QUESTION 6 OF 12:
Has the "Line" Been Crossed by the SDA Denomination?
Now we are ready to put in the final piece of the puzzle; we know what the "line" is, all we need to know now is whether or not the SDA Conference structure has already crossed it. Is that organization now leading towards heaven, or hell?
Look again at those twelve steps that show what would have to take place for there to be a "new organization" (1SM 204,205) and apply them to the SDA structure. You will see that eleven of them are now history, only the twelfth has yet to take place.
God's intention for His church is that it should be His voice on earth (Matt 18:18-20). Yet, Mrs. White states: "We hear that the voice of the Conference is the voice of God. Every time I have heard this, I have thought it was almost blasphemy. The voice of the Conference ought to be the voice of God, but it is not" (Sermons and Talks, Vol 2, p 159, 160).
What about the quote: "We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon" (TSB 188), what was the situation that brought such a stern warning from God through His prophet? If you read the whole letter (it starts on page 185), you will find that it was the failure to deal firmly with violators of the seventh commandment. Don't miss the question at the end of that paragraph: "We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon... and will we be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the existing evil?" Later on in the same letter, she states it even plainer: "unless there is a cleansing of the soul temple on the part of many who claim to believe and to preach the truth, God's judgments, long deferred, will come. These debasing sins have not been handled with firmness and decision. There is corruption in the soul, and, unless it is cleansed by the blood of Christ, there will be apostasies among us that will startle you." (page 193).
Have these things actually happened? Has there been a failure in making decided movements to cure this evil (non-Biblical divorce and remarriage, etc)? Has the Conference organization ceased to disfellowship open commandment breakers, and begun to disfellowship the commandment keepers? Oh yes, both leadership and laity are allowed to divorce (and even remarry) without Biblical grounds, work at non-emergency jobs on Sabbath, etc. Also, the SDA denomination is now disfellowshipping the commandment keepers who are taking a stand against all the open sin and apostasy. Are there now apostasies among us that are startling? Without a doubt, this warning is not being heeded-and the inevitable results have already occurred. So, is it unreasonable to say that the SDA denominational structure has now become a sister to fallen Babylon (another harlot daughter of Rome)?
Bob De La Torre