A Historical Overview

Of

The State of the Church

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1855: "I have seen an angel standing with scales in his hands weighing the thoughts and interest of the people of God. In one scale were the thoughts and interest tending heavenward; in the other were the thoughts and interest tending to earth. Oh what a solemn thought! The angels of God standing with scales, weighing the thoughts of the professed children of God--those who claim to be dead to the world and alive to God. The scale filled with thoughts of earth, vanity, and pride quickly went down, notwithstanding weight after weight rolled from the scale. The one with the thoughts and interest tending to Heaven went quickly up as the other went down, and oh, how light it was! Said the angel, 'Can such enter Heaven? No, no, never. Tell them the hope they now possess is vain, and unless they speedily repent, and obtain salvation, they must perish.'" Testimonies, Vol. 1, pp. 124-126, 1855.

1857: "The Lord has shown me in vision some things concerning the church in its present lukewarm state, which I will relate to you. The church was presented before me in vision. Said the angel to the church: 'Jesus speaks to thee, 'Be zealous and repent.' This work, I saw, should be taken hold of in earnest. There is something to repent of. Worldly-mindedness, selfishness, and coveteousness have been eating out the spirituality and life of God's people." Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 141, 1857.

1859: "The church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of Christ is not in her midst." Notebook Leaflets, p. 99.

"The figure of spewing of His mouth means that he cannot offer up your prayers or your expressions of love to God. He cannot endorse your teaching of His word, or your spiritual work in anywise. He cannot present your religious exercises with the request that grace be given you." Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 408.

1862: "The distance is widening between Christ and His people, and lessening between them and the world. The marks of distinction between Christ's professed people and the world have almost disappeared. Like ancient Israel, they follow after the abominations of the nations around them."

"Those who will be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ to the immortal inheritance, will be peculiar. Yes, so peculiar that God places a mark upon them as His, wholly His. Think ye that God will receive, honor, and acknowledge a people so mixed up with the world that they differ from them only in name?" Testimonies, Vol. 1, pp. 274-87.

1865: "In their present state of worldly ambition, with their lack of consecration to God, their devotion to self, they are wholly unfit to receive the latter rain... They think they are all right when they are all wrong." Testimonies, Vol. 1 pp. 466-69, 478-79.

1868: "I saw that before the work of God can make any decided progress the ministers must be converted... The church will rarely take a higher stand than is taken by her ministers.... Men who stand in very responsible positions at the heart of the work are asleep... They are unfaithful sentinels... They see that Satan is deceiving the inexperienced and unsuspecting; yet they take it all quietly... To them everything seems to be going well... Satan exults at his success in controlling the minds of so many who profess to be Christians. He has deceived them, benumbed their sensibilities, and planted his hellish banner right in their midst, and they are so completely deceived that they know not that it is he." Testimonies, Vol. 2, pp. 439-40, 1868.

1856: "I was shown in vision some things that concern the church. I was pointed back to the years 1843 and 1844. There was a spirit of consecration then that there is not now. What has come over the professed peculiar people of God? I saw conformity to the world, the unwillingness to suffer for the truth's sake... 

1856: "I saw the dreadful fact that God's people were conformed to the world, with no distinction, except in name... I saw that Jesus was wounded and put to an open shame. Said the angel, as with sorrow he saw the professed people of God loving the world, partaking of its spirit, and following its fashions; 'Cut loose! Cut loose! lest He appoint you your portion with hypocrites and unbelievers outside the city. Your profession will only cause you greater anguish, and your punishment will be greater because you knew His will, but did not do it...'

"God will have a people separate and distinct from the world. As soon as any have a desire to imitate the world, just so soon God ceases to acknowledge them as His children. They are the children of the world and of darkness." Testimonies, Vol. 1, pp. 127-137, May 27, 1856.

False Revival Before the True

1868: "Like ancient Israel the church has dishonored her God by departing from the light, neglecting her duties, and abusing her high 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 side by side with professed Christians; yet they are so destitute of spiritual discernment that they do not detect him."

"I have stated before them that, from what was shown me, but a small number of those now professing to believe the truth would be saved, not because they could not be saved, but because they would not be saved in God's own appointed way. The way marked out by our divine Lord is too narrow and the gate too strait to admit them while grasping the world or while cherishing selfishness or sin of any kind." Testimonies, Vol. 2, pp. 440-46, 450.

"If the light that has been given to these had been given to Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented in sackloth and ashes, and would have escaped the signal wrath of God. It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for those who have been privileged with the clear light, and have had a vast amount of labor, but have not profited by it. They were so blinded by the devil that they verily thought themselves rich in the favor of God, when the True Witness declares them to be wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Testimonies, Vol. 2, pp. 483-4; 88-89. 

1873: "I have been shown that the greatest reason why the people of God are now found in this state of spiritual blindness is that they will not receive correction. Many have despised the reproofs and warnings given them. The True Witness condemns the lukewarm condition of the people of God, which gives Satan great power over them in this waiting, watching time... Stupidity in this watching time is sealing the senses of God's people as to the signs of the times...

"Many are deceived by the adversary of souls... They are doing the work of Satan, but think that they have a zeal for God... They think that the people of God are not in need of plain dealing and of reproof, but that God is with them. These tempted ones, whose souls have ever been at war with the faithful reproving of sin, would cry: Speak to us smooth things." Testimonies, Vol. 3, pp. 354-60, 1873. 

1875: "Satan's chief work is at the headquarters of our faith... It is Satan's plan to weaken the faith of God's people in the Testimonies. Next follows skepticism in regard to the vital points of our faith, the pillars of our position, then doubt as to the Holy Scriptures, and the downward march to perdition." Testimonies, Vol. 4, pp. 210-11, 1875.

1876: "There are many false prophets in these days, to whom sin does not appear specially repulsive. They complain that the peace of the people is unnecessarily disturbed by the reproofs and warnings of God's messengers. As for them, they lull the souls of sinners into a fatal ease by their smooth and deceitful teachings. Ancient Israel was thus charmed by the flattering messages of the corrupt priests. Their prediction of prosperity was more pleasing than the message of the true prophet, who counselled repentance and submission...

"Those who seek to cloak sin and make it appear less aggravating to the mind of the offender are doing the work of the false prophets and may expect the retributive judgments of God to follow such a course...

"The destruction of Jerusalem stands as a solemn warning before the eyes of modern Israel, that the corrections given through His chosen instruments cannot be disregarded with impunity." Testimonies, Vol. 4, pp. 166-67, 1876.

"I saw that God had honest children among the nominal Adventists and the fallen churches, and before the plagues shall be poured out, ministers and people will be called out from these churches and will gladly receive the truth. Satan knows this, and before the loud cry of the third angel is given, he raises an excitement in these religious bodies, that those who have rejected the truth may think that God is still with them. He hopes to deceive the honest and lead them to think that God is still working for the churches. But the light will shine, and all who are honest will leave the fallen churches and take their stand with the remnant." Early Writings, p. 261.

Many are under the delusion that the SDA church is the remnant. The remnant is the final generation that is translated without seeing death, the 144,000, the church triumphant.

"The woman is a symbol of the church, and the remnant of the church represents the Christians of the last generation of men, living just prior to the second advent. The dragon makes war on these for keeping the commandments of God, Sabbath and all, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ, which, according to the inspired definition of chap. xix, 10, 'is the spirit of prophecy.' Here, then, are the causes of the dragon's warfare upon the remnant. They teach the observance of the ten commandments, and the revival of the gifts, and acknowledge the gift of prophecy among them. When the Devil got one foot upon the fourth commandment, and the other upon the gifts planted in the Christian church by Jesus Christ, then his satanic majesty was filled with revengeful delight. But when the remnant, whom God designs to fit for translation to Heaven without seeing death, 'ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein,' then the dragon is wroth, and makes war on them.

The true spirit of the dragonic host, which is already being somewhat developed, is vividly described in Isa. xxx, 8-13, as being manifested just prior to the sudden destruction of those who hate the pure testimony, and love smooth and deceitful things." E. G. White, Spiritual Gifts, Vol. III, 26, 27.

1882: "The church cannot measure herself by the world nor by the opinion of men nor by what she once was. Her faith and her position in the world as they now are must be compared with what they would have been if her course had been continually onward and upward. The church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and blessings God has conferred upon her, she will be found wanting. The light of 1882 calls her to account. If her talents are unimproved, if her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light becomes darkness, she is indeed found wanting. The knowledge of our state as God sees it seems to be hidden from us. We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be governed." Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 62-84.

1883: "Satan is preparing to work through his human agencies in secrecy. We must know the reasons for our faith... Many are holding the truth only with the tips of their fingers. They have had great light and many privileges. Like Capernaum they have been exalted to heaven in this respect. In the time of test and trial that is approaching, they will become apostates--unless they put away their pride and self-confidence, unless they have an entire transformation of character." Letter 5, 1883; Selected Messages, Bk. 3, pp. 414-15.

"The enemy will set everything in operation to uproot the confidence of the believers in the pillars of our faith in the messages of the past, which have placed us upon the elevated platform of eternal truth, and which have established and given character to the work. The Lord God of Israel has led out His people, unfolding to them truth of heavenly origin." "The truth for this time is precious, but those whose hearts have not been broken by falling on the Rock Christ Jesus, will not see and understand what is truth. They will accept that which pleases their ideas, and will begin to manufacture another foundation than that which is laid. They will flatter their own vanity and esteem, thinking that they are capable of removing the pillars of our faith, and replacing them with pillars they have devised. This will continue to be as long as time shall last." Notebook, Leaflets, pp. 61-62.

1885: "The same disobedience and failure which were seen in the Jewish church have characterized in a greater degree the people who have had this great light from heaven in the last messages of warning... There is a terrible amount of guilt for which the church is responsible." Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 456-57.

1886: "Many of our people are backsliding from God. They are in danger of becoming like the Jewish nation, who knew not the Scriptures nor the power of God." "When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, His tears were for all who abuse present privileges."

1886: "The eye of Jesus, looking down the ages, was fixed upon our time when He said, 'If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace!' It is still thy day, O church of God, whom He has made the depositary of His law. But this day of trust and probation is fast drawing to a close." Review and Herald, November 2, 1886.

"We are far from being the people God would have us to be..."

"God never forsakes people or individuals until they forsake Him..."

1887: "We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church than from the world." Review and Herald, March 22, 1887.

1888: "Now it has been Satan's determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead men to look to man, and to trust to man, and to be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered." Testimonies to Ministers, 93.

"The Lord sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the surety; it invited people to receive the righteousness of Christ which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to Jesus, to His divine Person, His merits, and to His changeless love for the human family."

"You cannot explain this faith that lays right hold upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour to bring Christ's righteousness into the life." Faith and Works, p. 65; Manuscript 1, 1889. 

"In 1888 in the General Conference held at Minneapolis, Minn., the angel of Revelation 18 came down to do his work, and was ridiculed, criticized and rejected. And when the message he brings again, swells into a loud cry, it will again be ridiculed, spoken against and be rejected by the majority."

"An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept truth, lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through brethren Waggoner and Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world." Selected Messages, Vol. 1, pp. 234,235.

1879: "As a people we are backsliding from God. The hearts of His professed children are being estranged from Him. While they have a name to live, the true, vital energies of the soul have become spiritually dead."

"Christ, when weeping over Jerusalem, exclaimed, 'If thou hasdt known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.' Jerusalem's sin was in abusing past privileges, and she was sealing her doom in rejecting present mercies and warnings. The weak faith of our people today shows that past warnings and reproofs have not been heeded, and hardness of heart, and indifference, and unbelief are the result."

"The Saviour's love has been unrequited. Christ looks mournfully upon the individual members of the Church, and exclaims, 'Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.' The hour of probation is fast passing; the cup of God's indignation is fast filling. Will those who profess to be waiting for the appearing of their Lord from Heaven be found wanting... All such professed Christians are represented by the man who built his house upon the sand." Review and Herald, July 10, 1879.

1881: "I saw that the very spirit of perjury that would turn truth into falsehood, good into evil, and innocence into crime, is now active, doing a work which savors of hell rather than of Heaven. Satan exults over the condition of God's professed people." Special Testimony, p. 80.4. July, 1881.

1882: "I knew that a crisis must come. God has given this people plain and pointed testimonies to prevent this state of things. Had they obeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit in warning, counsel, and entreaty, they would now enjoy unity and peace. But these testimonies have not been heeded by those who profess to believe them, and as a result there has been a wide departure from God, and the withdrawal of His blessing...

"You despise and reject the testimonies because they reprove your darling sins and disturb your self-complacency...

"God has given us, as a people, warnings, reproofs, and cautions, on the right hand and on the left, to lead us away from worldly customs and worldly policy. He requires us to be peculiar in faith and in character, to meet a standard far in advance of worldlings. The Lord is looking into every heart. He weighs our motives. He will try every soul. Who will bear the test." Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 46-62. March 28, 1882.

1882: "My heart aches day after day and night after night for our churches. Many are progressing, but in the back track... I know what I say. Unless they shall become Christians indeed, they will go from weakness to weakness, divisions will increase, and many souls will be led to perdition...

"The sin of ancient Israel was in disregarding the expressed will of God and following their own way according to the leadings of unsanctified hearts. Modern Israel are fast following in their footsteps, and the displeasure of the Lord is as surely resting upon them." Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 93-94. 1882.

"I saw that the frown of God was upon His people for their assimilation to the world...

"The great sin of the Jews was that of neglecting and rejecting present opportunities. As Jesus views the state of His professed people today, He sees base ingratitude, hollow formalism, hypocritical insincerity, Pharisaical pride and apostasy...

"But few know what our churches are to experience. I saw that at present we are under divine forbearance, but no none can say how long this will continue...

"The prevailing spirit for our time is that of infidelity--and apostasy...

"We have enjoyed great light and many privileges. Shall we turn away from all these blessings, and sacrifice the peculiar, holy character which should distinguish us as children of God? If we thus slight the mercy of God, the judgments against Capernaum will surely fall upon us. Our punishment will be heavier than if we had not enjoyed so great light. Thus the warnings, reproofs, and counsels, which, accepted and obeyed, would bring us untold blessings, become a curse when they are rejected...

"Can Christ say of His professed followers, These are My peculiar people; I gave Myself for them, to redeem from all iniquity, that they should show forth My praise, who have called them out from darkness into My marvellous light. Would not the Lord say, rather, How is the beautiful city become a harlot,--and My Father's house a place of merchandise. Because of your unbelief, I cannot do many mighty works among you." Review and Herald, November 7, 1882.

1889: "The rebuke of God is upon us because of our neglect of solemn responsibilities. His blessings have been withdrawn because the testimonies He has given have not been heeded by those who profess to believe them. Oh, for a religious awakening!" Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 719-20.

1890: "We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half understand it. We do not half take it in. My heart trembles in me when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how poorly we are prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ--how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God's servants, that they may not be able to discern the precious truth."

1890: "As Christ sought to place truth before the people in its proper relation to their salvation, Satan worked through the Jewish leaders, and inspired them with enmity against the Redeemer of the world. They determined to do all in their power to prevent Him from making an impression upon the people." Selected Messages, Bk. 1, pp. 406-408.

1890: "The prejudices and opinions that prevailed at Minneapolis are not dead by any means; the seeds sown there in some hearts are ready to spring into life and bear a like harvest. The tops have been cut down, but the roots have never been eradicated, and they still bear their unholy fruit to poison the judgment, pervert the perceptions, and blind the understanding."

"Infidelity has been making its inroads in our ranks; for it is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give place to skepticism. With many the cry of the heart has been, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.' Baal, Baal, is the choice. The religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own way, and forsake the way of the Lord."

"Today the world is full of flatterers and dissemblers; but God forbid that those who claim to be guardians of sacred trusts shall betray the interests of God's cause through the insinuating suggestions and devices of the enemy of all righteousness." Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 461-71.

1890: "Will the church see where she has fallen?" "A severity, an overbearing spirit, such as existed among the Pharisees, exists in our churches, and especially in those entrusted with sacred responsibilities."

"The church is like the unproductive tree which, receiving the dew and rain and sunshine, should have produced an abundance of fruit, but on which the divine search discovers nothing but leaves. Solemn thought for our churches! Solemn indeed for every individual! Marvellous is the patience of God." The Review and Herald, Dec. 23, 1890.

1891: "The world must not be introduced into the church, and married to the church, forming a bond of unity. Through this means the church will become indeed corrupt, and as stated in Revelation, 'A cage of every unclean and hateful bird.'" Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 265.7.

"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." Testimonies to Ministers, p. 366.

1892: "I saw that Jones and Waggoner had their counterpart in Joshua and Caleb. As the children of Israel stoned the spies with literal stones, you have stoned these brethren with stones of sarcasm and ridicule. I saw that you wilfully rejected what you knew to be truth just because it was too humiliating to your dignity. I saw some of you in your tents mimicking and making all manner of fun of these two brethren. I also saw that if you had accepted their message, we would have been in the kingdom two years from that date, but now we have to go back into the wilderness and stay forty years." Written from Melbourne, Australia, May 9, 1892.

1893: "To the people of God the testimonies of the Spirit have come, and yet many have not taken heed to reproofs, warnings, and counsels. Jeremiah 5:21-25, 28-29 quoted) Shall the Lord be compelled to say, 'Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me: for I will not hear thee.'? 'Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain.'"

"We are to be judged by the light that has been given us, and we can find no excuse to extenuate our course." Review and Herald, August 1, 1893.

1894: "Unsanctified ministers are arraying themselves against God. They are praising Christ and the god of this world in the same breath. While professedly they receive Christ, they embrace Barabbas, and by their actions say, 'Not this Man, but Barabbas.'"

1894: "Let the son of deceit and false witness be entertained by a church that has had great light, great evidence, and that church will discard the message the Lord has sent, and receive the most unreasonable assertions and false suppositions and false theories. Satan laughs at their folly; for he knows what truth is."

1894: "Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled by the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much. 'If thou hadst known,' said Christ, 'even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes.'" Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 409-10.

1895: "What does God say in regard to His people? But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses; they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, restore.' These are prophecies to be fulfilled. I would speak in warning to those who have stood for years resisting light and cherishing the spirit of opposition. How long will you hate and despise the messengers of God's righteousness? God has given them His message. They bear the word of the Lord: There is salvation for you but only through the merits of Jesus Christ."

1895: "I have no smooth message to bear to those who have been so long as false guideposts, pointing the wrong way. If you reject Christ's delegated messengers you reject Christ." Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 96-97.

1895: "At the center of the work matters are being shaped so that every other institution is following in the same course, and the General Conference is itself becoming corrupted with wrong sentiments and principles, in the working of plans...

1895: "I was shown that the Jewish nation was not brought suddenly into their condition of thought and practice. From generation to generation they were working on false theories, carrying out principles opposed to the truth, and combining with their religion, thoughts and plans what were the product of human minds. Human inventions were made supreme."

1895: "The high-handed power that has been developed, as though position has made men gods, makes me afraid and ought to cause fear. It is a curse wherever and by whomsoever it is exercised. At the time of the first advent of Christ to our world, the men who composed the Sanhedrin exercised their authority in controlling men according to their will. Thus the souls whom Christ had given His life to free from the bondage of Satan, were brought under bondage to him in another form."

1895: "The spirit of domination is extending to the presidents of our conferences... They are following in the tracks of Romanism... In order to reign and become a power, they employ Satan's methods to justify their own principles. They exalt themselves as men of superior judgment, and they have stood as representatives of God. These are false gods." Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 359-364.

1896: "Who can feel sure that they are safe in respecting the voice of the General Conference Association? If the people in our churches understood the management of the men who walk in the light of the sparks of their own kindling, would they respect their decisions? I answer, no, not for a moment." Special Instruction to the Review and Herald Office and the Work in Battle Creek, p. 20, May 26, 1896.

1896: "Satan is working that the history of the Jewish nation may be repeated in the experience of those who claim to believe the truth... Satan knew just how to take these men in his net, and deceive them and destroy them... The very same Satan is at work to undermine the faith of the people of God at this very time." Manuscript 32, 1896; Selected Messages, Bk. 2, p. 111.

Satan says, "I will have upon the ground, as my agents, men holding false doctrines mingled with just enough truth to deceive souls. I will also have unbelieving ones present, who will express doubts in regard to the Lord's messages of warning to His church. Should the people read and believe these admonitions we could have little hope of overcoming them. If we can keep souls deceived for a time, God's mercy will be withdrawn, and He will give them up to our full control." Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 1, pp. 337-340. 

1897: "Rebellion and apostasy are in the very air we breathe. We shall be affected by them unless we by faith hang our helpless souls upon Christ. If men are so easily misled now, how will they stand when Satan shall personate Christ, and work miracles?"

"Study in Patriarchs and Prophets the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. This rebellion was extended, including more than two men. It was led by two-hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown. Call rebellion by its right name and apostasy by its right name, and then consider that the experience of the ancient people of God with all its objectionable features was faithfully chronicled to pass into history. The Scripture declares, 'These things are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.'"

"Those who apostatize are voicing the voice of the dragon. We have to meet the satanic agencies who went to make war with the saints... Those who apostatize leave the true and faithful people of God, and fraternize with those who represent Barabbas. 'By their fruits ye shall know them.'" Letter 1, 1897.

"We are living in the last days of this earth's history, and we may be surprised at nothing in the line of apostasies and denials of the truth."

"God calls for men of decided fidelity. He has no use in an emergency for two-sided men. He wants men who will lay their hand upon a wrong work and say, 'This is not according to the will of God.'" Selected Messages, Vol. 2, pp. 147-153.

"Christ shows that without the controlling power of God humanity is a terrible power for evil. Unbelief, the hatred of reproof, will stir up satanic influences." Selected Messages, Bk. 3, pp. 416-417.

1898: "Jerusalem is a representation of what the church will be if it refuses to walk in the light that God has given. Jerusalem was favored of God as the depositary of sacred trusts. But her people perverted the truth, and despised all entreaties and warnings...

"So Christ sorrows and weeps over our churches, over our institutions of learning, that have failed to meet the demand of God... The publishing house has been turned into desecrated shrines, into a place of unholy merchandise and traffic."

"When Christ looked down from the crest of Olivet, He saw this state of things existing in every church. The warnings come down to all that are following in the tread of the people of Jerusalem, who had such great light. This people is before us as a warning. By rejecting God's warnings in this our day, men are repeating the sin of Jerusalem."

"These are no idle tales, but truth. Again I ask: On which side are you standing? 'If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.'" Testimonies, Vol. 8, pp. 67-68.

· "The cause of Christ will be betrayed. Those who have had the light of truth and have enjoyed its blessings, but have turned away from it, will fight down the Spirit of God. Inspired with a spirit from beneath, they will tear down that which they once built up, and show to all sensible, God-fearing souls that they cannot be trusted. They may claim to truth and righteousness, but their spirit and works will testify that they are betrayers of their Lord. The attributes of Satan they call the movings of the Holy Spirit." Review and Herald, May 24, 1898.

1900: "The professed followers of Christ are no longer a separate people. The line of demarcation is indistinct. The people are subordinating themselves to the world, to its practices, its customs, its selfishness. The church has gone over to the world in transgression of the law, when the world should have come over to the church in obedience to the law. Daily the church is being converted to the world." Christ's Object Lessons, p. 315, 316.

"The central power of the earth is a demon. Satan's throne is in the midst of the world, where should have been seen the throne of God. He has been patronized by the church, for the church has been conformed to the world, and is living in transgression of the holy law of God." Letter 78, Jan. 20, 1900; This Day With God, p. 28.

"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-sided policy." General Conference Bulletin, first quarter, 1900.

"The church has taken the world into her fellowship, and has given her affections to the enemies of holiness. The church and the world are standing on the same ground in transgression of the law of God. The church prefers to assimilate to the world rather than separate from its customs and practices." Manuscript 44, p. 19, 1900.

"When Christ saw in the Jewish people a nation divorced from God, He saw also a professed Christian church united to the world and the papacy... Will He be obliged to say to those who have had great light and great knowledge, as He said to the Jews, 'O that thou hadst known, even thou in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace. But now they are hid from thine eyes.'" The Kress Collection, p. 153, July 10, 1900.

"The churches must arouse. The members must awake out of sleep and begin to inquire, 'How is the money that we put into the treasury being used? The Lord desires that a close search be made.'"

"Our churches and institutions must return to where they were before the backsliding commenced, when they began trusting in man and making flesh their arm. Have we not seen enough of human wisdom?" The Kress Collection, p. 120.

"If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God." Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 281.

1901: "It is working upon wrong principles that has brought the cause of God into its present embarrassment. The people have lost confidence in those who have the management of the work...

1901: "Yet 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, because some in connection with it are not men of faith and prayer, they are not men of elevated principle." Manuscript 37, p. 8, April, 1901.

1901: "That these men should stand in a sacred place to be the voice of God to the people, as we once believed the General Conference to be, that is past...

1901: "God gave them clear light as to what they should do and what they should not do, but they departed from that light; and it is a marvel to me that we stand in as much prosperity as we do today. It is because of the great mercy of our God, not because of our righteousness, but that His name should not be dishonored in the world...

1901: "There are those here that have traditions, and they stand just as the Pharisees stood. Notwithstanding, they may say that unity and love, compassion and tenderness are correct principles; yet in their own line of practice they cling to the old traditions. But what we want is God's traditions." General Conference Bulletin, April 3, 1901.

"We may have to remain in this world because of our insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel; but for Christ's sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action." Letter 184, 1901; Evangelism, p. 696.

1902: "The Lord calls upon men and women to unite with Christ by wearing His yoke. But He tells them they are to refuse the yoke human hands would place upon them; for this yoke would be galling and oppressive. There are those who refuse to wear the yoke of Christ, and yet would place upon others a yoke of human manufacture. What a terrible deception!" Written in August 14, 1902. Printed in Review and Herald, Vol. 4, p. 467.

"Had thorough work been done during the last General Conference at Battle Creek (1901); had there been as God designed there should be, a breaking up of the fallow ground of the heart, by the men who had been bearing responsibilities; had they, in humility of soul, led out in the work of confession and consecration; had they given evidence that they received the counsels and warnings sent by the Lord to correct their mistakes, there would have been one of the greatest revivals that there has been since the day of Pentecost."

"What a wonderful work could have been done for the vast company gathered in Battle Creek at the General Conference of 1901, if the leaders of our work had taken themselves in hand. But the work that all Heaven was waiting to do as soon as men prepared the way, was not done; for the leaders closed and bolted the door against the Spirit's entrance. There was a stopping short of entire surrender to God. And hearts that might have been purified from all error were strengthened in wrong doing. The doors were barred against the heavenly current that would have swept away all evil. Men left their sins unconfessed. They built themselves up in wrong doing, and said to the Spirit of God, 'Go thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season, I will call for thee.'" Battle Creek Letters, pp. 55-56, August 23, 1902.

1903: "In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence: 'Found wanting.' By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged."

1903: "The heavenly Teacher inquired: 'What stronger delusion can beguile the mind than the pretense that you are building on the right foundation and that God accepts your works, when in reality you are working out many things according to worldly policy, and are sinning against Jehovah?'"

1903: "Who can truthfully say: 'Our gold is tried in the fire; our garments are unspotted by the world'? I saw our Instructor pointing to the garments of so-called righteousness. Stripping them off, He laid bare the defilement beneath. Then He said to me: 'Can you not see how they have pretentiously covered up their defilement and rottenness of character? 'How is the faithful city become an harlot!' My Father's house is made a house of merchandise, a place where the divine presence and glory have departed!' For this cause there is weakness, and strength is lacking."

"Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself." Testimonies, Vol. 8, pp. 247-250, April 21, 1903.

1903: "God has permitted the present crisis to come to open the eyes of those who desire to know the truth. He would have His people understand to what lengths the sophistry and devising of the enemy would lead."

"I am now authorized to say that the time has come to take decided action. The development seen in the cause of God is similar to the development seen when Balaam caused Israel to sin just before they entered the promised land. Few can see the meaning of the present apostasy. But the Lord has lifted the curtain, and has shown me its meaning, and the results that it will have if allowed to continue."

"The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process or reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence upon human power, which without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built upon the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure."

"Who has authority to begin such a movement? We have our Bibles. We have our experience, attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. We have a truth that admits of no compromise. Shall we not repudiate everything that is not in harmony with this truth?"

"I am instructed to say that those who would tear down the foundation that God has laid, are not to be accepted as the teachers and leaders of His people." Special Testimonies, Series B, #7, pp. 36-41. October, 1903.

"Satan has laid his plans to undermine our faith in the history of the cause and work of God. I am deeply in earnest as I write this. Satan is working with men in prominent positions to sweep away the foundations of our faith. Shall we allow this to be done, brethren?" Review and Herald, Nov. 19, 1903.

"Some in exalted positions or responsibility are sustaining error in the place of truth. Satan makes his delusions most attractive, clothing error in the garments of truth, so that it seems the most desirable thing to possess."

"God has spared my life that I may present the testimonies given me, to vindicate that which God vindicates, and to denounce every vestige of Satan’s sophistry, to deceive if possible the very elect." Special Testimonies, Series B, pp. 5-7. Nov. 27, 1903.

1904: "Representations of things existing at the present time have passed before me. I have seen men who have been placed in positions of trust as watchmen, molding and fashioning the work of our conferences and institutions in accordance with worldly policy, which God condemns." Special Testimonies, Series B, #2, pp. 19-20, 24. June 1904.

"Those who are truly loyal will show that their mind and heart are fully with the Lord Jesus. They will discern the specious sentiments of Satan, and will refuse to endorse actions that God condemns."

"When men stand out in defiance against the counsels of God, they are warring against God. Is it right for those connected with such ones to treat them as if they were in perfect harmony with them, making no difference between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not? Though they be ministers or medical missionaries, they have dishonored Christ before the forces of the loyal and the disloyal. Open rebuke is necessary, to prevent others from being ensnared."

"To believe that evil must not be condemned because this would condemn those who practice the evil, is to act in favor of falsehood. It should now be clearly understood that we are not really helping those who are determined to do evil, when we show them respect, and keep our words of reproof for those with whom the disaffected one is at enmity. A grave mistake has been made and is being made over this matter. Those who feel peaceable in regard to the works of the men who are spoiling the faith of the people of God, are guided by a delusive sentiment."

"Those who are enlightened by the Holy Spirit's power are to strive with every power of their being to snatch the prey from the seductive influences of men who refuse to obey the word of God, whether they be in high places or in low. Christ's property is not to pass out of His control into the control of the children of darkness." Special Testimonies, #2, pp. 5-11. July 25, 1904.

"My message to you is: No longer consent to listen without protest to the perversion of truth. Unmask the pretentious sophistries." Special Testimonies, #2, p. 15, July 24, 1904.

1905: "One thing it is certain is soon to be realized, the great apostasy, which is developing and increasing and waxing stronger, will continue to do so until the Lord shall descend from Heaven with a shout." Special Testimonies, Series B, #7, pp. 56-57. Dec. 4, 1905.

"The Lord declares that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work. Every truth that He has given for these last days is to be proclaimed to the world. Every pillar that He has established is to be strengthened. We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. We cannot now enter into any new organization; for it would mean apostasy from the truth." Manuscript 129, 1905; Selected Messages, Bk. 2, p. 390.

1906: "Ezekiel 24:6-24. I am instructed to present these words before those who have had light and evidence, but who have walked directly contrary to the light. The Lord will make the punishment of those who will not receive His admonitions and warnings, as broad as the wrong has been. The purposes of those who have tried to cover up their wrong, while they have secretly worked against the purposes of God, will be fully revealed. Truth will be vindicated. God will make manifest that He is God."

"Those who reject the Spirit of truth place themselves under the control of a spirit that is opposed to the word and work of God. For a time they may continue to teach some phases of the truth, but their refusal to accept all the light God sends, will, after a time, place them where they will do the work of a false watchman." On Visions of Ezekiel, July 4, 1906.

1907: "'Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter days some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.' The time of this apostasy is here. Every conceivable effort will be made to throw doubt upon the positions that we have occupied for over half a century." Letter 410, 1907. Selected Messages, Bk. 3, p. 408.

1908: "Satan is now more earnestly engaged in playing the game of life for souls than at any previous time." Review and Herald, Nov. 19, 1908.

1909: "The Lord has given me instruction that the history of the apostasy of Israel is now to be presented, because men who in the past have had great light have become self-sufficient, and are looking to men, trusting in human leaders, who are themselves practicing evil. Men who ought to stand as firm as a rock to principle are treading in the same path that the Israelites followed. 'Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.' This is the snare that has come into our ranks." Review and Herald, Feb. 4, 1909.

"A strange thing has come into our churches. Men who are placed in positions of responsibility that they may be wise helpers to their workers have come to suppose that they were set as kings and rulers in the churches, to say to one worker, Do this; to another, Do that; and to another, Be sure to labor in such and such a way. There have been places where the workers were told that if they did not follow the instruction of these men of responsibility, their pay from the conference would be withheld."

"For years there has been a growing tendency for men placed in responsible positions of responsibility to lord it over God's heritage, thus removing from church members their keen sense of the need of divine instruction and an appreciation of the privilege to counsel with God regarding their duty. This order of things must be changed."

"To conference presidents, and men in responsible places, I bear this message: Break the bands and fetters that have been placed upon God's people. To you the word is spoken, 'Break every yoke.'" Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 477-481. 1909.

1909: "In the false experience that has been coming in, a decided influence is at work to exalt human agencies, and to lead some to depend upon human judgment, and to follow the control of human minds. This influence is diverting the mind from God. God forbid that any such experience should deepen and grow in our ranks as Seventh-day Adventists." Testimonies to Ministers, p. 481. 1909.

1913: "Principles have been perverted. Men have been departing from the right principles, for the promulgation of which these institutions were established. They have failed of doing the very work God ordained should be done to prepare a people." Southern Union Worker, Nashville, Tenn. Oct. 16, 1913.

"I am bidden to warn you that deceptive sentiments are entertained, a false modesty and caution, a disposition to withhold the profession of our faith. In the night season, matters have been presented before me that have greatly troubled my mind. I have seemed to be in meetings for counsel where these subjects were discussed, and written documents were presented, advocating concessions. Brethren, shall we permit the world to shape the message that God has given us to bear to them?"

"Shall we for the sake of policy, betray a sacred trust? Let it be understood that Seventh-day Adventists can make no compromise." Counsels to Editors and Writers, pp. 94-95.

"In a representation which passed before me, I saw a certain work being done. The foundation of our faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest searching of the Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by pillar. Our faith was to have nothing to rest upon--the sanctuary was gone, the atonement was gone." Manuscript 46, May 18, 1904. The Upward Look, p. 152.

In 1966 some statements appeared in our SDA Ministry Magazine. One statement was by Leroy Froom, and the other by Howard Weeks. Froom said;

"Today the old largely negative approach--emphasizing chiefly the things wherein we differ from all other religious groups--is past, definitely past. And it is as it should be." Ministry Magazine, March, 1966.

Weeks said;

"If in expectation of a larger prophetic role amid these trends Adventists should gird up their evangelistic loins they would find themselves in step with other evangelicals who share their concern."

Billy Graham is then stated to be "the nation's best known evangelical."

Weeks continues, "The Adventist church today is better prepared to make common cause with these evangelicals than at any previous time in its history. The denomination is more definitely oriented than ever to the historic evangelical concepts. The heavy, sometimes bellicose, emphasis on the law and the Sabbath in times past undoubtedly struck more raw nerves... in contrast today, with a clear assert of the denomination's emphasis and membership's growth." Ministry Magazine, June 1966.

Did our professed SDA denomination decide to join with the evangelicals and to teach the same as the other churches? Just 3 years later, in the Autumn Council of 1969, a resolution was passed to teach in common with the other churches.

"Whereas... voted... departmental plans... to create a public image... set salvation within the reach of the multitudes... to place emphasis on the noncontroversial truths shared in common with all Christianity." Review and Herald, Dec. 18, 1969. Autumn Council action.

As the result of this action, the next "book of a new order" was written: SO MUCH IN COMMON. Written by the World Council of Churches and the Seventh-day Adventist church. It was published by The World Council of Churches in 1973.

This book explains how similar the teachings of the professed SDA organization are compared to the churches of the World Council. With all the rejections and concessions of our pure SDA truths by the professed SDA leadership, truly there is now so much in common!

Mrs. White has warned us. She says;

"There has been for years, in churches of the protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed, however important they might be from a Bible standpoint, must necessarily be waived." The Great Controversy, p. 444.

"All who neglect the word of God to study convenience and policy, that they may not be at variance with the world, will be left to receive damnable heresy for religious truth." Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 346.

"Those who in their human wisdom try to conceal the peculiar characteristics that disguises God's people from the world will lose their spiritual life and will no longer be upheld by His power." Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 250.

"When those who are uniting with the world, yet claiming great purity, plead for union with those who have ever been the opposers of the cause of truth, we should fear and shun them as decidedly as did Nehemiah." Prophets and Kings, p. 660.

In March, 1975, our SDA Pacific Press Publishing Association was in a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the Federal Government. The case was tried in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California in San Francisco.

In a sworn affidavit from our SDA General Conference President, Neal C. Wilson, he states; quote,

"Although it is true that there was a period in the life of the Seventh-day Adventist church when the denomination took a distinctly anti-Roman Catholic viewpoint, and the term 'hierarchy' was used in a pejorative sense to refer to the papal form of church governance, that attitude on the church's part was nothing more than a manifestation of widespread antipopery among conservative protestant denominations in the early part of this century and the latter part of the last, and which has now been consigned to the historical trash heap so far as the Seventh-day Adventist church is concerned." Reply Brief for the Defendant, p. 4, case #C-74-2025 CBR. March, 1975.

In 1990, Joan Campbell, director of the United States office of the World Council of Churches, was speaking to Adventists and said;

"It is my pleasure to be with you again. I bring the warmest of greetings from the World Council of Churches and from all our member churches around the world. When I was at your worship service yesterday, it seemed as though it was my own time of worship, as well as yours. And it said to me that there are many things we hold in common. So as fellow Christians, like those of Pentecost in the earliest of days, we look at each other, and we say that we hold all things in common." Adventist Review, July 10, 1990.

And this declaration was printed and published in our own Review as something to be proud of! It ought to raise a few eyebrows! Is this not indicative that "our religion has been changed"?

Long ago, Mrs. White warned;

"We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Manuscript Releases, Vol. 21, p. 380.

Therefore, "The Lord has a controversy with His professed people in these last days. In this controversy men in responsible positions will take 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." Review and Herald, Vol. 1, p. 405.

Please keep in mind that most of the religious people of this world already worship on Sunday. So it is not their ministers who are urging them to worship on Sunday. It will be our own professed SDA leadership who will urge the necessity of keeping Sunday holy!

“Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst construction will be put upon their motives.” The Great Controversy, p. 592.

Remember, "We have far more to fear from within than from without." 1 Selected Messages, p. 121.

"An apostate church will unite with the powers of earth and hell to place upon the forehead or in the hand, the mark of the beast, and prevail upon the children of God to worship the beast and his image. They will seek to compel them to renounce their allegiance to God's law, and yield homage to the papacy. Then will the gold be separated from the dross, and it will be made apparent who are godly, who are loyal and true, and who are the disloyal, the dross and tinsel. Everyone who is not centered in Christ will fail to stand the test and ordeal of that day." Review and Herald, Vol. 2, p. 609.