Why it is Impossible to Reason With Most SDA’s

“When a prophet’s statements contradict cherished ideas and behaviors, disputing the prophet’s credibility becomes a convenient recourse.” Kevin Paulson, SDA Pastor

"Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone." – Ayn Rand

Some very faithful SDA true reformers have plied questions similar to this: “What in the world is wrong with Seventh-day Adventists? Why can’t they see the abominations for which they are to sigh and cry in order to receive the seal of God, Ezekiel 9?”

I am going to attempt to answer that question by the grace of the Holy Spirit. A fallen angel becomes a fiend and Satan was the first fiend. A study into Satan’s fall should give insights as to the reasons all men fall. But how could the most intelligent, best looking and most musical of all the angels come to the point where he would challenge God? Commensurately, how could some of the most able thought leaders of Seventh-day Adventism come to challenge God’s Word and the Spirit of Prophecy? Surely, this would have to involve a loss of reasoning ability. Surely, it came to the point where even God could not reason with Lucifer. But why? What were the reasons Satan fell to that point? Could it be that men, even Seventh-day Adventist leaders fall for some of the same reasons Satan fell?

Lucifer, before his rebellion, was a high and exalted angel, next in honor to God's dear Son. A special light beamed in his countenance and shone around him brighter and more beautiful than around the other angels.[1] We know that Satan coveted to be in the councils of God. We know he felt superior or at least equal to God’s Son, and thereby should be included in the heavenly council. This desire on Satan’s part involved pride and covetousness. Lucifer was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ. Yet when all the angels bowed to Jesus to acknowledge His supremacy and high authority and rightful rule, he bowed with them; but his heart was filled with envy and hatred.[2] We could rightfully say that the basic sin that led to Satan’s other sins was pride.

Are Seventh-day Adventist Leaders Making the Same Basic Mistake Satan Made Because of Pride?

“But we see that the God of heaven sometimes commissions men to teach that which is regarded as contrary to the established doctrines. Because those who were once the depositaries of truth became unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who would receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and would advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders. And then these leaders, in the blindness of their minds, give full sway to what is supposed to be righteous indignation against the ones who have set aside cherished fables. They act like men who have lost their reason. They do not consider the possibility that they themselves have not rightly understood the word. They will not open their eyes to discern the fact that they have misinterpreted and misapplied the Scriptures, and have built up false theories, calling them fundamental doctrines of the faith.” {TM 69.2}

· Sometimes, God commissions faithful men to teach that which is regarded as contrary to established doctrines! Why? Because:

· SDA leaders become unfaithful to their trust. That is why they lose their spiritual discernment to reason out spiritual truths.

· Because they lose spiritual discernment, they cannot help but embrace error, such as the Trinity Doctrine, a false theory of man, which is regarded by SDA leaders as a fundamental doctrine of the faith.

· The leaders also regard the human nature of Christ as superior to the human nature of man, thus falsely concluding that we cannot overcome as Christ did, even though we are given the Holy Spirit Soul of His Life to level the playing field in empowering us to overcome exactly like Christ did.

· The leaders begin to embrace the gospel of Babylon, the gospel of cheap grace. They don’t have the spiritual discernment to reason that true grace is the Holy Spirit’s power to enable men to obey, Romans 1:5, to wit: “By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name.”

· The leaders cannot reason that gold tried in the fire is faith that works by the self-sacrificing Spirit of Christ indwelling us. And it is that failure on the part of the leaders that the church remains in the Laodicean state, the foolish virgin state as Ellen White defines the Laodicean state of the church.

“They must have His grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot form a Christian character. Jesus loves to have us come to Him, just as we are—sinful, helpless, dependent.” Faith and Works, p. 38.

“There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before man can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace [the Spirit of Christ] alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.” (ST, May 28, 1902, par. 3).

· Thus, the church has adopted the false gospel of Babylon by teaching a false concept of grace. This false doctrine on grace is the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans which God especially hates.

Doctrine of the Nicolaitans.—“The doctrine is now largely taught that the gospel of Christ has made the law of God of no effect that by 'believing' we are released from the necessity of being doers of the Word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned.” E.G. White, The SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, p. 957.

"(Jude 4).--The Sin of the Nicolaitans.--Is it [our sin] the sin of the Nicolaitans, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness." E.G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, 957.

· The grace (power) of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, is turned into lasciviousness by defining grace as pardon only, rather than enabling power as well as pardon for repented of, repentable sins.

Some will say: But Oh, all leaders in the church don’t teach that false gospel of cheap grace! To which I will counter: YES THEY DO! How? Why? I will tell you how and why:

God’s Word says to teach ONE GOSPEL, and that any other gospel should be accursed. Does God mean what He says? Is it a serious abomination that in the professing Seventh-day Adventist church, many will go to hell because they are taught a false Nicolaitian gospel by their ministers? Do you care about that abomination?

Faithful leaders should counsel with the false ones and if they will not repent of their false gospel, they should be put out of the camp or the whole camp is ACCURSED. And the laity should support only those giving a true gospel. God’s Word says that we are to accurse any gospel but the ONE TRUE GOSPEL, and that anyone, even an angel from heaven, should be accursed if he should preach a false gospel. Are teachers of a false gospel in the SDA church being ACCURSED? Are those who teach a true gospel ACCURSING those who teach a false gospel? No they are not! We are not to co-worship with those who teach a false gospel!

Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

What does it mean to accurse? I will give you the Bible and the Dictionary definition:

Number 331

Transliteration:

anathema {an-ath'-em-ah}

Word Origin:

from 394

TDNT:

1:354,57

Part of Speech:

noun neuter

Usage in the KJV:

accursed 4, anathema 1, bind under a great curse 332 1

Total: 6

Definition:

1. a thing set up or laid by in order to be kept

A. specifically, an offering resulting from a vow, which after being consecrated to a god was hung upon the walls or columns of the temple, or put in some other conspicuous place

2. a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and if an animal, to be slain; therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction

A. a curse

B. a man accursed, devoted to the direst of woes

TDNT - Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TWOT - Theological Word Book of the Old Testament

Now I will give you the dictionary definition of anathema:

a·nath·e·ma

/əˈnæθəmə/ Show Spelled[uh-nath-uh-muh] Show IPA

noun, plural -mas.

a person or thing detested or loathed: That subject is anathema to him.

a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.

a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.

any imprecation of divine punishment.

a curse; execration.

Origin:
1520–30; < Latin < Greek: a thing accursed, devoted to evil, orig. devoted, equivalent to ana ( ti ) thé ( nai ) to set up + -ma noun suffix

Link To anathema

Should you be part of an accursed camp (church) that is teaching a false gospel? Will you be consigned to damnation, destruction and hell if you support and/or defend such a church? Are all members of such a church corporately responsible for such an accursed abomination being taught?

"There are fearful woes for those who preach the truth, but are not sanctified by it, and also for those who consent to receive and maintain the unsanctified to minister to them in word and doctrine." Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 261-62.

"The plain straight testimony must live in the church, or the curse of God will rest upon His people as surely as it did upon ancient Israel because of their sins. God holds His people, as a body [corporately], responsible for the sins existing in individuals among them." Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 269.

Knowing this serious truth from the Word of God, do you dare one minute longer to remain a member of a church that is admixing an accursed gospel with the true, which is forbidden (anathema) by the Word of God?

WHEN and WHEN NOT we are to Support the Regular Lines—the Regular SDA Church

Regular lines - “So often the same old difficulties arise and are presented in regard to disturbing the ‘regular lines.’ But God will work in some way to make His people understand that THE REGULAR LINES HAVE BECOME FULL OF IRREGULAR PRACTICES…God alone can make men understand that working on REGULAR LINES has led to IRREGULAR PRACTICES. God alone can make men’s minds as they should be. The time has come when we should hear less in favor of the REGULAR LINES. If we can GET AWAY FROM THE REGULAR LINES into something which, THOUGH IRREGULAR, IS AFTER GOD’S ORDER, it may cut away something of the IRREGULAR WORKING which has led away from Bible principles.” E.G. White, Manuscript Release, #1450, p. 3, 4, 1901.b

“When we see the regular lines are altered and purified and refined, and the God of the heavens mold is upon the regular lines, then it is our business to establish the regular lines.” E.G. White, Spaulding-Magan Collection, p. 162-168.

“The present showing is sufficient to prove to all who have the true missionary spirit that the regular lines [organization] may prove to be a failure.” E.G. White, Spaulding-Magan Collection, p. 175. Written to Brother Daniels, June 28, 1901.

“The regular lines had need to be broken as a potter’s vessel is broken, and reconstructed.” Ms. 29, 1903. pp. 1, 3 (General Manuscript, The Southern Work, undated).

Take heart friend, Jesus and the true reformers could not reason with the ecclesiastical leaders. Desire of Ages, 232. God says none of them can understand. Isaiah 56:10-12. Read those verses to find out how many of them cannot understand. Count the number of times the word ALL appears within those verses. Imagine leaders of God’s church, who will never again show the House of Jacob its sins:

Begin at My Sanctuary – The Chapter begins on page 207 quoting Ezekiel 9

"Here we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus 'Peace and safety" is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together." E. G. White, Testimonies, Vol. 5, 211.

Sadly, those who follow their lead cannot reason so as to understand either. They have lost their reason for the same causes. As soon as you detect that they are not hungering and thirsting for truth, leave them alone as Jesus did—Desire of Ages, 232.

—rwb