The
Eight Church Syndrome
and
Matthew 23:15
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and
when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Matt. 23:15
I have attended a lot of SDA Evangelistic meetings in my
life. I have noticed a common occurrence that is so common to all such meetings
that one could properly refer to it as a syndrome. Here is how it works. Folk
respond to the three angel’s messages and join the SDA church. They are on fire
for the truth. Like one man I knew, Rod Jacobs, they want to tell everyone they
know the good news. Rod would excitedly tell the truth to his doctor, his
dentist, his nurses and anyone who would listen to him.
But a strange phenomenon takes place. The Laodicean (do
nothing) members of the church feel rebuked by the intensity of the new
converts and in very sure but subtle ways they move to cool the fires of the
new converts and their new, first love, Ephesus experience so that the new
converts are soon just as indifferent as the Laodicean foolish virgin do
nothings. This is part of the process by which new converts to the church are
made twice the child of hell. The other part involves the subtle change in the
pillar doctrines by omega of apostasy new movement leaders, Selected Messages, Bk. 1, 204-205.
Changes have been made in the human nature of Christ and the Godhead that sweep
away the entire Christian economy, all unbeknownst to the new converts. Thus,
the other part of the process by which they are made twice the child of hell.
Ellen White’s
Definition of Laodicea
It is a very commonly heard remonstrance of foolish
virgin Laodiceans that there is no eighth church, so God is stuck with Laodicea
no matter what she (the church) does. Let’s examine that commonplace pining of
many new movement SDA’s under the microscope of the Holy Spirit of Prophecy.
Ellen White says that the Laodicean state of the church
is the foolish virgin factor. Foolish virgins are not saved. The foolish
virgins don’t repent. Historic Laodicea, circa the first century A.D., never
repented as a corporate city (church).
"The state of the Church
represented by the foolish virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean
state." E.G. White, Review and Herald, 8/19/1890.
"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.
As long as the church is
Laodicean, God’s presence is not in her midst. Interesting. But who amongst the
omega of apostasy new movement really believes this? Ellen White said that only
Christ’s presence can constitute a church, to wit:
"God has a church. It is
not the great cathedral, [or the super mega church], neither is it the national
establishment, 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.' 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." Upward
Look, p. 315.
Now things are really getting
serious! If Laodicea is not a church because God’s presence is not there, what
is it? If you really believe Ellen White, you can only conclude that Laodicea
is part of Babylon, because Ellen White clearly said that if the church becomes
lukewarm, it is not favored by God any more than Babylon, the cage of every
unclean and hateful bird:
"If the church of God
becomes LUKEWARM [LAODICEAN] it does not stand in favor with God any more than
do the churches that are represented as having fallen and become the habitation
of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and
hateful bird. Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive the truth,
and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist church, calling themselves
the commandment keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and
consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive of the plagues
of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God." E.G.
White, Letter 35, 1898.
Ellen White said all the Formally Organized Churches are Laodicean
"The warning for the last
church [Laodicea] also must be proclaimed to all who claim to be Christians.
The Laodicean message, like a sharp, two--edged sword, must go to ALL THE CHURCHES:...It is our work to proclaim this message. Are we
putting forth every effort that the churches may be warned?" Testimonies,
vol. 6, p. 77.
Here is the more complete
context of the above statement:
In the Highways and Hedges
The command of Christ to His people is:
"Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My
house may be filled." Luke 14:23. {6T 76.3}
The call to the gospel feast is first to
be given in the highways. It must be given
to those who claim to be in the highways of Christian experience--to the
members of the different churches. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches." Revelation 2:7. In these churches there
are true worshipers and there are false worshipers. A work must be
done for those who have fallen from their first love, who have lost their first
zeal and interest in spiritual things. We must bring the warning before professed
Christians who are transgressors
77
of the law of God. To them the
message must be given. {6T 76.4}
The Lord says: "Unto the angel of the
church in Sardis write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of
God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou
livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain,
that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.
If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou
shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:1-3. {6T
77.1}
The warning for the last church also must be
proclaimed to all who claim to be Christians. The Laodicean message, like a
sharp, two-edged sword, must go to all the churches: "I know thy works, that
thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because
thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou
mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the
shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that
thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore,
and repent." Verses 15-19. It is our work to proclaim this message. Are we
putting forth every effort that the churches may be warned? {6T 77.2}
We have a work to do for the ministers of other
churches. God
wants them to be saved. They, like ourselves, can have immortality only through
faith and obedience. We must labor for them earnestly that they may obtain it.
God wants them to have a part in His special work for this time. He wants them
to be among the number who are giving to His household meat in due season. Why
should they not be engaged in this work? {6T 77.3}
Why Does Ellen
White Mention Sardis?
If Laodiceans are the foolish virgin state of the church
and the foolish virgins are not saved, what states of the church (which of the
Seven churches) are the wise virgins? The pure truth of the matter is that all
stages of the seven churches exist until the end of time, and those who repent
of the stage (state) of the church(es) they find themselves in, and overcome,
will be saved. Though the Laodicean condition is the most prominent at the
end-time, there are folk, for example, who are also in the Ephesus state as
well, because they have lost their first love intensity that fellow Laodiceans
helped to cool down!
There is another subtle way Laodiceans work to make their
converts twice the child of hell and that is via appetite violations.
Worshipping at the saints feet
-- "You think, that those who worship before the saint's feet, (Rev.
3:9), will at last be saved. Here I must differ with you; for God shew me that
this class were professed Adventists, who had fallen away, and "crucified
to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." And in
the "hour of temptation," which is yet to come, to show out every one's
true character, they will know that they are forever lost; and overwhelmed with
anguish of spirit, they will bow at the saint's feet." {WLF 12.2}
The above statement applies to
former SDA’s who had fallen away, not apostate SDA’s.
"Those who will gratify
their appetite, and then suffer because of their intemperance, and take
drugs to relieve them, may be assured that God will not interpose to save
health and life which is so recklessly periled. The cause has produced the effect. Many, as their last
resort, follow the directions in the word of God, and request the prayers of
the elders of the church for their restoration to health. God does not see fit to answer
prayers offered in behalf of such, for He knows that if they should be restored
to health, they would again sacrifice it upon the altar of unhealthy appetite. (Spiritual Gifts, vol.
4, p. 145).
"The practice of using liquor, tobacco, tea, and
coffee must be
overcome by the converting power of God. There
shall nothing enter into the kingdom of God that defileth." (MR Vol. 20, p. 6)
"I beseech my brethren
and sisters to lay aside their darling luxury of tea and coffee, the use of
which creates an unnatural state of mind and body. 'Thou hast a few names even in
Sardis which have not defiled their garments' [Rev. 3:4]. How are their garments
defiled? By eating of that which brings disease and infirmity." (MR Vol. 20, p. 6)
So tea, coffee, alcohol,
tobacco and drugs, defile our garments, that should be our robe of
righteousness, by causing disease and infirmity. How many SDA’s consume these
defiling agents? How many converts to the church are made twice the child of
hell by these indulgences?
Let me hasten to add that there
are many things that defile our garments and one of the most difficult to
overcome is a lack of patience. So while overcomers of appetite often gloat at
their victory, while they are slipping into hell over other issues like a lack
of patience for just one of many examples. But the other person’s fault is
always worse! J Right? Let us pray vigilantly
for one another rather than consider ourselves holier than thou.
Study of
Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea
(Vs. 14-18.) Read the Third Chapter of
Revelation.—In the message to the church
at Sardis two parties are presented--those who have a name to live, but are dead;
and those who are striving to overcome.
Study this message, found in the third chapter of Revelation. "These
things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know
thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful,
and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not
found thy works perfect before God." Who are meant by those that are ready
to die? and what has made them thus? The explanation is given, "I have not
found thy works perfect before God." "Remember therefore how thou
hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will
come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not
defiled their garments; and they shall
walk with Me in white: for they are worthy. He
that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before
My Father, and before His angels." {RH,
August 20, 1903 par. 21} Ellen White’s Comments, SDA Bible Commentary, 7a, p. 969.
To the church of the present day this message is sent. I call upon our
church members to read the whole of the
third chapter of Revelation, and to make an application of it. The message to the church of the Laodiceans applies
especially to the people of God today. It is a message to professing Christians
who have become so much like the world that no difference can be seen. {RH,
August 20, 1903 par. 22}
The whole of the third chapter of Revelation includes the
message to Sardis. Ellen White says the whole of the third chapter applies to
our church members—that they should make an application of it. So when one
ceases to be a Laodicean and repents of that foolish virgin state of the
church, he/she reverts back to the Sardis state or the Philadelphian state. So
Laodicea is not the church that goes through to the Kingdom. As Ellen White
said, Laodiceans are foolish virgins and the foolish virgins are not saved.
Actually All
Seven Messages of Revelation Chapters 2 and 3 Apply Till the End of Time
“The messages [plural] given to the churches in Asia, portray the
state of things existing in the churches of the religious world today. The names of the churches
are symbolic of the Christian church in different periods of the Christian era
the number of the churches--SEVEN--indicates completeness and is symbolic of
the fact that the messages [plural] extend to the end
of time, and are enforced today while the figures used are symbolic of the state
of God's professed people,--the wheat developing among the tares truth;
standing on its own eternal basis in contrast with error.” Ms 81, 1900, pp. 17,
18. ("Solomon's Reign," 1900.) {1MR 372.2}
“I wish to
emphasize the fact, that the churches to which John was told to send the
instruction given him represent all the churches in our world, and that this revelation to him is to be studied and
believed and preached by the Seventh-day Adventist Church today. Christ came
personally to John to tell him "the things which are, and the things which
shall be hereafter" (Revelation 1:19). And He said unto him, "What
thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches"
(Revelation 1:11). The light was not to be hidden under a bushel.” {1MR 372.3}
So it is a sign of ignorance for anyone to say Laodicea
is the last church and there is no eighth church. Added to this fact is the
following statement:
"The Lord Jesus
will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected
Christ, the Prince of life. He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto
the Gentiles. God
will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. When a church proves
unfaithful to the work of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however
high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others
are then chosen to bear important responsibilities. But, if these in turn do not
purify their lives from every wrong action, if they do not establish pure and
holy principles in all their borders, then the Lord will grievously afflict and
humble them and, unless they repent, will remove them from their place and make
them a reproach.
God is not 'worshipped with
men's hands, as though he needed any thing' (Acts 17:25). E. G. White, The Upward Look, 131.
So the omega of apostasy new
movement is not even a church by God’s definition because it does not have the
presence of Christ. It is the Synagogue of Satan. Babylon is just part of
Satan’s Synagogue. In that Synagogue are all the religions and non-Christian
religions of the world, including atheism and agnosticism.
Is the Synagogue of Satan the
noble ship that bears the people of God safely into port heaven? Hardly! Is
Laodicea, the foolish virgin state of the church, the ship that bears the
people of God safely into port heaven? Not hardly! And Ellen White said that
the omega would surely come and wax stronger until Jesus comes. It is Laodicea
who brought in “amongst” SDA’s, the omega of apostasy new movement of Selected
Messages, Bk. 1, pp. 204-205. Because Laodiceans are sleeping, foolish virgin
types, they were non the wiser. They don’t have the slightest clue
as to the seriousness of the changes that were wrought by the new movement,
which are so great in scope that they sweep away the entire Christian economy.
And the ministering brethren look on and don’t even understand what they have
done. For the ALL do not understand, Isaiah 56:10-12.
If Laodicea, the foolish
virgin state of the church, is the last church, then no one will be saved
because the foolish virgins don’t make it.
—rwb