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Bible Study Guides – The Church and Its Youth

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August 23 – 29, 2020

Key Text

“It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth” (Lamentations 3:27).

Study Help: Messages to Young People, 173–175.

Introduction

“The Lord calls for young men and women to enter His service. The youth are receptive, fresh, ardent, hopeful. When once they have tasted the spirit of self-sacrifice, they will not be satisfied unless they are learning constantly of the great Teacher.” Our High Calling, 306.

Sunday

OUR FIRST DUTY

  • Whom did Jesus commend as examples of humble faith? Matthew 18:1–6.
  • What did Jesus ask of one of His most ardent disciples? John 21:15–17.

Note: “The first work that Christ entrusted to Peter on restoring him to the ministry was to feed the lambs. This was a work in which Peter had little experience. It would require great care and tenderness, much patience and perseverance. It called him to minister to those who were young in the faith, to teach the ignorant, to open the Scriptures to them, and to educate them for usefulness in Christ’s service.” The Desire of Ages, 812.

“Although Peter had denied his Lord, the love which Jesus bore him never faltered. Just such love should the undershepherd feel for the sheep and lambs committed to his care. Remembering his own weakness and failure, Peter was to deal with his flock as tenderly as Christ had dealt with him.” Ibid., 815.

  • What searching question will parents, educators, and church leaders of today face? Jeremiah 13:20.

Monday

THE HIGHEST WORK

  • What is the highest missionary work that can be done? Mark 10:13, 14, 16.

Note: “Very much has been lost to the cause of truth by a lack of attention to the spiritual needs of the young. Ministers of the gospel should form a happy acquaintance with the youth of their congregations. …

“Why should not labor for the youth in our borders be regarded as missionary work of the highest kind? It requires the most delicate tact, the most watchful consideration, the most earnest prayer for heavenly wisdom. The youth are the objects of Satan’s special attacks; but kindness, courtesy, and the sympathy which flows from a heart filled with love to Jesus, will gain their confidence, and save them from many a snare of the enemy.” Gospel Workers, 207.

“The work that lies next to our church members is to become interested in our youth; for they need kindness, patience, tenderness, line upon line, precept upon precept. Oh, where are the fathers and mothers in Israel? There ought to be a large number who would be stewards of the grace of Christ, who would feel not merely a casual but a special interest in the young. There ought to be those whose hearts are touched by the pitiable situation in which our youth are placed, and who realize that Satan is working by every conceivable device to draw them into his net.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 41, 42.

“Nothing is of greater importance than the education of our children and young people. The church should arouse and manifest a deep interest in this work; for now as never before, Satan and his host are determined to enlist the youth under the black banner that leads to ruin and death.” Ibid., 165.

  • How did Jesus show the value of children? Matthew 18:2–4.

Note: “Calling a little child to Him, Jesus set him in the midst of them; then tenderly folding the little one in His arms He said, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 18:3). The simplicity, the self-forgetfulness, and the confiding love of a little child are the attributes that Heaven values. These are the characteristics of real greatness.” The Desire of Ages, 437.

Tuesday

HOW TO FEED LAMBS

  • What should children be taught? Psalm 34:11. How should this be done?

Note: “Special talent should be given to the education of the little ones. Many can put the crib high and give food to the sheep, but it is a more difficult matter to put the crib low and feed the lambs.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 205.

“Let me say here that those who have never had children of their own are not usually the best qualified to manage wisely the varied minds of children and youth. They are apt to make one law, from which there can be no appeal. Teachers must remember that they themselves were once children. They should adapt their teaching to the minds of the children, placing themselves in sympathy with them.” Ibid., vol. 5, 653, 654.

  • What spiritual experience should teachers have, and how should they then instruct the children? Deuteronomy 11:18–21.

Note: “When Jesus admonished His disciples not to despise the little ones, He addressed all disciples in all ages. His own love and care for children is a precious example for His followers. If teachers in the Sabbath school felt the love which they should feel for these lambs of the flock, many more would be won to the fold of Christ. At every suitable opportunity, let the story of Jesus’ love be repeated to the children. In every sermon let a little corner be left for their benefit. The servant of Christ may have lasting friends in these little ones, and his words may be to them as apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Counsels on Sabbath School Work, 76.

“The management and instruction of children is the noblest missionary work that any man or woman can undertake. By the proper use of objects the lessons should be made very plain, that their minds may be led from nature up to nature’s God. We must have in our schools those who possess the tact and skill to carry forward this line of work, thus sowing seeds of truth.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 205.

  • What will be the results of faithfulness in educating? Proverbs 22:6; Joel 1:3.

Wednesday

MAKING CHRISTIAN EDUCATION A PRIORITY

  • What was the work of Christ? How is this also the work of the church? Isaiah 40:11.

Note: “The youth need more than a casual notice, more than an occasional word of encouragement. They need painstaking, prayerful, careful labor. He only whose heart is filled with love and sympathy will be able to reach those youth who are apparently careless and indifferent. Not all can be helped in the same way. God deals with each according to his temperament and character, and we must cooperate with Him. Often those whom we pass by with indifference, because we judge them from outward appearance, have in them the best material for workers, and will repay all the efforts bestowed on them. There must be more study given to the problem of how to deal with the youth, more earnest prayer for the wisdom that is needing in dealing with minds.” Gospel Workers, 208.

  • What should guide education for the youth? Proverbs 9:10.

Note: “It is high time for Sabbath-keepers to separate their children from worldly associations and place them under the very best teachers, who will make the Bible the foundation of all study.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 109.

“Employ a Christian teacher, who, as a consecrated missionary, shall educate the children in such a way as to lead them to become missionaries.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 174.

“Many families who, for the purpose of educating their children, move to places where our large schools are established, would do better service for the Master by remaining where they are. They should encourage the church of which they are members to establish a church school where the children within their borders could receive an all-round, practical Christian education. It would be vastly better for their children, for themselves, and for the cause of God if they would remain in the smaller churches, where their help is needed, instead of going to the larger churches, where, because they are not needed, there is a constant temptation to fall into spiritual inactivity.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 198.

“The Lord would use the church school as an aid to the parents in educating and preparing their children for this time before us. Then let the church take hold of the school work in earnest and make it what the Lord desires it to be.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 167.

Thursday

YOUTH IN SERVICE

  • What goal must our church schools have for each of our youth? Isaiah 54:13; 3 John 3, 4.

 Note: “Our church schools are ordained by God to prepare the children for this great work. Here children are to be instructed in the special truths for this time and in practical missionary work. … By them God’s message will be made known and His saving health to all nations. Then let the church carry a burden for the lambs of the flock. Let the children be educated and trained to do service for God, for they are the Lord’s heritage.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 203.

  • Why should we involve them in service early? Ecclesiastes 12:1; Lamentations 3:27.

Note: “We need young men and women, who, having high intellectual culture, are fitted to do the best work for the Lord. We have done something toward reaching this standard, but still we are far behind that which the Lord has designed. As a church, as individuals, if we would stand clear in the judgment we must make more liberal efforts for the training of our young people, that they may be better fitted for the various branches of the great work committed to our hands. …

“Some would be content with the thorough education of a few of the most promising of our youth; but they all need an education that they may be fitted for usefulness in this life, qualified for places of responsibility in both private and public life.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 206, 207.

Friday

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1    What does it mean to feed the lambs of the flock?

2    Why is the most important missionary work often overlooked?

3    How can we improve in the care of our children and youth?

4    What role does the church school have in the church’s work of education?

5    What opportunities can I help provide for training youth in my local church?

© 2019, Reformation Herald Publishing Association, 5240 Hollins Road, Roanoke, Virginia 24019-5048, U.S.A.

Bible Study Guides – “They Overcame Him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of Their Testimony”

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MEMORY VERSE: “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” Revelation 10:11.

STUDY HELP: Testimonies, vol. 1, 58–61.

INTRODUCTION: “The work is soon to close. The members of the church militant who have proved faithful will become the church triumphant. In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what God has wrought, I am filled with astonishment and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” Review and Herald, October 12, 1905.

  • How is the remnant of God’s church in the final generation described? Revelation 12:17.

NOTE: “Those who are living amid the perils of the last days, days which are characterized by the masses turning from the truth of God to fables, will have close work to turn from the fables which are prepared for them on every hand, and have an appetite to feast upon unpopular truth. Those who turn from these fables to truth are despised, hated, and persecuted by those who are presenting fables to the people for their reception. Satan is at war with the remnant who are endeavouring to keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus. Evil angels are commissioned to employ men as their agents upon the earth. These can the most successfully exert an influence to make Satan’s attacks effective against the remnant whom God calls ‘a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.’ This, Satan is determined to hinder. He will employ everyone who will engage in his service to hinder the chosen people of God from showing forth the praises of Him who has called them from darkness into His marvelous light. To hide, to cover up this light, to cause people to distrust it, to disbelieve it, is the work of the great rebel and his host. While Jesus is purifying His people unto Himself, redeeming them from all iniquity, Satan will employ his forces to hinder the work and prevent the perfection of the saints. He does not exert his power upon those who are all covered up with deception and walled in by fables and error, and who make no effort to receive and obey the truth. He knows he is sure of them; but those who are seeking for truth, that they may obey it in the love of it, are the ones who excite his malice and stir his ire. He can never weaken them while they keep close to Jesus; therefore he is pleased when he can lead them in a course of disobedience.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 105.

  • Against what particular error are those who live in the last days warned? 2 Timothy 3:1 and 5.

NOTE: “We are living in perilous times, when those who profess to love and obey God deny Him in their daily lives. ‘For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.’ God does not want you to be found among this class . . . In His word you may learn how to shun these evils, and in the end be overcomers . . .It is not enough for you to avoid the appearance of evil; you must go farther than this; you must ‘learn to do well.’ You must represent Christ to the world. It must be your daily study how you can learn to work the works of God. His followers are to be living epistles, ‘known and read of all men.’ You can never secure a good character by merely wishing for it. It can be gained only by labour. Your desires in this direction must be expressed in earnest, honest endeavour and patient toil. By taking advance steps each day up the ladder of progress, you will find yourself at last at the top, a conqueror, yes, more than a conqueror, through Him who has loved you.” Youth’s Instructor, November 5, 1896.

  • What message must be proclaimed to the whole world before Jesus comes? Revelation 14:6–12.

NOTE: “In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import, the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention. The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God’s people are to be true to the trust committed to them. They are not to engage in speculation, neither are they to enter into business enterprises with unbelievers; for this would hinder them in their God-given work. Christ says of His people: ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ Matthew 5:14. It is not a small matter that the counsels and plans of God have been so clearly opened to us. It is a wonderful privilege to be able to understand the will of God as revealed in the sure word of prophecy. This places on us a heavy responsibility. God expects us to impart to others the knowledge that He has given us. It is His purpose that divine and human instrumentalities shall unite in the proclamation of the warning message.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 19.

  • How does the prophecy of Revelation 10 picture the worldwide proclamation of the final message and the disappointment of those who first proclaimed it? Revelation 10:1–11.

NOTE: “The message of the coming of the Lord in the autumn of 1844 spread rapidly through America and other parts of the world. It greatly moved the hearts of men and stirred the Protestant churches of that time. Tens of thousands looked for the coming of the Lord at the close of the great prophetic period of 2300 days in 1844. Every preparation was made to greet Him with great joy and gladness, and then came the bitterness of disappointment, for the Lord did not come….The disappointment, however, was no evidence that the Lord was not in the movement, for in this tenth chapter of Revelation He anticipates this very experience, and in the last verse points His people to a task of world-wide extent He had yet for them to perform prior to His glorious appearing, for their work had not yet been finished.” Daniel and the Revelation, Uriah Smith, 528.

  • Against what development in the church in the last days are we warned? 2 Timothy 4:3.

NOTE: “The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillarsof our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath, of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure. Who has authority to begin such a movement? We have our Bibles. We have our experience, attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. We have a truth that admits of no compromise. Shall we not repudiate everything that is not in harmony with this truth?” Battle Creek Letters, 81–82.

  • What will guard God’s people against such developments? Acts 17:11.

NOTE: “The fact that there is no controversy or agitation among God’s people should not be regarded as conclusive evidence that they are holding fast to sound doctrine. There is reason to fear that they may not be clearly discriminating between truth and error. When no new questions are started by investigation of the Scriptures, when no difference of opinion arises which will set men to searching the Bible for themselves to make sure that they have the truth, there will be many now, as in ancient times, who will hold to tradition and worship they know not what.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 707.

  • What are the Scriptures able to do for the one who has faith in Jesus? 2 Timothy 3:15.

NOTE: “The truth of God received into the heart is able to make you wise unto salvation. In believing and obeying it you will receive grace sufficient for the duties and trials of today. Grace for tomorrow you do not need. You should feel that you have only to do with today. Overcome for today; deny self for today; watch and pray for today; obtain victories in God for today. Our circumstances and surroundings, the changes daily transpiring around us, and the written word of God which discerns and proves all things—these are sufficient to teach us our duty and just what we ought to do, day by day.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 333.

  • What salvation did Jesus come to this world to offer? Matthew 1:21.

NOTE: “The work of gaining salvation is one of co-partnership, a joint operation. There is to be co-operation between God and the repentant sinner.” Acts of the Apostles, 482.

“Your only hope and salvation is in overcoming as Christ overcame.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 457.

“The Ten Commandments, ‘Thou shalt,’ and, ‘Thou shalt not,’ are ten promises, assured to us if we render obedience to the law governing the universe. ‘If ye love Me, keep My commandments.’ Here is the sum and substance of the law of God. The terms of salvation for every son and daughter of Adam are here outlined.” Bible Echo, June 17, 1901.

  • What responsibility does God place upon parents? Deuteronomy 6:6–7.

NOTE: “In every Christian home, God should be honoured by the morning and evening sacrifices of prayer and praise. Children should be taught to respect and reverence the hour of prayer. It is the duty of Christian parents, morning and evening, by earnest prayer and persevering faith, to make a hedge about their children. In the church at home the children are to learn to pray and to trust in God. Teach them to repeat God’s law. Concerning the commandments the Israelites were instructed: ‘Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’ Deuteronomy 6:7. Come in humility, with a heart full of tenderness, and with a sense of the temptations and dangers before yourselves and your children; by faith bind them to the altar, entreating for them the care of the Lord. Train the children to offer their simple words of prayer. Tell them that God delights to have them call upon Him. Will the Lord of heaven pass by such homes and leave no blessing there? Nay, verily. Ministering angels will guard the children who are thus dedicated to God.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, 110.

  • What promise is given concerning children taught in this way? Isaiah 54:13.

NOTE: “What can give you greater joy than to see children and youth following Christ, the great Shepherd, who calls, and the sheep and lambs hear his voice and follow Him? What can spread more sunshine through the soul of the interested, devoted worker than to know that his persevering, patient labour is not in vain in the Lord, and to see his pupils have the sunshine of joy in their souls because Christ has forgiven their sins? What can be more satisfying to the worker together with God, than to see children and youth receiving the impressions of the spirit of God in true nobility of character and in the restoration of the moral image of God—the children seeking the peace coming from the Prince of Peace?” Christian Education, 156.

  • What must be the foundation of every preacher’s message? 2 Timothy 4:2.

NOTE: “This solemn charge to one so zealous and faithful as was Timothy is a strong testimony to the importance and responsibility of the work of the gospel minister. Summoning Timothy before the bar of God, Paul bids him preach the word, not the sayings and customs of men; to be ready to witness for God whenever opportunity should present itself, before large congregations and private circles, by the way and at the fireside, to friends and to enemies, whether in safety or exposed to hardship and peril, reproach and loss.” Acts of the Apostles, 503.

“Ministers are not to preach men’s opinions, not to relate anecdotes, get up theatrical performances, not to exhibit self; but as though they were in the presence of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, they are to preach the word. Let them not bring levity into the work of the ministry, but let them preach the word in a manner that will leave a most solemn impression upon those who hear. Let them not present their own ideas and fanciful notions as God’s word, but let them present the pure word of God, in all sincerity.” Review and Herald, September 28, 1897.

“Our churches are dying for the want of teaching on the subject of righteousness by faith in Christ, and on kindred truths.” Gospel Workers, 301.

“Instead of discussing erroneous theories, or seeking to combat the opponents of the gospel, follow the example of Christ. Let fresh truths from God’s treasure house flash into life. ‘Preach the word.’ ” Christ’s Object Lessons, 40.

  • What will be the effect of the Word of God on those who are willing to receive it? Acts 20:32.

NOTE: “A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. We must have the holy unction from God, the baptism of His Spirit. This is the only efficient agent in the promulgation of sacred truth. It is the Spirit of God that quickens the lifeless faculties of the soul to appreciate heavenly things, and attracts the affections toward God and the truth. What we need, what we cannot do without, is the power of the Holy Spirit to work with our efforts. All pampering of self must be at an end. There is a weakness of intellect, a lack of religious fervour, in those who want to lean upon others, to be petted, waited on, and propped up. There must be an earnest longing, a soul-hunger, for the presence of the Lord. Make Him your support, your front guard and your rearward.” Home Missionary, November 1, 1890.

  • Against what form of religion are God’s people warned to turn away? 2 Timothy 3:5.

NOTE: “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord’s second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavour to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world.” Great Controversy, 464.

Editorial – Purification of the Church, Part I

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“They fell all the way along the path one after another, until we heard the voice of God like many waters, [Ezekiel 43:2. Joel 3:16. Revelation 16:17] which gave us the day and hour of Jesus’ coming.” Word to the Little Flock, 14. This statement shows that the separation process which is necessary for the purification of the church takes place over a period of time.

What is involved in the purification of the church? How does it happen? And why is it necessary? We will look at the last question first. The purification of the church is necessary because Jesus is returning to this earth to receive a purified people who are without spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Ephesians 5:25-27). Every man who has hope of being part of this glorious church at the end “purifies himself even as He is pure.” I John 3:3. Revelation 19:7, 8 again reveals the fact that the church, the “bride”, who is ready to meet Jesus, will have “made herself ready” and will be clothed in a garment of character bright and clean. It is distinctly stated that this garment of character represents righteous acts of this group of holy people. So the purification of the church is necessary before the church can be ready for the second coming of Christ.

We will look at the first question next. What is involved in the purification of the church? We will look at this involvement not so much from the human side as from the divine side. “The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people.” Desire of Ages, 671. So this is not something that would simply be nice to have happen. The honor of God and Christ, the honor of the government of God is at stake in this development. “The great matter to be decided in the conflict was not merely between God and man; every creature that God had created was involved in the conflict. The unfallen worlds saw that the character of God could be vindicated only through this trial and conflict of the two forces. The attributes of God must be made to appear. Of the stability of his government there must be no question. And the Son of God himself proposed to carry forward the work to the end, to gain the victory over the prince of darkness and over all his allies.” Youth Instructor, April 15, 1897.

But now we come to the question, How does the purification of the church occur? First of all, God through chosen messengers initiates reformatory movements to purify His church. This was done in the time of the 16th century reformation, and in the 19th century God sent a special message of warning of judgement to purify His church. It is called the first angel’s message. The great mass of professed Protestant Christians rejected it.

“The message was designed for the testing and purification of the church. They were to be led to see whether their affections were set upon this world or upon Christ and heaven. They professed to love the Savior; now they were to prove their love. Were they ready to renounce their worldly hopes and ambitions, and welcome with joy the advent of their Lord? The message was designed to enable them to discern their true spiritual state; it was sent in mercy to arouse them to seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation.” Great Controversy, 353.

The message which God had sent for the testing and purification of the church revealed all too surely how great was the number who had set their affections on this world rather than upon Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to the voice of worldly wisdom and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.” Great Controversy, 380.

“Angels were watching with the deepest interest the result of the heavenly message, and when the churches turned from and rejected it, they in sadness consulted with Jesus. He turned His face from the churches.” Early Writings, 235.

It was because of the rejection of this heavensent warning that the Protestant churches have found it impossible to come into a purified condition to the present day.

Instead of developing into Christ’s final purified people, which was the great privilege offered them, they refused to come completely out of Babylon and chose to retain significant features of antichrist. (See Great Controversy, 384.)

The next great question is: What happened to those who accepted the message of warning that God sent? Those who accepted Bible truth point by point were established on a “firm platform” (Early Writings, 258) composed of the three angels’ messages (Rev. 14:6-12).

After l844, the work of purification proceeded in earnest with them. We plan to look at this next month.

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Editorial – Purification of the Church, Part II

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The door of salvation was shut for many in the 1840’s: “God was in the proclamation of the time in 1843. It was His design to arouse the people and bring them to a testing point, where they should decide for or against the truth . . . they [ministers and laymen] helped to sound the cry, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.. . . Angels were watching with the deepest interest the result of the heavenly message, and when the churches turned from and rejected it, they in sadness consulted with Jesus. He turned His face from the churches and bade His angels faithfully watch over the precious ones who did not reject the testimony.” Early Writings, 232–235.

Notice the way that the church was purified in 1843: God sent them light which brought them to a testing point. Would they accept or reject it? The second angel’s message revealed that those who rejected the first angel’s message had “rejected light from heaven and fell from the favor of God.” Early Writings, 237. Many were disfellowshipped and many left their former churches. (Early Writings, 260, 261.)

Any church that received and then rejected the first angel’s message in 1843 fell from the favor of God and the beloved of God had to separate from such a church. (Involved in the first angel’s message is the 2300 days terminating in 1844, the cleansing of the sanctuary, including both an open and a shut door and the call to worship God as the creator.)

“Near the close of the second angel’s message, I saw a great light from heaven shining upon the people of God. The rays of this light seemed bright as the sun. And I heard the voices of angels crying, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!’ This was the midnight cry, which was to give power to the second angel’s message.” Early Writings, 238.

The early Adventists thought that the midnight cry was at the end of the path to the city of God, but the Lord revealed to Ellen White that the midnight cry was at the beginning of the path and was of vital importance to the purification of the church. She wrote, “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 first end 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 they might not stumble. And if they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the City, they were safe . . . 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 got their eyes off the mark and lost sight of Jesus, and fell off the path down in the dark and wicked world below. It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again and go to the City, as all the wicked world which God had rejected. They fell all the way along the path one after another, until we heard the voice of God like many waters.” A Word to the Little Flock, 14.

Are you still on this path? Is your lamp burning and do you have extra oil? Or have you accepted Satan’s sophistry “that God had deceived the people”? (Early Writings, 248.) Is your religious experience vitally involved with the cleansing of the sanctuary, beginning in 1844? Do you know what it means to enter the “Most Holy Place”? Do you understand who and what the spiritual entity called “Zion” is and who and what “Babylon” is? Will you eventually fall off the path? When all who are going to deny the light behind them (the first and second angel’s messages and the midnight cry) have done so, then the church will become purified.

This is taking place with alarming rapidity all around us. As we will see, from the 1950s until the present, many Adventists all over the world have been falling off the path. (Just as the Christians in the 1840s still went to their churches, many of these today are still going to church and calling themselves Adventists, but they have fallen off the path.) Are you going to stay on the path?

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The Road to the Inquisition

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{{“We should be very cautious lest we take the first steps in this road that leads to the Inquisition.”}}

Solemn events are unfolding around us, both in the world and in God’s professed church. As we see the Bible prophecies being fulfilled in catastrophic world events and political movements, we also see the fulfillment of solemn warnings given to God’s last day people by God’s prophet.

The prophet Isaiah predicted that in the last days God’s chosen people would rebel against Him, and turn their ears away from hearing the Law. They will say to the prophets, who are sent to them, “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” Isaiah 30:10, 11.

We must ask ourselves the serious question, Have we in Adventism turned aside from hearing the words of God’s prophet? Have we turned from following God’s Holy Law to follow the commands of another leader?

In this article we will trace the steps of the apostasy, in Adventism, in order to understand how we arrived at the place we now occupy in the Historic Adventist movement. We will also consider where this path is leading and what the sure results will be (according to inspiration) unless a complete change is made.

The Road to the Inquisition

Throughout history Satan and his associates have used a consistent series of methods to destroy those who do not agree with them or will not submit to their authority. Speaking of these steps in Signs of the Times, May 26, 1890, Ellen White wrote, “The papal authorities first ridiculed the reformers, and when this did not quench the spirit of investigation, they placed them behind prison walls, loaded them with chains, and when this did not silence them or make them recant, they finally brought them to the fagot and the sword.” But, you might ask, How does this affect us today? God’s prophet continued: “We should be very cautious lest we take the first steps in this road that leads to the Inquisition.”

Although we may not have seen open, physical persecution, are there other ways that one can lead down the road to the inquisition? Consider carefully another quotation where Ellen White outlines how an inquisition has been set up even among God’s professed people. “An inquisition has been set up among those who should be free from all overbearing. God calls for the extinction of this satanic devising. The love of Christ in the heart forbids all oppression . . . But for years, some, even among those who claim to believe present truth, have acted in an oppressive manner, cherishing in the heart that fearful, hateful thing which has led them to exclude their brethren from their fellowship and their councils, because they supposed them wanting in some respects, as though the Lord has made them judges of character.” Review and Herald, January 7, 1902. [All emphasis supplied.]

Has Adventism begun down the road to the inquisition? We will begin our investigation with the General Conference Session in 1888.

The 1888 General Conference

The issues surrounding the 1888 General Conference have been widely discussed through Adventist circles, but the central issue, which Ellen White labored hardest to combat, has received little attention. That overruling problem was the kingly power that existed among the Adventist leadership at that time, which had led to a restriction of God’s work. In the 1888 Materials, Ellen White wrote about this problem many times. The following is a brief sample:

“Over and over again men have said, ‘The voice of the conference is the voice of God; therefore everything must be referred to the conference. The conference must permit or restrict in the various lines of work.’ As the matter has been presented to me, there is a narrow compass, and within this narrow compass, all the entrances to which are locked, are those who would like to exercise kingly power. But the work carried on all over the field demands an entirely different course of action. There is need of the laying of a foundation different from the foundation which has been laid in the past.

“We have heard much about everything moving in the regular lines. When we see that the ‘regular lines’ are purified and refined, that they bear the mold of the God of heaven, then it will be time to endorse these lines. But when we see that message after message given by God has been received and accepted, yet no change has been made, we know that new power must be brought into the regular lines.” 1888 Materials, 1727, 1728.

“The spirit of domination is extending to the presidents of our conferences. If a man is sanguine of his own powers and seeks to exercise dominion over his brethren, feeling that he is invested with authority to make his will the ruling power, the best and only safe course is to remove him, lest great harm be done and he lose his own soul and imperil the souls of others . . . A man’s position does not make him one jot or tittle greater in the sight of God; it is character alone that God values.” Ibid., 1445.

“Now I want to say, God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to control it in every line . . . Let me tell you, if your heart is in the work, and you have faith in God, you need not depend upon the sanction of any minister or any people; if you go right to work in the name of the Lord, in a humble way doing what you can to teach the truth, God will vindicate you.” Ibid., 1746.

What were the results of this kingly power? The first was that the work of spreading the Three Angels’ Messages was hindered, and because of this, Ellen White began to give her support to various independent workers and organizations. The foremost of these was Madison College established by E. A. Sutherland and Percy Magan, in 1908.

The Madison School

For years, Sutherland and Magan had worked in Adventist educational institutes. In 1897 they were both serving at Battle Creek College. Under the conviction that the church had not followed the divine plan for education, as set forth in the counsel of Ellen White, they began attempting to make reforms in that institution. They met stiff opposition, and finally they decided to move the college away from Battle Creek to Berrien Springs, where the new college was called Emmanuel Missionary College. Unfortunately, they still faced severe opposition as they tried to follow the divine plan, so, in 1904, they both resigned and made plans to open a self-supporting school in the South. Under the direction of the Lord, Ellen White helped Sutherland and Magan find the property for the new school, Madison College. She also gave direction for the planning of the school and served as a charter member of the board (the only college board one which she ever served ).

All was not easy for the new self-supporting school. Sutherland and Magan faced opposition (although often not open) from the leaders in the conference, and they received no financial support from the denomination. Despite all of this, Ellen White still counseled them to remain independent from the conference. She wrote: “When my advice was asked in reference to the Madison school, I said, Remain as you are. There is danger in binding every working agency under the dictation of the conference. The Lord did not design that this should be. The circumstances were such that the burden bearers in the Madison school could not bind up their work with the conference. I knew their situation, and when many of the leading men in our conferences ignored them, because they did not place their school under conference dictation, I was shown that they would not be helped by making themselves amenable to the conference. They had better remain as led by God, amenable to Him, to work out His plans. But this matter need not be blazed abroad.” Manuscript Releases vol. 8, 203–204.

God knew that if the school was under conference direction, the work of spreading the Three Angels’ Messages would be slowed, just as it had been in the older schools that had been established. Sister White wrote: “I have been shown that in our educational work we are not to follow the methods that have been adopted in our older established schools. There is among us too much clinging to old customs, and because of this we are far behind where we should be in the development of the Third Angel’s Message.” Special Testimonies 11,29.

So, we have seen that because of the problems with kingly power and the unwillingness of the Adventist leadership, in Ellen White’s day, to receive her inspired counsel, the Lord had to raise up independent organizations to train workers and spread the Three Angels’ Messages. And, very often, these independent workers were shunned, or their work was hindered because they wanted to follow the divine counsel. Kingly power wants to crush out individuality and freedom to act upon the dictates of your own conscience. This is what the conference did not like.

Has there been a reformation among the Seventh-day Adventist leadership? Or does the same problem of kingly power, which existed in the last century, still exist today? Have advances down the road to the inquisition been made? We do not have to look very far to discover the answers. Notice what happened to the people in the Hungarian General Conference, during the 1960s and 70s, and you decide if you think the problem has been solved or if it has gotten worse.

The Hungarian Crisis

In 1957, the Hungarian Union of Seventh-day Adventists joined the Council of Free Churches, a Hungarian inter-church ecumenical federation. This was done voluntarily and without any governmental coercion. (The Council of Free Churches is the Hungarian branch of the World Council of Churches, which is pushing for a national Sunday Law among other ecumenical goals.)

The knowledge that their own churches were involved in such an activity was very distressing to the faithful Adventist people in Hungary. Faithful Adventists could not keep silent when they saw such apostasy. Did they have a right to be concerned about the Hungarian Union being a part of the World Council of Churches? Notice carefully these words from the pen of inspiration which the faithful Hungarians used to defend their course of action: “The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been for years, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed—however important they might be from a Bible standpoint—must necessarily be waived. Charles Beecher, in a sermon in the year 1846, declared that the ministry of ‘the evangelical Protestant denominations’ is ‘not only formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear, but they live, and move, and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and appealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the truth, and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again? And what do we see just ahead? Another general council! A world’s convention! Evangelical alliance, and universal creed!’ When this shall be gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort to force.” Great Controversy, 444, 445.

What are the results of an ecumenical movement? This inspired warning tells us that the sure results will be persecution for God’s true people. For, it will be through ecumenism that Protestant America will form an image to the Roman hierarchy, and civil penalties for the faithful will inevitably result.

How did the Adventist leadership respond to this apostasy by the Hungarian Union? In a sermon, Neal Wilson, the President of the General Conference at that time, replied to the faithful Seventh-day Adventists who were protesting this union with the Council of Free Churches. In regard to those who had joined the CFC he stated: “They did something which seemed good in their eyes. To try to cooperate, to receive those benefits and privileges which they are entitled to by this. If we were to talk over this question today, and if they would ask us whether to enter or not, we would advise them not to enter. Not because it is wrong, or because it would be a denial of what God said . . . Not because we violate our teaching by this, and not because the Union would be committing apostasy by joining the Council of Free Churches. We do not believe this. Never think of it in this way. But because our opinion is that it would be wiser to do so.” The Hungarian Union Apostasy, Pilgrim’s Tractbooks, page 63. [All emphasis supplied.]
Was it apostasy for Adventism to join with the fallen daughters of Babylon in an ecumenical bond, in light of the clear testimony of God’s inspired word? The answer is a resounding Yes! “It is a backsliding church that lessens the distance between itself and the Papacy.” Signs of the Times, February 19, 1894.

The faithful Hungarian brethren pleaded with the Hungarian Union to withdraw from the Council of Free Churches, but they would not. As a result, whole churches that persistently protested this union were disbanded. Those who chose to stay a part of the Conference, in order to restore their membership, had to sign a declaration which stated that they were wrong and that they would remain loyal to the General Conference and accept all church policies. Twelve hundred faithful Hungarian Adventists would not sign the declaration, and all 1200 were disfellowshiped. Twenty-six ministers and Bible workers were discharged for protesting the ecumenical involvement, and five church buildings were shut down and the doors barred to keep the faithful Adventists from gathering there. And at one church, in Budapest, guards were stationed around the church to make sure none of those who had been disfellowshipped could use the building.

Open Apostasy in Russia

About the same time as the Hungarian Crisis, a similar situation occurred in Communist Russia. The issues that the faithful Adventists in Russia faced at this time were that the Conference was 1) promoting SDA children attending school on Sabbath, 2) working to stop evangelism in Russia and 3) allowing the pastors to read fictional books from the pulpit on Sabbath morning.

The faithful Seventh-day Adventists began to write letters to the General Conference about the issue sending their children to school on the Sabbath. Their reply was that they could not find a Biblical reason for them not to be attending schools on the Sabbath. (See The Kulakov File, 49.)

Kulakov, a self-appointed leader, was a strong supporter of all of the apostasy which the faithful Adventists were standing up against. When these faithful ones went to the General Conference for help, with reports of what Kulakov was promoting, not only did they not receive any help, but Kulakov received the support of the GC.

With the backing of the General Conference, Kulakov went to the civil authorities, and with their help, forced the faithful Adventists out of their long established churches. He and his followers then became the registered church in Russia. This then made the faithful Adventists an illegal organization, no longer recognized by the state as legitimate, and this forced them to go underground and hold their worship services in secret.

Do you see the progression down the road to the inquisition? Not only were the members disfellowshipped by the church without Biblical grounds, but the conference did nothing to stop Kulakov from using the civil authorities to disband faithful Adventist churches. This action is directly contrary to God’s express word. In Acts of the Apostles, 305–306, we read: “Christians should not appeal to civil tribunals to settle differences that may arise among church members. Such differences should be settled among themselves, or by the church, in harmony with Christ’s instruction . . .

“It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the development of the papacy—the beast. Said Paul: ‘There’shall ‘come a falling away, . . . and that man of sin be revealed.’ 2 Thessalonians 2:3. So apostasy in the church will prepare the way for the image to the beast.” Great Controversy, 443–444.

It was apostasy for the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and it is apostasy when Adventists seek the aid of the civil government today. So, we must ask ourselves, what is the underlying issue that leads men to seek the aid of civil governments to prosecute their brethren? The fundamental issue is the unregenerate heart which seeks to control others. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

When church leaders begin down the road of kingly power, and they wish to control the minds of their brethren, they become progressively more willing use whatever methods they can find to accomplish their purpose. They may start with ridicule, evil-speaking and withholding support, then they may disfellowship the dissenting members, and if that is not successful they may turn to civil authority to meet their end.

All this happened twenty or more years ago in the Adventist Church. Has there been a change since then? Sadly, the answer is no. There has been no reformation among the leadership of the Adventist Church. There is still the same desire to control the work. And many more people, who have been unwilling to submit to the Conference and go along with the apostasy, have been disfellowshiped or have been forced to leave their churches. As this article is being published, the General Conference is using the strong arm of the court to stop the work of a faithful minister (who has been working tirelessly to spread the Three Angels’ Messages), because he uses the name “Seventh-day Adventist.”

A Faithful Adventist Sued

Raphael Perez was a Conference pastor who was preaching the Three Angels’ Messages on radio stations in Florida. When he would not stop presenting the messages, as the Conference demanded, his ministerial license was revoked. Since that time, Raphael’s ministry has expanded to more radio stations and he now puts full-page advertisements in large city newspapers around the United States, giving the final warning message with clarity and power. The suit he is now facing threatens to destroy his ministry and make it financially impossible for him to continue giving the Three Angels’ Messages.

What exactly is the charge in the suit against Pastor Raphael Perez? In his court summons the Conference reveals their true purpose. “[Eternal Gospel has embarrassed the SDA church by his hateful denunciations of the Catholic church.]

The Conference is embarrassed by the clear presentation of the message we have been commanded to give to the world! They have shown this over and over again in recent years. Just this past January, when the Pope visited St. Louis, a number of Historic Adventist groups were there to pass out literature which exposed the Beast and the Mark of the Beast. The conference made a public apology for these “fringe groups” as they called them.

The statement posted on the Adventist Today webb page said, “The recent visit of Pope John Paul II and his message of hope, plea for high moral standards, end to racism, abortion, assisted suicide and the death penalty emphasized issues that need to be at the forefront of thought.

“Unfortunately, in conjunction with the Papal visit, offshoot groups claiming association with the Seventh-day Adventist Church have coordinated negative media campaigns which misrepresent the care, compassion and respect we have for people of all faiths . . .

“As Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we would like to apologize for any and all communications that have advocated discrimination, hatred and unwarranted persecution of members of the Roman Catholic Church . . .

“Kermit Netteburg, communication director for the Adventist Church in North America [said] ‘The public needs to be aware that fringe groups are using the Adventist Church’s name, and not identify the official Church with these ads.’ ”

What a sad day we have come to when the professed people of God no longer call sin by its right name, or call people to come out of Babylon, but instead give medallions to the Pope, complement him for the “good” he has done and participate in his masses.

Has Rome changed? Or does God still require that we expose her iniquity? “The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that Protestants [professed Adventists] are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High.” Great Controversy, 571

It is not time to join hands with Rome. It is time to give the message with clearly that “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8. God’s prophet said, “Time is short. The First, Second, and Third Angel’s Messages are the messages to be given to the world. We hear not literally the voice of the three angels, but these angels in Revelation represent a people who will be upon the earth and give these messages . . . With pen and voice we are to proclaim that very message to the world, not in a tame, indistinct whisper.” 1888 Materials, 926.

Dear friends, the time that remains for this world is very short! Right now we must take advantage of every opportunity to present the last warning message to a dying world, for soon it will be forever too late. Let us each surrender ourselves fully to the Lord so that He can change our hearts, so hardened by sin, and make us fit vessels to do His work. For without Him we can do nothing. We must ask ourselves the question, “Which side am I on? Have I taken the first steps that lead down the road to the Inquisition?” Remember, in the final conflict there will be only two groups, the faithful who will be persecuted and those who will be persecuting. May God help us to be among the faithful.

Editorial – Purification of the Church, Part III

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Question: How does the work of purification begin in the church?

[Emphasis supplied]

“Let the churches who claim to believe the truth, who are advocating the law of God, keep that law and depart from all iniquity. Let the individual members of the church resist the temptations to practice evils and indulge in sin. Let the church commence the work of purification before God by repentance, humiliation, deep heart searching, for we are in the antitypical day of atonement—solemn hour fraught with eternal results.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 378.

Question: What is the church to be purified from?

“The Church is in great need of purification. There are sins that are unrepented of and unconfessed. The poison of sin must be cleansed from the Church. Many have been so deceived, their principles so corrupted, that they have no pleasure in the word of God, and it has no power over their lives. God will test character. In the day of final judgment, when every man shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body, nothing will seem to have existence but character and the law of God. Man will be stripped of everything but the character he has formed. All will be seen to be either righteous or unrighteous.” Review and Herald, February 12, 1901.

Question: When is this purification to take place, and what will happen to church members if this work of purification is delayed?

“Many are asleep, and what can be said to arouse them from their carnal slumber? The Lord would have His church purified, before His judgments shall fall more signally upon the world. [Malachi 3 and 4 quoted.]

“I am instructed to urge upon our people most earnestly the necessity of religion in the home. Among the members of the household there is ever to be a kind, thoughtful consideration. Morning and evening let all hearts be united in reverent worship. At the season of evening worship, let every member of the family search well his own heart. Let every wrong that has been committed be made right. If, during the day, one has wronged another, or spoken unkindly, let the transgressor seek pardon of the one he has injured. Often grievances are cherished in the mind, and misunderstandings and heartaches are created that need not be. If the one who is suspected of wrong be given an opportunity, he might be able to make explanations that would bring relief to other members of the family. [Hebrews 12 is quoted, showing that the purification of the church and the shaking are one and the same.

“The Lord will show His loving favor to those who will keep His commandments. The Word, the living Word, received and obeyed, will be a savor of life unto life. The reception of the truth will regenerate and cleanse the sinful soul. This work of individual purification of character can not be safely delayed. Let our brethren and sisters take hold diligently of this work, co-operating with Him. . .

“Put away all deception. Let no one idolize his own opinions. Take your position decidedly to be fully consecrated to truth and righteousness. Christ is ready to receive all who will come to Him. Exercise a firm faith in all the promises of God. With confession and prayer, take your stand to be wholly the Lord’s henceforth and forever.

“To my ministering brethren I would say, Unite in a work of humbling your souls before God. Some have lost their first love, and need a new experience. Be determined that you will not yield to the enemy. Be patient toward all men, remembering that Christ has died for them. Improve every capability for the Lord’s work, and labor faithfully, untiringly, to save souls. Seek to arouse the churches by your own zeal.

“We all have a part to act in the Lord’s great plan for His work in the earth. We shall all have something to do, though it may be in jots and tittles, as opportunities present themselves. If these warnings are not heeded, if diligent work is not made to overcome and put away defects of character, God will soon have finished the work of judgment, and many will be found wanting. Shall we now, at once, cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God? We can not afford to delay this work of confession and humbling of soul, that our offerings may be acceptable unto God.” Review and Herald, November 8, 1906.

The Road to Persecution, Part I

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When I was growing up, my parents used to receive sermon tapes from Elder W.D. Frazee in Wildwood, Georgia. My parents had worked with Elder Frazee in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in evangelistic work before I was born so they were well-acquainted with him and he had visited in our home when my Father was working for Madison Sanitarium and hospital in Madison, Tennessee.

One of the tapes that we listened to from Elder Frazee was entitled “The Road to Persecution.” Back in those days, many things that were written in the Spirit of Prophecy, we understood as only applying to the churches in “Babylon.” But as you will see, decades ago, even most of a century ago, there were leaders in Adventism who foresaw the situation today in Adventism and tried to warn the church of the very things that we are now experiencing. The experience of true and faithful Adventists, who are censured or disfellowshipped by the majority in Seventh-day Adventist churches, was foreseen by godly leaders decades ago as you will see in this article.

The subject which Elder Frazee developed in that sermon is applicable today and is screaming in siren tones to warn us of what we are about to experience in the very near future from Seventh-day Adventists. The major points from that sermon are included in this article.

In those days, we did not perceive (perhaps in the mercy of God) that many of the prophecies about faithful Adventists being persecuted would be fulfilled not only in Babylon, but also in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. But as these prophecies have been in the process of fulfillment, and we read the inspired statements again, we have found over and over that the prophecies were not all directed at Babylon. Some have been given specifically to God’s professed remnant in these last days; for example:

“He [Dr. Kellogg] is working under the advice of the one who talked with Eve. Through this subtle reasoning the future of the cause is imperiled. I shall now have to be far more explicit than I have been in the past. I shall be compelled to make statements that I have not wanted to make, but I must be more explicit in order save the flock of God from deceptive influences.

“Every movement made now is to be carefully guarded, for the forces of Satan have minds under their control, and will strive through them to unsettle faith in the experience of the past, which bears the signature of Heaven. The delusive influences working upon human minds are of a character to unsettle the faith of the people of God in the experience of the past, which has borne the signature of Heaven.

“In His Word the Lord declared what He would do for Israel if they would obey His voice. 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. This experience will be repeated in the last years of the history of the people of God, who have been established by His grace and power. Men whom He has greatly honored will in the closing scenes of this earth’s history pattern after ancient Israel.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, 378, 379.

“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.

Compare with this statement the following: “The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth had become representatives of Satan.” Desire of Ages, 36.

“Satan’s skill is exercised in devising plans and methods without number to accomplish his purposes. He works to restrict religious liberty and to bring into the religious world a species of slavery. Organizations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan’s dictation to bring men under the control of men; and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth and for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Whatever in our practice is not as open as the day belongs to the methods of the prince of evil.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 180, 181.

“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.

We know that persecution is coming because Revelation 13:15–17 says, “He had power to give life unto the Image of the Beast, that the Image of the Beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship him, should be killed. And he causeth all both small, and great, rich, and poor, both free, and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name.”

A great persecution is coming. There will be a boycott against those who will not receive the mark of the Beast or worship the beast or his image. They will not be able to buy or sell and eventually a death decree will be issued against all those who honor all the commandments of God.

Jesus predicted that this persecution would come from organized religion—from those who call themselves God’s people: “These things have I spoken to you that you shall not be offended. They shall put you out of the Synagogues, yes the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he does God service.” This persecution is not going to be carried on simply by pagans or infidels. The men who lead out in this persecution will think that they are doing service for God. How do men come to a point where they can persecute the people of God and think that they are doing Him a service? Is there any possible danger that you and I, or that Seventh-day Adventists or those who claim to be the remnant of God could do such a thing. There most definitely is. But it does not happen in a moment, rather it generally takes a generation or longer. There is a road that leads men to the place where they will finally persecute their former brethren in the name of God. This is the road to persecution.

Revelation 13 speaks about the image to the Beast. We know that the Beast, in Revelation 13, which God warns us is a union of church and state, is the Papacy or Roman Catholicism. She became the greatest persecuting power of all times. And that is why she is pictured there in Revelation as drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

But now the issue that is ahead of us here in the United States, according to Revelation 13, is the issue of making an Image to the Beast or an Image of the Beast—both expressions are used. Now, what is an image anyway? An image, by definition, is a likeness of something else. So, there is to be formed, or should I say there is already being formed before our eyes, a likeness of that Roman power, which was drunken with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And, as the Beast was formed, so the Image is being formed. The likeness is striking. That is one of the great reasons why God, in His providence, gave us this wonderful book The Great Controversy.

Rome was Christian in its beginning. There was a church at Rome. Peter was there and Paul was there. Those are facts of church history. However, that very city eventually became the headquarters of that vast persecuting system which filled the earth with blood, in the name of Christ.

How did Rome begin its work and how will that Image be formed today? The Great Controversy, 289, 290 reads, ” The very beginning of the great apostasy was in seeking to supplement the authority of God by that of the church. Rome began by enjoining what God had not forbidden, and she ended by forbidding what He had explicitly enjoined.” Now this is one of those wonderful statements in the Spirit of Prophecy which shine out like a great beacon. Let us ponder these things.

The great apostasy began when men started to supplement the authority of God with that of the church. When Jesus left this world, He gave His church a commission and told them what they were to teach. Matthew 28:18–20 says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Was that enough? Rome did not think so.

Rome did not begin by taking away from what God had said. Rome began by adding to what God has said was necessary. For example, it took centuries to accomplish the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. First the Christian world remembered the death and resurrection of Christ every year at passover time—we can well understand how those who witnessed this most awesome event of all the ages would especially remember it every passover season, for Jesus died during that time.

The Christians wanted to avoid being associated with the Jews, who the apostles stated were contrary to all men. Thousands and thousands of their heathen neighbors paid particular attention to the first day of the week which bore the name of the sun god. And they noted that Jesus Christ had arisen from the dead on the first day of the week. That was, no doubt, in their mind a happy coincidence. And, it appeared to be good public relations, to take advantage of the honor that was given to the Sun god, on the first day of the week, and connect with it the historical fact that Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, had risen on the first day of the week, And so, over decades and decades, there gradually came to be a certain honor attached to that first day of the week, and the Christians in some places began to meet on that day every year to celebrate the resurrection.

In fact, by the middle of the second century, the Bishop of Rome decreed that the resurrection should be celebrated not on passover day, but on the Sunday nearest to passover day. And, if Passover day fell on a Sunday, then it was to be celebrated not on that Sunday but on the next Sunday, thus being as much unlike the Jews and as much like the Sun worshippers as possible.

The time soon came when it was decided not to celebrate the resurrection just one Sunday a year but every week. Since there is no commandment for any of this in the Bible, this is “enjoining what God had not forbidden.” But, for hundreds of years, even in churches that met on Sunday, the Sabbath was also kept. But gradually the honor given to Sunday was increased and the honor given to the Sabbath was decreased. Finally, the Roman Catholic church, in the council of Laodicea (over three hundred years after Jesus went back to heaven) dared to come out in the open and officially abolish the observance of the Sabbath and substitute Sunday. Three hundred years. That is a long time, but that is how long it took from when Rome began to enjoin what God had not forbidden, until she ended by forbidding what He had explicitly enjoined. And from then there were still more steps to the point where she began to persecute dissenters who were determined to be true to their conscience. A few martyrdoms occurred before the end of the fourth century, but later tens of thousands were put to death because they chose to obey what Christ had said instead of what the church said. That was the issue.

The setting of these sentences we have been studying from The Great Controversy, 289, 290 is very interesting. They appear in the middle of that book, in the chapter called The Pilgrim Fathers. In the paragraphs around this sentence, Sister White discussed the days of the reformation and the distinction of two types of reformers, those who were willing to come only part way out of Rome and those who felt that they ought to come all the way out of Rome. I encourage you to read the entire chapter.

Now, I want to study with you a little more on the point of adding to or supplementing Divine Authority. Remember, “Rome began by enjoining what God had not forbidden, and she ended by forbidding what He had explicitly enjoined.” In doing this, Rome set herself against the word of God. God foresaw the results of all such things and He told us in advance not to put our feet on this forbidden ground. In Deuteronomy 4:2 we read, “Ye shall not add unto the word that I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from it. That ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I commanded you.” You must not do what? You must not add. What else must you not do? You must not diminish. If you do the first you are bound to do the second.

No one ever added anything to what God said, who did not eventually turn around and cut off something else that God had commanded. Do you know why that is? It is because there is only so much room. There is just four quarts in a gallon, just sixteen ounces in a pound, just twelve inches in a foot, and because there is only so much room there is only room for so much. Whenever you add something that God has not commanded, you crowd out something that He did command. That is the way Rome sank into apostasy.

That is the issue today. Did you know that Jesus did not go to the schools of His time for that reason? In Education, 77 we are told, “The schools of His time with their magnifying of things small and their belittling of things great, He did not seek.” What was the problem? They magnified the little things and, as a result, they had only time to belittle the big things.

Oh, that we might understand the implications of this. Thousands, not only in Babylon but thousands in Adventism, are traveling the road which Rome has traveled before us, and we are so far down the road that persecution already began several years ago. But it is going to get worse, much worse. We will learn even better, before it is over, that we have much more to fear from within than from without and that our worst enemies will come from the same direction that Jesus’ worst enemies came from—God’s professed people. We do well to ponder what road we are traveling before we come to the end of it.

There is a gradual change, which starts with the apparently innocent, and ends up with the image of Satan. It starts by calling evil good. In Isaiah 5: 20-23 we read: “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!”

Those against whom the wrath of God is announced are those that call evil good and good evil. The two things inevitably are joined together and they come—watch the preciseness of the Scripture— in this order. How did the verse start out? “They call evil good” and then they call “good evil.” I wonder why they would do that. Notice in the 23rd verse it says, “they justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him.” Again it is the same sequence. Here is a bad man but they say he is a good man. And inevitably, when they start in to do that, they are forced to call the good man bad.

That is exactly what happened in Rome. Rome first opened her doors and let in a whole multitude of image worshipping idolaters. But as the inevitable result, they came to the point that they were able to kill the true saints of God. And so it is happening today. “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil.”

Every man who gets so broad minded–watch this point–so tolerant, so kind, and so charitable that he can put his arms around iniquity and fellowship with sinners who defy the law of God, is preparing himself, whether he knows it or not, to come to the place where he can persecute the men that God calls righteous in this world.

This is what is happening in the United States as she prepares to set up an image to the Beast. “As the Protestant churches have been seeking the favor of the world, false charity has blinded their eyes. They do not see but that it is right to believe good of all evil, and as the inevitable result they will finally believe evil of all good.” The Great Controversy, 571. Oh, friends, what a warning against false charity.

What is false charity? Charity, in the sense that it is being used here, means to be tolerant of sin or to tolerate wrongdoing. It is said today that we should not blame the sinner because Jesus said, “he that is without sin among you let him cast the first stone.” Reproof and rebuke of sin is termed criticism and faultfinding. Toleration of sin is excused by saying that we must allow the wheat and the tares to grow together until the harvest. As a result of this type of thinking, there are people in the church, even in leading positions, who have been divorced and remarried without Biblical grounds and who attend social gatherings, fairs, and parades etc. on the Sabbath and buy food on the Sabbath. (Some call it witnessing.) We have people, even leaders in the church, who have deceived church members about business matters or the relations of the church to other churches and the ecumenical movement. A person may break the Sabbath, lie, kill, steal, commit adultery, go with the world and be worldly, but God is merciful, and “we ought to be all things to all men and be kind and be charitable and not be hard on people.” All that sort of talk, with the many variations and adaptation we hear today, is false charity.

The Protestant churches of our time, with their false charity, have opened up the doors and let all kinds of sinners into the church. The drunkard, the profligate, the lawbreaker, the grafter, the politician who gets caught in some great scandal, may be members of the church. Right? Today this type of person may not only be a member of the church, he may be the leader or the president of the church, but everyone thinks that it would be highly uncharitable if he received just discipline for his behavior. He must simply be transferred to some outlying district until people have forgotten the past scandal and then he may even be promoted and the same sins repeated again. Any careful observer has seen this happen in Adventism.

We are living in a time when the scandal of leading clergymen of different churches is frequent news. Today, as I am editing this article, national news is reporting about the leader of a Protestant church who might receive up to five or more years in prison for, what the church leaders say, is the result of some failed business ventures. The reports do not say he has been disfellowshiped however, or even had his credentials taken away for these crimes. It is thought that that would be absolutely uncharitable. The way to get your ministerial credentials taken away or to be disfellowshiped from a church today is to stand up and protest the iniquity and preach and teach the straight testimony and attempt to fulfill the gospel commission. That is happening all over the world today.

False charity blinds the eyes of all churches that allow it and the inevitable result of accepting, as good, that which is evil, is to soon begin believing evil of all good. They will take the very people who stand for truth, who stand for law keeping, who stand for God’s standards, and will make them the mark of the most bitter persecution that this world has seen.

There is no middle ground in this issue. Every soul in this world is either going down the road of false charity and will end up persecuting, or he is going to stand with God against iniquity and end up being among the persecuted. Out of the two there is no middle ground.

continued…

Editorial – Purification of the Church, Part IV

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What is the objective of the purification of the church?

The objectives are:

  1. that the church reach perfection here (that each church member becomes faultless in character with every impurity destroyed),
  2. perfect unity in the church with no discord,
  3. to keep the church free from false doctrine, as the references below describe.

“No unlikeness to Christ will be permitted in the holy city. The process of gaining perfection of character is to be carried on in this life, that we may be prepared for the future immortal life. It is God’s purpose that His church on earth shall reach perfection. It is essential that His directions be strictly obeyed. The members are to help and strengthen one another. No self-exaltation or accusing or harshness are to be shown in our dealings with one another. . . . We must purify our souls through love and obedience to the truth. We must act like saints toward one another,preparing ourselves, drilling ourselves, to be without fault in character, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, 171.

“God is leading out a people to stand in perfect unity upon the platform of eternal truth. Christ gave Himself to the world that He might ‘purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.’ This refining process is designed to purge the church from all unrighteousness and the spirit of discord and contention.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 17.

“The churches must be guarded, and warned against deception. Christ gave Himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity, that He might purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good orks. His church must be kept free from all false doctrine.” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1083.

“The Lord is willing to help us, to strengthen and bless us; but we must pass through the refining rocess until all the impurities in our character are burned away. Every member of the church will be subjected to the furnace, not to consume, but to purify.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 485.

What hinders this work of purification that God is attempting to perform in His church?

The willingness of church members and leaders to tolerate sin in the church:

“Do not think that you show love for one another by allowing that which God condemns. Do not let sin strengthen in the church. God requires His servants to exercise faithful watchcare. But be sure to manifest Christ’s love. Go to the erring one, and pray with him. . . .God would not justify any man to place himself as dictator [over] what others must do when [he] himself needs the converting grace of Christ.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 18, 150.

What means does God use to purify His church?

  1. In addition to the prophetic Word in the Bible, God has given the testimonies of His Spirit to His remnant people as manifested in the messages given to Ellen White by the Holy Spirit.
  2. the “strait testimony,”
  3. trials and suffering,
  4. judgements. “He [Satan] seeks by all the means in his power to shake the confidence of God’s people in the voice of warning and reproof through which God designs to purify the church and prosper His cause.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 211.

“I have been shown that the Lord is reviving the living, pointed testimony, which will develop character and purify the church.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 216. (See also Testimonies, vol. 5, 222.)

“The purification of the people of God cannot be accomplished without their suffering.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 85.

“The Lord will work to purify His church. I tell you in truth, the Lord is about to turn and overturn in the institutions called by His name. Just how soon this refining process will begin, I cannot say, but it will not be long deferred.” Paulson Collection, 415.

What will happen if the “church” is not purified as God is attempting to do?

“The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of life, He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. When a church proves unfaithful to the work of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities. But, if these in turn do not purify their lives from every wrong action, if they do not establish pure and holy principles in all their borders, then the Lord will grievously afflict and humble them and, unless they repent, will remove them from their place and make them a reproach.” Upward Look, 131.

The Road to Persecution, Part II

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Editor’s Note: Last month we looked at the road which the Roman power traveled to persecution, which began when she added to what God had commanded and ended with her commanding what God had not, and persecuting those who would not agree with her.

We also studied what the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy say the sure results will be for anyone who calls good evil and evil good, even for Adventists. This month we will consider how we should respond to these solemn truths.

Tearing Down the Wall

In Ezekiel 13, the prophet deals with breaking down, or the making of a gap, in the wall of the law of God. The result is that a terrible flood of sin pours into the church. God is calling for people who will be restorers of the breach. In Isaiah 58, God’s people are pictured as Sabbath keepers who restore that breach in the law. But, Ezekiel 13 deals with the false prophets of Israel that follow their own spirit, and are compared to desert foxes, who, when driven from one hole, come up in another. These leaders do not fill in the gaps in the wall, verse five says they have not “made up the hedge, for the house of Israel to stand in the battle of the day of the Lord.” (In other words, those who follow this plan will be unprepared when the last crisis breaks.)

Notice, especially, God’s message on this in verse 19 and 22. “And will you pollute Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to My people that hear your lies?” What are these false prophets doing? They turn the criminal out and let him go free, but the good men they put to death. They are too charitable to allow any criminal to receive the death penalty, even if he has killed or tortured his victims, but they are willing to put in jail the very ones that uphold the law of God. How is that for crooked thinking? Does it sound like what is happening today? Are there those who are very determined that criminals should not receive the death penalty, who, prophecy foretells, will eventually make a death decree against those who keep the law of God? Read Revelation 13:15.

Ezekiel 13:22 says, “Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.” There we have it. Every influence that leads to toleration of evil in the church eventually leads inevitably down the road to persecution of the righteous.

False Love Leads to Hatred

Do you know who it was that crucified Jesus? Did the Roman governor, Pilate, sign Christ’s death warrant? No, it was the leaders of the professed people of God that committed this terrible atrocity against the Son of God. And remember, it was in the name of God that the martyrs were put to death in the dark ages, and it will be in the name of God that commandment keepers, in the last days, will be boycotted and put under a death decree.

How does this come about? It comes about through the road of false charity. “Ministers of the gospel sometimes do great harm by allowing their forbearance toward the erring to degenerate into toleration of sins and even participation in them. Thus they are led to excuse and palliate that which God condemns, and after a time they become so blinded as to commend the very ones whom God commands them to reprove. He who has blunted his spiritual perceptions by sinful leniency toward those whom God condemns, will erelong commit a greater sin by severity and harshness toward those whom God approves.” Acts of the Apostles, 504. [All emphasis supplied.]

We must face the issue squarely. Do you think this warning is needed only in Roman Catholicism? Do you think it is needed only in the large Protestant churches? Or might it be possible that Adventists could be in danger on this question? Is there a liberalizing element among us that desires to make us more acceptable to other churches and to the world? Is there a false charity that manifests itself by calling reproof and rebuke of sin criticism and faultfinding, thereby clothing the servants of God, who are commanded to do this work, in filthy garments? (See Testimonies, vol. 1, 321.) Are there some who allow socially acceptable sins to come into the church unrebuked and undisciplined so that the church becomes polluted and even drunk with the wine of Babylon? (One of the central features of the wine of Babylon is allowing sin into the church and the doctrine that you can be saved while you are still sinning.)

Has not a false charity, a liberalizing element, which has attempted to make the church more acceptable to the professed Christian world, come into Adventism? Was not this the very reason that was given for the development of the evangelical conferences and the publishing of the book Questions on Doctrine? A positive answer to the previous question cannot be denied because this writer has heard the answer given in public from the lips of Elder R. A. Anderson himself, and the answer is yes.

Have there not been many instances when, instead of dealing with crimes or unethical behavior, in ministers or other workers in the denomination, we have simply moved the offenders to another conference or institution and allowed the evil to appear there? What has happened to the New Testament teaching that before sin is forgiven and the person restored to work or office in the church the sin must be confessed to the parties wronged, forsaken and restitution made, as far as possible? Have we come to a time when the standards among God’s professed people are not even as high as in some worldly organizations?

Whether it be in Rome, fifteen hundred years ago, or in the professed Protestants of our time, or even among professed Adventists, every influence of false charity, every effort that works to widen the door so that the sins of the world can come into the professed church, leads us down the road to persecution. This road leads its travelers to becoming a part of a persecuting movement.

Who Will Someday Oppose the Loud Cry?

In the Review and Herald Extra, December 23, 1890, the servant of the Lord spoke of the loud cry when the power of the last movement will bring a great multitude into the church, while, at the same time, many will be losing their way. (Editorial comments on the following statement by Ellen White are in brackets.) “There is to be in the churches a wonderful manifestation of the power of God, but it will not move upon those who have not humbled themselves before the Lord, and opened the door of the heart by confession and repentance. [If I have done something wrong I must repent and confess my wrong to those I have injured. And if I have injured the whole church then I must confess to the whole church. If I do not, even if I am retained in the work in a different area, I will not receive the latter rain or have a part in the Loud Cry. There is no statute of limitations in God’s law. Whenever it comes to my knowledge that I have committed a wrong, no matter how long ago, I am to repent and confess that wrong to the appropriate individuals and make restitution, as far as possible, if I am really serious about salvation.]

“In the manifestation of that power which lightens the earth with the glory of God, they will see only something which, in their blindness, they think dangerous, something which will arouse their fears, and they will brace themselves to resist it. Because the Lord does not work according to their ideas and expectations, they will oppose the work. ‘Why,’ they say, ‘should not we know the Spirit of God, when we have been in the work so many years?’—Because they did not respond to the warnings, the entreaties of the messages of God, but persistently said, ‘I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.’ [Why did they not respond to the warnings and entreaties of the messages of God? Because they called these warnings criticism and faultfinding and instead of yielding to the divine influence they called it the influence of the adversary. They referred to those bringing the message as fanatics, offshoots, extremists and legalists, and in so doing, braced themselves against the message of God until there was no further way to reach their heart and spirit.]

“Talent, long experience, will not make men channels of light, unless they place themselves under the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and are called, and chosen, and prepared by the endowment of the Holy Spirit. When men who handle sacred things [Notice that the people who reject the loud cry in this paragraph are described as ministers of talent and long experience.] will humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, the Lord will lift them up. He will make them men of discernment—men rich in the grace of His Spirit. Their strong, selfish traits of character, their stubbornness, will be seen in the light shining from the Light of the world. ‘I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.’ ”

Do you see the danger you and I are in? We may have been in this church for many years. We may have preached this message. We may have brought many into the truth. But if we allow the false charity of the Beast and his Image to get into our hearts, eventually we shall follow the Beast and his Image in resisting and opposing the very message of God which demands a cleaning up of the church, and a restoring of His straight testimony and the high standard. Which side will we be on in this closing conflict? Will we be with those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus or will we be with the Beast and his Image?

War Rather Than Compromise

Hebrews 1:9, speaking of Jesus, says, “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.” There is no such thing as really loving righteousness, without hating lawlessness. One can not be a child of God and a friend of the Devil. There is no such thing as working with God to cleanse the church from every lawless deed and at the same time sympathizing with elements that weaken the influence of the church in dealing with evil, until sin is tolerated in the church without protest. Those who do this will eventually embrace that which they once hated, because they chose to tolerate it in the interest of love (false charity) and unity.

It is better to stand alone and have war than to purchase peace by compromising and tolerating lawlessness. This is the exact decision that the Waldenses had to make. “After a long and severe conflict, the faithful few decided to dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused to free herself from falsehood and idolatry. They saw that separation was an absolute necessity if they would obey the word of God. They dared not tolerate errors fatal to their own souls, and set an example which would imperil the faith of their children and children’s children. To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.

“Well would it be for the church and the world if the principles that actuated those steadfast souls were revived in the hearts of God’s professed people.” The Great Controversy, 45, 46.

We must be on the side of exalting the law of God as the standard and not allowing open sin to remain in the church unrebuked and undisciplined. If the church that you are attending will not tolerate the rebuke of sin, and the majority is determined to allow sin in the church, your marching orders are contained in the above statement. (Notice that this statement is written especially for Seventh-day Adventists.)

Wisdom From Leaders of the Past

Elder Wilcox, former Review editor, writing in the Review and Herald, June 26, 1947, gives Adventists the following warning: “Some today…fail to point out in their personal labor besetting sins which if not overcome, will shut men and women out of the kingdom of God. There is a failure to bear a strong and decided testimony against the attendance of the movies and theaters, skating rinks, and ice carnivals, against the desecration of the Sabbath, against robbery of God in tithes and offerings, against worldly and immodest dress, against the violation of health principles, against the growing divorce evil of severing the marriage relation for trivial causes, when the Bible permits it for but one reason; against the marriage of young men and women with unbelievers, a union that is strongly condemned in Scripture, against the seductive influence of fictional magazines and books, and equal sinful practice of listening to much that comes over the radio.”

He then asks, “Will not men and women who are fully converted forsake these sinful practices. They should indeed. But many do not recognize the true character of these evils and therefore need instruction regarding them.”

Here Elder Wilcox is dealing with the idea, which some well meaning people advance in the church, that all you need to do is preach Christ and pay no attention to the details of life. And he is hitting that right where it ought to be hit, laying the axe at the root of the tree. “Our church members should be earnestly and kindly warned of these influences, destructive to vital and living Christian experience. For lack of restraint, testimony which should be borne by some of our church leaders, these evils are increasing in our midst. Will not God hold us as His representatives responsible for failure in these matters? He surely will.”

Also applicable to our study is the address which Elder J. L. McElhany, former President of the General Conference, gave to Adventist educational leaders. He stated: “Would the pioneers know this movement if they should awaken. To me this is a very important question. Oh, some may say, ‘they were a lot of old fogies, they were out of date, they were entirely behind the times. Today’s standards have changed.’ This is a favorite expression with some, but I do not believe it. Too many of our young people today are being led into worldly conformity by some leaders who are themselves adhering to forms of worldly amusements. My friends I wish our young people could be kept away from all the beach parties, and nudity parades, and moving picture shows, and other questionable places where they ought not to go, but where they are sometimes led by their leaders.” Review and Herald, October 14, 1937.

What was the General Conference president talking about? Was he talking about what he saw going on, or merely a ghost that he was shooting at? Most of us can easily answer from our own experience. The godly are heart-burdened and greatly grieved as they see church standards lowered and the world coming in like a flood through a hole in the dyke. What side are you standing on? Are you protesting lawlessness? Are you openly in opposition (a true protestant) to “All acts of injustice that tend to shorten life; the spirit of hatred and revenge, or the indulgence of any passion that leads to injurious acts toward others, or causes us even to wish them harm (for ‘whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer’); a selfish neglect of caring for the needy or suffering; all self-indulgence or unnecessary deprivation or excessive labor that tends to injure health?” (Patriarchs and Prophets, 308.) Are you openly opposed not only to sensual thoughts and desires, but to any practice that tends to excite them? (Ibid.) Are you openly opposed to “every attempt to advantage yourself by the ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another?” Ibid., 309. Do you abhor all intent to deceive, such as intentional overstatements, every hint or insinuation calculated to convey an erroneous or exaggerated impression and even the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead? Will you tolerate without protest efforts to injure your neighbor’s reputation by misrepresentation or evil surmising, by slander or tale bearing or by the suppression of truth? (Ibid.) Has selfishness become abhorrent to you? Are you against it in any guise? Or are you willing to tolerate it and eventually call it good and finally disfellowship and persecute those who refuse to go along with it?

Do you see that we are on the road to persecution and we are so far down the road that persecution against the faithful started, in Adventism, years ago. We are all on the road to persecution. The only difference is that some of us are going to be among those persecuted for standing faithful and true to the principles of righteousness and truth vouchsafed to us by God Himself through the writings of the prophets and apostles. The others, by first seeking to supplement the authority of God with that of the church, and by enjoining what God has not forbidden, are now forbidding what He has explicitly enjoined and are at the place right now where they are ready to persecute their former brethren. The solemn truth is that there are only two groups. One is getting ready to be the persecuted and the rest are getting ready to be the persecutors. There is no third group. We must ask ourselves, which of these two groups are we in?

No Longer Brethren

When persecution takes place, the people who are persecuting you are not your brethren anymore. You may be attending the same church for a little while longer. You may have the same name and claim to believe the same doctrines. You may have attended the same schools. You may even have worked together in evangelism in the past, but you are no longer brethren for two reasons.

It is the followers, the disciples of Christ who are called brethren in Scripture (Matthew 23:8) and Christ never fights Himself. Christ in one person will never, even once, fight Christ in another person. When persecution takes place, a spiritual war is occurring and at least one side has to be motivated either by the natural carnal heart, which is by nature destined to wrath, or by the devil or his angels. When people were taken to the basement of the church and put on the rack, their tormentors were not their brethren. Since they were not the brethren, it should be more than obvious that they were not serving the same Lord and therefore they were not really members of the same church, no matter what the profession was.

Concerning the “elect church” (Desire of Ages, 680), Jesus said that He was their divine Lord and Master. (John 13:14–17.) Therefore, the two groups are not part of the same church, are not really brethren (although they may be so in name) and are not both going to be saved. “There [outside the Holy City at the end of the millenium] are papist priests and prelates, who claimed to be Christ’s ambassadors, yet employed the rack, the dungeon, and the stake to control the consciences of His people.… Christ identifies His interest with that of His suffering people; and they feel the force of His own words: ‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.’ Matthew 25:40.” The Great Controversy, 668.

It is impossible to be a disciple, one of the brothers of Christ (Hebrews 2:11) and a disciple of Satan at the same time. “With what amazement do angels hear men judging and condemning their brethren, causing them most cruel suffering of body and mind, and claiming that they do it under the sanction of God? Instead of being under the leadership of Christ, they are following the leadership of Satan. Paul at one time pursued this course, actually believing that he was doing God service; but Jesus spoke to him, and told him that in persecuting His saints he was persecuting Him. All persecution, all force employed to compel conscience, is after Satan’s own order; and those who carry out these designs are his agents to execute his hellish purpose. In following Satan’s cruel proposals, in becoming his agents, men become the enemies of God and His church.” Review and Herald, January 10, 1893. (It is time to discard shibboleths and think clearly. If you do not know who your brethren are or are not, your chances of falling in time of test are greatly increased. This has proven true in the past and will prove true in the future.)

From the Review and Herald of May 8, 1958, Elder Dickson declares: “We see dangerous trends resulting from a diminished spiritual emphasis in much of our service in all levels of the movement. The spiritual possessions that distinguished the Apostolic life of the early church and the pioneers of our faith have leaped from us to a very alarming degree. . . .There seems to be a fear of standing alone if necessary, in speaking forth against evils that are apparent. This fear of man and his power to demote and retaliate must be dismissed from among us. The domination of man must give way to the domination of God’s Holy Spirit.”

Are you standing true to the testimonies of the Holy Spirit, fearing not the face of man? Will you be one of those who stands for truth and righteousness even if the heavens seem to fall? Will you be true even if you are disfellowshipped, your reputation destroyed and you are finally persecuted, perhaps imprisoned or put to death by God’s professed people?

Rome began by adding much that God had never commanded, and she ended by forbidding obedience to God’s commandments. Rome began by introducing worldly trends under the plea of making it easier for the heathen to accept Christianity, and she ended by persecuting the very people, within the church, that stood up against that worldliness. Rome began with false charity by closing her eyes to sin in a plea for broad mindedness and brotherly love toward even the lawbreakers, and she ended up where? Showing brotherly love? No, certainly not!

Think of the crusades against the Waldensees and the Albigenses. Think of those thousands of armed troops who entered their villages with swords and spears and cut down men, women and children, until streams ran red with blood. Think of those who in inhuman cruelty hurled mothers and infants together over the cliffs to be dashed on the rocks below. How did that cruel persecution begin? With so called love and charity that would let sin linger on in the church.

Sin is a terrible thing. It is like the serpent, which when chilled may not seem to be very dangerous. But take that poisonous snake into your bosom, warm it with your loving interest, and it will turn and bite you. And so it is when sin is allowed into the church. Little do we realize what we are asking for when we allow the standards of God to be dragged down by the worldly element. Little do we realize what is ahead. Oh, that God may stir our hearts.

I urge you to a renewed study of the book The Great Controversy. May I urge a renewed study of how Rome began, and how these principles are working in the great religious movements of our day. And, may I urge that in our own Christian experience, we will pray that God will so completely purge us from this false charity that we will hate sin as God hates it, and love righteousness as God loves it.

A very important point we must remember when we study this subject is that we must never confuse the sinner with the sin. Jesus, while He hated sin, was always ready to forgive, and welcome the repentant sinner. The Prodigal son was welcomed home, but I want to tell you something, he did not bring his whisky and his harlots home with him. And the church of Christ is loving enough, and charitable enough to forgive the worst sinner, if he will come to Jesus and experience repentance, make confession to the wronged parties, forsake sin and make restitution as far as possible. In other words, He must receive cleansing from his sins by the blood of Christ and have his heart purified by the Holy Spirit so that the guilt and enslaving power of his sinful life is in the past. The gate of heaven is narrow, too narrow to admit one cherished sin remaining in the heart. (See Our High Calling, 38.)

Let us pray for ourselves that we will be purged from sin. Let us pray that God will bless in holding back the flood of persecution that is about to sweep over this world. Let us pray that God will bless the Second Advent movement—God’s remnant in these latter days—the apple of His eye. Let us pray that God will sustain those who are enduring the present shaking time, who are giving the trumpet a certain sound, reproving and rebuking lawlessness even though it is costing them their jobs and they are threatened with hostile legal actions, fines and imprisonment from so-called “brethren” in “the church.” Let us pray that God’s true watchmen will continue to seek to uplift the standard to the level of the divine blueprint. And let us pray that He will bless us all with that love for righteousness and that hatred for lawlessness which will identify us, in the judgment, as belonging to Christ, not just in name, but in a character of righteousness and holiness.

Are You a Living Stone?

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Some of the most misunderstood verses in all of the New Testament are found in Matthew 16. In this chapter Jesus asks His disciples who He is and Peter, answering Him, in verse 16, said: “ ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter (Petros), and on this rock (Petra) I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:16–19.

The word “petros” that is translated Peter, means a stone. “And on this Petra (a very large boulder or rock) I will build My church.” On what Rock is the church built? Peter knew the Rock upon which the church was built. He wrote: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.” 1 Peter 2:4–8. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone upon which the church is built. (To see that this authority was given to the whole church, and not Peter alone, see also Ephesians 2:19–22; Matthew 21:44.)

Even though we clearly understand who the rock is, Christ’s command in Matthew 16 has still been difficult for many to understand. Jesus told Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19. Here Jesus gave the Christian church enormous authority—authority which involves eternal life. (See also Matthew 18:18; John 20:19–23.)

I believe that the reason we have had such a difficult time understanding this verse is because we have not paid careful attention to who and what constitutes Christ’s church. We are in big trouble if we do not know who and what the church is, because the church has the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

It was by means of these Scriptures that the Bishops of Rome attained authority over the then-known world, during the Dark Ages. Dissidents, Bible-believing Christians, were tortured or burned at the stake. Robes and miters, with pictures of demons, snakes and devils painted on them, were placed upon them. Then the bishops would say, “Not only are you going to die, but we are consigning you to hell and you will burn forever.” By means of these Scripture texts, peasants, kings and nations submitted to the Roman authority.

However, many have failed to realize that this authority, which Christ conveyed upon the Christian church, has three big qualifications.

  1. The people that have the authority must have received the Holy Spirit. (See John 20.)
  2. They must have been taught of God. (See Matthew 16.)
  3. And they must follow the principles of gospel order. (See Matthew 18.)

Words From the Reformers

To help us better understand these qualifications, I will share with you what the reformers taught about the church to whom Christ gave this solemn authority.

John Knox, a Scottish reformer, said that the church was “a divinely originated, a divinely enfranchised and a divinely governed society. Its members were all those who made profession of the gospel; its law was the Bible, and its king was Christ.” The History of Protestantism, vol.2, 496, by J. A. Wylie.

Jesus Christ established the church and is the head of it. Olaf Petri (Paterson), a Protestant reformer in the Land of Sweden, said that the church was the body of Christ, and that believers were the members of that body. The question was whether the Pope and Prelates had the power to cast out of the church those that were its living members and in whose hearts dwelt the Holy Spirit, by faith. This he simply denied. “To God alone it belonged to save the believing, and to condemn the unbelieving. The Bishops could neither give nor take away the Holy Ghost. They could not change those who were the sons of God into sons of Gehenna. The power conferred in the eighteenth chapter of Saint Matthew’s Gospel, he maintained, was simply declaratory; what the minister had power to do, was to announce the solace or loosing of the gospel to the penitent, and its correction or cutting off to the impenitent. He who persists in his impenitence is excommunicated, not by man, but by the Word of God, which shows him to be bound in his sin ’til he repent. The power of binding and loosing was, moreover, given to the church, and not by any individual man, or body of men. Ministers exercise, he argued, their office for the church, and in the name of the church; and without the church’s consent and approval, expressed or implied, they have no power of loosing or binding any one. Much less, he maintained, was this power of excommunication secular; it was simply a power of doing, by the Church and for the Church, the necessary work of purging out notorious offenders from the body of the faithful.” Ibid., vol. 2, 18, 20.

The New Testament teaches clearly that the church is the body of Christ. (See Ephesians 1:22, 23; Colossians 1:18, 24 and 1 Corinthians 12.)

Petris main argument was that those that have the Holy Spirit make up the church. This is revealed in Ephesians 2:22. Baptism by water is a symbol of being baptized by the Holy Spirit. A person is only playing church if the Holy Spirit does not baptize him. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:13.

Petri saw that this issue of who had the authority to cast anyone out of the church, required an understanding of what constitutes the church. The church does have divine authority to bind and loose, but the question is, “Who is the church that has that authority?”

Taussan, a reformer in Denmark, drew up a confession which became the confession of the Protestants in Denmark. “It declared Holy Scripture to be the only rule of faith, and the satisfaction of Christ in our room the only foundation of eternal life. It defined the church to be the communion of the faithful, and it denied the power of any man to cast anyone out of that church, unless such shall have first cut himself off from the communion of the faithful by impenitence and sin. It affirmed that the worship of God did not consist in canticles, masses, vigils, edifices, shaven crowns, cowls, and anointings, but in the adoring of God in Spirit and in truth: that ‘the true mass of Christ is the commemoration of His sufferings and death, in which His body is eaten and His blood is drunk in certain pledge that through His name we obtain forgiveness of sins.’ It goes on to condemn masses for the living and the dead, indulgences, auricular confession, and all similar practices. It declares all true believers to be priests in Christ, who had offered Himself to the Father a living and acceptable sacrifice. It declares the head of the church to be Christ, than whom there is no other, whether on earth or in heaven, and of this head all believers are members.” Ibid., 42, 43.

Apostolic Succession

There was a remnant of the apostolic church in Italy called the Waldenses. They were terribly persecuted. One of the main issues with the Waldenses was who is the church? The Waldenses said that they were the Church, the spiritual descendents of the apostles, because they followed the pure teachings of the disciples. For this they were martyred and massacred by the millions. The Waldenses were a perpetual monument of what the church used to be and, as long as they maintained their purity, they were a living witness to testify against how far professed Christendom had departed from the original faith.

One of the early leaders of these people, around 820 A.D., was a godly man by the name of Claude of Turin. Ellen White speaks of him as a devout man who held back the tide of apostasy for a time. Regarding the church, Claude maintained “that there is but one Sovereign in the Church, and He is not on earth…Know thou that He only is apostolic who is the Keeper and Guardian of the apostles’ doctrine and not he who boasts himself to be seated in the chair of the apostle, and in the meantime doth not acquit himself of the charge of the apostle.” Ibid., vol. 1, 21, 22.

The question of apostolic succession has agitated minds in the Christian world for hundreds of years. Some boast, “Our church goes all the way back to the apostles and your church just started at such-and-such time.” Who really are the successors of the apostles? The way to understand this is to ask the question that was commonly asked in Christ’s day— “Who is the true church? Who are Abraham’s seed?”

The Jews told Jesus that they had never been in bondage, because they were Abraham’s descendents. (See John 8:33.) They said, “We are the true church and we are going to have eternal life.” They believed that the Gentiles had no hope of salvation because they were not Abraham’s seed. However, Christ attempted to enlighten their minds. He said, “ ‘I know that you are Abraham’s descendents, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.’ They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.’ ” John 8:37–39. That is, you would have a character like Abraham.

Worthless Profession

Our characters are formed by our habits (or our works) day by day. And all throughout the Bible, it is clearly taught that we will be judged according to our works, or our characters. (See Revelation 20; Matthew 17:27, 28). Ellen White said that the day of judgment would be a day of bitter disappointment to most of the Christian world, because they make a profession but they do not have a character that matches that profession. A profession is worthless unless the character coincides with it.

If you profess to be a Seventh-day Adventist, you profess to be a member of the church mentioned in Revelation 12:17 that keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus. However, if you do not keep the commandments of God, nor have the faith of Jesus, your profession is worthless!

Notice how Jesus drove this point home to the Jewish leaders. “‘But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.’ Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.’” John 8:40–44.

These people professed to be the true church, but actually, Christ said, they were of the devil. They were representatives of Satan. (See The Desire of Ages, 36.)

How do you tell who the spiritual successors of the apostles are? The descendents of the apostles are those that teach the same thing the apostles taught and are filled with the same Spirit. (See The Desire of Ages, 466, 467.)

Profession is worthless unless you show, by your life, that you follow the doctrine you profess. Claude maintained in the ninth century, “Know thou that he only is apostolic who is the keeper and guardian of the apostles’ doctrine.”

The evangelicals during the time of the Reformation said that the church is not the clergy, it is the congregation of godly men. What is usually called the church is merely the old synagogue. The true church is the assembly of the just. In other words, as Ellen White said, “From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.” The Acts of the Apostles, 11.

Nowhere in the Spirit of Prophecy does Ellen White say that the church is both the faithful and the unfaithful. It is the faithful only. If you are unfaithful and make a profession, your name may be on a church book but you are not part of the church. Your profession is false. The Jews made a profession, but their characters proved that they were the children of the devil. It is character that counts.

Wherever a group of people is filled with the Holy Spirit, living godly, righteous lives and meeting together in an assembly to worship, there is the church. The reformers all understood this, and it gave them the strength to stand before the Bishops who condemned them to eternal hell fire, and confess, “I know my Redeemer liveth!”

One of these faithful believers wrote, “If two or three cobblers or weavers, elect of God, meet together in the name of the Lord, they form a true church of God.”

Fryth, a leading reformer, in England, who was burned at the stake in the sixteenth century said, “‘I understand the church of God in a wide sense. It contains all those whom we regard as members of Christ. It is a net thrown into the sea.’ This principle, sown at that time as a seed in the English Reformation, was one day to cover the world with missionaries.” The Reformation in England, vol. 2, 126, by J.H. Merle d’Aubigne.

Another true and faithful believer, named Bennett, had this experience. “For a whole week, not only the Bishop, but all the priests and friars of the city, visited Bennett night and day. But they tried in vain to prove to him that the Roman church was the true one. ‘God has given me grace to be of a better church,’ he said.—‘Do you not know that ours is built upon Saint Peter?’—‘The church that is built upon a man,’ he replied, ‘is the devil’s church and not God’s.’” Ibid., vol.1, 465.

Tyndale Debates More

Another famous reformer was William Tyndale, a scholar that translated the Bible from the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts into English. On one occasion Tyndale was in a debate with Thomas More, a Roman Catholic. Their discussion went like this:

“More: We must not examine the teaching of the church by Scripture, but understand Scripture by means of what the church says.

“Tyndale: What! Does the air give light to the sun, or the sun to the air? Is the church before the gospel, or the gospel before the church? Is not the father older than the son? God begat us with His own will, with the word of truth. (James 1:18.) If He who begeteth is before him who is begotten, the word is before the church, or, to speak more correctly, before the congregation.

“More: Why do you say congregation and not church?

“Tyndale: Because by that word church, you understand nothing but a multitude of shaven, shorn and oiled, which we now call the spirituality or clergy; while the word of right is common unto all the congregation of them that believe in Christ.

“More: The church is the Pope and his sect of followers.

“Tyndale: The Pope teaches us to trust in holy works for salvation, as penance, saints’ merits and fryer’s coats. Now, he that hath no faith to be saved through Christ, is not of Christ’s church.” Ibid., 395.

The reformer said that wherever the word is faithfully preached and the sacraments purely administered, there is the church. Rome said, Wherever there is a line of sacramentally ordained men, there and only there, is the church.

The Struggle of Separation

For many of the reformers, who grew up believing this distorted view of the church, the realization of the apostasy and the decision of what they must do in response came only with great difficulty. Calvin, the great Swiss reformer faced a terrible struggle. “The doubts by which his soul was now shaken grew in strength with each renewed discussion. What shall he do? Shall he forsake the church? That seems to him like casting himself into the gulf of perdition. And yet, can the church save him? There is a new light breaking in upon him in which her dogmas are melting away. The ground beneath him is sinking. ‘There can be no church,’ we hear Calvin say to himself, ‘where the truth is not.’” History of Protestantism, vol. 2, 152.

Do you believe that? Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 3:15: “But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Leaving the truth, is leaving the church. For many years Romanists have accused Protestants of heresy and of separation from the true church. But Ellen White says, “This accusation applies rather to themselves. They are the ones who laid down the banner of Christ and departed from the ‘faith that was once delivered unto the saints.’ Jude 3.” The Great Controversy, 51.

The church stays with the truth because the church is the pillar of the truth. When Calvin began to understand that, it set his mind free. “‘There can be no church,’ we hear Calvin saying to himself, ‘where the truth is not.’…If I shall come back to the truth, as contained in the Scriptures, will I not come back to the church? and will I not be joined to the holy company of prophets and apostles, of saints and martyrs? . . . In fine, Calvin concluded that the term ‘Church’ could not make the society that monopolized the term really ‘the Church.’ High sounding titles and lofty assumptions could give neither unity nor authority; these could come from the Truth alone; and so he abandoned ‘the Church’ that he might enter the Church—the Church of the Bible.” The History of Protestantism, vol. 2, 154.

We are living so near the end that it is time for us, as historic Adventists, to wake up to reality and not be deceived by pretension and profession. Our profession must coincide with our character. Unless our lives are in harmony with God’s law, we are not His people and our profession is worthless.

God’s church is going through as it always has in the past. The church went through in Samuel’s time, however, most of the professed people did not go along with it! The church went through in Jeremiah’s and Daniel’s time. And the church went through in the time of Jesus and the apostles; although the leaders of the professed church were not really a part of God’s church.

Latimer, another Protestant reformer, who was burned at the stake, wrote concerning the church: “Lively stones are needed to build up the temple of God.” The Reformation in England, vol. 2, 42. A church is not just bricks and mortar or corporations or theology. It is people who, as a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit, are spoken of in the Bible as living stones that emit light all around.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” Do you want to be part of that light? Our greatest danger is that we will be deceived, thinking we are part of the light, because we make a profession, but we do not have a character to back it up. What will we do if we come to the Day of Judgment and have only a profession without having the wedding garment on? I cannot think of a more terrible moment, for then it will be all over and each person’s eternal destiny will be forever fixed. It will be too late to change.

But today, my dear reader, it is not too late. Jesus invites you to become a part of His body. He wants you to become a living stone built into that beautiful building of His church. Is eternal life worth everything to you? The decision is yours.