committed to memory, written in the mind and heart. Through His servant Paul, the Lord has placed before us these subjects for our consideration, and those who have the privilege of being brought together in church capacity will be united, understandingly and intelligently. The figure of the members which compose the body represents the church of God and the relation its members should sustain to one another.” Sermons and Talks, Book 2, 119, 120.

Different Gifts and Functions

In 1 Corinthians 12, the diversities of spiritual gifts given to the church are to help it become ready for the kingdom. They are to unite the church. After addressing spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul discusses how these gifts work together in the body. “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” “For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body?” 1 Corinthians 12:12, 14, 15.

The Church is compared to the physical body. One lesson we can learn from this representation is that all parts of the body do not do the same thing, but all parts of the body work together for the benefit and blessing of the entire body. Paul illustrates this by asking a rhetorical question, “If the whole body [were] an eye, where [would be] the hearing? If the whole [were] hearing, where [would be] the smelling?” 1 Corinthians 12:17. As each part of the body has different functions, so each member of the church has different gifts or functions. Thus the whole is blessed by a diversity providing a unity that is far more powerful.

“The vine has many branches, but though all the branches are different, they do not quarrel. In diversity there is unity. All the branches obtain their nourishment from one source. This is an illustration of the unity that is to exist among Christ’s followers. In their different lines of work they all have but one Head. The same Spirit, in different ways, works through them. There is harmonious action, though the gifts differ. Study this chapter. You will see from it that the man who is truly united with Christ will never act as though he were a complete whole in himself. . . .

“The perfection of the church depends not on each member being fashioned exactly alike. God calls for each one to take his proper place, to stand in his lot to do his appointed work according to the ability which has been given him (Letter 19, 1901).” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1090.

Another lesson to be learned from the body representing the church is that just as the hand without the rest of the body is not much good, so one member working without the rest of the church is not much good. For the church to work as God would have it, each must fulfill a part. You may think that you cannot do very much, but every part has a necessary function. “By a comparison of the church with the human body, the apostle aptly illustrated the close and harmonious relationship that should exist among all members of the church of Christ.” The Acts of the Apostles, 317.

Notice something very significant about these gifts. They are given so that the body may work as a whole, not as individual parts. “God’s servants are to work together, blending in kindly, courteous order, ‘in honor preferring one another.’ Romans 12:10. There is to be no unkind criticism, no pulling to pieces of another’s work; and there are to be no separate parties. Every man to whom the Lord has entrusted a message has his specific work. Each one has an individuality of his own, which he is not to sink in that of any other man. Yet each is to work in harmony with his brethren. In their service God’s workers are to be essentially one. No one is to set himself up as a criterion, speaking disrespectfully of his fellow workers or treating them as inferior. Under God each is to do his appointed work, respected, loved, and encouraged by the other laborers. Together they are to carry the work forward to completion.” Ibid., 275, 276.

Care for One Another

Continuing on in 1 Corinthians 12:25, 26: “That there should be no schism in the body, but [that] the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with [it]; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with [it].” From these verses, we notice that the body feels for (cares for) other members of the body. I should not be biting and devouring any part of the body of Christ, but I should be working together with the body to keep it alive by caring for it. In this life, no one in his right mind cuts off part of his body or bites it. Just so, I should treat the spiritual body with love and concern.

In Romans 12:10–16, several specific graces of the spirit are identified. We are to be of one mind, kindly affectionate, esteem others better than ourselves, and give preference to them. “In the Lord’s plan human beings have been made necessary to one another. To every one God has entrusted talents, to be used in helping others to walk in the path of right. It is by unselfish service for others that we improve and increase our talents.

“Like the different parts of a machine, all are closely related to one another, and all dependent upon one great Center. There is to be unity in diversity. No member of the Lord’s firm can work successfully in independence. Each is to work under the supervision of God; all are to use their entrusted capabilities in His service, that each may minister to the perfection of the whole. . . .

“He who claims to be a Christian should examine himself and see if he is as kind and considerate of his fellow beings as he desires his fellow beings to be of him. . . . Christ taught that rank or wealth should make no difference in our treatment of one another and that in the light of heaven all are brethren. Earthly possessions or worldly honor do not count in God’s valuation of man. He created all men equal; He is no respecter of persons. He values a man according to the virtue of his character.” In Heavenly Places, 287.

Christian Love

Concluding 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul pleads, “But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.” What is the “more excellent way”? It is Christian love, which we all must have. Love is one of the key ingredients for the body to stay together.

“The Lord desires me to call the attention of His people to the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. Read this chapter every day, and from it obtain comfort and strength. Learn from it the value that God places on sanctified, heaven-born love, and let the lesson that it teaches come home to your hearts. Learn that Christlike love is of heavenly birth, and that without it all other qualifications are worthless.” Review and Herald, July 21, 1904.

The invitation contained in this short paragraph is to read, meditate, and learn of heavenly love. If we do not understand the value God places on heavenly love, all other qualifications, however wonderful they may be, are worthless. It is vital for all to become interested in 1 Corinthians 13 and to study what true love really is, for this is the kind of love that God wants His followers to possess. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35. The world must see that the followers of Christ have His love in their lives.

“In the thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians the apostle Paul defines true, Christlike love. It would be well to print this chapter in small type in every paper issued from our presses. Put it in the Gospel Herald that it may preach its living sermon wherever the paper may go. This chapter is an expression of the obedience of all who love God and keep His commandments. It is brought into action in the life of every true believer.” The Gospel Herald, January 1, 1901.

Study of Heavenly Love

We can begin a study of heavenly love in the first three verses of 1 Corinthians 13. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become [as] sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

These verses tell us that we can do a variety of “good” things, but if we fail to do them for the right reason, which is love, they are worthless. What matters is the motive as to why I am doing the things that I do. Is it because I love God and my neighbor as myself? Having eloquent speech, understanding mysteries, obtaining knowledge, or giving to the poor are all commendable, but without love from a pure heart, what good are they? “The attribute that Christ appreciates most in man is charity (love) out of a pure heart. This is the fruit borne upon the Christian tree (MS 16, 1892).” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1091.

Practical Description

The apostle Paul continues his instruction in a practical description of heavenly love in verses 4–8: “Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up [arrogant]; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether [there are] prophecies, they will fail; whether [there are] tongues, they will cease; whether [there is] knowledge, it will vanish away.”

From these verses we see that love is a very complex attribute that has nothing to do with selfishness. Love is always thinking of the other person. This kind of love is tough; it does not fail when put through the stress and strain of life. If each one possessed this kind of love, it would be wonderful to be around him or her. All too often we experience the opposite, as individuals become irritated, impatient, or proud. “Love is a plant of heavenly origin, and if we would have it flourish in our hearts, we must cultivate it daily. Mildness, gentleness, long suffering, not being easily provoked, bearing all things, enduring all things,—these are the fruits upon the precious tree of love.” Review and Herald, June 5, 1888.

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these [is] love.” These verses, in 1 Corinthians 13:9–13, conclude the picture of heavenly love that Paul paints in simple, yet eloquent language.

Cultivate This Love

We must cultivate this love, and it must be shown to those around us—especially to those in our families and within the “household of faith.” Galatians 6:10. It is a serious concern that we, as God’s professed people, are sadly lacking in this heavenly love. We do not demonstrate the care that we should have for one another. Instead, we are splitting up and biting and devouring one another. But heavenly love does not cover sin. Instead, it hates the sin and loves the sinner. If I really love God, I will demonstrate this heavenly love to all with whom I associate, in the home, at the work place, or in the household of faith.

“Let us bring into the daily experience the instruction contained in the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. Believers must bring into their lives a stronger love for one another, a growing interest in one another.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 10, 143.

“O that there might be seen among our people a deep and thorough work of repentance and reformation! O that they would fall on the Rock, and be broken! Let us crucify self, that in our hearts may grow up a strong love for Christ and for one another. Let us bring into the daily experience the instruction contained in the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. Self must be surrendered to God before there can take possession of the life that strong, steady belief in the truth that is broad and comprehensive; that casts out from the heart all enmity, all petty differences, and transforms coldness into Christlike affection.

“Why should not believers love one another? It is impossible to love Christ, and at the same time act discourteously toward one another. It is impossible to have the Christ-love in the heart, and at the same time draw apart from one another, showing no love or sympathy. The deeper our love for Christ, the deeper will be our love for one another.” Review and Herald, February 24, 1903.

Heaven Begins on Earth

“To possess true godliness means to love one another, to help one another, to make apparent the religion of Jesus in our lives. We are to be consecrated channels through which the love of Christ flows to those who need help. . . . He who approaches nearest to obedience to the divine law will be of the most service to God. He who follows Christ, reaching out after His goodness, His compassion, His love for the human family, will be accepted by God as a worker together with Him. . . .

“When the Lord’s people are filled with meekness and tenderness for one another, they will realize that His banner over them is love and His fruit will be sweet to their taste. Heaven will begin on earth. They will make a heaven below in which to prepare for heaven above.” In Heavenly Places, 287.

Did you get that? Heaven will begin on earth when the Lord’s people are filled with meekness and tenderness for one another. God has made it necessary for us to work with one another.

Union is Strength

“Union is strength, and the Lord desires that this truth should be ever revealed in all the members of the body of Christ. All are to be united in love, in meekness, in lowliness of mind. Organized into a society of believers for the purpose of combining and diffusing their influence, they are to work as Christ worked. They are ever to show courtesy and respect for one another. Every talent has its place and is to be kept under the control of the Holy Spirit.

“The church is a Christian society formed for the members composing it, that each member may enjoy the assistance of all the graces and talents of the other members, and the working of God upon them, according to their several gifts and abilities. The church is united in the holy bonds of fellowship in order that each member may be benefited by the influence of the other. All are to bind themselves to the covenant of love and harmony. The Christian principles and graces of the whole society of believers are to gather strength and force in harmonious action. Each believer is to be benefited and improved by the refining and transforming influence of the varied capabilities of the other members, that the things lacking in one may be more abundantly displayed in another. All the members are to draw together, that the church may become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. . . .

“Those who wear Christ’s yoke will draw together. They will cultivate sympathy and forbearance, and in holy emulation will strive to show to others the tender sympathy and love of which they feel such great need themselves. He who is weak and inexperienced, although he is weak, may be strengthened by the more hopeful and by those of mature experience. Although the least of all, he is a stone that must shine in the building. He is a vital member of the organized body, united to Christ, the living head, and through Christ identified with all the excellencies of Christ’s character so that the Saviour is not ashamed to call him brother. . . .

“A church, separate and distinct from the world, is in the estimation of heaven the greatest object in all the earth. . . . The church is to be as God designed it should be, a representative of God’s family in another world.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 15–17.

What Weakens

“Nothing so manifestly weakens a church as disunion and strife. Nothing so wars against Christ and the truth as this spirit. . . .

“He in whose heart Christ abides recognizes Christ abiding in the heart of his brother. Christ never wars against Christ. Christ never exerts an influence against Christ. Christians are to do their work, whatever it may be, in the unity of the Spirit, for the perfecting of the whole body.” My Life Today, 276.

Manifest Christ’s Qualities

“The life of Christ was a life charged with a divine message of the love of God, and he longed intensely to impart this love to others in rich measure. Compassion beamed from his countenance, and his conduct was characterized by grace, humility, truth, and love. Every member of his church militant must manifest the same qualities, if he would join the church triumphant. The love of Christ is so broad, so full of glory, that in comparison to it, everything that men esteem as great, dwindles into insignificance. When we obtain a view of it, we exclaim, O the depth of the riches of the love that God bestowed upon men in the gift of his only begotten Son!” Christian Education, 76, 77.

“We are to be one with him as he is one with the Father, and then we are beloved by the infinite God as members of the body of Christ, as branches of the living Vine. We are to be attached to the parent stock, and to receive nourishment from the Vine. Christ is our glorified Head, and the divine love flowing from the heart of God, rests in Christ, and is communicated to those who have been united to him. This divine love entering the soul inspires it with gratitude, frees it from its spiritual feebleness, from pride, vanity, and selfishness, and from all that would deform the Christian character.” Ibid., 76.

“How tender we should be in our dealings with those who are striving for the crown of life. He who in love and tenderness has helped a soul in need may at another time be himself in need of compassionate words of hope and courage.—Manuscript 63, May 18, 1898, ‘Home Missionary Work.’ ” This Day With God, 147.

To be continued . . .

Jana Grosboll, an Electrical Engineering graduate student, serves Steps to Life as its Network Administrator. She may be contacted by e-mail at: janagrosboll@stepstolife.org.

Knowing the Time, Part II

by

In Part 1 of this article [February 2006], ten points were given which help us know that, without question, we are living in the last days of this world. We are not at the beginning of the time of the end; we are at the end of the time of the end.

As important as it is to know the time in the world—and that is important—it is even more important to know the time in the church. Do you know the time in the church? Well, if you do not, I hope you will start a study on this subject.

Time in the Church

Verse 1 of 11 Timothy 3 says: “This know, that in the last days perilous times shall come”; grievous, difficult times are going to come. Then several social problems are listed, such as children being disobedient to their parents, people being fierce and brutal, not loving their neighbor, loving money. It gives a whole list of social problems! Coming to the end of these social problems, verse 5 tells us what is going to go on in the Christian church in the last days. This is scary. It describes the people as, “having a form of godliness [having a form of piety, a form of religion] but denying its power.”

What is going to happen in the church in the last days? The people are going to be very religious. In the Midwest, monstrous churches are being erected like none ever before built. There are churches in Wichita, Kansas, that will hold over 4,000 people. They are like huge amphitheaters or auditoriums, so for people to see and hear the speaker from the back, five or six large screens are used with an enlarged projection of the speaker. Oh, let me tell you, friends, we have religion today. We have a form of religion, but the Bible says that people will deny the power of it.

Power of Godliness

Let me describe very briefly what it means to deny the power of religion, to deny the power of the gospel, to deny the power of godliness. When Jesus came to this world, He did not come just to die on a cross and pay the price for our sins. That was part of it, but that was not everything. Before Jesus ever died on the cross, He lived in this world for over 30 years as our example, to show us how to live. He said, “If you will follow Me, I will give you the power to become like Me.”

John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them gave He authority to become the sons of God, even those who believe in His name.” And when He returns, it says in 1 John 3:2, we are going to be like Him. What is the power of godliness? The power of godliness is the power of God to take some wretch like me who has a sinful nature, a weak will, and a wicked mind and transform me, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to make me—I say this reverently—like Jesus Christ. That is what the gospel is about.

Born of the Holy Spirit

If you have a form of religion and you go to church, pray, sing, read, shout, witness, and do all kinds of good things, but a transformation of character through the Holy Spirit never happens in your life, you will not be saved. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” John 3:5. He did not say that he should not; He said that he could not enter the kingdom of heaven. To enter, you must be born of the Holy Spirit, and when that happens, the Holy Spirit will work a miracle inside of you.

Ellen White says that it is through the Spirit that the heart is made pure. (The Desire of Ages, 671.) The Spirit has to work a change in you; otherwise you cannot go to heaven—even if you go to church. The power of God is the power to change your life so you do not think like the devil anymore, but you think like Jesus Christ. You do not feel like the devil; you feel like Jesus Christ. You no longer talk like the devil; you talk like Jesus Christ. You no longer act like the devil; you act like Jesus Christ, especially in your home. “A Christian in the home is a Christian everywhere.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1085.

Form of Godliness

But in the last days there is going to be a people who will have a form of godliness. They will have all the outward trophies of religion. They will go to church; they will pray; they will sing; they will witness; they will prophesy; they will talk in tongues; they will work miracles. In Matthew 7:21–23, you may read about these people who come to the Lord and say, “Lord, You made a mistake. I know I am saved, because I cast out devils in Your name, and I prophesied in Your name, and I worked many powerful miracles in Your name.” And then Jesus will say to them, “Depart from Me, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. You who break the law are not a loyal subject.”

Some people say that it is just too bad that it is this way, but they guess they will just have to endure it. Oh, no, it is not that way. Oh, no, that is not what the Bible says. We did not read the end of the text: “Having the form of godliness but denying the power of it, from these turn away.” 11 Timothy 3:5. This is where it gets tough. Paul says that in the last days there is going to be a people who have a form of godliness but they deny the power. Let me put it plainly: denying the power is the new theology that tells us that we cannot overcome sin. That is denying the power.

Turn Away

When new theology is being preached, is Paul telling us to just stay in there and do the best we can, because we are living in the last days? What does he say? He says to turn away. Do you get the thrust of that? I know people all over—I have friends—who are trying to stay in there. I heard of one person who said that if it gets too bad while the Sabbath School lesson is being taught, just go into the bathroom and read the Bible and The Great Controversy. Is that what Paul is telling us to do? Go into the bathroom and read your Bible while all this racket is going on? Paul said to turn away! Are you going to do it?

I have friends who tend to think that I am a fanatic. They have decided that they are not going to turn away; they are going to stay in there and fight to clean things up. But let me tell you what happens after they stay in this situation a few years. Instead of getting it cleaned up, they become spiritually anesthetized, until they do not even see that there is a problem in the church anymore. I have seen it happen repeatedly. Do not say that you will be strong; you can resist it; you will be all right; you are going to be a light. That is not what the Bible says to do.

You are a human being, and when God tells you to turn away from something, if you want to be saved, you better turn away. If you do not, you will become like that with which you associate. Do not ever forget that.

Why was the Seventh-day Adventist Church raised up in the first place? Why did we not just stay with the Baptists and the Methodists and the other Christian churches? Why? Because they rejected the truth of the Three Angels’ Messages.

I am sorry to have to say this, but there are many Seventh-day Adventist preachers and many Seventh-day Adventist churches today that have rejected the Three Angels’ Messages. If you are in one of them, you better get out. From those people turn away—people who no longer believe in the investigative judgment; people who no longer know who Babylon is; people who no longer know who the beast or antichrist is. The Bible says that there will be people who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof; from these turn away.

Similar to Jews’ Experience

Number two. What is the time in the church? It is the last days. It is the time of the end. What is going to happen at the time of the end in the church? Read Selected Messages, Book 1, 406. Ellen White said that God told her this over and over again. If God told Ellen White something over and over again, do you suppose that it may have some rather unusual importance?

What did He tell her over and over again? He told her that our experience in the second advent movement, just before the second coming of Christ, would be very similar to the experience of the Jews just before the first coming of Christ. That is not just a prophecy anymore; it is happening right around us.

Immodest Dress

Number three. This is a point I would encourage you to study more on your own. Isaiah 2 begins a prophecy about the last days, which continues in chapters 3 and 4. In chapter 3:16–26, it indicates that there is going to be immodest and prideful dress among the daughters of Zion in the last days.

I do not want any woman to think I am trying to point a finger at her, because I am not. I am not trying to say that women are any worse sinners than men. Men have their own problems, and women have their own problems. Let me explain what the men’s problem is; then I will explain what the women’s problem is.

A man’s problem is that he has a moral responsibility to guard his eyes. Men have a natural tendency to look at women, and the fewer clothes the women have on, the more the men tend to look. Jesus warned against that. In Job 31:1, Job said, “I cut a covenant; I made a covenant with my eyes. Why should I look intently upon a virgin?” He said, “ I will not do it.” Men have to guard their eyes. That is a man’s problem. A man has a moral responsibility to God to say, “Lord, help me to be careful as to what I am looking at, and what I am thinking about when I am looking at it.”

A woman has an opposite problem. Just as men are tempted to look at women, women are tempted to encourage men to look at them. Oh, my dear sister, do you realize that by immodest clothing, by the kind of clothing described in Isaiah 3, you can help to take some men to hell? Read Matthew 5:27–30. It was in regard to this problem that Jesus told men that it would be better to pluck out their eye or cut off their hand to get rid of it, to get away. If you are a woman and some man goes to hell as the result of looking at you, do you not think that the Lord is going to tell you about it in the Day of Judgment?

Number four. In Isaiah 8:12, we read, “Say not a confederacy or a conspiracy to all those who say a confederacy or a conspiracy. Do not fear their fear.” This is something that is happening in Adventism today and has been happening for over 20 years.

Wake Up

Number five. In Matthew 25—the story of the ten virgins—we see that the church in the last days is asleep. Have you ever gone into your closet or wherever you do your private praying and said, “Lord, please have mercy on me and wake me up”? Paul said, in Romans 13:11, that it is the hour to wake out of sleep. It is time to wake up. Ask the Lord to please wake you up, to send the Holy Spirit to help you hear that still, small voice. Do you realize that probation is going to close, and Jesus is going to come, and some Seventh-day Adventists are not going to wake up until it is too late? In Early Writings, 71, Mrs. White describes it exactly. When the plagues begin to fall, then they wake up, but it is too late to wake up then.

Number six. What has happened in Adventism while we have been asleep? In Matthew 13, Jesus told us what would happen while we were asleep. He said that while men slept the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. There have been so many tares sown in Adventism that unless the Lord works a miracle the tares will choke out the wheat crop. (See Review and Herald, October 3, 1899.)

That is one of the reasons that there are independent Seventh-day Adventist churches today, because Ellen White says very clearly that it is possible for the tares to choke out the wheat, so there is no crop.

Yielded Leaders

Now we come to one of the most important points of all. Do you believe that we are in the last years of this earth’s history? Following is one of the most startling prophecies ever written by the pen of Ellen White about what is going to happen in Adventism in the last years of earth’s history. It was written during the time of the alpha of apostasy. “In His Word the Lord declared what He would do for Israel if they would obey His voice.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, 379. What did God promise to do for them, if they would obey His voice? He said, “You would be the head and not the tail”; “I will bless you, I will bless the fruit of your womb, I will bless your cattle, I will bless your crops, I will bless your children, I will bless your land.” Deuteronomy 28:13; 7:13.

In fact, if they had followed the Lord fully, they would not even have had to chase the Canaanites out of Canaan. The Lord told them that He was willing to send hornets after them; they would not even have to do it. (Exodus 23:28.) Read the blessings that were promised to the children of Israel, if they would have obeyed; it makes your mouth water! We wonder, with promises such as this, how anybody could not pay attention! But here is what happened.

“But the leaders of the people yielded to the temptations of Satan, and God could not give them the blessings He designed them to have, because they did not obey His voice but listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer.” Ibid. Who yielded? The leaders of the people! God could not give Israel the blessings He desired, because they listened to Satan’s temptations. They did not obey God; they listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer.

That is the easy part to read. Now we will read something that is absolutely scalding hot. “This experience [the experience of the leaders leading the people astray, listening to the voice and policy of Lucifer, and not obeying the Lord] will be repeated in the last years of the history of the people of God, who have been established by His grace and power.” Ibid. Who are the people of God who have been established by His grace and power in the last days? They are the Seventh-day Adventists. God could not do for ancient Israel what He wanted to do, because the leaders listened to the temptations of Satan; they did not obey God. They obeyed the voice and policy of Lucifer. Mrs. White says that the same thing is going to happen at the end, in the last days.

Sanctify Lucifer

If we are now in the last days, what do you think is happening right now? The leaders of God’s people have succumbed to the temptations of Satan. They are not obedient; they are not following Bible order. They have listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer, and then somebody says that we have to stay with this! This is God’s church? Wait a minute! Are the synagogue of Satan and God’s church the same thing? She says, “Men whom He has greatly honored will in the closing scenes of this earth’s history pattern after ancient Israel.” Ibid.

Jesus and Lucifer do not work in partnership. Do not ever get that wrong. Again, Jesus and Lucifer do not work in partnership. A few years ago we received a phone call from a clergyman who was quite irate. I am not saying that the people in our church did not make a mistake, because they went to his church’s parking lot while the congregation was meeting and put literature on the windshields of the cars parked there. That was not wise, because it was private property. The clergyman was quite irate because of this literature. (This clergyman was a clergyman in Babylon.) This literature told the evils of Halloween. Halloween is a holiday that has its origin in Druid and Satan worship. Halloween is all right today, he told us, because (concerning his church) we sanctified it.

Can you sanctify what Lucifer does? Friends, Seventh-day Adventists think like this today. They think that we, because we are Seventh-day Adventists, can sanctify something, and it is all right, even if it is the voice and policy of Lucifer.

Ellen White said that these leaders of ancient times listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer, and it is going to happen in the last years—and it is happening. It has been happening for several years already.

How to Relate

How do you relate to this? Some people get angry. There are a lot of angry Seventh-day Adventists today, because of the wickedness and evil going on in Adventism. There are some people who are just absolutely, white-hot angry. They are like the zealots in the time of Christ. They were angry too. They were ready to start a revolt and drive out the Romans. One of those zealots was one of Jesus’ disciples.

But then there are other people who say that we are to just stay in there no matter what the church or its leaders do, because it is the true church, and we will lose our souls if we leave it. In 11 Timothy 3:5, we have already studied that Paul said, in such a situation, we better turn away. We need to investigate the question, and then we need to understand the answer to that question.

Ellen White was shown that just as it was before the first coming of Christ, it would be before the Second Coming of Christ. It is one of the greatest signs that we are right at the end.

What about You?

How are you going to come out of all this? Friends, Jesus is coming soon. Ellen White saw that few Adventists would be saved. (Testimonies, vol. 1, 608, 609.) I am sorry that few people are going to be saved in the world, and I am sorry that few people are going to be saved in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I have said that I wish the whole city of Wichita, Kansas, would be saved, but it will not be. I can preach, but then the people have to decide. I wish the whole Seventh-day Adventist Church would be saved, but it will not be. You, however, can make a decision as to whether or not you are going to be saved.

I have often thought about Noah and his family in the ark. When the rain was falling, do you suppose any of them said, “There are so few of us in here; I wish I were out there with the others”? The people were drowning out there! Even though there were only a few in the ark, they were glad they were in it. I want to tell you something, friends. The few people who stay with the Three Angels’ Messages will triumph with it. Do you want to be part of that group?

I am sad. I am not happy reporting to you from the Spirit of Prophecy and the Bible about what is happening. I do not like to see people lose their souls. I am not happy about that, but I cannot help it. I tell them, and they will not listen. They say that I am a fanatic. Is anybody listening? Is anybody willing to live by the Word of God? Is anybody willing to say, Yes, I will still believe, and I will still spread the Three Angels’ Messages?

The Three Angels’ Messages will triumph. They are infallible. If you stay with them, you will triumph also. I have decided that this is where I want to stay. I am not going to attend a church where the Three Angels’ Messages are not preached, no matter what name is on the front of the building. It is the Three Angels’ Messages that are going to triumph, not a name.

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

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

The Remnant Church Not Babylon, Part III

by

Those who are carrying this message of error, denouncing the church as Babylon, are neglecting their God-appointed work, are in opposition to organization, in opposition to the plain command of God spoken by Malachi in regard to bringing all the tithes into the treasury of God’s house, and imagine that they have a work to do in warning those whom God has chosen to forward his message of truth. These workers are not bringing greater efficiency to the cause and kingdom of God, but are engaged in a work similar to that in which the enemy of all righteousness is engaged. Let these men who are rising up against the ways and means ordained of God to forward his work in these days of peril, divest themselves of all unscriptural views concerning the nature, office, and power of God’s appointed agencies. Let all understand the words that I now write. Those who are laborers together with God, are but his instruments, and they in themselves possess no essential grace or holiness. It is only when they are co-operating with heavenly intelligences that they are successful. They are but the earthen vessels, the depositaries in which God places the treasure of his truth. Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but it is God alone that gives the increase.

God speaks through his appointed agencies, and let no man, or confederacy of men, insult the Spirit of God by refusing to hear the message of God’s word from the lips of his chosen messengers. By refusing to hear the message of God, men close themselves in a chamber of darkness. They shut their own souls away from vast blessings, and rob Christ of the glory that should come to him, by showing disrespect to his appointed agencies.

Unbalanced in Mind

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

Let all our brethren and sisters beware of any one who would set a time for the Lord to fulfil his word in regard to his coming, or in regard to any other promise he has made of special significance. “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” [Acts 1:7.] False teachers may appear to be very zealous for the work of God, and may expend means to bring their theories before the world and the church; but as they mingle error with truth, their message is one of deception, and will lead souls into false paths. They are to be met, and opposed, not because they are bad men, but because they are teachers of falsehood, and are endeavoring to put upon falsehood the stamp of truth. What a pity it is that men will go to such pains to discover some theory of error, when there is a whole storehouse of precious gems of truth by which the people might be enriched in the most holy faith. Instead of teaching truth, they let their imagination dwell upon that which is new and strange, and throw themselves out of harmony with those whom God is using to bring the people up upon the platform of truth. They cast aside all that has been said in regard to unity of sentiment and feeling, and trample upon the prayer of Christ as though the unity for which he prayed was unessential, that there is no necessity for his followers to be one, even as he is one with the Father. They go off on a tangent, and Jehu-like, call to their brethren to follow their example of zeal for the Lord. If their zeal led them to work in the same lines in which their brethren who have carried the heat and burden of the day, are working; if they were as persevering to overcome discouragements and obstacles as their brethren have been, they might well be imitated, and God would accept them. But men are to be condemned who start out with a proclamation of wonderful light, and yet draw away from the agents whom God is leading. This was the way in which Korah, Dathan, and Abiram did, and their action is recorded as a warning to all others. We are not to do as they have done,—accuse and condemn those upon whom God has laid the burden of the work. [See Numbers 16.]

Those who have proclaimed the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Babylon, have made use of the testimonies in giving their position a seeming support; but why is it that they did not present that which for years has been the burden of my message,—the unity of the church? Why did they not quote the words of the angel, “Press together, Press together, Press together”? Why did they not repeat the admonition and state the principle, that “in union there is strength, in division there is weakness”? It is such messages as these men have borne, that divide the church, and put us to shame before the enemies of truth, and in such messages is plainly revealed the specious working of the great deceiver, who would hinder the church from attaining unto perfection in unity. These teachers follow the sparks of their own kindling, move according to their own independent judgment, and cumber the truth with false notions and theories. They refuse the counsel of their brethren, and press on in their own way, until they become just what Satan would desire to have them,—unbalanced in mind.

I warn my brethren to guard against the working of Satan in every form. The great adversary of God and man is exulting today that he has succeeded in deceiving souls, and in diverting their means and ability into harmful channels. Their money might have been used to advance present truth, but instead of this, it has been expended in presenting notions that have no foundation in truth.

Lesson from the Past

In 1845 a man by the name of Curtis did a similar work in the State of Massachusetts. He presented a false doctrine, and wove into his theories sentences and selections from the testimonies, and published his theories in the Day Star, and in sheet form. For years these productions bore their baleful fruit, and brought reproach upon the testimonies, that, as a whole, in no way supported his work. My husband wrote to him, and asked him what he meant by presenting the testimonies interwoven with his own words, in support of that which we were opposed to, and requested him to correct the impression that his work had given. He flatly refused to do so, saying that his theories were truth, and that the visions ought to have corroborated his views, and that they virtually did support them, but that I had forgotten to write out the matters that made his theories plain.

Ever since the beginning of the work, one after another has risen up to do this kind of work, and I have had to go to the trouble and incur the expense of contradicting these falsehoods. They have published their theories, and have deceived many souls, but may God guard the sheep of his pasture.

I urge those who claim to believe the truth, to walk in unity with their brethren. Do not seek to give to the world occasion to say that we are extremists, that we are disunited, that one teaches one thing, and one another. Avoid dissension. Let every one be on guard, and be careful to be found standing in the gap to make up the breach, in place of standing at the wall seeking to make a breach. Let all be careful not to make an outcry against the only people who are fulfilling the description given of the remnant people, who keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus, who are exalting the standard of righteousness in these last days. God has a distinct people, a church on earth, second to none, but superior to all in their facilities to teach the truth, to vindicate the law of God. God has divinely appointed agencies,—men whom he is leading, who have borne the heat and burden of the day, who are co-operating with heavenly instrumentalities to advance the kingdom of Christ in our world. Let all unite with these chosen agents, and be found at last among those who have the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus.

The following is the letter sent to brother Stanton:—

“Napier, New Zealand, March 23, 1893.

“Dear Brother Stanton: I address to you a few lines. I am not in harmony with the position that you have taken; for I have been shown by the Lord that just such positions will be taken by those who are in error. Paul has given us warning to this effect: ‘Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.’ [1 Timothy 4:1.]

“My brother, I learn that you are taking the position that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is Babylon, and that all that would be saved must come out of her. You are not the only man whom the enemy has deceived in this matter. For the last forty years, one man after another has arisen, claiming that the Lord has sent him with the same message; but let me tell you, as I have told them, that this message you are proclaiming, is one of the Satanic delusions designed to create confusion among the churches. My brother, you are certainly off the track. The second angel’s message was to go to Babylon [the churches] proclaiming her downfall, and calling the people to come out of her. This same message is to be proclaimed the second time. ‘And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 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. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.’ [Revelation 18:1–5.]

“My brother, if you are teaching that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is Babylon, you are wrong. God has not given you any such message to bear. Satan will use every mind to which he can attain access, inspiring men to originate false theories, or go off on some wrong tangent, that he may create a false excitement, and thus divert souls from the true issue for this time. I presume that some may be deceived by your message, because they are full of curiosity and desire for some new thing.

“It makes me feel sad indeed that you should be deceived in any way by the suggestions of the enemy; for I know the theory that you are advocating is not truth. In advancing the ideas you do, you will do great injury to yourself and to others. Do not seek to misinterpret, and twist, and pervert, the testimonies to substantiate any such message of error. Many have passed over this ground, and have done great harm. As others have started up full of zeal to proclaim this message, again and again, I have been shown that it was not truth.

“I understand that you are also proclaiming that we should not pay tithe. My brother, take off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon you are standing is holy ground. The Lord has spoken in regard to paying tithes. He has said, ‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ [Malachi 3:10.] But while he pronounces a blessing upon those who bring in their tithes, he pronounces a curse upon those who withhold them. Very recently I have had direct light from the Lord upon this question, that many Seventh-day Adventists were robbing God in tithes and offerings, and it was plainly revealed to me that Malachi has stated the case as it really is. Then how dare any man even think in his heart that a suggestion to withhold tithes and offerings is from the Lord? Where, my brother, have you stepped out of the path? O get your feet back in the strait path again. We are near the end, but if you or any other man shall be seduced by the enemy, and led on to set the time for Christ’s coming, he will be doing the same evil work which has wrought the ruin of the souls of those who have done it in the past.

“If you are wearing the yoke of Christ, if you are lifting his burden, you will see that there is plenty to do in the same lines wherein the servants of God are laboring,—in preaching Christ and him crucified. But any one who shall start up to proclaim a message to announce the hour, day, or year of Christ’s appearing, has taken up a yoke and is proclaiming a message that the Lord has never given him.

“God has a church upon the earth, who are his chosen people, who keep his commandments. He is leading, not stray off-shoots, not one here and one there, but a people. The truth is a sanctifying power; but the church militant is not the church triumphant. There are tares among the wheat. ‘Wilt thou then that we gather them up?’ [Matthew 13:28] was the question of the servant; but the master answered, ‘Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.’ [Verse 29.] The gospel net draws not only good fish, but bad ones as well, and the Lord only knows who are his.

“It is our individual duty to walk humbly with God. We are not to seek any strange, new message. We are not to think that the chosen ones of God who are trying to walk in the light, compose Babylon. The fallen denominational churches are Babylon. Babylon has been fostering poisonous doctrines, the wine of error. This wine of error is made up of false doctrines, such as the natural immortality of the soul, the eternal torment of the wicked, the denial of the pre-existence of Christ prior to his birth in Bethlehem, and advocating and exalting the first day of the week above God’s holy, sanctified day. These and kindred errors are presented to the world by the various churches, and thus the Scriptures are fulfilled that say, ‘For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ It is a wrath which is created by false doctrines, and when kings and presidents drink this wine of the wrath of her fornication, they are stirred with anger against those who will not come into harmony with the false and Satanic heresies which exalt the false Sabbath, and lead men to trample under foot God’s memorial.

“Fallen angels upon earth form confederations with evil men. In this age antichrist will appear as the true Christ, and then the law of God will be fully made void in the nations of our world. Rebellion against God’s holy law will be fully ripe. But the true leader of all this rebellion is Satan clothed as an angel of light. Men will be deceived and will exalt him to the place of God, and deify him. But Omnipotence will interpose, and to the apostate churches that unite in the exaltation of Satan, the sentence will go forth, ‘Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.’ [Revelation 18:8.]”

Review and Herald, September 12, 1893.

God’s True People and the Professed People of God, Part I

by

It is important to understand what God’s Word really says. Certainly it is important to understand what the Bible says concerning the people of God. The phrase “people of God” is many times used in the Bible. The Jews understood themselves to be the people of God. Even at the time when they crucified the Saviour on the cross, they understood themselves to be the people of God. For us, it is important to know how God looks upon us, not what our own estimation is.

A Vital Distinction

There is a vital distinction between the true people of God and the professed, or so-called, people of God. Let us see what the Word of God says in Jeremiah 7:23: “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.”

Many Christians in various denominations, journeyed for a time on the path of God, but then they took another way. However, these Christians still believe they are the people of God, and they claim all the promises, which can be claimed only by the people of God. Today, when asked, Catholics affirm that they belong to the people of God just as do the Seventh-day Adventists. So it is not our own opinion of ourselves that is important; it is important for us to know how God sees us. That is the decisive question, if we want to be in heaven.

God defines His people as those who obey His voice. That is true for the people of the Old Testament as well as for those of the New Testament.

Jeremiah 31:33 says, “But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Whoredoms

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel lost the privilege of being God’s chosen people. They became a whore. We need to understand how they became a whore, for if we do not understand this, we cannot discern our own situation. We read, in Hosea 1:2, 9: “And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, [departing] from the Lord.” “Then said [God], Call his name Loammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God].”

Is a whore God’s people? What did God do to this whore? Did He cast her away immediately? He gave warning after warning, but when they cast away and disregarded all His warnings, He then allowed punishment to come. His punishment came step by step, and in the end, God asked, “Why shall I still bid you, that you should recognize that I am your God? Let the people understand God’s punishment.” History tells us that they did not. So God despised and cast out His people.

In the Old Testament, there was a separation between the people of God. Both Israel and Judah called themselves the people of God, but who of them were really the people of God? God separated and divided that which caused the most apostasy among Israel. When the kings tried to reunite what God had divided, for instance, when the king of Judah wanted to help the king of Israel fight against the Amorites, God told this king, “Should you help those who forsake Me?”

God was against Judah and Israel getting together to fight against their enemies. From a human standpoint, we may think that it is only common sense for two groups that are related to each other to connect to fight a common enemy. But God told Judah, “You will not stand before the enemy if you take the help of Israel.” The history is teaching for our time.

When God very clearly said that He cast off Israel because of her apostasy, Judah should have been awake. Did Judah learn from the experience of Israel? We read in Jeremiah 3:8, “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.”

No Longer a People?

What? Did God no longer have a faithful people? The ten tribes had fallen; now Judah became a whore. God has always had a people, a remnant. In all time, God has had a church on earth. We read, in Isaiah 1:8, 9, how God looks upon His people: “And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, [and] we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”

Very similar words are recorded in Isaiah 10:22, 23: “For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.”

Both groups—Israel and Judah—had fallen. The people of God consisted of a small group, a remnant. Does it sound familiar to you—a people of a remnant?

God’s People Defined

In the New Testament, we read from the apostle Paul a similar definition: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither [is that] circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:28, 29. And, in Romans 9:6, 7, we read: “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.”

There is a teaching for us in these verses. God’s people are defined. We can draw out of it the teaching, What is God’s church? Is there a difference between God’s people and God’s church? Ellen White answers that question by drawing a parallel of the New Testament Israel in the following words:

“ ‘As a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord;’ ‘as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!’ Ezekiel 16:8, 13–15, 32; Jeremiah 3:20.

“In the New Testament, language very similar is addressed to professed Christians who seek the friendship of the world above the favor of God. Says the apostle James: ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.’ [James 4:4.]” The Great Controversy, 381, 382.

If the adulteresses in the Old Testament were not God’s people, can the adulteresses in the New Testament be God’s people?

“The alliances made by the Israelites with their heathen neighbors resulted in the loss of their identity as God’s peculiar people. . . .

“The experience of Israel will be the experience of all who go to the world for strength, turning away from the living God. Those who forsake the mighty One, the source of all strength, and affiliate with worldlings, placing on them their dependence, become weak in moral power, as are those in whom they trust. . . .

“No semblance of nearness to God, no assertion of connection with him, will be accepted from those who persist in dishonoring him by leaning upon the arm of worldly power.” Review and Herald, August 4, 1904.

Identity Lost

The identity of God’s peculiar people got lost through their connection with the world. People who make a connection or union with the world are not looked upon as God’s people. If people who look for their strength in the world are looked upon as people who are dishonoring God, how does He look upon us if we look for strength in other humans? He is a God in anger, because His people are looking for another source of power and strength. He is a jealous God. We find this description of God’s jealousy in the Ten Commandments: “I the Lord thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me.” Exodus 20:5. Has God somehow changed?

“It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers, receives a like condemnation.

“Babylon is said to be ‘the mother of harlots.’ By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt.” The Great Controversy, 382, 383.

What churches do we know that were once pure? Yes, the Protestant churches were once pure. They made mistakes, but in God’s eyes, they were pure. He saw their trying to follow the truths they discovered, and they paid for their faithfulness to these truths even with their lives. Although they did not understand all truth, still they were God’s people and were considered pure and clean in God’s eyes. “At the time of their rise these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was with them.” Ibid, 382.

We have not yet stood the test, which numbers of Protestant martyrs have stood. We have not stood at the stake because of our faith. We have not been cast before lions because of our faith. We have not been sawn through because of our faith. But those Christians stood such tests of their faithfulness.

Turn into Babylon

God states very clearly through His messenger how once clean and pure churches turn into Babylon: “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.” Ibid., 383.

Ellen White also wrote: “The term ‘Babylon’ is derived from ‘Babel,’ and signifies confusion. It is employed in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate religion.” Ibid., 381.

Can you identify some of these false religions which belong to Babylon? All of the heathen religions are false religions, are they not? They were faulty from their inception. They did not come from a true religion. There have been false and apostate religions from the beginning. The mark of those religions is that they have been once pure. The term “Babylon” has two applications. This study is not addressing the religions that have fallen anyway, but rather those that are apostate religions. A connection with the state and a friendship with the world are the marks of an apostate religion. Remember the quotations from The Great Controversy.

History as Our Textbook

We need to look back into history in order to understand how these churches came to pass, for history is our textbook. Paul recommends in the Book of 1 Corinthians that we should learn from history. (See 1 Corinthians 10:11.) In her introductory words in The Great Controversy, Ellen White recommends that we learn from the history of Israel and the first disciples, so that we may make the right decisions at the end of time.

“What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart from the simplicity of the gospel? By conforming to the practices of paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen. The apostle Paul declared, even in his day, ‘The mystery of iniquity doth already work.’ 11 Thessalonians 2:7. During the lives of the apostles the church remained comparatively pure. But ‘toward the latter end of the second century most of the churches assumed a new form; the first simplicity disappeared, and insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts, . . . came forward and new-modeled the cause.’—Robert Robinson, Ecclesiastical Researches, ch. 6, par. 17, p. 51.” Ibid., 384, 385.

Does this description of apostasy sound familiar to us? Do the people of God today try to confirm the practices of reason? Do we not see the people of God lowering their standards to win converts? What is the result of this? It is the same as when the first church did not watch in keeping the heathen from coming into the church. History shows the outcome of this church.

Satan has tried to use the same tactics in all times, in all churches: “Has not the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling itself Protestant? As the founders, those who possessed the true spirit of reform, pass away, their descendants come forward and ‘new-model the cause.’ . . .

“Alas, to what a fearful extent is that friendship of the world which is ‘enmity with God,’ now cherished among the professed followers of Christ!” Ibid., 385.

Ellen White posed the rather rhetorical question, “Has not the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling itself Protestant?” Ibid., 385. The answer given is: “The spirit of worldly conformity is invading the churches throughout Christendom.” Ibid., 388.

Was the prophet mistaken in this? Did she make an error? When God speaks of all churches in the whole of Christendom, then it would be illogical to think that she did not write what she meant.

Ellen White also wrote of the apostasy of the church that occurs because it casts off and disregards the Three Angels’ Messages: “Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result of rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6–12, the church will have fully reached the condition foretold by the second angel, and the people of God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate from her communion.” Ibid., 390. Which is the only church that can disregard and cast off the Three Angels’ Messages? She is talking about a church—singular, not plural.

Example of Apostasy

I want to give you an example of this apostasy, which is documented in Germany.

There were communications between the Seventh-day Adventist leaders and councils of the Ecumenical Movement that dealt with the question of whether or not the Seventh-day Adventists would be accepted into the Ecumenical Movement. The Catholic Church was one that said, “No, the Seventh-day Adventist Church cannot participate unless certain things are changed.”

Then, letters were written back and forth between the leaders of the church, their supporters, or their lawyers and the leaders of the Ecumenical Council. These letters were kept under closure, but through indiscretions of a secretary, who could not live with this burden and who could not believe what she was ordered to type, these documents were made public. We published them and spread thousands of copies among the Seventh-day Adventists to open their eyes to what extent the apostasy had gone in the leadership.

In these papers, it was clear that the Catholic Church requested clarification as to whether or not the interpretation of Revelation 13, which was traditionally understood to be the papacy, also identified as the Antichrist, was still valid today. The answer from the Seventh-day Adventist representatives was that these beliefs were some sort of a tradition, which came from the old Reformation, which, without doubt, still has its effects today, but that they had given up the institutionalized identification of the Antichrist as the Pope. They stated as well that there were anti-Christian characteristics in their own denomination, meaning that the traditional criticism of Revelation 13 could be also applied to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This statement was sufficient for the Roman Catholics, and the Catholic Church gave the green light for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to enter into the Ecumenical Movement.

Concerning the beast of Revelation 13, which traditionally has been applied to the papacy, the church leadership said that they could get unused to this view, but that there were some fanatic Adventists who still believed it. Do we believe that the beast with seven heads and ten horns that came out of the sea is the papacy? Is it the papacy? Yes, but what do the leaders say? “Well, this view we can get unused to. There are still some fanatic Adventists, but they are not really a part of us. They believe it, but we in Germany, as a whole, no longer hold that position.”

I recall a former leader of the General Conference, many years ago, making a similar statement. In connection with some law issues, he stated that the view of Seventh-day Adventists regarding the papacy belonged to the historical trash heap. In Germany, that went around like a wildfire! We can see that the apostasy is starting behind closed doors.

Opened Eyes

The prophet Ezekiel was shown what happened in the temple, behind closed doors—they bowed down before the sun; they put unholy pictures in the temple. The same situation is represented here. (See Ezekiel 8.)

God gave the people the opportunity to open their eyes to what the leaders were doing. Regarding the ecumenical cooperation with each other, the Seventh-day Adventists were asked how they imagined themselves working with the Ecumenical Movement, if they cherished doctrines such as the teaching of Babylon and the teaching of the beast of Revelation 13. The answer given was that, on an international level, an ecumenical cooperation was still possible, despite certain prophetic interpretations. For over three decades, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has belonged to the World Council of Churches.

Ellen White counseled against such action: “Let the watchmen on the walls of Zion not join with those who are making of none effect the truth as it is in Christ. Let them not join the confederacy of infidelity, popery, and Protestantism in exalting tradition above Scripture, reason above revelation, and human talent above the divine influence and the vital power of godliness.” Review and Herald, March 24, 1896.

She further wrote: “Let us not form unholy bonds of union with the friends of the world; for God has pronounced His curse upon all such unions.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 277.

All is Possible

Is it possible to unite with the ecumenical cooperation, when we have these warnings before our eyes? Oh, sure, it is possible. We see it happening. It was also possible for the Jews to unite with the heathen. The apostate churches united themselves with the state force, the Romans, and thus the Roman state church developed.

All of this is possible, but how does God look upon such confederacies? “The world must not be introduced into the church, and married to the church, forming a bond of unity. Through this means the church will become indeed corrupt, and as stated in Revelation, ‘a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’ [Revelation 18:2.]

“Through association with the world our institutions will become unsubstantial, unreliable; because these worldly elements, introduced and placed in positions of trust, are looked up to as teachers to be respected in their educating, directing, and official position, and they are sure to be worked upon by the spirit and power of darkness; so that the demarcation becomes not distinguished between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.” Ibid., 265, 266.

“The world must not be introduced into the church, and married to the church, forming a bond of unity.” The Ecumenical Movement is such a bond. Is this a plain message? Could God make it any clearer?

In another quotation, Ellen White says, “We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful bird; and will we be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the existing evil?” Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 380. While the context deals with sexual disorders in the church, it is spiritual adultery that God abhors more than physical adultery. What does the Bible say? To lust or look upon a woman is sin. (Matthew 5:28.) The thoughts are sin before God, even though nothing has happened with bodily connection or union. The connection with Israel—the spiritual union—God sees as adultery, for there is no difference. We may sometimes draw a difference, but God does not.

To be continued . . .

Dr. Bernd Korinth is a physician living in Berlin, Germany. He is very active in spreading the Three Angels’ Messages throughout Europe. He and his family have a printing press in their home and have had tracts translated in most of the different European languages. He is a promoter of home churches and is very interested in working with other historic Seventh-day Adventist groups worldwide. He may be contacted by e-mail at: hkorinth@mefag.de.

I Saw a Great Tumult, Part II

by

How can you tell the difference between the remnant, God’s true church, and those who profess to be God’s people, the nominal church? To differentiate is very confusing! If it is so confusing and there is a war being waged, with both sides claiming that they are the remnant church, how do you tell the difference between those who truly are the remnant and those who are just professing? Ellen White wrote numerous statements on the subject of the remnant—who they are and who they are not. The following statements come from the Spirit of Prophecy; some are summarized in my own words.

The Remnant Actually . . .

The remnant actually keep the Commandments of God, and they follow the testimony of Jesus.

“Although the law of God will be almost universally made void in the world, there will be a remnant of the righteous that will be obedient to God’s requirements. The wrath of the dragon will be directed against the loyal servants of Heaven. Says the prophet, ‘The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’ [Revelation 12:17.] We can see from this scripture that it is not the true church of God that makes war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the people who make void the law, who place themselves on the side of the dragon, and persecute those who vindicate God’s precepts.” The Signs of the Times, April 22, 1889.

“A striking contrast is seen between those who practise [sic] the truth and those who have joined the ranks of the apostate. Meek and lowly will those be who follow the Lamb of God. Boastful, denunciatory, and lawless in word and deed will those be who war against the commandments of God. They are thus because they have the spirit and attributes of the dragon, who was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.” Review and Herald, May 3, 1898.

Purify Souls

The true remnant purify their souls by obeying the truth.

“The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 380.

No Iniquity

I was once in a meeting with a number of historic Seventh-day Adventist ministers. The discussion came up about who really is the remnant church, and there was a difference of opinion among the ministers. Some said, “This is the remnant church.” And some said, “No, that is not the remnant church.”

One of the ministers read a text, which he knew would be like an exploding bomb. He knew that if everybody was honest, it would drown the opposition. The text he read was in Zephaniah 3 where the remnant of God are described in the last days, and it says, “The remnant do not do any iniquity and in their mouth there is no lie, no deceit, and they do not have a tongue that will tell a lie or deceive anyone.” Verse 13.

When my friend read this verse, he looked straight at a couple of the ministers, and he asked, “Does the church that you believe to be the remnant church meet these qualifications?”

These ministers had to say, “No.”

The real remnant church will meet the qualifications in Zephaniah 3:13. The nominal church will not be able to meet those qualifications.

“In this our day, some whose tongues are deceitful have been presenting as truth many things that they themselves have originated,—as if the law of truth were in their heart and coming from their lips. But the Lord will surely punish every deceitful, lying tongue that has caused his people to err and to turn from the righteousness of Christ.” Review and Herald, October 11, 1906.

Valley of Achor

The remnant church is represented by a woman. (See Revelation 12.) Concerning this remnant, the prophets say that they are going to have to go through the valley of Achor. The valley of Achor, which means, “the valley of trouble” or “the valley of grief,” was where Achan was stoned. (Joshua 7:24–26.)

This woman of Revelation 12 has to go through the valley of Achor—the valley of trouble or grief, where the Achans get stoned. It is not going to be a pleasant experience. (See Prophets and Kings, 298–300.)

Source of Enmity

Speaking about the remnant people, Ellen White says, “There must be open and avowed enmity between the church and the serpent, between her seed and his seed.” The Signs of the Times, August 26, 1889.

From where does the enmity come? Well, from where did the enmity come in heaven? One side wanted to adjust the Law of God. From where did the enmity come in David’s time? One side did not want to listen to the Spirit of Prophecy. That is where the enmity comes from at the end. The people do not want to abide by the Law of God; they do not want to listen to the Spirit of Prophecy; they want to do their own thing. They arouse enmity. The remnant do not arouse enmity.

An Apostate Church

A church that is lessening the distance between itself and the papacy is an apostate church; it is not the remnant church.

“An apostate church will unite with the powers of earth and hell to place upon the forehead or in the hand, the mark of the beast, and prevail upon the children of God to worship the beast and his image. They will seek to compel them to renounce their allegiance to God’s law, and yield homage to the papacy.” Review and Herald, November 8, 1892.

No Worldly Policy

This is an amazing statement: “God has a remnant people in the world—a people who are not following worldly policy.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 5, 53. The remnant church does not follow worldly policy. Any church that is following worldly policy is not the remnant.

Gifts Shut Out

The nominal church, Ellen White says, shuts out the gifts that God has placed in the church. They shut out the gift of the Holy Spirit, especially the Spirit of Prophecy. “Don’t yield your sacred peculiarities which distinguish you from the world, from the nominal church and backslidden Adventists. . . . The nominal churches are in darkness and corrupt. They have shut out the gifts God has placed in the church.” Ibid., 290. The nominal church shuts out the gifts; they will not listen to the Spirit of Prophecy.

Prevailing Ungodliness

In the courts of the temple—the church (see Ephesians 2:19–22)—Ellen White says, “Under the cloak of Christianity and sanctification, far-spreading and manifest ungodliness will prevail to a terrible degree and will continue until Christ comes to be glorified in all them that believe. In the very courts of the temple [this is in the nominal church] scenes will be enacted that few realize.” Ibid., vol. 11, 85, 86.

Obedient to All God’s Word

The remnant is actually obedient to all of God’s Word and commands. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. The remnant live by the Word of God. They actually do it.

“Although the law of God will be almost universally made void in the world, there will be a remnant of the righteous that will be obedient to God’s requirements.” The Signs of the Times, April 22, 1889.

On the Dragon’s Side

Some people have challenged this statement, even when it is read right out of the Spirit of Prophecy! They will not accept it.

“There will be a remnant of the righteous that will be obedient to God’s requirements. The wrath of the dragon will be directed against the loyal servants of Heaven. Says the prophet, ‘The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’ [Revelation 12:17.] We can see from this scripture that it is not the true church of God that makes war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the people who make void the law, who place themselves on the side of the dragon, and persecute those who vindicate God’s precepts.” Ibid. [Emphasis supplied.]

Do you know that when you sue somebody you are waging legal war against him or her? Before life on this world is over, you are going to understand what the Judas kiss feels like. The Judas kiss comes from the one who claims to be your friend.

When I attended the lawsuit against Raphael Perez (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists vs. Raphael Perez, United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, 2000), a person came up to greet me as I was leaving the federal court building one day. He acted very friendly as he proceeded to tell me about all of my family that he knows. As I looked into his face, I silently prayed, “Lord, help me. Help me not to say anything that I should not say.” He acted as though he was my friend, but he was on the opposing side that was working to put Raphael Perez in jail. I recognized the Judas kiss, and it chilled me.

The Judas kiss does not come from the remnant church. Judas was not a part of the remnant church; he was a part of the nominal church. The nominal church will give the Judas kiss to the true church at the end.

Peace and Safety

Remember, the majority was on Absalom’s side. By the providence of God, even though the servants of David, under the generalship of Joab, were vastly outnumbered, the time came when this great rebellion of the majority of God’s professed people was brought to an end. The rebellion among God’s professed people today is going to be brought to an end too.

When the rebellion was brought to an end, Joab needed somebody to take the message to King David, who was waiting at the city for news. There was a man with Joab, a runner by the name of Ahimaaz, who desperately wanted to tell the king the news, but Joab told him, “No, you can bear tidings another day. You are not to bear tidings today.” (11 Samuel 18:19, 20.)

Instead, Joab called Cushi and asked him to carry the tidings. However, Ahimaaz begged Joab, “Oh, please let me go and bear a message too.”

Finally, probably a little aggravated, Joab said, “Well, just go!”

Ahimaaz was a faster runner than Cushi was, and he got to the king first. David, of course, was in terrible consternation of mind, wondering what had happened. After all, his whole life was at stake. When Ahimaaz arrived, David asked for his message, and he reported, “Everything is fine.” He gave a peace and safety message! (Verses 21–28.)

Many people today, even in Adventism, are like Ahimaaz. If you ask them what is happening, they will tell you that everything is fine—the third angel’s message is going forward, and soon we are going to be in heaven; everything is going wonderfully.

David was not content with this message, so he pressed Ahimaaz, until Ahimaaz exclaimed, “I saw a great tumult. I did not know what it was.” (Verse 29.)

Developing Tumult

The final great tumult will come when, in the war between the remnant and the nominal church—both claiming to be the true remnant church—the leadership of the nominal church will finally receive a fatal and final defeat, and the rebellion will collapse and be crushed. There certainly is a great tumult developing!

How long will it be before this war is over, the great tumult occurs, and the rebellion is put down? Ellen White wrote: “God’s people will be proved and tested, that He may discern ‘between him that serveth God, and him that serveth Him not.’ [Malachi 3:18.]” Manuscript Releases, vol. 11, 86.

Right now, it is like it was in heaven with the angels. It is also, right now, like it was with David and Absalom. Before the great tumult, there was a time when you could not tell for sure on which side each person was. But the Lord says, “I am going to prove and test My people, and when I get done, everybody in the universe, not just on the earth, will be able to tell which person is serving Me and which person is not.”

You will be able to tell, one of these days, the difference between those of the remnant church and those who are the remnant church only by profession. This is what the great tumult will demonstrate.

Heavenly Credentials

Ellen White made several comments about this, including one in which she says that iniquity will reach a height never before attained. (Review and Herald, July 24, 1913.) Do you see that happening? She states that the Lord will give the Israelites who are captive in Babylon the opportunity to come out and be part of the remnant. (Ibid., January 23, 1908.) She also says that the remnant will receive the latter rain, give the loud cry, and be sealed. (Early Writings [1882], 85, 86; Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, 193, 194, 197.)

Do you see why it could be of fatal consequence for you if you do not understand the difference between the remnant and the nominal church? You could be part of those who claim to be the remnant, but if you do not actually have the characteristics of the remnant, you will not receive the latter rain. You will not be giving the loud cry. You will not be one of those who are sealed.

The remnant will have the heavenly credentials. Mrs. White says that it is through this remnant that God will carry out His eternal purpose. (Prophets and Kings, 108.) She also says that at the end of time, when the remnant are sentenced to be slain, God will intervene on their behalf. (Review and Herald, September 17, 1901.) He is not going to intervene on behalf of the nominal church. To find out what is going to happen to them, read Ezekiel 9.

Great Tumult

Ahimaaz said, “I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was.”

What is this great tumult? A number of things are causing the tumult today. One of them is fanaticism. Ellen White wrote: “Every phase of fanaticism and erroneous theories, claiming to be the truth, will be brought in among the remnant people of God. These will fill minds with erroneous sentiments which have no part in the truth for this time. Any man who supposes that in the strength of his own devised resolutions, in his intellectual might united with science or supposed knowledge, he can start a work which will conquer the world, will find himself lying among the ruins of his own speculations, and will plainly understand why he is there. . . .” Selected Messages, Book 2, 14.

The time is coming when every single Seventh-day Adventist who is espoused to fanaticism is going to reap the consequences of that fanaticism and know why. Fanaticism is very, very dangerous. Many, many millions of people have lost their souls over fanaticism. I am not talking about heresy. I am not talking about Babylon. I am talking about fanaticism.

Ahimaaz was not an Achan. He was on the right side. He believed in the Spirit of Prophecy. He was a Sabbath keeper. He was a commandment keeper. But neither Joab nor David could depend on him as a messenger in God’s work because he did not know the issues. He did not understand what was really happening. He represents literally thousands of people in Adventism today.

He was not stoned to death, as was Achan. He was not punished at all. He was simply told by David to stand aside. (11 Samuel 18:30.) The story of Ahimaaz is not as sad as the story of Achan, but it is still very sad. Why? Because Ahimaaz was very talented. He was actually more talented as a runner than the man that God sent with the message. But he could not be used as a messenger in God’s work because he did not understand what the issues were.

Live It Over Again

In the Spirit of Prophecy, Ellen White tells about the experience of God’s people after they are taken to heaven and are gathered around the great white throne. She describes many of God’s people as weeping in heaven. This was very intriguing to me. People say, “You are not going to cry in heaven.” Do not deceive yourself. After God wipes the tears from people’s eyes at the close of the millennium, there will not be cry-ing, but during the millennium, there will be plenty of crying. Ellen White describes God’s people be-fore the great white throne crying, weeping. Why are they weeping? She explains: “They see what they might have done had they not debased their God-given powers.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 135. These people are not Achans. They are not stoned to death, and they are not in hellfire. They are saved, and yet they are weeping in heaven. They are weeping because when they understand the real issues with which they had dealt in this world, they wish that time could be turned back so they could come back to this world and live their lives over again. I expect that there will be many millions of people in heaven like Ahimaaz, but do you really want to be one of them?

True and Faithful

Remember, in heaven, both sides claimed to be the true and the faithful. In the time of David and Absalom, both sides claimed to be the true and the faithful. At the end, both sides will claim to be the true and the faithful. I hope you will study the different points given in this article from the Spirit of Prophecy so you can differentiate which side really is true and faithful and which side is not.

You need to ask yourself, Am I part of the remnant truly or am I part of the remnant by profession only? You cannot take a neutral position. A war is going on right now between the true remnant and those who are in name only. It has been going on for several years, and it is going to get worse. Unfortunately, there is a large number of people like Ahimaaz—“I saw a great tumult. I do not know what it was.”

Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me.” [Matthew 12:30.] Even if you are on the right side, if you do not know what is going on, then the Lord cannot use you as one of His good and faithful soldiers in the battle.

Eyes of Understanding

In the final end, there will only be two sides. Both sides will claim to be the true people of God. Both sides will claim to keep the fourth commandment. Both sides will claim to have the Spirit of Prophecy. On which side are you going to be?

If the Holy Spirit is going to use you as a messenger, as one of the true and faithful soldiers in these last days, the Holy Spirit must then enable you to see the difference between the remnant in truth and the remnant by profession only.

God, through His messenger to the remnant church, provides a great deal of detail about what happened in heaven at the fall of Lucifer so that we may understand what was really involved. We have just studied the great controversy in miniature, as it developed and played out in the lives of David and Absalom. We know that this story was written to help us understand what is going to happen at the end of time. God has told us that the issues at the end, the strategy of the devil at the end, will be the same as at the beginning. We are all in danger of being deceived, unless the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our understanding.

There are so many people like Ahimaaz who think all is well. They see that a great tumult is going on, but they do not know what it is. Pray that the Lord will open your eyes so you will understand what is really happening today, not just in the world, but in the church as well.

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

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

Editorial – Unity and Dissonance, Part II

by

In last month’s editorial, it was shown that Satan’s practice of blame, which he has always used, will be used at the end of time. It will be used upon the faithful people of God—first by the leaders in the professed remnant church and then later by the world at large. We will now investigate this in the form of questions and answers:

  1. At the end of time, from where will the worst opposition to God’s faithful people come?

Answer: “The opposition which Christ received came from his own nation, who would have been greatly blessed had they accepted him. In like manner the remnant church receive opposition from those who profess to be their brethren.” Review and Herald, August 28, 1883.

“The work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity she will have to do in a terrible crisis under most discouraging, forbidding circumstances. The warnings that worldly conformity has silenced or withheld must be given under the fiercest opposition from enemies of the faith. And at that time the superficial, conservative class, whose influence has steadily retarded the progress of the work, will renounce the faith and take their stand with its avowed enemies, toward whom their sympathies have long been tending. These apostates will then manifest the most bitter enmity, doing all in their power to oppress and malign their former brethren and to excite indignation against them. This day is just before us. The members of the church will individually be tested and proved. They will be placed in circumstances where they will be forced to bear witness for the truth. Many will be called to speak before councils and in courts of justice, perhaps separately and alone.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 463. (See also The Great Controversy, 608.)

  1. What will be one of the initial attacks against God’s faithful people by their professed brethren?

Answer: One of the initial attacks, which has already occurred many times in the last few years, is that God’s faithful people should be accountable to the church organization and that these believers are offshoots because they are not accountable to the church organization. It is asserted that they believe that the church organization has no right to control their operations in any way. This type of attack has existed since before the days of Madison, an independent school co-founded by E. A. Sutherland and P. T. Magan near Nashville, Tennessee (1904), but we will only document since that time.

“The Lord does not set limits about His workers in some lines as men are wont to set. In their work, Brethren Magan and Sutherland have been hindered unnecessarily. Means have been withheld from them because in the organization and management of the Madison school, it was not placed under the control of the conference. But the reasons why this school was not owned and controlled by the conference have not been duly considered.” Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 11, 31, 32.

“In the matter of the Madison school, there has been a standing off from them because they were not under the ownership and control of some Conference. This is a question that should sometimes be considered, but it is not the Lord’s plan that means should be withheld from Madison because they are not bound to the conference. The attitude which some of our brethren have assumed toward this enterprise shows that it is not wise for every working agency to be under the dictation of conference officers. There are some enterprises under certain conditions, that will produce better results if standing alone.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 8, 202.

To be continued . . .

Editorial – Unity and Dissonance, Part III

by

In this editorial, we will continue looking at how God’s faithful people at the end will be opposed—first from the professed church and later from the world. We saw in a previous editorial that one of the initial attacks against God’s people by their professed brethren will be the charge that they are not accountable to the church organization, as it is claimed they should be. This is the same attack that was made against John the Baptist at the first coming of Christ. It was made repeatedly against Jesus, and it was also made against the apostle Paul.

“There are but few who perceive the full import of the words of Christ, when in the synagogue at Nazareth he announced himself as the Anointed One. He declared his mission to comfort, bless, and save the sorrowing and the sinful, and then, seeing that pride and unbelief controlled the hearts of his hearers, he reminded them how God had in time past turned away from his chosen people, because of their unbelief and rebellion, and had manifested himself to those in a heathen land who had not rejected the light from Heaven. The widow of Sarepta and Naaman the Syrian had lived up to all the light they had. Hence they were accounted more righteous than God’s chosen people who had backslidden from him, and sacrificed principle to convenience and worldly honor.

“It is impossible for the worldly and pleasure-loving to rightly value the messages of warning and reproof which God sends to correct the errors of his people. They cannot distinguish between the earnestness and zeal of the faithful servant, and the trifling, superficial spirit of him who is unfaithful. One declares that the sword is coming; the other puts far off the evil day. One faithfully reproves sin; the other excuses and palliates it. As the professed people of God depart from him and lose the simplicity of the faith, the words of his messengers seem to them unnecessarily harsh and severe. They cherish prejudice and unbelief, and finally place themselves fully on Satan’s side. His suggestions seem pleasant and palatable; they are controlled, in spirit and opinion, by the arch-deceiver, and having permitted him to direct their thoughts, they soon permit him to direct their actions.

“Christ presented before the assembly at Nazareth a fearful truth when he declared that with backsliding Israel there was no safety for the faithful messenger of God. They would not know his worth, or appreciate his labors. While they professed to have great zeal for the honor of God and the good of Israel, they were the worst enemies of both. They were by precept and example leading the people farther and farther from obedience to God and purity and simplicity of faith,—leading them where he could not reveal himself as their defense in the day of trouble. God sent Elijah to the widow of Sarepta, because he could not trust him with Israel.

“These cutting reproofs, though presented by the Majesty of Heaven, the Jews of Nazareth refused to hear. . . . Those men of Nazareth manifested the same spirit toward Christ which their forefathers had manifested toward Elijah. Blinded by Satan, they could not perceive the divine character of the Son of God, or appreciate the truth and purity of his instructions. . . .

“There is the same dislike of reproof and correction among the professed people of God today as in the days of our Saviour. There is the same disposition to lean toward the world and to follow its mocking shadows. The presence of ambitious, selfish, time-serving members is imperiling the church, whose greatest danger is from worldly conformity.” Sketches From the Life of Paul, 229–233.

To be continued . . .

A Finished Work – The Future

by

In Exodus 40:33 is recorded a started work that was finished: “And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.”

In the Book of Exodus, we read of the children of Israel being led out of Egypt, out of slavery. We read about God’s Law of Liberty being given. The model of salvation was introduced, and then, in the last chapter of Exodus, the tabernacle was erected, and, it says, the work was finished.

Regarding this tabernacle that Moses finished, we are told: “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34. When the work on the tabernacle was finished, God’s glory descended and the glory of God filled the tabernacle.

Today, another tabernacle is being built. Ephesians 2:19–22 describes the tabernacle that is being erected: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” We are each one to be living stones put into place to finish this building. When the work of building this tabernacle is finished, the glory of God will be revealed again. Jesus will come with power and great glory.

I want to be a part of that great finished work, do you? In this study series, we have looked at different aspects of the finished work—the challenge, the method, the march, and the power of the finished work. In this article, we will consider the people who finish the work.

Defeat

In the first chapters of the Book of Joshua, we read that the children of Israel now have their feet on the Promised Land. They have crossed the raging Jordan, through the power of God. They have marched in unity around Jericho, and, by God’s power being displayed, the walls of that city came down and a formidable first step in conquering Canaan was overcome. It seemed that things were going well. It looked like the children of Israel were going to begin with victory and keep on marching into complete and total victory.

But in Joshua 7, they experienced some reverses: “And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; [and] make not all the people to labour thither; for they [are but] few. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them [from] before the gate [even] unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.” Verses 3–5.

They had just conquered the mighty, formidable fortress of Jericho, but when they come up to this small town with but few men, a seemingly easy victory, they were utterly defeated. Upon their defeat by this small city of Ai, the hearts of the children of Israel “became as water.” The courage they had obtained through their conquest of Jericho was totally drained away. But was it really Ai that defeated the children of Israel? No. Verse 1 says, “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.”

One Man’s Sin

Who really defeated the children of Israel? Achan! It was not Ai at all. Achan brought defeat to the children of Israel by taking “of the accursed thing”—by coveting that Babylonish garment, the silver, and the gold. The entire army of Israel was defeated because of one sin!

Thirty-six men died because of one man’s sin. The hearts of the entire army of Israel melted like water, because of one man’s sin. How serious was this? “Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put [it] even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, [but] turned [their] backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.” Verses 11, 12.

The only solution to the problem was that the sin had to be destroyed. A million, perhaps more, people had not sinned in taking of the accursed thing. The majority had not been guilty, only one man. The Lord said, “Unless you destroy the accursed thing from among you, I will be with you no more.”

Joshua 7:12 is one of the most solemn verses in Scripture, I believe. To think that one man’s sin caused the defeat of the entire army of Israel and caused God to say, “Unless you deal with that one man’s sin, I will no longer be with you. Canaan will not be conquered; Jericho will be as far as you get, unless you destroy that one man’s sin.”

An Achanless Army

In order to finish the work and conquer Canaan, an Achanless army was needed. The same thing is needed now. Only an Achanless army will finish the work today. Are there Achans in our army? Are there Achans in our churches? Achan, one man of the children of Israel, in a church of over one million individuals, caused God’s blessing to be withdrawn.

Now, I dare say that none of us attend a church of over a million members. But one known sin—cherished and practiced—will defeat God’s blessing in our churches.

Cleanse the Camp

It has been very interesting but sad for me to note that many times when I have been involved with planning an evangelistic series, the devil succeeds in bringing some sin into some of the local church members, and it is necessary to deal with it. Doing so is not enjoyable or easy, but for God’s blessing to rest upon the outreach efforts, we have to deal with sin in the camp.

An interesting account is given of Dr. David Paulson, who was instrumental in securing the land for and establishing the sanitarium known as Hinsdale outside of Chicago, Illinois. Things were going well with the sanitarium; then their patient count began to decline until they were operating at only about half capacity. They could not pay the bills at half capacity. Dr. Paulson began to pray: “Lord, what needs to be done?” The Lord convicted him that there were staff members who were withholding their tithe. He arranged for a week of prayer during which the importance of paying tithe and of being consecrated to God’s service were presented. Within a week after that week of prayer, the sanitarium was over full capacity again. Within one week, confessions were made, and the sin was cleansed. Within one week they had to put beds in the halls to accommodate the overflow patients. God cannot bless when sin is allowed to continue. Are there Achans in our churches?

“There is much we will never know; but that which is revealed makes the church responsible and guilty unless they show a determined effort to eradicate the evil. Cleanse the camp, for there is an accursed thing in it.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 427, 428.

“Everyone who has a knowledge of Jesus Christ—especially the elders of the church—must not carelessly allow the members to be irregular in conduct and thus let evil and sin strengthen in the church, thinking this is the way to show love for one another. God requires faithfulness in watchcare. You must take hold of God with one hand while with the other hand, in love, you lay hold upon the erring and the sinner and draw them to Jesus. Pray with them, weep with them, feel for their souls, love them, and never let go of them. This is the love Jesus has expressed for you. You must ever strive for unity and forbearance and love. Never draw apart, but press together, binding heart to heart and making supplications in the Spirit. Then the power of God will work in your midst and many souls will be brought to the truth through your influence.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, 127.

Unrepented Sin

Are there Achans in our churches or in our families? Is there sin with which we have not dealt? Before Gideon could declare war against the idolatrous Midianites, he had to declare war against idolatry in his own home. God could not work through Gideon until the sin in his home had been cast out. (See Judges 6.)

Several months ago, we were in the Philippines holding an evangelistic series. Bible workers had been giving Bible studies, and one lady in particular had been a great help to them. She had encouraged many of the people in her neighborhood to take Bible studies and to attend the evangelistic seminar. She, personally, wanted to be baptized, and the Bible workers wanted very much for her to be baptized because she had been such a good worker and helper to them. We interviewed everyone individually for baptism, and as we talked with her, she did not display the expected commitment level. As we began asking her questions, the Lord directed us to questions that I had never before asked anyone else. Through these questions, we learned that she was keeping the Sabbath, but her 15-year-old daughter was supporting the family by working on the Sabbath. We turned to Exodus 20 in our Bibles, and we read the fourth commandment together. The fourth commandment is very specific about those in our sphere of influence and under our authority, and if we are allowing them to break the Sabbath, it is as though we were breaking it. We had to tell her that we would pray for her and ask that the Lord would help this situation to be resolved, that she might not only be able to keep the Sabbath but that she would not be a burden upon her daughter, causing her to break the Sabbath. It was a very difficult situation, but we cannot sanction sin in our families.

“Those who have too little courage to reprove wrong, or who through indolence or lack of interest make no earnest effort to purify the family or the church of God, are held accountable for the evil that may result from their neglect of duty. We are just as responsible for evils that we might have checked in others by exercise of parental or pastoral authority as if the acts had been our own.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 578. What a solemn statement! We need an Achanless army!

The work is going to be finished. We must pray and ask the Lord to help us to deal with any sin that comes to our knowledge in our churches and in our families. But we must do more than that; we must ask if there are any Achans in our hearts, because one sin, unrepented of, will cause God’s power to be withheld and cause us to be lost.

Ellen White wrote: “We cannot meet Christ in peace with one sin unrepented of, unconfessed, and unforsaken.” Review and Herald, March 17, 1891. “One sin unrepented of is enough to close the gates of heaven against you. It was because man could not be saved with one stain of sin upon him, that Jesus came to die on Calvary’s cross.” The Signs of the Times, March 17, 1890. Only one sin!

“Even one wrong trait of character, one sinful desire, persistently cherished, will eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel.” Steps to Christ, 34.

Neutralized Power

The work is going to be finished with power, but one sin will eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel. God’s power of the latter rain cannot be poured out upon an army with Achans in it. It cannot be poured out on an Achan heart.

It is easy for us to look on the outside. We see a new convert baptized who has perhaps quit smoking and working on the Sabbath. It is wonderful to see! There is no greater joy than to see one come to the Lord and accept His power into his or her life. But then it is easy for us to look on the outside.

We see health reform, dress reform, or Sabbath keeping. These things are easy to see on the outside. But we cannot see the inside as can God. We cannot see inner sins such as pride or selfishness. Could those sins of pride and selfishness cause God’s blessing to be withheld from us? Even if we are vegan vegetarians, if there is pride and selfishness in our hearts, there is still an Achan in our hearts. It is the heart at which God is looking.

The Pharisees continually had spies watching Jesus and the disciples in an attempt to catch them in some indiscretion, such as the incident when the disciples were going through a field and, as they walked along, they plucked some of the grain and began to eat it. (Mark 2:23.) Then the Pharisees accosted Jesus demanding, “Why are they eating with unwashed hands?” (Mark 7:5.) In other words, why are they transgressing the outward requirements? Ellen White wrote, “They [the Pharisees] were exact in outward ceremonies, diligent in washings, fastings, and long prayers, and ostentatious in almsgiving.” The Desire of Ages, 603.

Jesus replied, “It is what comes out of your heart that defiles a man. Because out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts and blasphemies and pride.” (Mark 7:20–22.).

Jesus is much more concerned with the heart, with the inside, than with the outside. Ellen White tells us that, “Whatever we are at heart will be revealed in character.” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, 801. “If the heart is right, the actions will be right.” Our High Calling, 218. We need to ask for the heavenly magnifying glass to examine not just our outsides, but our hearts, our thoughts and feelings, and not just our thoughts and feelings, but even the motives. When we begin evaluating our thoughts, our feelings, and our motives, we start to realize how corrupt our hearts are.

Ask, Why did I say that? Why did I do that? Why did I use that expression? What was the motive behind that? All of these must be cleansed, because one sin, even if it is a secret sin about which no one knows or a sin of selfishness or pride, will eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel.

Do you want to neutralize that mighty power? The army that finishes the work is not just going to accept the challenge of looking the giants right in the face and marching forward in aggressive warfare. It is not just going to personally be doing all it can to spread the message; it is not just going to be marching in unity; it is not just going to be relying upon God’s power for success. The army that finishes the work is going to be an army with the Achans removed. If we cling to any cares, to any Achans in our hearts, we are not going to be in that army.

“I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid.” Zephaniah 3:12, 13.

The army that finishes the work might look like an afflicted and poor people. It might just be a small remnant, but the source of their power is that there are no Achans in that remnant. They do no iniquity; they speak no lies; there is not even one deceitful tongue in their midst. The power of the gospel is not neutralized.

I want to be in that army that finishes the work. Do you want to be in that army? Ask the Lord to take every Achan from your heart.

Cody Francis is currently engaged in public evangelism for Mission Projects International. He also pastors the Remnant Church of Seventh-day Adventist Believers in Renton, Washington. He may be contacted by e-mail at: cody@missionspro.org.

Prophecies on God’s Church in the End Time, Part I

by

As we read the Three Angels’ Messages, we see that they are for all people, for every nation in the world. What is important for Germany is important for America also, and for all the other countries of the world. Therefore, I want to present the issues we are facing in Germany today, and you need to decide if you have the same problems in your part of the world too.

The end time is marked with a terrible situation, as has never before been. God has given specific guidance for His people during this time through the Spirit of Prophecy. We need to look very closely at it, and study the statements God gave for the time of Ellen White, herself, and the statements that apply specifically for us in our time. In this study, we must be very careful to use all of her statements in the place and time she made them. She made statements that had not such a significant meaning as for our time. In our time, these statements have a much deeper meaning and importance. She wrote, “Every jot and tittle is essential and must appear at an opportune time.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 57.

Jesus had much to tell His disciples, and He said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” John 16:12. So it is with the Advent people. Ellen White had many things to tell us, and we need to find out what she had for us personally, in a special sense, as a people of the end time. We need to understand the visions she had, such as the one when she saw the Adventist people traveling on a small path to the heavenly Jerusalem, as recorded in Early Writings, 14–16:

“While I was praying at the family altar, the Holy Ghost fell upon me, and I seemed to be rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to look for the Advent people in the world, but could not find them, when a voice said to me, ‘Look again, and look a little higher.’ At this I raised my eyes, and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the Advent people were traveling to the city, which was at the farther end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the beginning of the path, which an angel told me was the midnight cry. This light shone all along the path and gave light for their feet so that they might not stumble. If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a light which waved over the Advent band, and they shouted, ‘Alleluia!’ Others rashly denied the light behind them and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below. Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus’ coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses’ did when he came down from Mount Sinai.

“The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us who could wash one another’s feet and salute the brethren with a holy kiss, and they worshiped at our feet.

“Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a small black cloud had appeared, about half as large as a man’s hand, which we all knew was the sign of the Son of man. We all in solemn silence gazed on the cloud as it drew nearer and became lighter, glorious, and still more glorious, till it was a great white cloud. The bottom appeared like fire; a rainbow was over the cloud, while around it were ten thousand angels, singing a most lovely song; and upon it sat the Son of man. His hair was white and curly and lay on His shoulders; and upon His head were many crowns. His feet had the appearance of fire; in His right hand was a sharp sickle; in His left, a silver trumpet. His eyes were as a flame of fire, which searched His children through and through.”

While Mrs. White did not look upon the Adventists of her time in this vision, she identifies that the Adventists were living right before the coming of Christ. It is true that Ellen White believed she would be among the 144,000, but God had a different plan.

Midnight Cry

A hundred years have passed since this vision when God put words in her mouth to show us what we, in the future, should expect before Christ can come back to receive us. This quotation shows plainly that the people in the end time, just before the coming of Christ, will walk with Him in the light of the Midnight Cry. Do you know what the Midnight Cry is? Do you know that the parallel is the ten virgins? The five foolish virgins expected the Lord to come, just as did the five wise virgins. The difference between the groups is that one group had not enough oil in their lamps. Their lamps went out, and they knew that they could not go to the bridegroom without light.

What is this light? This is the message that God’s people need to give to the world, and this lamp needs to burn until Christ comes. There were people in those days that did not just fall asleep physically, but this group was asleep spiritually. This is a very deadly sleep.

The Midnight Cry is a call to move toward the Lord. Did the Adventists of the first generation need to come out? From where did they come out? From what did they need to come out?

We are also called to come out, but we really do not know what it means to come out. We think it means that we just have to separate from some apostate church. That is an important and necessary step, but that is not all of it. In the future, we will see and experience what it means to come out.

Maybe some of us will say, as Mrs. White wrote, “It could not have been God who led us this far.” What will happen to them? They will fall from the path to the evil and dark world below them.

144,000

The 144,000 are spoken of in this vision. A large group will go away from the 144,000. Do we see this happening today?

The 144,000 will meet the Lord. They will all have been sealed and perfectly united. That does not only mean united in some organization. I am doubtful that it at all refers to an organizational structure. This union refers to a spiritual union.

This little company of 144,000 is described in Early Writings, 88, 89: “I asked the angel if there were none left. He bade me look in an opposite direction, and I saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway. All seemed to be firmly united, bound together by the truth, in bundles, or companies. Said the angel, ‘The third angel is binding, or sealing, them in bundles for the heavenly garner.’ This little company looked careworn, as if they had passed through severe trials and conflicts. And it appeared as if the sun had just risen from behind a cloud and shone upon their countenances, causing them to look triumphant, as if their victories were nearly won.”

Loud Cry

Ellen White wrote that the Loud Cry from the first Adventist generation will be repeated, just as the fall of Babylon will be repeated, in a special sense. “The message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the churches since 1844.” Ibid., 277. Ellen White speaks of the total fall of Babylon. In her time, the Catholic Church had been a fallen church already, and the majority of the Protestant churches had been falling. The call came to the faithful children of God, “Come out of her.” This call to the faithful church of God will be repeated in a special sense, even though this call has been given since 1844.

“The glory of God rested upon the patient, waiting saints, and they fearlessly gave the last solemn warning, proclaiming the fall of Babylon and calling upon God’s people to come out of her that they might escape her fearful doom.

“The light that was shed upon the waiting ones penetrated everywhere, and those in the churches who had any light, who had not heard and rejected the three messages, obeyed the call and left the fallen churches. Many had come to years of accountability since these messages had been given, and the light shone upon them, and they were privileged to choose life or death. Some chose life and took their stand with those who were looking for their Lord and keeping all His commandments. The third message was to do its work; all were to be tested upon it, and the precious ones were to be called out from the religious bodies. A compelling power moved the honest, while the manifestation of the power of God brought a fear and restraint upon their unbelieving relatives and friends so that they dared not, neither had they the power to, hinder those who felt the work of the Spirit of God upon them.” Ibid., 277, 278.

Come Out

It had been shown to Mrs. White that when the churches in her day were founded, they were pure, but later on they collected many defilements. To those churches the call of God goes, “Come out of them, my people.”

“Babylon is said to be ‘the mother of harlots.’ By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of the judgment, it must be given in the last days; therefore it cannot refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation the people of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God’s people must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant faith. At the time of their rise these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was with them. Even the unbelieving world was constrained to acknowledge the beneficent results that followed an acceptance of the principles of the gospel.” The Great Controversy, 382, 383. [Emphasis in original.]

This call, “Come out of her, My people,” is the same call which the angel from Revelation 18 brings to the world in calling the faithful from the apostate churches to unite them with Himself. This angel is not some heavenly being. Ellen White said that this angel should be you—you and me. We shall give the call, “Come out of her, My people.” (See The Great Controversy, 611; Testimonies, vol. 5, 383.)

Complete Fall

What makes this fall of Babylon complete? “Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result of rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6–12, the church will have fully reached the condition foretold by the second angel, and the people of God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate from her communion.” The Great Controversy, 390.

What church has accepted the Three Angels’ Messages? Yes, the Seventh-day Adventist Church. No other church has accepted these messages. Then, if just this one church has accepted all of these messages, what church can be spoken of as rejecting these messages?

Mrs. White further states that the result of rejecting the Three Angels’ Messages means that a spirit of lies will control those churches. This spirit of lies is described in 11 Thessalonians 2:12. “When those that ‘believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness’ (11 Thessalonians 2:12), shall be left to receive strong delusion and to believe a lie, then the light of truth will shine upon all whose hearts are open to receive it, and all the children of the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed the call: ‘Come out of her, My people’ (Revelation 18:4).” Ibid.

Are there lies among the Seventh-day Adventists which may be a mark of this satanic spirit of lies? God warned His people through Ellen White very severely. God warned His people before the lies of Satan came, and here we have some quotations that contain those warnings. God warns His people of their unification with the world. God warns beforehand of the lie that we have a great influence on the people of the world if we link up with them. When God says that we are in danger of becoming a synagogue of Satan, He is warning us of devilish controversy—a controversy with the world, a controversy with the other churches.

In his lies, Satan suggests that, “If you link yourselves with the world, you will have more advantages. Maybe you could hinder the persecution somehow.” Whoever is following those lies is directly following Satan. We cannot say we have not been warned.

Church with Great Light

In Testimonies, vol. 8, 249, Ellen White speaks of the Seventh-day Adventists. She describes this church that has received great light, but she also tells about the defiled condition in which they are. She describes it as a church that did not heed the call of God.

“ ‘Because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before Mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.’ ‘God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,’ ‘because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,’ ‘but had pleasure in unrighteousness.’ Isaiah 66:3, 4; 11 Thessalonians 2:11, 10, 12.”

God called, “Come out of her, My people,” but they connected themselves with the churches from which they were supposed to come out. They did what was evil before His eyes. Therefore, God shall send them strong delusions that they shall believe a lie. Again it is talking about Seventh-day Adventists.

“The second angel’s message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said that ‘Babylon is fallen, . . . because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ [Revelation 14:8.] She has not yet made all nations do this. The spirit of world conforming and indifference to the testing truths for our time exists and has been gaining ground in churches of the Protestant faith in all the countries of Christendom; and these churches are included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of the second angel. But the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination.

“The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work ‘with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;’ and they that ‘received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,’ will be left to receive ‘strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.’ 11 Thessalonians 2:9–11. Not until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future.” The Great Controversy, 389, 390. [Emphasis in original.]

Before the coming of Christ, a condition will be reached as described with the union of the church with the world, all over the world, throughout Christendom. Not until this union of the church with the world, throughout all of Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. And only when the fall of Babylon is complete will the second Loud Cry come—this special loud cry which is given in all churches, including the last church which God has on earth.

No Unity with World

“The world must not be introduced into the church, and married to the church, forming a bond of unity. Through this means the church will become indeed corrupt.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 265.

The ecumenical bonds have different names in the different parts of the world. In Germany, it is called the Workshop of Christian Churches. Regardless what the name may be, they all are the same bond with Satan. Through these bonds, the church will indeed be defiled, corrupted, as stated in Revelation 18.

Small Company

This little group which has been described, this small end-time church, is found and sealed through the third angel. They are going on a narrow path and are bound in groups through the truth—the truth which is believed and lived, as shown in the third angel’s message.

In Matthew 7:13, 14, Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

How many will find the strait gate? The last generation which will meet Jesus—144,000. Is it a large number? Can you calculate how many would be from your area? In Berlin, we once calculated that there might be 10 or 12 people who would possibly be part of this number. We know what that means. We have to make such an effort to be among that number. It will cost all our energy; even though we will not be among the 144,000 because of our strength, it will cost all of our effort to get eternal life.

Parallel Development

How does God view the Advent movement? “The Lord has bestowed great blessings upon His church. Justice demands that she return these talents with usury. As the treasures of truth committed to her keeping have increased, her obligations have increased. But instead of improving upon these gifts and going forward unto perfection, she has fallen away from that which she had attained in her earlier experience. The change in her spiritual state has come gradually and almost imperceptibly. As she began to seek the praise and friendship of the world, her faith diminished, her zeal grew languid, her fervent devotion gave place to dead formality. Every advance step toward the world was a step away from God. As pride and worldly ambition have been cherished, the spirit of Christ has departed, and emulation, dissension, and strife have come in to distract and weaken the church.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 240, 241.

There is a parallel development of the modern angel and ancient Israel just before the coming of Christ. Ellen White wrote: “We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half understand it. We do not half take it in. My heart trembles in me when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how poorly we are prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ—how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God’s servants, that they may not be able to discern the precious truth.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 406.

“The alliances made by the Israelites with their heathen neighbors resulted in the loss of their identity as God’s peculiar people. They became leavened by the evil practises [sic] of those with whom they formed forbidden alliances. Affiliation with worldlings caused them to lose their first love, and their zeal for God’s service. The advantages they sold themselves to gain, brought only disappointment, and caused the loss of many souls.

“The experience of Israel will be the experience of all who go to the world for strength, turning away from the living God. Those who forsake the mighty One, the source of all strength, and affiliate with worldlings, placing on them their dependence, become weak in moral power, as are those in whom they trust.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1155, 1156. Those who are trying to come together with the other churches for a worldly advantage are exactly the fulfillment of this prophecy, of this danger.

“Satan’s snares are laid for us as verily as they were laid for the children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan. We are repeating the history of that people.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 160.

To be continued . . .

Dr. Korinth is a physician living in Berlin, Germany. He is very active in speading the Three Angels’ Messages throughout Europe. He and his family have a printing press in their home and have had tracts translated in most of the different European languages. He is a promoter of home churches and is very interested in working with other historic Seventh-day Adventist groups worldwide. He may be contacted by e-mail at: hkorinth@mefag.de.

Editorial – Unity and Dissonance, Part VI

by

Through this series on “Unity and Dissonance,” we have looked at how God’s faithful people at the end will be opposed—first by the professed church and later by the world. We have seen that one of the initial attacks against God’s people by their professed brethren will be the charge that they are not accountable to the church organization, as it is claimed they should be. This is the same attack that was made against John the Baptist at the first coming of Christ. It was made repeatedly against Jesus, and it was also made against the apostle Paul.

God’s people must remember as well that we need to counsel with one another and with the Lord at each step of advancement. On the other hand, we must know that there is a time when the Lord forbids us to counsel with our “brethren.” Inspired counsel has been given to us about this subject.

“A man can not safely be intrusted [sic] with the control of others, unless he himself is under the satisfaction of the Holy Spirit.” Bible Training School, January 1, 1908.

“Honor is to be given to the human powers by putting them to the very highest use in the service of God. Under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit, all may be co-laborers with God. All whom God has blessed with reasoning powers are to become intellectual Christians. They are not requested to believe without evidence; therefore Jesus has enjoined upon all to search the Scriptures. Let the ingenious inquirer, and the one who would know for himself what is truth, exert his mental powers to search out the truth as it is in Jesus. Any neglect here is at the peril of the soul. We must know individually the prescribed conditions of entering into eternal life. We must know what is the voice of God, that we may live by every word that proceeds out of his mouth. We cannot allow these questions to be settled for us by another’s mind, or another’s judgment.” Review and Herald, March 8, 1887.

“John had not recognized the authority of the Sanhedrin by seeking their sanction for his work; and he had reproved rulers and people, Pharisees and Sadducees alike. Yet the people followed him eagerly. The interest in his work seemed to be continually increasing. Though he had not deferred to them, the Sanhedrin accounted that, as a public teacher, he was under their jurisdiction.” The Desire of Ages, 132, 133.

“From childhood He [Christ] acted independently of the rabbinical laws.” Ibid., 84.

“In His instruction to Moses the Lord very plainly set forth the character of those who were to fill important positions as counselors. They are to be ‘able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness.’ [Exodus 18:21.] The Lord’s counsel has been strangely neglected. There are men in places of holy trust who, when reproved, have cared nought for it. Some who for years have stood as counselors have boldly stated that they would not receive the testimonies given. In triumph they have declared that many of our most responsible men have lost faith in the message coming from Sister White. Thus the rejecters of light have been strengthened in their unbelief, feeling that they had quite a strong confederacy. Men who have had the light have walked contrary to the light. These words are appropriate: ‘Truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.’ The malaria of unbelief has been diffusing its deathly atmosphere throughout the ranks, nigh and afar off. All this has been stated plainly, yet for years matters have been left unchanged. Can the Lord’s favor be expected under such circumstances? . . .” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 341, 342.