Article
by Pastor Dr. John Grosboll Concerning Some of the Church Apostasies
Dear Reader,
The following article is by Pastor
John. I was posted on an SDA Internet forum. J. Grosboll. The
following foreword is by Ron:
The article you posted is a gem in many
respects, but you know what friend? It is misleading. It teaches
error when it says:
"I am sorry to have to say this, but
there are many Seventh-day Adventist preachers and many Seventh-day Adventist
churches today that have rejected the Three Angels' Messages. If you
are in one of them, you better get out. From those people turn
away—people who no longer believe in the investigative judgment; people who
no longer
know who Babylon is; people who no longer know who the
beast or antichrist is. The Bible says that there will be people who
have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof; from these turn away."
Ron’s Comment: Dr. Grosboll seems
ignorant of the principle of corporate responsibility and the hierarchical
structure of the church whereby all members are responsible because a
percentage of all tithe goes to the GC.
If you are a member of the apostate church, a portion of your tithe
goes to the pastors who have rejected the Three Angel's
Messages. Why does the Conference keep such pastors in its employ?
Because it is in apostasy. End of
Ron’s Comments.
Knowing the
Time, Part II
By Pastor John J. Grosboll
In Part 1 of this article [February 2006], ten
points were given
which help us know that, without question, we
are living in the last days of this world. We are not at the beginning
of the time of the end; we are at the end of the time of the end.
As important as it is to know the time in the
world—and that is important—it is even more important to know the time in the
church. Do you know the time in the church? Well, if you do not,
I hope you will start a study on this subject.
Time in the
Church
Verse 1 of 11 Timothy 3 says: "This know,
that in the last days perilous times shall come"; grievous, difficult
times are going to come. Then several social problems are listed, such
as children being disobedient to their parents, people being fierce and
brutal, not loving their neighbor, loving money. It gives a whole list
of social problems! Coming to the end of these social problems, verse 5
tells us what is going to go on in the Christian church in the last
days. This is scary. It describes the people as, "having a
form of godliness [having a form of piety, a form of religion] but denying
its power."
What is going to happen in the church in the
last days? The people are going to be very religious. In the Midwest, monstrous
churches are being erected like none ever before built. There are
churches in Wichita, Kansas, that will
hold over 4,000 people. They are like huge amphitheaters or
auditoriums, so for people to see and hear the speaker from the back, five or
six large screens are used with an enlarged projection of the speaker.
Oh, let me tell you, friends, we have religion today. We have a form of
religion, but the Bible says that people will deny the power of it.
Power of
Godliness
Let me describe very briefly what it means to
deny the power of religion, to deny the power of the gospel, to deny the
power of godliness. When Jesus came to this world, He did not come just
to die on a cross and pay the price for our sins. That was part of it,
but that was not everything. Before Jesus ever died on the cross, He
lived in this world for over 30 years as our example, to show us how to
live. He said, "If you will follow Me, I will give you the power
to become like Me."
John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him,
to them gave He authority to become the sons of God, even those who believe
in His name." And when He returns, it says in 1 John 3:2, we are
going to be like Him. What is the power of godliness? The power
of godliness is the power of God to take some wretch like me who has a sinful
nature, a weak will, and a wicked mind and transform me, through the power of
the Holy Spirit, to make me—I say this reverently—like Jesus
Christ. That is what the gospel is
about.
Born of the
Holy Spirit
If you have a form of religion and you go to
church, pray, sing, read, shout, witness, and do all kinds of good things,
but a transformation of character through the Holy Spirit never happens in
your life, you will not be saved. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Except
a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
heaven." John 3:5. He did not say that he should not; He
said that he could not enter the kingdom of heaven. To enter, you must
be born of the Holy Spirit, and when that happens, the Holy Spirit will work
a miracle inside of you.
Ellen White says that it is through the Spirit
that the heart is
made pure. (The Desire of Ages,
671.) The Spirit has to work a change in you; otherwise you cannot go
to heaven—even if you go to church. The power of God is the power to
change your life so you do not think like the devil anymore, but you think
like Jesus Christ. You do not feel like the devil; you feel like Jesus
Christ. You no longer talk like the devil; you talk like Jesus
Christ. You no longer act like the devil; you act like Jesus Christ,
especially in your home. "A Christian in the home is a Christian
everywhere." "Ellen G. White Comments," Seventh-day
Adventist Bible
Commentary, vol. 5, 1085.
Form of
Godliness
But in the last days there is going to be a
people who will have a form of godliness. They will have all the
outward trophies of religion. They will go to church; they will pray;
they will sing; they will witness; they will prophesy; they will talk in
tongues; they will work miracles. In Matthew 7:21–23, you may read
about these people who come to the Lord and say, "Lord, You made a
mistake. I know I am saved, because I cast out devils in Your name, and
I prophesied in Your name, and I worked many powerful miracles in Your name."
And then Jesus will say to them, "Depart from Me, I
never knew you. Depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness. You who break the law are not a loyal
subject."
Some people say that it is just too bad that
it is this way, but
they guess they will just have to endure
it. Oh, no, it is not that way. Oh, no, that is not what the
Bible says. We did not read the end of the text: "Having the form
of godliness but denying the power of it, from these turn away."
11 Timothy 3:5. This is where it gets tough. Paul says that in
the last days there is going to be a people who have a form of godliness but
they deny the power. Let me put
it plainly: denying the power is the new theology that tells us that we
cannot overcome sin. That is denying the power.
Turn Away
When new
theology is being preached, is Paul telling us to just stay in there and do
the best we can, because we are living in the last days? What does he
say? He says to turn away. Do you
get the thrust of that? I know people all over—I have friends—who are
trying to stay in there. I heard of one person who said that if it gets
too bad while the Sabbath School lesson is
being taught, just go into the bathroom and read the Bible and The Great
Controversy. Is that what Paul is telling us to do? Go into the
bathroom and read your Bible while all this racket is going on? Paul
said to turn away! Are you going to do it?
I have friends who tend to think that I am a
fanatic. They have decided that they are not going to turn away; they
are going to stay in there and fight to clean things up. But let me
tell you what happens after they stay in this situation a few years.
Instead of getting it cleaned up, they become spiritually anesthetized, until
they do not even see that there is a problem in the church anymore. I
have seen it happen repeatedly. Do not say that you will be strong; you
can resist it; you will be all right; you are going to be a light. That
is not what the Bible says to do.
You are a human being, and when God tells you
to turn away from something, if you want to be saved, you better turn
away. If you do not, you will become like that with which you
associate. Do not ever forget that.
Why was the Seventh-day Adventist Church raised up
in the first place? Why did we not just stay with the Baptists and the
Methodists and the other Christian
churches? Why? Because they rejected the truth of the Three
Angels' Messages.
I am sorry to
have to say this, but there are many Seventh-day Adventist preachers and many
Seventh-day Adventist churches today that have rejected the Three Angels'
Messages. If you are in one of them, you better get out.
From those people turn away—people who no
longer believe in the investigative judgment;
people who no longer know who Babylon is; people
who no longer know who the beast or antichrist is. The Bible says that
there will be people who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof;
from these turn away.
Similar to
Jews' Experience
Number two. What is the time in the
church? It is the last days. It is the time of the end.
What is going to happen at the time of the end in the church? Read
Selected Messages, Book 1, 406. Ellen White said that God told her this
over and over again. If God told Ellen White something over and over
again, do you suppose that it may have some rather unusual importance?
What did He tell her over and over
again? He told her that our experience in the second advent movement,
just before the second coming of Christ, would be very similar to the experience
of the Jews just before the first coming of Christ. That is not just a
prophecy anymore; it is happening right around us.
Immodest
Dress
Number three. This is a point I would
encourage you to study more on your own. Isaiah 2 begins a prophecy
about the last days, which continues in chapters 3 and 4. In chapter
3:16–26, it indicates that there is going to be immodest and prideful dress
among the daughters of Zion
in the last days.
I do not want any woman to think I am trying
to point a finger at her, because I am not. I am not trying to say that
women are any worse sinners than men. Men have their own problems, and
women have their own problems. Let me explain what the men's problem
is; then I will explain what the women's problem is.
A man's problem is that he has a moral
responsibility to guard his eyes. Men have a natural tendency to look
at women, and the fewer clothes the women have on, the more the men tend to
look. Jesus warned against that. In Job 31:1, Job said, "I
cut a covenant; I made a covenant with my eyes. Why should I look
intently upon a virgin?" He said, " I will not do
it." Men have to guard their eyes. That is a man's
problem. A man has a moral responsibility to God to say, "Lord,
help me to be careful as to what I am looking at, and what I am thinking
about when I am looking at it."
A woman has an opposite problem. Just as
men are tempted to look at women, women are tempted to encourage men to look
at them. Oh, my dear sister, do you realize that by immodest clothing,
by the kind of clothing described in Isaiah 3, you can help to take some men
to hell? Read Matthew 5:27–30. It was in regard to this problem
that Jesus told men that it would be better to pluck out their eye or cut off
their hand to get rid of it, to get away. If you are a woman and some
man goes to hell as the result of looking at you, do you
not think that the Lord is going to tell you
about it in the Day of Judgment?
Number four. In Isaiah 8:12, we read,
"Say not a confederacy or a conspiracy to all those who say a
confederacy or a conspiracy. Do not fear their fear." This
is something that is happening in Adventism today and has been happening for
over 20 years.
Wake Up
Number five. In Matthew 25—the story of
the ten virgins—we see that the church in the last days is asleep. Have
you ever gone into your closet or wherever you do your private praying and
said, "Lord, please have mercy on me and wake me up"? Paul
said, in Romans 13:11, that it is the hour to wake out of sleep. It is
time to wake up. Ask the Lord to please wake you up, to send the Holy
Spirit to help you hear that still, small voice. Do you realize that
probation is going to close, and Jesus is going to come, and some Seventh-day
Adventists are not going to wake up until it is too late? In Early
Writings, 71, Mrs. White describes it exactly. When the plagues begin
to fall, then they wake up, but it is too late to wake up then.
Number six. What has happened in
Adventism while we have been asleep? In Matthew 13, Jesus told us what
would happen while we were asleep. He said that while men slept the
enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. There have been so many
tares sown in Adventism that unless the Lord works a miracle the tares will
choke out the wheat crop. (See Review and Herald, October 3, 1899.)
That is one of the reasons that there are
independent Seventh-day Adventist churches today, because Ellen White says
very clearly that it is possible for the tares to choke out the wheat, so
there is no crop.
Yielded
Leaders
Now we come to one of the most important
points of all. Do you believe that we are in the last years of this
earth's history?
Following is one of the most startling
prophecies ever written by the pen of Ellen White about what is going to
happen in Adventism in the last years of earth's history. It was
written during the time of the alpha of apostasy. "In His Word the
Lord declared what He would do for Israel if they would obey His
voice." Manuscript
Releases, vol. 13, 379. What did God promise to do for them, if
they would obey His voice? He said, "You would be the head and not
the tail"; "I will bless you, I will bless the fruit of your
womb,
I will bless your cattle, I will bless your
crops, I will bless your children, I will bless your land."
Deuteronomy 28:13; 7:13.
In fact, if they had followed the Lord fully,
they would not even have had to chase the Canaanites out of Canaan.
The Lord told them that He was willing to send hornets after them; they would
not even have to do it. (Exodus 23:28.) Read the blessings that
were promised to the children of Israel, if they would have
obeyed; it makes your mouth water! We wonder, with promises such as
this, how anybody could not pay attention! But here is what happened.
"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." Ibid. Who yielded? The leaders of the
people! God could not give Israel the blessings He desired,
because they listened to Satan's temptations. They did not obey God;
they listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer.
That is the easy part to read. Now we
will read something that is absolutely scalding hot. "This
experience [the experience of the leaders leading the people astray,
listening to the voice and policy of Lucifer, and not obeying the Lord] will
be repeated in the last years of the history of the people of God, who have been
established by His grace and power." Ibid. Who are the people of God who have been established
by His grace and power in the last days? They are the Seventh-day
Adventists. God could not do for
ancient Israel what He wanted to do, because the leaders listened to the
temptations of Satan; they did not obey God. They obeyed the voice and
policy of Lucifer. Mrs. White says that the same thing is going to
happen at the end, in the last days.
Sanctify
Lucifer
If we are now in the last days, what do you
think is happening right now? The
leaders of God's people have succumbed to the temptations of Satan.
They are not obedient; they are not following Bible order. They have listened to the voice and
policy of Lucifer, and then somebody says that we have to stay with
this! This is God's church? Wait a minute! Are the synagogue of Satan and God's
church the same thing? She says, "Men whom He has greatly honored will in the closing scenes of
this earth's history pattern after ancient Israel." Ibid.
Jesus and Lucifer do not work in
partnership. Do not ever get that wrong. Again, Jesus and Lucifer
do not work in partnership. A few years ago we received a phone call
from a clergyman who was quite irate. I am not saying that the people
in our church did not make a mistake, because they went to his church's
parking lot while the congregation was meeting and put literature on the
windshields of the cars parked there. That was not wise, because it was
private
property. The clergyman was quite irate
because of this
literature. (This clergyman was a
clergyman in Babylon.)
This literature told the evils of Halloween. Halloween is a holiday
that has its origin in Druid and Satan worship. Halloween is all right
today, he told us, because (concerning his church) we sanctified it.
Can you sanctify what
Lucifer does? Friends, Seventh-day Adventists think like this
today. They think that we, because we are Seventh-day Adventists, can
sanctify something, and it is all right, even if it is the voice and policy
of Lucifer.
Ellen White said that these leaders of ancient
times listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer, and it is going to happen
in the last years—and it is happening. It has been happening for
several years already.
How to Relate
How do you relate to this? Some people
get angry. There are a lot of angry Seventh-day Adventists today,
because of the wickedness and evil going on in Adventism. There are
some people who are just absolutely, white-hot angry. They are like the
zealots in the time of Christ. They were angry too. They were
ready to start a revolt and drive out the Romans. One of those zealots
was one of Jesus' disciples.
But then
there are other people who say that we are to just stay in there no matter
what the church or its leaders do, because it is the true church, and we
will lose our souls if we leave it. In 11 Timothy 3:5, we have already studied that Paul said, in such a
situation, we better turn away. We need to investigate the
question, and then we need to understand the answer to that question.
Ellen White was shown that just as it was
before the first coming of Christ, it would be before the Second Coming of
Christ. It is one of the greatest signs that we are right at the end.
What about
You?
How are you going to come out of all
this? Friends, Jesus is coming soon. Ellen White saw that few
Adventists would be saved. (Testimonies,
vol. 1, 608, 609.) I am sorry that few people are going to be saved in
the world, and I am sorry that few people are going to be saved in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
I have said that I wish the whole city of Wichita, Kansas,
would be saved, but it will not be. I can preach, but then the people
have to decide. I wish the whole Seventh-day Adventist
Church would be saved,
but it
will not be. You, however, can make a
decision as to whether or not you are going to be saved.
I have often thought about Noah and his family
in the ark. When the rain was falling, do you suppose any of them said,
"There are so few of us in here; I wish I were out there with the
others"? The people were drowning out there! Even though
there were only a few in the ark, they were glad they were in it. I
want to tell you something, friends. The few people who stay with the
Three Angels' Messages will triumph with it. Do you want to be part of
that group?
I am sad. I am not happy reporting to
you from the Spirit of
Prophecy and the Bible about what is
happening. I do not like to see people lose their souls. I am not
happy about that, but I cannot help it. I tell them, and they will not
listen. They say that I am a
fanatic. Is anybody listening? Is anybody willing to live by
the Word of God? Is anybody willing to say, Yes, I will still believe,
and I will still spread the Three Angels' Messages?
The Three Angels' Messages will triumph.
They are infallible. If you stay with them, you will triumph
also. I have decided that this is where I want to stay.
I am not going to attend a church where the Three Angels' Messages are not
preached, no matter what name is on the front of the building.
It is the Three Angels' Messages that are going to triumph, not a name.
[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]
End Note by Ron Beaulieu
Here is a classic example of how SDA leaders
misapply Scripture. They imply that an apostate church is the ship.
Was the "ship" in Paul's day the apostate Jerusalem,
or the true Jerusalem
that jumped ship? Doug Bachelor is totally misrepresenting what Paul
did in the following statement. What a horrible sham!
Doug Batchelor,
Speaker, Amazing Facts
"Is it time now to “jump ship?” How can we know what to do?"
"Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, except these abide in
the ship, ye cannot be saved" (Acts 27:31). End quote by Pastor Doug Bachelor.
Ron responds:
Separation Come out -- The Call to Come Out of the Hebrew Church.
The preaching of the gospel of a crucified, risen, and ascended Lord was to
begin at Jerusalem.
Luke 24:47. On the day of Pentecost the apostles had been given "tongues
like as of fire," Acts 2:3, and through this zeal of the Spirit-filled
apostles thousands of the honest in heart responded to the
call to come out of the new fallen Hebrew church. Among others, the great and
learned apostle Paul left the Hebrew church and threw all his talent and
power into preaching the gospel of a crucified, risen, and ascended Lord.
"I determined," he said, "not to know anything among you, save
Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." I Cor. 2:2. Sarah Elizabeth Peck, The
Path to the Throne of God, p. 207.
Sarah Peck was a close friend of Ellen White. She wrote a book on the
Sanctuary called The Path to the Throne of God. The above quote is from
her book.
Paul Jumped Ship:
"And as they persisted in their rejection of the gospel the apostle
(Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space for three
months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way
before
the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing
daily in the school of one Tyrannus." Acts, 19:8, 9.
"Fearing that the faith of the believers would be endangered by
continued association with these opposers of the truth, Paul separated from
them, and gathered the disciples into a distinct body." E.G. White, Acts
of the Apostles, p. 286.
Defective Ship: We can know that if a ship has false teaching it will not
survive the rigors of the ocean of strife and turmoil: "You have had too
great confidence in the ability of these men. A ship may be sound in nearly
every respect but if there is one defect,--a bit of timber worm-eaten,--the
lives of all on board are imperiled." E.G. White, Testimonies, vol. 4, 322.
Ship Drifting at Sea Without Chart or Compass: "The facts concerning the
real condition of the professed people of God, speak more loudly than their
profession, and make it evident that some power has cut the cable that
anchored them to the Eternal Rock, and that they are drifting away to sea,
without chart or compass." E.G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 2, p.
128, (Review and Herald, Vol. 2, p. 231). (Also see Fundamentals of Christian
Education, p. 348).
"Every ship sailing the sea of life needs to have the divine Pilot on
board but when storms arise, when tempests threaten, many persons push their
Pilot overboard, and commit their bark into the hand of finite man, or try to
steer it themselves. Then disaster and wreckage generally follow, and the Pilot
is blamed for running them into such dangerous waters." E.G. White,
Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 348.
Is the Pilot on board the SDA New Movement, New Organization Ship described
in Selected Messages, vol. 1, 204-5? Page 205 says He [God] has been removed!
Noble Ship #1: "I lately read of a NOBLE SHIP that was plowing its way
across the sea, when at midnight, with a terrific crash, it struck upon a
rock the passengers were awakened only to see with horror their hopeless
condition, and with the ship they sank to rise no more. The MAN AT THE HELM
[VERSUS CHRIST] had mistaken the beacon light, and hundreds of souls were at
a moment's warning launched into eternity." E.G. White, Selected
Messages,
vol. 2, 128.
Noble Ship #2: "There is no need to doubt, to be fearful that the work
will not succeed. God is at the head of the work, and He will set everything
in order. If maters need adjusting at the head of the work, God will attend
to that, and work to right every wrong. Let us have faith that God is going
to carry the noble ship which bears the people of God safely into port."
E.G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 2, 390.
Immediately preceding the above statement is the admonition:
"We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. We
cannot now enter into any new organization for this would mean apostasy from
the truth.--Manuscript 1290, 1905. Selected Messages, vol. 2, 390.
So Satan came in and formed a New Movement, New Organization (1SM 204-5) and
the sleeping sheep are non-the-wiser!
In light of all the statements involving a ship, we must interpret them all
so that none contradict. The best way to achieve this goal is to look for
qualifying words. In the above statement the qualifying words are NOBLE SHIP
and THE PEOPLE OF GOD. Who are the people of God? Those who keep His
commandments and heed the Laodicean message.
Better know which ship you are on Friend!
May God abundantly bless the diggers in His Word, and awaken the rest is my
every prayer,
Ron
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