The Cherished Error That We are Saved as a Sect, as a Denomination

For forty years as a member of the professing Seventh-day Adventist church, I was taught that one had to finally be a member of that church in order to be saved, if he/she heard and understood the message of that church.

The Remnant Church Plea

Who could deny that from 1844 to now, that those who have comprised the Philadelphia era of what became the organized SDA church in 1863 (Later SDA Laodicean church 1852), have called out people from what the Bible regards as "fallen harlot churches" which are the daughter of mother Rome the great Scarlet whore of Revelation, into the "God's remnant church," the professing Seventh-day Adventist church?

Indeed the Midnight Cry call of 1844, called people out of the "fallen churches," and folk left those churches and membered with the faithful Millerites of which there were about 50 on the morning of October 23, 1844, just after the disappointment. Out of what is estimated as having been 50,000-100,000 Millerite believers before the disappointment, 50 were faithful after the disappointment, and this humble, faithful few comprised the Philadelphia era of the church.

Does the Professing SDA Church Still Claim to be The Remnant Church?

Just go to the SDA Church's 27 Fundamentals creed book, p. 153, to the chapter entitled The Remnant and Its Mission. Read all about the "pure woman," (church) as opposed to the apostate church. Does the SDA church consider itself apostate? Just call the General Conference office and ask that question. So, the SDA church considers itself the pure woman church, the remnant church, the PURE body of Christ. Why do people come out of the other churches at SDA evangelistic efforts and join with the Adventists? Because they are taught that they have a duty to member with pure body of Christ in order to be saved. That is the total inference, whether spoken or implied--undertoned or overtoned! Let's face it friend, if you can be saved in the fallen churches, why the call out? Why join the SDA church?

Why it Was Proper For the Philadelphia (SDA) Church to Believe That Called Out Folk Should Member With It

It was proper for the Philadelphia era of the church to expect that "called out" folk should member with it in order to be saved, because that church was surely a faithful and PURE remnant that was in no way faulted by God. It was weak, but it was true and faithful. However, it was not long before that church transformed into the Laodicean state. We find the first evidence of that in 1852:

Laodicean 1852 (June 10) "Many who profess to be looking for the speedy coming of Christ, are becoming conformed t this world, and seek more earnestly the applause of those around them, than the approbation of God. They are cold and formal, like the nominal church, that they but a short time since separated from. The words addressed to the Laodicean Church, describe their present condition perfectly....And unless they heed the counsel of the 'faithful and True Witness,' and zealously repent, and obtain 'gold tried in the fire,' 'white raiment,' and 'eye-salve,' he will spue them out of his mouth." E.G. White, Review and Herald, June 10, 1852, Vol. 1, p. 18, col. 2.

Laodicea is a harlot, Testimonies, vol. 8, 250. Being a harlot is remedial and Mary Magdalene is a case in point. But if a harlot chooses to become joined to the brothel of Babylon, by association, counsel, girding or confederacy, that harlot crosses the line into unpardonable sin as far as its corporate body is concerned, and we are no longer to pray for it, Jeremiah 11:9-15, with special emphasis on verse 15. We are not even to be in her house of worship, because she has become confederate with Babylon's brothels by association, counsel, and girding with its associations and confederacies. SDA's have joined such associations and confederacies around the world. B.B. Beach has admitted that local Ministerial Associations conducted by the fallen churches, are local subsidiaries of the World Council of Churches confederacy. In a number of the countries of the world the SDA church must join the local National Council of Churches in order to function "above ground." It has chosen to do so, and this is strictly forbidden by the Word, Isaiah 8:9-20. For this the church will be "broken in pieces" in another literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9. In Ezekiel 9:2, the slaughter weapon is defined in the margin as "his weapon of breaking in pieces," and Ellen White says that the church will experience a LITERAL fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, to wit:

"Study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience. The time is short. God is calling; will YOU hear? Will YOU receive His message? Will YOU be converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will be decided for eternity. Letter 106, 1909, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7. (To "The churches in Oakland and Berkeley, September 26, 1909.)" E. G. White Manuscript Releases Volume One, p. 260.

I was taught by every SDA pastor I ever had that one must member with and support the true church of God if one wants to be saved, and that to do any less was to rob God and fail of supporting the Everlasting Gospel. Every evangelistic crusade I attended all my life in the church taught that the other churches were fallen daughters of the beast power, the Roman Catholic church. The Catholic church also teaches that one must be a member of that church to be saved. I realize that many current SDA ministers have disregarded this teaching of the three angel's messages and the Midnight Cry, but that only proves that the church is a New apostate Movement which has betrayed its sacred trust and mission of giving the three angels messages to the world.

In 1844, people were called out of all churches. Ellen White well substantiates this. The fallen daughters are Mother Rome's daughters and they are churches that profess to be Christian as does Rome.

Were People Called Out and Did They Leave of Their Own Volition?

"The churches would not receive the light of the first angel's message, and as they rejected the light from heaven they fell from the favor of God. They trusted in their own strength, and placed themselves by their opposition to the first message where they could not see the light of the second angel's message. But the beloved of God, who were oppressed, answered to the message, Babylon is fallen, and left the fallen churches." E.G. White, Spiritual Gifts, Volume 1, p. 140.

Shut Door on Those Who Understood the Call Out But Would Not Leave the Fallen Churches?

All who heard and understood the first and second angel's messages and the Midnight Cry, and would not leave the fallen churches to join the remnant church, experienced a "shut door." on salvation. For a short while Ellen White held that the door was forever shut after October 23, 1844, but she moved from that position. However, Ellen White never moved from the position that all who heard and understood, but did not follow through on the call to come out of the fallen churches, experienced a shut door to salvation.

In 1844, people were called out of all churches. Ellen White well substantiates this. The fallen daughters are Mother Rome's daughters and they are churches that profess to be Christian as does Rome. The phrase church militant has nothing to do with taking up arms. I have no further comments for you Tim.

This was not only the case in my years of experience in the SDA church. Modern SDA preachers are still teaching this gross error as the following statement will testify: True, it might not come right out and say the word: You will be lost if you do not come out of your fallen church and join the SDA church, but the strong inference is there at every attempt to convert a person and at every SDA evangelistic series of meetings. Now friends, what is the opposite of this course. The opposite of this course is what Billy Graham does. He tells the people to go join the church of their choice and go to church the next Sunday. But what is still the inference is that one must join, support and attend a church in order to be saved, and that simply is not the case.

"Saved into the church.--The world to which we belong by birth is hostile to God and under condemnation. Therefore, in order to save us, the cross must deliver us from the world and place us in the church, the body of Christ. Every other aspect of salvation is based upon this fact. The gospel delivers us not primarily from hell to heaven, nor from death to life, but from the world to the church. As a subjective experience, this is always the first step of our salvation. Christ will never take us to heaven as individuals, but only as members of His church." Jack Sequeira, SDA Pastor, Beyond Belief, p. 115.

Some are naive enough to believe that Sequeira is merely referring to the general body of Christ or any and all congregations of Christian churches. That is hardly the case, especially considering Sequeira's vows as a pastor to the SDA church and its 27 Fundamentals of Belief book, Chapter 12, p. 152, entitled The Remnant and Its Mission! But let's suppose Sequeira is referring to the various congregations who claim the name of being Christian. He is still wrong according to the Spirit of Prophecy definition of a true Christian and a true church:

"God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment [like the Anglican British Monarchy], 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' (Matt. 18:20). 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.
Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments of God, Jesus there presides, let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city enclosed in prison walls." E.G. White, The Upward Look, 315.

Anyway you look at it, BECAUSE THE SDA CHURCH GENERAL CONFERENCE and many of its members are OPENLY VIOLATING THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD by ecumenical association, council, girding and confederacy, and because of many other apostasies of the church, the teaching of the SDA church and Sequeira's teaching regarding what constitutes the body of Christ, is erroneous and directly contradictory to Ellen White's teaching in her above statement and those following:

"We ARE NOT saved as a sect; no denominational name has any virtue to bring us into favor with God. We are saved individually as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ." E.G. White, Review and Herald Articles, vol. 2, p. 464.

"The Lord would teach man the lesson though united in church capacity, he is not saved until the seal of God is placed upon him." E.G. White Comments, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 969.

"Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those 'that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done' in the church.' Testimonies, vol. 3, pp. 266-267.

"In every nation whosoever believes with all his heart in the Lord Jesus is accepted of God. Here, truly, is the church, out[side] of which no one can be saved." The Great Controversy, p. 181.

What Church Are We Expected to Be Members Of?

"God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment [like the Anglican British Monarchy], 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' (Matt. 18:20). 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.
Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments of God, Jesus there presides, let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city enclosed in prison walls." E.G. White, The Upward Look, 315.

A Firmament of Chosen Ones Who Have Never Heard the Name Seventh-day Adventist

"A Firmament of Chosen Ones.--Among earth's inhabitants, scattered in every land, there are those who have not bowed the knee to Ball. Like the stars of heaven, which appear only at night, these FAITHFUL ONES will shine forth when darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people. In heathen Africa, in the Catholic lands of Europe and of South America, in China, in India, in the islands of the sea, and in all the dark corners of the earth, God has in reserve a firmament of CHOSEN ONES that will yet shine forth amidst the darkness, revealing clearly to an apostate world the transforming power of obedience to His law. Even now they are appearing IN EVERY NATION, AMONG EVERY TONGUE AND PEOPLE; and in the hour of deepest apostasy, when Satan's supreme effort is made to cause 'all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,' to receive, under penalty of death, the sign of allegiance to a false rest day, these faithful ones, 'blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,' will 'shine as light in the world.'" The darker the night, the more brilliantly will they shine." E.G. White, Evangelism, 707, and Prophets and Kings, pp. 188, 189.

The above statement was written a long time ago, demonstrating that God has "blameless chosen ones in every nation, among every tongue and people; in every corner of the earth, who have never heard the name Seventh-day Adventist! The church still has not gone to every dark corner of the earth and to every nation, tongue and people! God does not need the professing Seventh-day Adventist church to finish the work! The clear testimony of the above statement is that those described in that statement will finish the work!

"From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth. In EVERY AGE the Lord has had His watchmen, who have borne a faithful testimony to the generation in which they lived." E.G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 11.

"The church on earth, composed of those who are faithful and loyal to God, is the 'true tabernacle,' whereof the Redeemer is the minister. God, and not man, pitched this tabernacle on the high, elevated platform." E.G. White, Signs of the Times, vol. 4, p. 94, February 14, 1900.

"Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." Galatians 4:26."

Mother Zion.--"Ye are come unto mount Sion [Zion] and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven." Hebrews 12:22-24.

"There is no other church than the assembly of those who have the word of God, and who are purified by it." E.G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 237.

"It is not a form of godliness, nor a name upon the church records, that constitutes a 'living stone' in the spiritual building. It is being renewed in knowledge and true holiness, being crucified to the world and made alive in Christ, that unites the soul to God." Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 168.

"The church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of God is not in her midst." E.G. White, Notebook Leaflets, p. 99, 1898.

"To the end of time, the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church." E.G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 55.

"Like ancient Israel, the church has dishonored her God by departing from the light, neglecting her duties, and abusing her high and exalted privilege of being peculiar and holy in character. Her members have violated their covenant to live for God and him only. They have joined with the selfish and world-loving. Pride, the love of pleasure, and sin have been cherished, and CHRIST HAS DEPARTED. His Spirit has been quenched in the church. Satan works wide by side with professed Christians; yet they are so destitute of spiritual discernment that they do not detect him." E.G. White, Testimonies,vol. 2, pp. 441-442.

"Organizations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan's dictation to bring men under the control of men; and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth, and for the advancement of the kingdom of God." E.G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, 494.

"Christ speaks of the church over which Satan presides as the synagogue of Satan. Its members are the children of disobedience. They are those who choose to sin, who labor to make void the holy law of God. It is Satan's work to mingle evil with good, and to remove the distinction between good and evil.
Christ would have a church that labors to separate the evil from the good, whose members will not willingly tolerate wrong-doing, but will expel it form the heart and life." E.G White, Review and Herald Articles, vol.. 4, 243, cf. Signs of the Times, March 1, 1910.

"Satan has a large confederacy, his church. Christ calls them the synagogue of Satan because the members are the children of sin. The members of Satan's church have been constantly working to cast off the divine law, and confuse the distinction between good and evil. Satan is working with great power in and through the children of disobedience to exalt treason and apostasy as truth and loyalty." E.G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, 16.

"The day of God is right upon us, and the world has converted the church. Both are in harmony, and are acting upon a short-sited policy" E.G. White, General Conference Bulletin, 1st Quarter, 1900.

"God's professed people are selfish and self-caring....They are idolaters, and are worse, in the sight of God, than the heathen, graven-image worshipers who have had no knowledge of a better way." Testimonies, vol. 2, 441-442.

"I have been shown that the spirit of the world is fast leavening the church. You are following the same path as did ancient Israel. There is the same falling away from your holy calling as God's peculiar people. You are having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Your [ecumenical] concord with unbelievers have provoked he Lord's displeasure. you know not the things that belong to your peace, and they are fast being hid from your eyes. Your neglect to follow the light will place you in a more unfavorable position than the Jews upon whom Christ pronounced a woe." Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 75-76.

The Prophesied Fall of The Professing Seventh-day Adventist Church

"Jesus sends HIS PEOPLE a message of warning to prepare them for his coming. To the prophet John was made known the closing work in the great plan of man's redemption. He beheld an angel flying 'in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters [Rev. 14:6, 7.].
The angel represented in prophecy as delivering this message, symbolizes a class of faithful men, who, obedient to the promptings of God's Spirit and the teachings of his word, proclaim this warning to the inhabitants of earth. This message was not to be committed to the religious leaders of the people. They had failed to preserve their connection with God, and had REFUSED THE LIGHT FROM HEAVEN; therefore they WERE NOT of the number described by the apostle Paul: 'But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness [1 Thess. 5:4, 5].
The watchmen upon the walls of Zion should be the first to catch the tidings of the Saviour's advent, the first to lift their voices to proclaim him near, the first to warn the people to prepare for his coming. But they were at ease, dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were asleep in their sins. Jesus saw HIS CHURCH, like the barren fig-tree, covered with pretentious leaves, yet destitute of precious fruit. There was a boastful observance of the forms of religion, while the spirit of true humility, penitence and faith--which alone could render the service acceptable to God--was lacking. Instead of the graces of the Spirit, there were manifested pride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, oppression. A BACKSLIDING CHURCH closed their eyes to the signs of the times. God did nor forsake them, or suffer his faithfulness to fail; but they departed from him, and SEPARATED THEMSELVES from his love. As THEY REFUSED TO COMPLY WITH THE CONDITIONS, his promises WERE NOT FULFILLED to them." E.G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, pp. 199-200 [The 1884 edition of The Great Controversy, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH TESTIMONIES, VOL 4].

SDA Corporate Church Brought Down to Hell! Is Such a Church THE CHURCH That the Gates of Hell Will not Prevail Against?

The following statement is presented just as it appears in its reference. All bracketed portions are just as Ellen White inserted them:

"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 have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, than for thee." E.G. White, Review and Herald Articles, vol. 3, p. 69, col. 3.

Such pronouncements have the ring of a true prophet! Capernaum was a corporate city, and the SDA is Biblically represented as a corporate city, the corporate city of Jerusalem. It will be brought down to hell as a corporate city [church], except for a small remnant who escape, Ezekiel 5:1-5, as was the case with Israel in the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem.

Ron Beaulieu