By The Remnant Herald
In an editorial entitled “Is It Possible to Fail?” that was published fifty years ago, an astute and profound observation was made by Pastor Kenneth Wood:
“We are well aware that some members of the church consider the success of the Advent Movement to be assured. They think that the church cannot possibly disappoint God. It cannot possibly fail to meet God’s time schedule for the proclamation of the gospel message to all the world. It cannot possibly delay the coming of the Lord. But such thinking ignores the lessons of sacred history. Adam and Eve interrupted God’s plans and delayed the fulfillment of God’s purposes for the earth. Ancient Israel failed to fulfill their God-given mission, rejected the Messiah, persecuted the apostles, and lost their special place as God’s chosen nation. By what sort of reasoning, then, do we think that we today cannot fail? Are we in such an elitist position that God will deal with us differently from the way He dealt with those who have gone before us? Is it impossible for us by failure to delay God’s time schedule? Has God given us such an ‘exclusive’ on the proclamation of the three angels’ messages that He would let His purposes fail rather than assign the task to someone else? We ask these questions because we believe the time has come to consider carefully whether as a church, we are fulfilling God’s purposes. The time has come to ask ourselves whether we are making the kind of decisions that will hasten the coming of the Lord” (Review and Herald, November 23, 1972).
It would be rare to read such words in the Church’s periodicals of today. Nearly five decades have passed since the General Conference used a specific word to explain why the Church has failed to finish the work and the coming of Christ has so long tarried:
“We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years as did the children of Israel; but for Christ’s sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action.” (Evangelism, p. 696, Letter 184, 1901).
Our insubordination — our persistent, stubborn refusal to obey God in ALL THINGS — is the malignant sin which festers the Omega of Apostasy in the Seventh-day Adventist Church that is leading rebellious church leaders, organizations, institutions, corporations, entities, healthcare systems, educational systems, and all impenitent Adventists at every level, from the upper echelons of the hierarchical corporate structure, down to the local church level, to this final end:
“Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure” (Special Testimonies, Series B, Number 2, p. 55).
This tragic result was preceded by a long decline in the spirituality of our people, including:
“Our religion would be changed … new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be established … 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” (Special Testimonies, Series B, Number 7, p. 40).
The idea that “the church is going through” — warts and all — was a prevailing sentiment in the days of John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus Christ. God sent a message of warning to awaken the people from their dangerous complacency and false sense of security:
“The whole Jewish nation seemed to be affected by the mission of John. The threatenings of God on account of their sins, repeated by the prophet, for a time alarmed them. John knew that they cherished the idea that, because they were of the seed of Abraham, they were securely established in the favor of God, while their course of action was abhorred of Him. Their conduct was, in many respects, even worse than that of the heathen nations to whom they felt so much superior. The prophet faithfully presented to them the ability of God to raise up those who would take their place, and would become more worthy children of Abraham. He told them plainly that God was not dependent upon them to fulfill His purposes; for He could provide ways and means independent of them to carry forward His great work which was to be accomplished in purity and righteousness …
“The Jews had deceived themselves by misinterpreting the words of the Lord through His prophets, of His eternal favor to His people Israel. ‘Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of hosts is His name. If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever. Thus saith the Lord: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord’ (Jeremiah 31:35-37).
“These words the Jews applied to themselves. And because God had shown them so great favor and mercy, they flattered themselves that, notwithstanding their sins and iniquities, He would still retain them as His favored people, and shower especial blessings upon them. They misapplied the words of Jeremiah, and depended for their salvation upon being called the children of Abraham. If they had indeed been worthy of the name of Abraham’s children, they would have followed the righteous example of their father Abraham, and would have done the works of Abraham.
“This has been the danger of the people of God in all ages; and ESPECIALLY IS THIS THE DANGER OF THOSE LIVING NEAR THE CLOSE OF TIME…
“The prophet John impressed upon the people the necessity of their profession being accompanied with good works. Their words and actions would be their fruit, and would determine the character of the tree, If their works were evil, the truth of God would testify against them. GOD WOULD IN NO WISE EXCUSE SIN IN A PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN ENLIGHTENED, even if He had, in their days of faithfulness and purity, loved them and given them especial promises. These promises and blessings were always upon condition of obedience upon their part” (Review and Herald, January 14, 1873; Capitalization supplied by the Editor).
This sobering warning was further amplified by the servant of the Lord in a letter she wrote in 1886. The following words were deleted by the White Estate in Selected Messages, volume 2, p. 377 (the same chapter wherein the famous cliché, “The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall,” is to be found):
“I think of His great sorrow as He wept over Jerusalem, exclaiming, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not’ (Luke 13:34). God forbid that these words shall apply to those who have great light and blessings. In the rejecting of Jerusalem, it was because great privileges were abused which brought the denunciation upon all who lightly regarded the great opportunities and precious light that were entrusted to their keeping. Privileges do not commend us to God, but they commend God to us. No people are saved because they have great light and special advantages, for these high and heavenly favors only increase their responsibility.
“The more and increased light God has given make the receiver more responsible. It does not place the receiver in any safer position unless the privileges are wisely improved, prized and used to advance God’s glory. Christ said, ‘Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes’ (Matthew 11:21).
“When Jerusalem was divorced from God, it was because of her sins. She fell from an exalted height that Tyre and Sidon had never reached. And when an angel falls, he becomes a fiend. The depths of our ruin is measured by the exalted light to which God has raised us in His great goodness and unspeakable mercy. Oh, what privileges are granted to us as a people! And if God spared not His people that He loved because they refused to walk in the light, how can He spare the people whom He has blessed with the light of heaven in having opened to them the most exalted truth ever entrusted to mortal man to give to the world?” (Website of EGW Writings: Letter 55, 1886).
Why would this portion of a testimony be withheld from our people who urgently need to confess and renounce their sins whilst there is yet time?
In 1986, against the direct prohibition from the Ellen G. White Research Centre based at Avondale College in Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia, a person circulated a letter from Sister White never before publicly released, which contained these exceptionally powerful words that should indelibly convict every one of us:
“God will surely condemn every member of every church claiming to be Seventh-day Adventist, who is not doing Him service, but through pride, selfishness, and worldliness, is showing that the truth of heavenly origin has not worked a reformation in his character…
“Will the churches heed the Laodicean message? Will they repent or will they, notwithstanding that the most solemn message of truth, in the third angel’s message, is being proclaimed to the world, go on in sin? This is the last message of mercy, the last message of warning to a fallen world. If the church of God become lukewarm, it does not stand in favor with God any more than do the churches that are represented as having fallen and become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive the truth, and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, calling themselves the commandment-keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive of the plagues of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God. Only those that are sanctified through the truth will compose the royal family in the heavenly mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him and keep His commandments … All who claim to be Sabbath-keeping Adventists and yet continue in sin, are liars in God’s sight. Their sinful course is counter-working the work of God. They are leading others into sin” (Website of EGW Writings: Letter 35, 1898).
Pastor Kenneth Wood, editor of The Review and Herald (from 1966 to 1982), was absolutely right when he challenged the popular notion that God will deal with His professed people differently in our day than He did in ancient times. We have already read that “this has been the danger of the people of God in all ages; and especially is this the danger of those living near the close of time.” Twenty years after this appeared in the church periodical for North America, Sister White inserted the following remarks in the same paper:
“Of those who boast of their light and yet fail to walk in it, Christ says, ‘But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum (Seventh-day Adventists, who have had great light), which art exalted unto heaven (in point of privilege), shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works, which had been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.’ At that time Jesus answered and said, ‘I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hadst hid these things from the wise and prudent (in their own estimation), and hadst revealed them unto babes’.” (Review and Herald, August 1, 1893).
Why would our Lord utter such dire threatenings?
“Sins of a grave character are cherished in our borders, and unless there is an awakening, such as we have not seen for some time, which will convict and convert professed Sabbath keepers, they will die in their sins. The punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah will be light in comparison with that of those who have had great light and precious opportunities, and have been earthly minded, corrupt in thoughts and practices, and have not purified their souls by obeying the truth” (Website of EGW Writings: Letter 16f, 1892).
In light of all these portentous warnings, it is worth reading what Pastor Charles H. Watson, General Conference President from 1930 to 1936, wrote concerning the future destiny of the professed people of God:
“There are two very important facts that we should consider: (1): That this movement, if not directed according to God’s will, is just as subject to failure as any previous of God’s people, this side of Eden. (2): The Bible foreshadows that this movement must meet the most tremendous efforts of Satan and his agents to overthrow it and to cause it to fail of fulfilling God’s purpose” (Review and Herald, November 21, 1935).
The coming Sunday Law crisis, attended by the supernatural manifestations of Satan, will bring forth a great sifting. Then “the church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out — the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place” (Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 380). Who will emerge victorious in that day?
“None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths” (Ibid).
Only such people shall comprise that Church Triumphant which will go through to the end!
“From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth” (Acts of the Apostles, p. 11).
“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.’ Where Christ is even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church, for the presence of the high and holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church” (The Upward Look, p. 315; Letter 108, 1886).
About The Remnant Herald: The Remnant Herald is an Australian publication produced by Remnant Ministries. The current editor and author is Elvis Placer, and we have reproduced this article with his permission. You can contact Elvis Placer through email at rh1844@pm.me or call the office clerk at +61 3 9706 2173 to request a FREE subscription to the Remnant Herald.
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Andy and all readers here let us take heed to this verse. 2 Cor. 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
This is the church that goes through until the end. This is the ship we need to be on and no other. It has no man-made organization, no fancy building, no rich superstar preachers and no trade-marked names:
Heb 12:18-25 KJV For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, (19) And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (20) (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: (21) And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) (22) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (23) To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (25) See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
I have been pondering this very concept for a few months now. I’m noticing a few sincere Baptist (I think) preachers start to discover truths that we have known for over a century, truths that we should have been proclaiming. We are letting the batons fall & others are picking them up. We will have to explain that to God one day.
We take such pride in being a commandment keeping movement, yet I can see generalized institutional drift, ambivalent & opaque softness in our leaders, & declension in our publishing houses. Our universities have become pits of political agendas & Midianitish show and tell arenas. More importantly, we are neglecting to teach our children what sets us apart (tip: it’s not just Sabbath & pork). I spent my entire childhood growing up on an SDA academic campus & NOT ONCE did I hear about the sanctuary doctrine or what the Investigative Judgement really means. It is a travesty, a failure on our part & something that I am increasingly becoming more convicted about. Moses’ mother is our proof that it can be done, and done well. Eli and his sons remind us what can happen when we practice doubleminded parenting.
We have forgotten Jesus’ warning (suffer not the little children), and yet we act surprised when more than half of our youth leave the faith. That is not solely on them, that is on the parents too. We will have a LOT to answer for.
Based on biblical precedent, we are well on our way to be pushed aside by the Lord of hosts. Our church as a movement, as a people will go through, God promised that. I cannot say the same for our institutions. Our church organisation is placing its hand on the ark, like Uzziah did. We’re disrespecting the Law & making of no consequence the incredible light that He gifted us with. We need to take care that, like Israel, the light isn’t taken from us and given to someone else. We seem to have this notion that God NEEDS us to finish the work. He does not. 1888 and beyond is proof of His long-suffering and patience towards US. I am starting to believe that this probation time is more about us and whether we can learn to tie our
sanctified shoelaces so that we can become the denominational light on the hill God wants us to be, that we can reach our “expected end” (Jer 29:11-14). God could have finished the work a long time ago. I wonder if He is waiting to give us time to sort ourselves out. But like Hezekiah we will carry responsibilities for the Menassehs who arise in the “extra time” we are given. Woe on us.
“The church is going through,” but what is the church? This is ever the follow-up question to the claim, which is often made as though there is an unqualified unconditional promise or institutional guarantee that the structure will be channeling the final message of mercy given at the behest of the Holy Spirit, in the Rev. 18, fourth angel redux, of the 1844-era establishment of the third angel’s message of Rev. 14. The Spirit of Prophecy says “no guarantee” as we read in the article which brought together so many clear writings on the matter. She in fact has brought the light of heaven in warning us away from an institutionalized mindset that when the Holy Spirit latter rain is falling, institutionalized minds won’t see it or know it. She says the leaders will be indignant that independent movers are getting out there and they will actually stand in the way of working of God in the earth. This comes as no surprise to the independent. Those who don’t study for themselves, deferring to leadership as a rule of thumb, only exemplify in the church that which we see in the world–that giving up one’s own judgment and leaving the pursuit of truth in the hands of officialdom, leads to gross deception and enslavement. Humans like to have top-down service in all things, free stuff, no work, little to no personal responsibility. There is ever a war between the independent and the institutionalized, in both the church and the world. It comes down to a war between freedom and control. The kingdom of God is predicated upon love, which itself must be structured upon a foundation of freedom of choice and non-coercion, non-manipulation. No, the structure-church is not going through. It will receive the mark of the beast, too. We have the odd, rare confirmation of this in these two, clear statements. If any are waffling on this idea, please read, and read again, until it sinks in. Stop supporting the structure, get out there and do the work of God according to His personal instructions to you, not according to institutional dictates, the “common order” in the church, “common good” in the world.
1. ==>>Israel’s experience will be repeated by Seventh-day Adventists
“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” (13MR 379.2).
2. ==>> Ezekiel 28 describes the general movement, “broader significance”
[Context: She is herein specifically talking about worldly principles being brought into the Seventh-day Adventist movement.]
“I ask our people to study the 28th chapter of Ezekiel. The representation here made, while it refers primarily to Lucifer, the fallen angel, HAS A YET BROADER SIGNIFICANCE. Not one being, but A GENERAL MOVEMENT, IS DESCRIBED, AND ONE THAT WE SHALL WITNESS. A faithful study of this chapter should lead those who are seeking for truth to walk in all the light that God has given to His people, lest they be deceived by the deceptions of these last days” (SpTB17a 30.2).
In another place, she showed how the midnight cry does not come from “in-house” where the 10 virgins are, but from the processional in the street, where Christ with His advancing light companions are going with Him to the Bride’s House, while heralding the wedding. Interesting, huh? Elsewhere, she showed that Matt. 22 has dual application. I understand that this represents–to us–the two calls that came to the denomination via Jones and Waggoner in the 1888 period, then by Wieland and Short in the 1950’s. Throughout my dedicated study and writing on this subject, I get the distinct feeling that God did not give her too much of this, for she would be too discouraged by it, as would many church members. It was too early to show the future. But since 1972, which I believe also is the year that God went overtime in extending probation to this organization, probation has been closed for the denominational institution, as established in human corporate law–it is merely “the building’ which is the 501(c)3, headquartered in the same city as that which is rising to become the center of control for the false prophet, at the behest of the beast. Why 1972? It is a *long story, but it is also the year of the dishonest publication of Froom’s “Movement of Destiny,”
*(you can request book from me called Of the Times and Seasons and the Delay of the Return of Christ” published by a subsidiary of TEACH Services, Inc, or find on Amazon)