Papal
Preacher Correctly Says All Catholics Responsible for Church's Faults
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. Jeremiah
7:4
Click to go to our Home PageRon Beaulieu's comments: Where have we heard this
before?! Christ loves the church in spite of her faults and defects, but He
divorced Israel because of gross apostasy, and even told Jeremiah not to pray
for the Jewish church of his day because it conspired/confederated with God’s
enemies, Jeremiah 11:9-15. “And I saw,
when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had
put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her
treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.” Jeremiah
3:8 But at least the Catholic
leader mentioned above believes in the truth of corporate responsibility for
the sins of the church. That is more than most SDA's consent to. However, the
principle being advanced is that the church can do anything it jolly well
pleases and still be counted by God as His bride. That is exactly what the
Jews thought when they spoke of themselves thusly: Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. Jeremiah
7:4 That did not work with the
Hebrew church and it will not work with the Gentile church. It will not work
with the professing Seventh-day Adventist church! Only a relatively small
remnant will escape from all formally organized churches to form the bride of
Jesus Christ, and that includes the professing Seventh-day Adventist church. Corporate
Responsibility One reason Seventh-day Adventists are
corporately responsible as a body for the open apostasy of the church is
because they elect their leaders under a hierarchical system of organization.
Another reason, as stated by the Catholic preacher in this document, is that
the church is considered as THE BODY of Christ. "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. "The names of those who sin and refuse
to repent should not be retained on the church books, lest the saints be held
accountable for their evil deeds. Those who pursue a course of transgression should be visited and
labored with, and if they then refuse to repent, they should be separated
from church fellowship, in accordance with the rules laid down in the Word of
God." {11MR 208.3} Scripture on Corporate responsibility: Blood
of the Prophets
Luke 11:50 Luke 11:49-51
Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the
prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, Luke 11:50-52
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the
altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held
responsible for it all. Then,
of course, there is the Achan principle. Because Israel did not repent and even
committed unpardonable sin by conspiring and confederating with God’s
enemies, and refusing God’s conditions, a true remnant, all true Christians,
were gathered out of apostate Israel in the last literal fulfillment of
Ezekiel 9 from A.D. 34 and on. 31And the remnant that is
escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit
upward: 32For out of Jerusalem
shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of
the LORD of hosts shall do this. Like Mother Rome, leaders
and members of the professing Seventh-day Adventist church think that their
church and its members are the bride of Christ no matter what abominations the
church commits corporately. SDA's are worse than their Catholic counterparts
in that they do not, for the most part, accept corporate responsibility for
the abominations of the corporate church. This is evinced by its members
often criticizing all and any who sigh and cry for the abominations as being
critical and bitter. Also, gross abominations are
often regarded and/or excused by the church and its members as mere faults
and defects. Abominations are not mere defects and faults. Only those who
sigh and cry for all the abominations in the church will receive the mark
(seal) of the Man in Linen, Ezekiel 9:4: "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. This instruction is based on
Ezekiel 9:4, and Ellen White says that Ezekiel 9 will be literally repeated: "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. What is the Final Prophesied Fate of the Corporate
SDA Church Because of its Abominations?
"The gospel makes no
compromise with evil. It cannot excuse sin. Secret sins are to be confessed
in secret to God; but, for open sin, open confession is required. Desire of Ages, p. 811. "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, 199, 200]. —rwb Ron Beaulieu |