Isaac was old and blind, and called his sons to give them his last blessing. While Esau went hunting for venison to prepare a meal for his father, Jacob, covetous of the blessing given to the first son, deceived his father into thinking that he was the first born. Afraid of his brother, Jacob fled from his home, never to see his mother alive again (see Genesis 27).
Tired from his flight, Jacob slept, and the Lord spoke to him in a dream. Upon waking he said, “ ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!’ Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel” (Genesis 28:16–19).
Beth is the Hebrew name for house, and el is the Hebrew word for God. So Bethel is the House of God—the Great House. Isaiah 2:2 says, “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.”
Timothy describes the foundation of God’s house. He said, “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’ But, in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:19–21).
Here is described two characteristics of God’s professed church:
1) the Lord knows those who are His and
2) a call to those who claim the name of Christ to depart from evil.
The church includes those who have taken the name of Christian, although not everyone is a member of the royal family. From among the church the Lord knows who are really His. Some are just there to make appearances without experiencing a heart change.
Jesus referred to these in John 10:1. It says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” The only way to enter is through Christ, not Buddha, not Mohammed. No agnostics or atheists are in there, only those who call themselves Christian. “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver; but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor” (2 Timothy 2:20). In this house are both permanent vessels as well as temporary vessels that will be taken out. To remain in God’s house there must be a cleansing. Paul said, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter (that which is dishonorable), he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (verse 21).
Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul explained what is dishonorable saying, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–8).
Peter also admonishes against un-Christian behavior in 1 Peter 1, “… as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy for I am holy’ ” (verses 14–16).
It goes on to say in verse 18, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold.” Because we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot, we also are to separate ourselves from that which is dishonorable if we hope to become a holy people.
It is the holy people who are the precious, honorable vessels, who will not be thrown out with the trash someday. Paul says, “Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness is not an option, it is a necessity. Heaven will not be divided into two sections, one for the holy people and another for the unholy.
Isaiah 4:3 reads: “It shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy-everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.” Only the holy will be left when the Great House is cleansed and purified.
Isaiah 35 is a wonderful chapter about the future glory that God’s people will enjoy in heaven. It says in verse 8, “a highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it” (because they will not be there).
“And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken” (Isaiah 62:12).
This article focuses on the group of people who belong to the Second Advent Movement that began in the early part of the 19th century and includes a number of denominations that developed within the Second Advent Movement. Many people today do not know that the Jehovah Witnesses, for instance, were a development of the Second Advent Movement. The Seventh-day Adventist Churches came out of that movement and claim that they are the remnant church, or the last church, just before Jesus returns to this earth, and they make this claim on the basis of two Bible texts.
“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring (the remnant of her seed, KJV) who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17).
Revelation 19:10 tells us, “… the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy.” Adventists have preached for over a hundred and fifty years that they will be the ones left when the Great House is completely cleaned out and cleansed.
Today we are living in the shaking time predicted in Hebrews 12. I do not claim to understand it all yet, but one thing I do understand is that the purification of the Lord’s house is actually a terrible ordeal. What is it that will eventually cleanse and purge out all the dishonorable vessels from the Great House? Ellen White says, “Renewed, purified, sanctified, the church must be, else the wrath of God will fall upon them with much greater power than upon those who have never professed to be saints.” Lift Him Up, 301.
We see here that it is the wrath of God, the seven last plagues, that are going to clean out the house completely. There will be millions of people who claim they are in the Great House. But when the seven last plagues are over, the majority will be gone. We just read, “Renewed, purified, sanctified, the church must be, else the wrath of God will fall upon them with much greater power than upon those who have never professed to be saints.”
We are living in the most sobering times of earth’s history. The question must come to us all, Am I a holy person? Holiness is a theological word but it is not complicated. It simply means you agree with God. Those who disagree are unholy.
Holy people are obedient. “Christ has made baptism the sign of entrance to His spiritual kingdom. He has made this a positive condition with which all must comply who wish to be acknowledged as under the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 91.
When you are baptized, you acknowledge publicly that you agree with God and are now under His authority. “Baptism is a most solemn renunciation of the world. Those who are baptized in the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, at the very entrance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have forsaken the service of Satan and have become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King.” Evangelism, 307.
To be members of the royal family of God brings responsibilities. There are many who neglect to meet with the rest of God’s family when they worship the Lord on the Sabbath. We have an appointment each week at the house of God on Sabbath, the day the Lord has set aside to meet with His children. Unless sick or in the hospital, all should endeavor to meet together with like believers in praise and worship, if at all possible.
Isaiah says, “And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:23). I doubt that in heaven anyone would make an excuse for not coming to worship our Maker.
We are told: “Everyone should feel that he has a part to act in making the Sabbath meetings interesting. You are not to come together simply as a matter of form, but for the interchange of thought.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 362. The Sabbath School is a time for interchange of thought. It is a time when people have opportunity to testify what the Lord has done for them over the past week, or ask for prayer requests. It is also time for the expression of thanksgiving. How wonderful would it be that the hour of Sabbath School was filled with thanksgiving.
Another reason we meet together is “for the utterance of your sincere desire for divine enlightenment, that you may know God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. Communing together worshiping Christ will strengthen the soul for life’s trials and conflicts. Never think that you can be Christians and yet withdraw yourselves within yourselves. Each one is a part of the great web of humanity, and the experience of each will be largely determined by the experience of his associates.” Ibid.
H.M.S. Richards used to say that if the church was not necessary, Christ would not have established it. Do not think you can get along on your own and not show up in God’s family to meet together for worship. Many who live where there is no religious freedom and risk being captured, tortured, put in prison, or killed, still meet; they see the necessity of getting together to study God’s word and worship Him.
We often receive letters from people who have no one with whom to worship; others meeting in very small churches of maybe 2, 3, 4 or 6. Be encouraged, for the servant of the Lord said, “The place of worship may be very humble (it maybe in somebody’s home) but it is no less acknowledged by God. To those who worship God in spirit and in truth and in the beauty of holiness it will be as the gate of heaven. The company of believers may be few in number, but in God’s sight they are very precious. By the cleaver of truth they have been taken as rough stones from the quarry of the world and have been brought into the workshop of God to be hewed and shaped. But even in the rough they are precious in the sight of God. The ax, the hammer, and the chisel of trial are in the hands of One who is skillful; they are used, not to destroy, but to work out the perfection of every soul. As precious stones, polished after the similitude of a palace, God designs us to find a place in the heavenly temple.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 363.
If we are to be one of the living stones in His heavenly temple we must be fashioned by the “One who is skillful.” A look at the people in most of the churches throughout history reveals them in a deplorable condition, but it is God’s work to shape all into living stones that fit exactly where the Master Builder wants to place them.
It is recorded in Revelation 2 and 3 for all but two of the churches what the Lord had against them. Each was in a terrible condition and severely rebuked, but given hope if they would overcome their faults.
The Philadelphia church was one of the two churches that was not reproved. But if you go to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:16 and 17, it says, “So then, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).
Only Smyrna and Philadelphia escaped reproof. However, they still had people in them who claimed to be true Christians but were actually part of the synagogue of Satan. These churches still had huge problems. Read Revelation 2:9, and Revelation 3:9.
The church is supposed to bring holiness into the world. But oftentimes the world, instead, has brought unholiness into the church. Remember, when the Great House is cleaned out, only the holy vessels—the honorable vessels—will remain.
The Lord repeatedly said to His people anciently, and repeated it through the apostle Paul: “Come apart from what is unclean, be separate and touch not what is unclean, and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17, literal translation).
At the end of time a final loud cry will result in cleaning out the Great House.
Revelation 18 has to do with separating from organizations, groups, churches, who are living in open sin and refuse to repent. Revelation 2:21–23 speaks of a time in the church when the church was given opportunity to repent and would not.
Revelation 18 describes the fall of Babylon. Once identified, we must separate from it or we will end up sharing in her sins and sharing in the plagues as well. When a church falls and refuses to repent, she will receive the judgments of God.
Be sure to understand who Babylon is. Babylon claims to be part of the Great House. It cannot be the Hindus, the agnostics, the atheists, the Moslems, or anybody who does not claim the name of Christ. But Babylon, all of Babylon, claims to be part of the Great House of God. Babylon takes the name of Christ.
Revelation 18:2, last part, records that because of what Babylon has become, it is necessary to get out or receive the plagues with her. It says, “It has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird” (Revelation 18:3). Spiritualism will overtake the church and it will be controlled by demons.
In Matthew 7:6, Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs.” A dog is an unclean beast. It is not a clean animal. It says in Revelation 22:15, that outside the holy city, on the outside, will be all the dogs. It is not talking about animals. It is talking about people. You cannot be part of any church that tries to mix what is holy with what is unholy.
“For all nations have drunk of the wine (false doctrines) of the wrath of her fornication, the kings (governments) of the earth have committed fornication (the union of church and state) with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury” (Revelation 18:3). It is impossible to stay pure and listen to false doctrines being preached and taught without losing your soul. The wealth and luxury of the world has come in and taken over the churches, shifting their focus from God to worldliness.
The Jews taught that where the law of God is not obeyed, there Satan dwells. “He who sins is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). If a church teaches that you can break God’s law and still go to heaven, that church has become a habitation of demons. For your safety, you have to get out of there.
Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1–11 carefully. This passage of Scripture talks about people who will believe “the lie”—the idea that you can sin and still have eternal life—the very first lie with which the devil deceived Eve.
The Great House of God is being cleaned out. The big question is, where will you be, on the inside as an honorable vessel, or cast out?
(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)
Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.