Deuteronomy 7:6-7
But why is it that we have not succeeded in finishing the work God has given us? Is it because we were too busy building our institutions and our reputation? Have we taken pride in the reputations of our educated leaders and institutions and lost our focus on preaching the message? Have we allowed ourselves to fall into the same “spiritual stupor” of worldly influence that followed the reformation?
“Thus the spirit inspired by the Reformation gradually died out, until there was almost as great need of reform in the Protestant churches as in the Roman Church in the time of Luther. There was the same spiritual stupor, the same respect for the opinions of men, the same spirit of worldliness, the same substitution of human theories for the teachings of God's word. Pride and extravagance were fostered under the guise of religion. The churches became corrupted by allying themselves with the world. Thus were degraded the great principles for which Luther and his fellow-laborers had done and suffered so much.” {4SP 194.1}
Has our status as a denomination become so important to us that we have neglected our mission? Why must our schools of theology be accredited by worldly institutions? Why must we follow the world’s methods of education? Have we substituted “human theories” for the word of God? Has “pride and extravagance” overshadowed humility and simplicity? Have our churches become “corrupted by allying themselves with the world?” Do we value the approbation of the world rather than of God? What will it take to bring us back to where God would have us to be? God has some advice for us,
“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (Revelation 2:4-5).
Is it possible that we may have some of our candlesticks removed? Not the light of the church as a whole, for we are told this church will go through to the end, but individual lights. We have the assurance of the prophetic word that this will happen,
“Those who have yielded step by step to worldly demands, and conformed to worldly customs, will then yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. At that time the gold will be separated from the dross. . . . Many a star that we have admired for its brilliance will then go out in darkness. Those who have assumed the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ's righteousness, will then appear in the shame of their own nakedness.” {PK 188}
Have we caved to the demands of worldly culture? Have we been too influenced by the manners and ways of the world? God will separate the true gold from the fool’s gold and “frequent will be the apostasies of men who have occupied responsible positions.”--RH Sept. 11, 1888.
Today, this is the condition of the church that is to give the message that will lighten the world with the glory of God. We are not ready to take that message. Why?
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:14-19).
What must happen for God’s people to be ready to give the last warning message? They must repent and return to Him. But there will be those who resist that repentance. It is then that a “terrible ordeal” must occur.
“Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. 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. 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. We must be divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.” {2SM 380.2}
What does Mrs. White mean when she says, “The church may appear as about to fall?” What does that look like practically? What might happen to the church as an organization, as an institution? Must we lose our reputation as a mainstream Christian denomination? Is it our reputation we should be concerned about, or is it God’s reputation? Must we lose our health institutions, our educational institutions, our publishing institutions to the influence of the world?
Israel lost their institutions, given them by God for the furtherance of their work, as a result of their apostacy. Why should we do the same? We know we will lose our institutions in the end times. But should we lose them due to apostasy? Or should they be lost because they are effective tools to carry the message, tools of which the devil want’s to deprive us? Must we lose everything that gives us credibility with the world? Are we to be concerned about our credibility with the world, or do we simply move forward in the faith of Jesus and the knowledge of His word and leave the consequences to Him?
In the early years of Adventism, events occurred that were seen as judgments from God. The Sanitarium burned February 19, 1902 as a result of Dr. Kellogg’s self-motivated actions and pantheistic ideas. The Review publishing house burned December 30, 1902 as a result of printing things that the Lord, through Ellen White, said should not be printed. The Haskell Home or orphanage burned February 5, 1909, along with the Battle Creek (Dime) Tabernacle in 1922. The first two at least, Ellen White stated were the judgments of God as a result of “a departure from” God’s will.
Throughout the history of God’s people, He has given them every advantage to be able to take the message of salvation to the world. He has given them wealth and status, institutions, and even the support of governments that they might have every advantage to share the message. But in many cases, when His people were at the height of their prosperity, they also were the least dependent upon God in spreading the message. They relied upon their prosperity and status among the nations rather than relying upon the One who gave them that prosperity. They relied upon the institutions to do the work rather than the institutions being only tools in the hands of the people to provide opportunities to spread the message. God was longsuffering with His people during these times. But when it became clear that they would not listen to those sent from God, trying to lead them back to the narrow path, God took away their prosperity and allowed them to lose their reputation and their institutions. Isaiah speaks of God’s plans for such a people.
“And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” Isaiah 4:3-4
Isaiah speaks here of a purified people, a people who have had their filth washed away. They have been reckoned with by God and have been purified through His Spirit. They have gone through that process spoken of in Revelation 3 to the church in Laodicea. They have received the gold, the white raiment, and the eye salve. The chaff has been blown away and the precious wheat remains. Laodicea is the last day portrayal of those spoken of in Isaiah 4.
We have the counsel of God’s modern-day prophet. Her words are just as applicable to us today as they were in her day. Should we not heed the warnings?
“For years light has been coming to me that we should not center so much in one place. . . Not all that has been done in Battle Creek is well pleasing to Him. And when the sanitarium there was burned, our people should have studied the messages of reproof and warning sent them in former years, and taken heed. That the lives of patients and helpers were spared was a providence for which every one of us should praise God with heart and soul and voice. He gave them an opportunity to live, and to study what these things mean.” {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 13}
“The sanitarium had burned on February 18, 1902, and was being rebuilt. The Review and Herald plant had been destroyed by fire on December 30, the same year--just three months before the General Conference session. It was a time when important decisions were being made. In [Mrs. White’s] address she reviewed some of the high points of the history of the two institutions and pointed out some of the places where there had been a departure from following God's will.” {4MR 79.2}
Dr. Kellogg is now pursuing a similar course in Battle Creek. I am told that he made the remark that he was glad that the old sanitarium buildings burned down. Brethren, those buildings burned down as a reproof to him, but instead of taking it thus, he has given place to self-exaltation. {17MR 268.4}
The Sanitarium had burned in February; now the Review was gone. Picking up her pen, she wrote to Edson:
Oh, I am feeling so sad, because . . . the Lord has permitted this, because His people would not hear His warnings and repent, and be converted, that He should heal them. Many have despised the words of warning. Oh, how sad it is. How large the loss is of books and furniture and facilities. . . . May the Lord have mercy upon us is my prayer.--Letter 214, 1902. {5BIO 225}
The things that were happening in Ellen White’s day are happening today. Like ancient Israel, we have allowed practices and principles from other religions to bring compromise into our ranks. We have problems in our educational institutions. There are problems in our health institutions, problems in our publishing institutions.
Why do our hospitals promote principles and ideas that go against counsel we have been given through Ellen White? Why do our schools teach things that compromise the biblical principles upon which our faith was established? Why do our publishing houses print materials that would make our Advent pioneers tremble? We even have problems in the leadership of our church and its institutions!
These were the same issues that faced the church in Ellen White’s day. The Review and Herald publishing house was printing things that were contrary to biblical counsel, the sanitarium was being led by Dr. Kellogg who was teaching things opposed to God’s word, leaders of the General Conference were rejecting the biblical message of Righteousness by Faith, and those leaders were influencing what was taught in the educational institutions. And so it is today.
But why do we not act to counter this apostacy? Do we fear being few in number? Is that why we don’t speak out against the abominations happening in God’s church?
“I would encourage those who assemble in little companies to worship God. Brethren and sisters, be not disheartened because you are so few in number. The tree that stands alone upon the plain, strikes its roots deeper into the earth, spreads out its branches farther on every side, and grows stronger and more symmetrical while wrestling singly with the tempest or rejoicing in the sunshine. So the Christian, cut off from earthly dependence, may learn to rely wholly upon God, and may gain strength and courage from every conflict.” {ST, January 12, 1882 par. 10}
We must give up our dependence on worldly approbation and depend only on God. We must not lose faith when opposition comes.
Do we lack the zeal to vindicate the honor of God because we fear satan?
“Those who first led out in the work were objects of the combined assaults of evil men and evil angels. The enmity of Satan, working through men as his instruments, was strikingly developed. On the other hand, the believers, though few in number, were earnest and zealous to vindicate the honor of God in exalting His law which had been made void, and to press back the workings of Satan revealed in every form of destructive error.” {4T 593.2}
We must move forward in faith. We must not shirk our duty no matter the consequences.
“’He that is not with Me,’ said Christ, ‘is against Me.’ It is wholehearted, thoroughly decided men and women who will stand now. Christ sifted His followers again and again, until at one time there remained only eleven and a few faithful women to lay the foundation of the Christian church. There are those who will stand back when burdens are to be borne; but when the church is all aglow, they catch the enthusiasm, sing and shout, and become rapturous; but watch them. When the fervor is gone, only a few faithful Calebs will come to the front and display unwavering principle. These are salt that retains the savor. It is when the work moves hard that the churches develop the true helpers. These will not be talking of self, vindicating self, but will lose their identity in Jesus Christ. To be great in God's kingdom is to be a little child in humility, in simplicity of faith, and in the purity of love. All pride must perish, all jealousy be overcome, all ambition for supremacy be given up, and the meekness and trust of the child be encouraged. All such will find Christ their rock of defense, their strong tower. In Him they may trust implicitly, and He will never fail them.” {5T 130.1}
Where are those who will stand for truth and righteousness? Where are the teachers of righteousness today? Who will trust in God and not fear man?
“In every age, God has called his servants to lift up their voices against the prevailing errors and sins of the multitude. Noah was called to stand alone to warn the antediluvian world. Moses and Aaron were alone against king and princes, magicians and wise men, and the multitudes of Egypt. Elijah was alone when he testified against an apostate king and a backsliding people. Daniel and his fellows stood alone against the decrees of mighty monarchs. The majority are usually to be found on the side of error and falsehood. The fact that doctors of divinity have the world on their side does not prove them to be on the side of truth and of God. The wide gate and the broad road attract the multitudes, while the strait gate and the narrow way are sought only by the few.” {4SP 214.1}
When Jesus comes to receive His people, there will be those unfaithful servants that will hear the words of condemnation, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:23). Many of these honestly believe they have been doing God’s will. Yet they have been teachers of unrighteousness. But there will be those who have been faithful. They have declared the truth of God in the face of opposition, even at the peril of their lives. Matthew 25:21 says,
“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
The choice is yours. You may stand with the world and the majority, or with the few, the remnant. Where will you stand?
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