Why Home Churches – Part III

Ellen White tells us that prior to 1888 the church had been looking to man. (Testimonies to Ministers, 91–93.) The message of 1888 was sent to direct the eyes of the church back on Jesus and away from men.

In 1901, Ellen White and other leaders attempted to change the situation in Adventism, and a change was made. In fact the constitution of the General Conference (GC) was re-written at the GC session that year. Under the new constitution there was not to be a president, but instead a committee was to oversee the affairs of the GC, and this committee was to elect a new chairman each year. At the end of that conference, Ellen White said, “The angels of God have been walking up and down here.” God approved of what had been done.

Within a matter of days, Ellen White wrote some strong words about what had happened However, as we have studied before, the new constitution was never put into effect. Two years later, at the 1903 General Conference, the reorganization of the 1901 General Conference was reversed.

From Saint Helena, California, April 21, 1903: “Our position in the world is not what it should be. We are far from where we should have been had our Christian experience been in harmony with the light and the opportunities given us.…In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence, ‘Found wanting.’” Testimonies, vol. 8, 247.

“One who sees beneath the surface, who reads the hearts of all men, says of those who have had great light: ‘They are not afflicted and astonished because of their moral and spiritual condition.’…The heavenly teacher inquired: ‘What stronger delusion can beguile the mind than the pretense that you are building on the right foundation and that God accepts your works, when in reality you are working out many things according to worldly policy and are sinning against Jehovah?’ Oh, it is a great deception, a fascinating delusion, that takes possession of minds when men who have once known the truth, mistake the form of godliness for the spirit and power thereof.” Ibid., 249.

“Unless there is thorough repentance, unless men humble their hearts by confession and receive the truth as it is in Jesus, they will never enter heaven.…Who can truthfully say: ‘Our gold is tried in the fire; our garments are unspotted by the world.’ I saw our Instructor pointing to the garments of so-called righteousness. Stripping them off, He laid bare the defilement beneath. Then He said to me: ‘Can you not see how they have pretentiously covered up their defilement and rottenness of character? How is the faithful city become an harlot!’” Ibid., 250.

“For this cause there is weakness, and strength is lacking. Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat the fruit of her own doing until she shall abhor herself.” Ibid.

The Self-Supporting Work

The very next year, 1904, with the approval of the Lord’s Prophet, there was a new development in Adventism—the self-supporting work. I believe, that if we had accepted the 1888 message, and not reversed the 1901 re-organization, we would never have needed the self-supporting work. We would have all been working together in unity and harmony as God intended.

Last month we studied several points about the self-supporting work in the Spirit of Prophecy:

  1. It was authorized by God.
  2. It was not to be owned or controlled by the Conference.
  3. It was not to be broken up or stopped.
  4. It was fully authorized by God, not only for its existence but also to solicit funds from God’s people.
  5. It would be involved in the closing of God’s work. The self-supporting work came into existence because it was impossible for Sutherland and Magan to introduce the needed educational reforms into the schools under the control of the “regular lines.” The home-church movement came into existence for similar reasons.

Apostasy Follows the Rejection of the Message in 1888

There were other consequences to our rejection of the message in 1888. Because the church trusted in man, instead of looking to Jesus, moral confusion resulted and the devil brought in heresies to mislead minds. Ellen White called this the “alpha of apostasy” or the “alpha of deadly heresies,” and it was sweeping through Adventism by 1902. It gained control of most of our leading men, not just physicians but many of our leading ministers, and it is another of the great reasons for the home-church movement.

Ellen White predicted that the alpha of apostasy would soon be followed by the omega, and she said, “I tremble for our people.” (Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 341.) The alpha was just the beginning of a series of heresies that would end in the omega. They are directly connected and the omega is simply the final outcome of the same apostasy that was at work in the alpha.

In order then, to understand how and what is going to happen with the omega, we must understand what happened during the alpha. Notice carefully the following quotations about the alpha apostasy:

“The experience that was given us at the General Conference held in Battle Creek early in 1901 was of God. Had Doctor Kellogg at that time done thorough work, the terrible experience through which we are now passing would never have been.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, 217.

“God has permitted the presentation of this combination of good and evil in ‘Living Temple’ to be made to reveal the danger threatening us. The working that has been so ingeniously carried on, He has permitted in order that certain developments might be made, and that it might be seen what a man can do with human minds when he has obtained their confidence as a physician.” Series B, 242. In other words, if they had accepted what God was trying to do in 1901 they would not have been attacked by the alpha of apostasy.

Characteristics of the Alpha

Let us look now at several points that were involved in the alpha.

  1. It came into existence within the church, not outside the church. It arose among Seventh-day Adventist leaders.
  2. It almost gained control of the church.
  3. It was both atheistic and spiritualistic. “I was instructed to call upon our physicians and ministers to take a firm stand for the truth. We are not to allow atheistic, spiritualistic sentiments to be brought before our youth.” Special Testimonies, No. 7, 38.
  4. It involved a controversy over the nature of God and the nature of the Godhead. “It is something that cannot be treated as a small matter that men who have had so much light, and such clear evidence as to the genuineness of the truth we hold, should become unsettled, and led to accept spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God.” Ibid., 37.
  5. Ellen White said that if these doctrines were followed to their logical conclusion it would sweep away the whole Christian economy. (Evangelism, 601.)
  6. It involved a removal of the foundation pillars of the Seventh-day Adventist faith. “The heavenly messenger turned to those professing to be medical missionaries, and said, ‘How could you allow yourselves to be led blindfold? How could you so misrepresent the name you bear? You have your Bibles. Why have you not reasoned from cause to effect? You have accepted theories that have led you away from the truths that are to stamp their impress upon the characters of all Seventh-day Adventists. Your leader has been moving the foundation timbers one by one and his reasoning would soon leave us with no certain foundation for our faith.’” Special Testimonies, No. 7, 39.
  7. This alpha of apostasy involved a rejection of the Spirit of Prophecy.
  8. Ellen White said that we are not to enter into discussion on these theories. “The more fanciful theories are discussed, the less men will know of God and of the truth that sanctifies the soul.” Ibid., 51. “I knew that I must warn our brethren and sisters not to enter into controversy over the presence and personality of God.” Ibid., 53.
    • That is how Lucifer himself began his downward track. There were some things he wanted to know that he could not know. In the chapter in The Great Controversy, “The Snares of Satan,” Ellen White says that the devil tries to get men to ask questions that God will never answer through all eternity. There are some things that you and I will never know. Are you willing to let God be God? Hasn’t He given us sufficient revelation of Himself so that we can know that He has infinite love and mercy for us and that we can trust Him? But that does not mean that we are going to be able to explain and know everything.
  9. This apostasy led men to “sanctify” sin and make it appear less serious. “The difficulties that have arisen have been very hard to meet, and they are far from being settled yet. One, and another, and still another are presented to me as having been led to accept the pleasing fables that mean the sanctification of sin. Living Temple contains the alpha of a train of heresies.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 11, 247.

A Time for Silence?

We are living in a day of political correctness, and many are afraid to even preach or teach the Three Angels’ Messages because they fear that they will hurt someone’s feelings. However, compare this common attitude to how God’s prophet told us we are to deal with sin. “…When men standing in the position of leaders and teachers work under the power of spiritualistic ideas and sophistries, shall we keep silent, for fear of injuring their influence while souls are being beguiled? Satan will use every advantage that he can obtain to cause souls to become beclouded and perplexed in regard to the work of the church.” Ibid.

“When men stand out in defiance against the counsel of God, they are warring against God. Is it right for those connected with such ones to treat them as if they were in perfect harmony with them, making no difference between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not? Though they be ministers or medical missionaries, they have dishonored Christ before the forces of the loyal and the disloyal. Open rebuke is necessary, to prevent others from being ensnared. To believe that evil must not be condemned because this would condemn those who practice the evil is to act in favor of falsehood…The enmity that God has put in our hearts against deceptive practices, must be kept alive, because these practices endanger the souls of those who do not hate them.” Ibid.

“All deceptive dealings, all untruthfulness regarding the Father and the Son, by which their characters are presented in a false light, are to be recognized as grievous sins…It should now be clearly understood that we are not really helping those who are determined to do evil, when we show them respect, and keep our words of reproof for those with whom the disaffected one is at enmity. A grave mistake has been and is being made in this matter. Shall the servants of Jehovah, into whose heart He puts enmity against every evil work, be assailed as not being right when they call evil evil, and good good? Those who feel so very peaceable in regard to the works of the men who are spoiling the faith of the people of God, are guided by delusive sentiment. There is to be a constant conflict between good and evil.” Ibid., 26, 27.

“Those who are enlightened by the Holy Spirit’s power are to strive with every power of their being to snatch the prey from the seductive influences of men who refuse to obey the word of God.” Ibid. And this is happening through the home-church movement today.

In the context of the alpha of apostasy Ellen White wrote, “We are to unify but not on the platform of error.” There is to be no union with the alpha or any part of this apostasy. “It will be said that Living Temple has been revised. But the Lord has shown me that the writer has not changed, and that there can be no unity between him and the ministers of the gospel while he continues to cherish his present sentiments. I am bidden to lift my voice in warning to our people, saying, ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked.’” Selected Messages, Book 1, 199. “I am instructed to say that those who would tear away the foundation that God has laid are not to be accepted as the teachers and leaders of His people.” Battle Creek Letters, 82.

If there was to be no union with the alpha, should there be union with the omega? We have a home-church movement today, because people cannot unify on a platform of error (apostasy). They know that they cannot allow these apostate leaders to teach their children nor is it safe to listen to their preaching.

Another Shaking?

When the apostasy gets bad enough, there comes a separation, or shaking. During the shaking, God’s faithful children will be forced to separate from the apostasy, from the omega, just as they had to separate from the alpha. The alpha began when there was an attempt to unite Adventism with other churches who did not accept the Spirit of Prophecy or keep all the commandments, and there is every indication that the omega will involve the same thing.

In Manuscript 30, 1889, God’s prophet wrote: “I told them a little of how matters had been carried [on] at Minneapolis, and stated the position I had taken, that Pharisaism had been at work leavening the camp here at Battle Creek, and the Seventh-day Adventist Churches were affected; but the Lord had given me a message, and with pen and voice I would work until this leaven was expelled and a new leaven was introduced, which was the grace of Christ. I was confirmed in all I had stated in Minneapolis, that a reformation must go through the churches.” (This reformation involves men taking their eyes off other men and placing them on Jesus, as their example and guide.)

“Reforms must be made, for spiritual weakness and blindness were upon the people who had been blessed with great light and precious opportunities and privileges. As reformers they had come out of the denominational churches, but they now act a part similar to that which the churches acted. We hoped that there would not be the necessity for another coming out. While we will endeavor to keep the ‘unity of the Spirit’ in the bonds of peace, we will not with pen or voice cease to protest against bigotry.” 1888 Materials, 356.

Is there a possibility that there might have to be another coming out? “The Lord is soon to come, and the end of all things is at hand.…I see perplexities on every side. As character develops, men and women will take their position, for varied circumstances brought to bear upon them will cause them to reveal the spirit which prompts them to action. Everyone will reveal the character of the bundle with which he is binding himself. The wheat is being bound up for the heavenly garner. The true people of God are now bound up for the heavenly garner.” 1888 Materials, 995.

During the shaking, we all reveal what is inside. “The true people of God are now pulling apart, and the tares are being bound in bundles ready to burn. Decided positions will be taken. Satan will move upon minds that have been indulged, upon men who have always had their own way, and anything presented to them, in counsel or reproof, to change their objectionable traits of character is considered fault finding, binding them, restraining them, that they cannot have liberty to act themselves. The Lord in great mercy has sent messages of warning to them, but they would not listen to reproof. Like the enemy who rebelled in heaven, they do not like to hear, do not correct the wrong they have done but become accusers, declaring themselves misused and unappreciated. Now is the time of trial, of test, of proving. Those who, like Saul, will persist in having their own way will suffer, as he did, loss of honor and finally the loss of the soul. God has a people, and they will be a tried people, but the people will be humble. They are under the guidance of the Holy One in thought, in word, in deed. Can any of us find a path more pleasant than that in which the Eternal One leads the way? Self must die.”

“Satan will work with his masterly power to separate the soul from God. We hear the different voices sounding from every quarter that our attention shall be taken from the true issue in this time. The end is near and let there not be a confusion of voices to misguide and mislead some astray. To say, ‘Peace, Peace,’ to these souls who have long resisted the voice of the true Shepherd, who have contended long against Omnipotence, is to quiet his conscience to the sleep of death.…Dark hours of trial are before the church because they have not obeyed the warnings and reproofs and counsel of God. What a bewitching power comes upon human minds to do contrary to the oft-repeated will of God, and close the eyes and stop the ears, when Jesus is calling to them to hear His voice. He says, ‘My sheep hear my voice.’…Before the great trouble shall come upon the world such as has never been since there was a nation, those who have faltered and who would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths will reveal this before the real vital test, the last proving comes so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the true Shepherd. The time of our educating will soon be over. We have no time to lose in walking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty because of uncertain voices.” Ibid.

Who are we following? The one and only Guide? Or are we listening to uncertain voices? If we are, they will lead us to the sleep of death. And what is the sleep of death that she refers to? It is when a person, who is living in sin, thinks that he can keep on living in sin because sin has been “sanctified” in his eyes. How very dangerous it is to think that you are saved, when you are really lost. Many will finally realize that they are in this condition, but only when it is too late! It is dangerous to go to a church or to attempt to have any unity or harmony with people who are teaching “uncertain words.”

The home-church movement became necessary because God is getting ready a group of people to be translated, and there must be churches where this is the focus. Every time you go to church you should be learning more about what it takes to be ready for Jesus to come; and what we can do to get the Three Angels’ Messages to the whole world! If your church loses sight of either one of those goals, you are in the wrong church—no matter what name it claims. Do you want to be ready to meet Jesus when He comes? And is it the focus of your life to help others prepare to meet Him also? May God help us to never lose sight of the reasons for our existence.