A Proper Response to Ellen White's Statements to the Church—
#2—The Church that Appears
as About to Fall but Does Not, and Where Ezekiel 9 Begins and Ends
Dear Reader,
A person on SDA
Issues who wishes to remain anonymous (and I would to if I misrepresented
Ellen White like he does), totally misinterpreted two Ellen White statements:
one concerning Ezekiel 9 and the world, and one concerning a Vance Ferrell
interpretation of Ellen White’s statement as to the church that appears to
fall but does not.
Vance’s misinterpretation is inexcusable
because he was an ordained minister of the SDA church, although Vance is
closer than the person who posted his statement, and much of what Vance says
is true as far as he takes it, but he does not include The Great Controversy, p. 616 statement. Vance’s talk also omits
the statement by Ellen White that the leaders, those in responsible
positions, will instruct the people to keep Sunday.
"The
Lord has a controversy with his
professed people in these last days. In this controversy men in
responsible positions will take
[future tense] a course directly opposite to that pursued by
Nehemiah. They will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath themselves, but
they will try to keep it from others by burying it beneath the rubbish of
custom and tradition. In churches and in large gatherings in the open air,
ministers, will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day
of the week." E.G. White, Review
and Herald, Vol. 1, p. 405, col. 3.
How do we
know Ellen White is referring to SDA’s?
· She says “His professed people…”
· She says that men in responsible
positions will take a course opposite to that pursued by Nehemiah. Nehemiah
was a Jew. Ellen White is comparing the course of a literal Jew with God’s
end-time spiritual Jerusalem,
Seventh-day Adventism.
·
The
statement is future tense! It thus would not make sense to apply this
statement to Babylon’s
fallen leaders, because they have been taking a course opposite to what
Nehemiah took for hundreds of years, and they were never a “chosen” people
who claimed to keep the commandments of God and the Sabbath. So Vance says in
his MP3 audio sermon that Ellen White does not say what the church militant
will do, but she certainly does in the above statement. Now we go to the next
issue.
Here is another gross misrepresentation of
the real facts of the case regarding Ellen White’s statements. The rest of the
story to the statement about the church that appears as about to fall, had never been discovered by SDA's until I found it
in The Great Controversy, p. 616.
Ellen White was NOT speaking about the SDA church militant at all. She was speaking
about the church triumphant during the great time of trouble when it is
surrounded by the enemy, just before Jesus intervenes. There is no way of
escape, but Jesus delivers them. That is the church that appears as about to
fall. This is another statement by Ellen White involving specifically THE
CHURCH TRIUMPHANT, that the church militant misapplies to itself.
Many SDA’s apparently do not have the mentality and/or the spiritual
discernment to see the facts of this statement and Ellen White’s statement
about Ezekiel 9—where it begins and where it ends. Do you?
I will post my responses and then the posts that I am responding to on
SDAissues forum.
Misinterpretation #1—The Church That Appears as About to Fall but
Does Not Fall
It is During the Time of Jacob's Trouble That the Church Triumphant
Appears as About to Fall but Does not Fall
"The people of God will then be
plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet
as the time of Jacob's trouble.... Jacob's night of anguish, when he wrestled
in prayer for deliverance from the hand of Esau (Genesis 32:24-30),
represents the experience of God's people in the time of trouble....Jacob's
company, unarmed and defenseless, SEEMED ABOUT TO FALL HELPLESS VICTIMS OF
VIOLENCE AND SLAUGHTER." E.G. White, The
Great Controversy, (1911 edition), p. 616.
Here we find "the people of God,
paralleled with Jacob's company which appeared as about to fall, but did not.
It is the church triumphant during Jacob's Great Time of Trouble that appears
as about to fall, not the professing SDA church once militant that has
already fallen into the Omega of Apostasy.
See this article: https://omega77.tripod.com/churAATFall.htm
Statement #2: Ezekiel 9 and the Destruction of the World
Below is a
classic demonstration of how SDA's strain at the bit to confound anything
that applies to their church. God is speaking to Jerusalem in Ezekiel 9, and He says BEGIN
at my Sanctuary. His Sanctuary is not the world. True, the Ezekiel prophesies
the doom of the world in Ezekiel 5:9, because there mentions the worst thing
that God ever did or ever will do, and that is Matthew 24:21.
God says:
Eze 9:6 Slay
utterly old [and] young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come
not near any man upon whom [is] the mark; and begin
at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which [were] before the
house.
The word's
"begin at my Sanctuary," give strong intimation that the slaughter
will end elsewhere, and it does, with the destruction of the world. Also, God
says that JUDGMENT BEGINS AT THE HOUSE OF GOD, and the world is not the house
of God.
Ellen White was
clear as to where the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 BEGINS:
Begin
at My Sanctuary -- "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.
"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.
The poster of
the below statemen6t, and other foolish virgin Seventh-day Adventists, will
misinterpret and misrepresent such important and clear testimony of the Bible
and the Spirit of Prophecy, to their own damnation. But for those who want
clear, unadulterated truth the meaning is clear and clarion.
Ron
-----
Original Message -----
From: Anonymous
To: sdaissues@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 8:02 AM
Subject: [SDAIssues] Another Fulfillment
The Doom of the world not the Church
The Saviour's
prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have
another fulfillment,
of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may
behold the
doom of a world that has rejected God's mercy and trampled upon his law. {GC88 37.1}
----- Original
Message -----
From: Anonymous
To: sdaissues@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 10:23 AM
Subject: [SDAIssues] The Church Will Appear to Fall but Does Not
The Church Will Appears as About to Fall but
Does Not:
Introducing an Audio Sermon in MP3
It
is very likely that nearly everyone who has ever attended a denominational
SDA church has heard this assertion proudly sounded from pulpit and read it
in publications. Indeed it seems that leaders and ministers who openly do all
in their power to destroy confidence in the Testimonies of the Lord’s Messenger, still wave this statement around as a
banner. Many honest in heart have been led by this to stifle the convictions
of conscience and continue to support, or at least refrain from denouncing,
apostate and corrupt leaders and practices in the conferences and churches,
feeling that, because of this assurance, somehow through
some miraculous working of God, wicked doing will
still receive the support and blessing of God.
Is there something more we need to know
about this statement? Yes, indeed there is. There has been a deliberate
cover-up and misapplication of this statement taken
out of context and falsely applied.
First, I want to direct your attention to
the time of the first advent of Jesus. The corrupt leaders of those days had
pet statements too, drawn from misapplications and taken out of context. They
had taken the prophecies that spoke of the glory of the second coming and
applied them to the Messianic hope causing all to
look for a mighty conqueror that would destroy their enemies and place them
on the throne of the entire world. The clear explanations of scripture as to
the Messiah’s mission as a
suffering sacrifice for sins were
conveniently kept out of sight or ignored.
They had their does
not fall statements also making
the promises of God’s promise of blessing to their
nation as unconditional teaching that because of
these promises, (actually conditional upon their obedience) that there was no way their nation and temple could be
destroyed. But we all know what happened in AD 70!
Do you realize that even when the Roman
hoards were surrounding the city and pleading with the leaders to surrender even when people inside the walls were killing
and eating their own children leadership were still
chanting to the people that their church could not fall and that somehow God was going to work a miracle and
save them. But their misplaced confidence in
promises they had forfeited all right to claim, did
not help them. They were slaughtered like rats in the very temple they
trusted in and worshipped. Worshipped the Temple? Yes, for centuries the Jews had
forsaken loyalty to God and His words and turned their worship towards human
leaders, structures, rituals, and even buildings.
As Jesus ministered to the people,
thousands were moved at His words, and yet by far the majority
ended up rejecting Him and were lost! Why? Some try to tell us that
Jesus presented a completely new religion to them. This
is a grievous falsehood! He presented only the Original
Advent Message as had been given by their own
prophets though the centuries and was clearly to be seen in Scripture. Why
then when their hearts were so stirred and their consciences moved powerfully
by the teachings of Jesus, did the majority turn back and follow Him no more?
To know the answer, we have to look to what
they turned back to. They
turned back to their leaders, and the leaders brainwashed them with their church cannot fall statements and
they confidently continued to support these apostate and corrupt leaders
until they perished in their sins eternally lost!
It is interesting to note that in those days, ONLY those who were willing to
search the scriptures and study for themselves accepted Jesus and were saved; those who trusted leadership to tell them the truth were lost.
Even Jesus’ own
disciples were so leavened with these false applications used by the
leadership of those days, that they did not even
understand or accept the words of Jesus as He tried so hard to get them to
see that their ideas were false and they were in for a terrible shock! The
false promises of a corrupt leadership sounded so much more attractive than
the straight, cutting truth Jesus was telling them. They refused to open
their mind and listen.
I urge you today to open your mind and
listen prayerfully to the rest of the story that you were never told of the church will not fall statement the
context and meaning, which were kept hidden away from the lay people for decades but now, in the mercy of God, is published and
available! (webservant)
Now hear Elder
Vance Ferrell present:
'THE CHURCH APPEARS TO
FALL'
MP3
Audio
To download,
right click and choose 'save target as' (approx 2 mb)
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