Is
There a Time of “Added Probation” for the SDA Church?
Click to go to our Home PageDear Reader, There are some apparently sincere
reformers who believe and teach that 1888 was a Midnight Cry call to professing
Seventh-day Adventists, and that there is a time of added probation for the
church. That is not true. There are two Midnight Cry calls according to
Matthew 25 and Ellen White. After the first call, the 10 virgins ALL
slumbered and slept. That slumbering time is called the tarrying time. Then,
at midnight, the midnight of apostasy just before Christ comes,
there is another repetition of the Midnight Cry. I appreciate many of the observations by
Laval Picard. I even include them on my Website. But I cannot let his great
error of “added probation” for the SDA church go
unanswered. The error being taught primarily by one
Laval Picard, is the teaching that probation has not closed on the SDA church
because in the prefigure of
Israel’s experience, there was a third call in Matthew 22. But Matthew 22
must agree with Matthew 25. There are only two Midnight Cry calls and both of
them are “call out” messages, whereas in Matthew 22, the first call by John
the Baptist was a call to repentance. It was not a “call out” message. The
call out message was not given until the call to repentance was rejected.
Likewise, in 1844, the first call by William Miller was a call to repentance
and preparation for
Christ’s coming. It was not intended as a call out message at
first. As we know, it turned into a call out message with the call to
repentance was rejected. The
Prefigure Calls by John the Baptist, Christ, and the Disciples and the 70 In the prefigure example of the calls to
Israel, the first call was made by the prophets and John the Baptist, who was
the greatest of prophets. The second call was made by Christ and His
disciples to the Jews first. The third call was made to the then known world,
including individual Jews within apostate Israel. The first call to modern Israel has been
made by the ancient Biblical prophets along with Ellen White in 1844. Ellen
White was as a John the Baptist in calling for repentance and preparing a
bride for Christ, as John did, Desire
of Ages, 179. That 1844 awakening
was a “gathering out” of all who would give the gospel to the world, just as
Jesus “gathered out” all who would give the gospel to the world in His day—Desire of Ages, 232. Indeed, it was a call out message as
depicted in Matthew 25, to wit: Mat 25:6 And at
midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. The first call is out of the world and
fallen churches. The second Midnight Cry call is for the same purpose, being
a call out of the world and all fallen churches, and at the end-time, all
formally organized churches, designated by the 7 women of Isaiah 4:1-4, are
fallen and doing their own thing. The
Midnight Cry Repeated Midnight
Cry Repeated: "My mind was carried to the FUTURE, when the signal WILL
BE GIVEN, 'Behold, the Bridegroom cometh God ye out to meet Him.'" E.G.
White, Review and Herald, Vol. 3, p. 331, Feb. 11, 1896. Notice the
date, Feb. 11, 1896. What follows is a
message from Laval to me. ----- Original Message ----- From: Laval Picard Sent:
Friday, May 11, 2007 12:44 PM Subject:
Re: [DefendEGW] Re: A STRAIGHT AND NARROW PATH
(Time of added probation) Ron, last night you said
that the first call of the parable of Matt. 22 to the Adventists was the
midnight cry. Given that there are only two calls to the church, that is, to
the bidden ones, it would mean that 1888 was the second and final call. We
know that that call was resisted. This means that we now have no other choice
but to conclude that the church sealed her rejection of God's mercy when that
call ended, most likely in 1901. Therefore, according to this teaching,
probation closed for the church in 1901! But if that was the case, the
third call of the parable which is the loud cry message to the world would
have sounded and the end would have come! “Is it any wonder that there are
so many independent ministries and off-shoots in Adventism today? Is it any
wonder that there are so many discordant voices in Adventism nowadays? The
church has made concessions to Babylon, to the churches that have taken sides
with the first great apostate, and since then there has been congenial
fellowship with them. The question is, is that "new
movement," that "new organization which has been established"
still on the path that leads to the City of
God? Is the light Mrs. White saw shining at the beginning of that narrow path
still with the "new movement"? From the point of view of the
Evangelicals, the answer has to be, No it is not! But
to this day the leaders of the church deny that any such concessions have
made and many are inclined to believe them.” In 1957 the leaders of our
beloved Seventh-day Adventist church betrayed sacred trusts. This fact cannot
be controverted. In
that very action the light which was at the beginning of the narrow path on
which Mrs. White had seen the Advent band traveling to the City of God was
denied. There
was a falling away, a falling off the path! As a
result, a new organization has been established. The
question is, is that new organization still on the path and in the light? If
not, then, as was shown in the vision, it is impossible for this new movement
to get on the path again! But
there are still honest ones in the "new movement" and they need to
be reached. Is the message to them a call-out message? It would seem to make
sense if the new organization has fallen off the path and out of the light! " However, though the Jewish "organization" had
gone beyond the point of no return by crucifying Jesus, "the Lord's care
and labor for His people had not lessened but increased." C.O.L. 218. The time following the crucifixion was a time
of "added probation" when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the
disciples at Pentecost. Ron responds to the above: I888 was not a
Midnight (Note by Ron: In the following message,
“forerunner000” is Laval Picard). ----- Original Message ----- From: "forerunner000"
<forerunner000@yahoo.ca To: <DefendEGW@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 10:33 PM Subject: [DefendEGW]
Re: A STRAIGHT AND NARROW PATH (Time of added probation) TIME
OF ADDED PROBATION Now we should all be able to appreciate the
truth that in spite of the fact that the "new organization" has
fallen off the path, that we are living in the time of "added probation.” This is exactly what happened in the days
of Christ. At the time of His crucifixion the entire Jewish structure was off
the path and out of the light and was left unto them desolate. "Your
house is left unto you desolate." However, though the Jewish
"organization" had gone beyond the point of no return by crucifying
Jesus, "the Lord's care and labor for His people had not lessened but
increased." C.O.L.218. The time following the crucifixion was a time of
"added probation" when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the
disciples at Pentecost: "This was the message borne to the Jewish
people after the crucifixion of Christ; but the nation that claimed to be
Christ's peculiar people rejected the gospel brought to them in the power of
the Holy Spirit. Many did this is the most scornful manner. Others were so
exasperated by the offer of salvation and the offer of pardon for rejecting
the Lord of glory, that they turned upon the bearers
of the message. There was 'a great persecution.' Acts 8:1.
Many both of men and women were thrust into prison, and some of the Lord's
messengers, as Stephen and James were put to death. Thus the Jewish people
sealed their rejection of God's mercy. The result was foretold in the
parable." C.O.L.308, 309. History is about to be repeated. The latter
rain will be another Pentecost and the scenario described above will be
fulfilled again to the very letter! If you wish to read more about what is
going to take place, turn to THE ADVENT MOVEMENT ILLUSTRATED from Early
Writings, pp. 240, 241 and THE SHAKING
from the same book, pp.269-271. THE END Laval. Ron’s commentary: Laval Picard
is teaching that: The church has fallen off the
Midnight Cry lighted path as did the Jewish church, but there is “added
probation for the church—even for the leaders." Jesus said on the cross: “Father,
forgive them for they know not what they do.” There is a difference involving
those who do not know and understand the truth and what they do and those who
don’t. In Jeremiah 11:9-15, God tells Jeremiah not to even pray for that
generation of Jews and verse 15 is a definite call out message. That there is a time of “added
probation” and that probation could not have closed for the SDA church
structure because of the Christ’s
Object Lessons, p. 218, statement, and the fact that in Matthew 22 there
are three calls made. Adventism had many calls to repentance made by Ellen
White alone. Then there was the call made by Robert J. Wieland
and Donald K. Short in the 1950’s for corporate repentance. All the calls for
repentance have been rejected. Even though some leaders of
Israel may have had a second chance at probation because they did not know
what they had done in crucifying Christ, this did not preclude a “gathering
out” of the apostate organization by Christ and His disciples, and that “gathering
out” occurred even before the crucifixion: "Christ was a protestant...The Reformers date back to Christ and
the apostles. They came out and separated themselves from a religion of forms
and ceremonies. Luther and his followers did not invent the reformed religion.
They simply accepted it as presented by Christ and the apostles." E.G.
White, Review and Herald, vol. 2, 48, col. 2. Paul left "And as they persisted in their rejection of the gospel the
apostle (Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space for
three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of
God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that
way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples,
disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus." Acts, 19:8, 9. "The recreant priests added licentiousness to the dark catalogue
of their crimes yet they still polluted by their presence the tabernacle of
the Lord, and, laden with sin, dared to come into the presence of a holy God.
As the men of Israel witnessed the corrupt course of the priests, they
thought it safer for their families not to come up to the appointed place of
worship. Many went from Shiloh with their peace disturbed, their indignation
aroused, until they at last determined to offer their sacrifices themselves,
concluding that this would be fully as acceptable to God, as to sanction in
any manner the abominations practiced in the Sanctuary." E.G. White, The Signs
of the Times, vol. 1, p. 264, col. 3, December 1, 1881. "The Sanhedrin had rejected Christ's message and was bent upon
His death therefore Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from the priests, the
temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been instructed in the law,
and turned to another class to proclaim His message, and to gather out those
who should carry the gospel to all nations. As the light and life of
men was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the days of Christ, so
it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and again the
history of Christ's withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. When the
Reformers preached the word of God, they had no thought of separating
themselves from the established church but the religious leaders would not
tolerate the light, and those that bore it were forced to seek another class,
who were longing for the truth. In our day few of the professed followers of
the Reformers are actuated by their spirit. Few are listening for the voice
of God, and ready to accept truth in whatever guise it may be presented.
Often those who follow in the steps of the Reformers are forced to turn away
from the churches they love, in order to declare the plain teaching of the
word of God. And many times those who are seeking for light are by the same
teaching obliged to leave the church of their fathers, that they may render
obedience." E.G. White, Desire of Ages, 232. Parallels with the Prefigure Calls to the Jews ·
John
the Baptist calls for repentance. The call was rejected by most. ·
Jesus
made a personal call to the Jews. He was rejected by most. So He and His
disciples established home churches and gathered out from the apostate
organization of the day. ·
Obviously,
Jesus will not make an IN PERSON personal call to SDA’s. He makes His call
through His representative messengers. ·
Jesus
“gathered out” the disciples and those who would take the gospel to the world. ·
The
disciples kept giving the call to the Jews. ·
Two
of the three calls were made to the Jews alone. The third was made to the
then known world, Matthew 22:9. Ron’s Commentary on Laval Picard’s
Conclusions To try to imply that probation
is still open for the apostate organization is not tenable. Probation will
linger for SDA’s who have not known of the apostasy and willingly, knowingly,
supported the apostate leaders in their ecumenical violations of the Midnight
Cry and the first and second angel’s messages. It would be the heights of
arrogance and ignorance for any SDA to believe that God would withdraw His
spirit from those who knowingly, willfully rejected the messages of 1844, and
act differently toward SDA’s for in substance doing the very same thing by
violations via ecumenical liaisons with Babylon and the world. There can be no excuse for SDA
topmost leaders not knowing the first and second angel’s messages and the
Midnight Cry that gave power to those messages. Extending a time of probation
for them is a pliant Aaron type peace and safety message of false security. Any
“added probation” is for those who have not known and understood the call to
the marriage supper of the Lamb, and have not violated it knowingly and
willfully. Laval’s biggest mistake is not
factoring Christ’s statement that the Jews who killed Him did not know what
they were doing. That does not apply to church leaders who were given the
mission and commission to give the three angel’s messages to the world! In Word to the Little Flock, p. 14, Ellen
White says that it is impossible for all who fall off the Midnight Cry
lighted path to get back on again. This means that all who do so knowingly
and willingly receive a shut door to salvation. Ellen
White said that all who rejected the Midnight Cry in 1844
received a “shut door.” In the following statement Ellen White says that all who knew of and understood the Midnight Cry and the first and second angel’s messages in 1844, and accepted both, but later rejected such, rejected the Spirit of God, and it no longer pleaded with them. "I
was shown in vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut door in 1844.
All who saw the light of the first and second angels' messages and rejected
that light were left in darkness. And those who accepted it and received the
Holy Spirit which attended the proclamation of the message from heaven, and
who afterward renounced their faith and pronounced their experience a
delusion, thereby rejected the Spirit of God, and it no longer pleaded with
them." {1BIO 260.8} We should not attempt to
judge who amongst SDA has or has not understood the Midnight Cry and the
first and second angel’s messages. We should leave that judgment to God. But
it is difficult to understand how any SDA leader could become a leader
without having understood those messages! We can safely say that such leaders who knew
and understood those messages should have guarded the church against
violation of those messages and Isaiah 8:9-14, by the act of ecumenical
liaisons with Babylon. The “faithful” leaders should have warned the
unfaithful ones and sought to reform them and the church from violation of
those messages. Without a
doubt, we should be willing and ready to minister to fallen SDA’s as well as
all in other fallen churches and the world. But that does not preclude the
necessity to withdraw from fallen churches WHEN we realize that they are
fallen. God’s principle of separation from apostasy far predates Israel’s
specific experience. And
even in Israel’s case, the following separation is apropos on a generational
level. This occurred in Shinar just after the Israelites settled after
wandering in the desert for 40 years: "The
recreant priests added licentiousness to the dark catalogue of their crimes
yet they still polluted by their presence the tabernacle of the Lord, and,
laden with sin, dared to come into the presence of a holy God. As the men of
Israel witnessed the corrupt course of the priests, they thought it safer for
their families not to come up to the appointed place of worship. Many went
from Shiloh with their peace disturbed, their indignation aroused, until they
at last determined to offer their sacrifices themselves, concluding that this
would be fully as acceptable to God, as to sanction in any manner the
abominations practiced in the Sanctuary." E.G. White, The Signs
of the Times, vol. 1, p. 264, col. 3, December 1, 1881. The following treatise on Matthew 22 is by Ellen
White Matthew 22 Sermons and Talks Called to the Wedding Feast (Sermon
by Ellen G. White In Washington, Township, Iowa, Cir. 1874.) The words which I have selected as a foundation
for a few remarks you will find in the 22nd chapter of Matthew, beginning at
the first verse. [Verses 1-10, quoted.] {1SAT 4.1} The portion of Scripture presented
before us, which I have referred to and have
presented before your minds, is of intense meaning--much more than I am able
to explain. It is of great interest to us, and we should consider it, and let
it have due weight upon our minds. We find by perusing God's sacred Word of
inspiration that when the promised Messiah, the Son of God, came into the
world His own people, even His own nation--the Jews--would not and did not
receive Him. As we are told in the first chapter of St. John, "He came
unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1:11). {1SAT 4.2} The provision was made, but they would
not receive it. The Father Himself provided a ransom, even a sacrifice. His
own dear Son submitted Himself to His Father's requirements, came into this
sinful world, became a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. He went about
doing good, speaking in tones of tenderness, saying in the deepest and most
fervent and sweetest accents ever uttered, "Come unto Me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you,
and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart"; and He assures us we shall find rest to our souls. {1SAT 4.3} "Again, he sent forth other
servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my
dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come
unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his
farm, another to his
merchandise." The great King Himself hath made a
marriage for His Son. He hath sent forth His servants for many hundreds of
years, saying, "Come, for all things are ready." But how little do
the [people of the] world heed the invitation! They make light of it and go
their ways to their worldly pursuits and worldly pleasures, the same as they
have done for centuries. But the King sendeth forth
His armies and destroys those murders and burns up their city, and we are
told in the ninth chapter of Daniel, the 26th verse, that "the people of
the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city...; and the end thereof
shall be with a flood." {1SAT 5.1} "Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not
worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid
to the marriage." {1SAT 5.2} In the 14th chapter of Luke, verse 16,
we find that there was made a great supper and many were bidden. Servants
were sent forth to say to those that were bidden, "Come; for all things
are now ready" [verse 17]. But they made excuses. {1SAT 5.3} The King of the kingdom hath made a
marriage supper for His Son. He hath sent forth His servants to say to those
which are bidden, "Come to the marriage." The Lord is sending His
servants, saying unto all who will hear, "Come, make ready for the great
marriage supper of the Lamb; He is soon coming to receive all the faithful to
the mansions prepared by Him, to partake of the feast which He hath
prepared." He is sending, and hath been sending His servants for some
thirty years past to say unto His people, "Come, make ready, put on your
wedding garments; clothe yourselves with meekness, humility, and truth, and
have yourselves clad in the righteousness of Christ, that you may be All must be clothed with the wedding garment
in order to be accepted, lest we be found speechless. {1SAT 6.1} Is it not of the greatest importance
that we be found having on the robe of righteousness, that we be ready when
the Bridegroom cometh to enter in to the marriage supper? May we heed the
invitation given and make ourselves ready that we may have admittance into
the Master's house, that He say not unto us that
none which were bidden shall taste of His supper. In the parable, those who
were bidden heeded not its invitation, but continued excusing themselves,
feasting upon the pleasures of this world as the masses do at the present
time. {1SAT 6.2} The servants of God are inviting and
entreating them to come away from the alluring scenes of this vain and
fleeting world, to make ready for the marriage supper, but they will not
come. We hear them saying, There's no danger; tomorrow shall be as this day
and much more abundant; no need of being disturbed. We must needs attend to
farms and merchandise and the things of this life, lest we lose worldly
interests, and become poor and suffer want. They forget that He who careth for the little sparrows and clotheth
the lilies of the field, careth for the humble,
trusting soul, and will guide and direct all those who are ready to do His will,
and bestow upon His dear children such things as they need. To all who
through patience and perseverance overcome, He hath promised to give a crown
of never fading glory, a robe of righteousness, and an entrance into the
beautiful city of our God. {1SAT 6.3} This same King is sending forth His
servants today. He is inviting His guests, saying, "Come, for all things
are now ready." The Lord of the marriage If we neglect our spiritual interests,
neglect to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable unto God, which is our
reasonable duty, we become entangled with the trifling cares of this life. If
we even once omit our daily duty of calling upon God for His divine aid, His
care and protection, we lose one day's enjoyment. We have not the sweet,
melting influence of God's Holy Spirit attending us through the day, but we
feel cast down and easily discouraged. The enemy of souls is ready to take
advantage [of us] and often does, bringing us into captivity and sin. {1SAT
7.1} We may sometimes be cumbered about much
serving, like Martha; but how much more commendable was the act of Mary, who
sat and listened to the teachings of Jesus. He says, "Martha, thou art
careful and troubled about many things: but . . . . Mary hath chosen that
good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41, 42).
{1SAT 7.2} How many times the things of this vain,
deceitful world come between us and our eternal interests! Temporal things spring
up within our hearts and choke those things which are spiritual. We permit
the enemy of righteousness to persuade us that we should attend to the things
of this life. We now and then neglect greater duties lest we suffer want. If
we faithfully entreat God to give us strength and to
perform temporal duties, and at the same time to give us grace and wisdom to
overcome evil; if we have our hopes centered above and our conversation in
heaven, whence we look for the Son of man who has bidden to the marriage all
who will come: who has gone up on high to prepare mansions for all those who
love and keep His sayings, and has told us He is coming to receive us, we may
enter in to the wedding feast with Him, that where He is there we may be
also. If we turn away from those calls and invitations, what will be the
consequence? {1SAT 7.3} In the 13th chapter of the Acts of the
Apostles, 46th verse, we find that if we put God's work from us, and judge
ourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we have no reason to expect an
entrance into the kingdom. The 24th verse of the 14th chapter of Luke informs
us that "none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper." {1SAT 8.1} The great eternal Father has prepared a
marriage feast for His Son. Will we give heed to His servants who have been
and are being sent forth to proclaim unto us the solemn invitation? Or shall
we make light of it? Oh, why refuse to make ready for the marriage of the Son
of God? There is room for all who will accept the invitation. None can say
[that] those things were not duly represented. Remember, when the good man
returns, those who are ready will go in to the feast and the door will be
shut, and there will be no further entrance, for we read that when "the
master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door" (Luke
13:25), then those who would find admittance will hear the answer, "I
know you not. . . ; depart
from Me." {1SAT 8.2} A Personal Past Response to Laval Picard I made the following
personal response to Laval Picard, to which he did not respond: Laval, Please don't miss this
response to COL, p. 218 and 308. Sorry that you missed more
than one of my past responses to your reference to COL, 218 and the
period of "added probation." I said that Matthew 22 says that the
second call went to those who were unworthy. That suggests that it was only
to further prove their unworthiness on a national basis, but the call kept
going to individuals. The period of added probation was not to the nation of
Israel, but to individuals only. The second call occurred after the stoning
of Stephen, which closed Israel's probation as a theocratic nation (church).
Call number 2 occurred after that close. Again, the period of added probation
was on an individual basis. The disciples and Paul gathered out individuals
from the apostate theocracy whose probation had closed. It was corporate
Israel that was not worthy--the apostate organization. Some individuals were
worthy and responded to call number 2. Such is the case with Adventism now.
You errantly hold out probation for the apostate corporate structure which
has committed unpardonable sin and removed God. That is tantamount to
the ultimate peace and safety message. That structure is the COUNTERPART
of apostate Israel. It has done everything God indicted Israel for in
Jeremiah 11:9-15. Mat 22:8 Then saith
he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not
worthy. Page 218
…many centuries ago
concerning Israel, "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I
deliver thee, Israel? . . . I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger.
I will not return to destroy Ephraim; for I am God, and not man." Hosea
11:8, 9. The pitying Saviour is saying concerning you, Spare it this year
also, till I shall dig about it and dress it. With what unwearied love
did Christ minister to Israel during the period of added probation. Upon the cross He prayed, "Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23:24. After His
ascension the gospel was preached first at Jerusalem. There the Holy Spirit
was poured out. There the first gospel church revealed the power of the
risen Saviour. There Stephen--"his face as it had been the face of an
angel" (Acts 6:15)--bore his testimony and laid down his life. All that
heaven itself could give was bestowed. "What could have been done more
to My vineyard," Christ said, "that I have not done in it?"
Isa. 5:4. So His care and labor for you are not lessened, but increased. [on an individual basis--RB] Still He says, "I the Lord do keep it; I
will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and
day." Isa. 27:3. "If it bear fruit, well; and if not,
then after that"-- The heart that does not respond to divine
agencies becomes hardened until it is no longer susceptible to the influence
of the Holy Spirit. Then it is that the word is spoken, "Cut it down;
why cumbereth it the ground?" Today He invites you: "O
Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. . . . I will heal their backsliding, I
will love them freely. . . . I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow
as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. . . . They that dwell under
his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine.
. . . From Me is thy fruit found." Hosea 14:1-8. When Ellen White penned the above words,
the church had not yet committed the unpardonable sin the will get her broken
in pieces, Isaiah 8:9-14. Now, COL, p. 308: Page 308
…to the king, more than exclusion from his
presence and his table is decreed. "He sent forth his armies, and
destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city." In both parables the feast is provided with
guests, but the second shows that there is a preparation to be made by all
who attend the feast. Those who neglect this preparation are cast out.
"The king came in to see the guests," and "saw there a man
which had not on a wedding garment; and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest
thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said
the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast
him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The call to the feast had been
given by Christ's disciples. Our Lord
had sent out the twelve and afterward the seventy, proclaiming that the
kingdom of God was at hand, and
calling upon men to repent and believe the gospel. But the call was not
heeded. Those who are bidden to the
feast did not come. The servants were sent out later to say, "Behold, I have prepared my
dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready:
come unto the marriage."
This was the message borne to the
Jewish nation after the crucifixion of Christ; but the nation that
claimed to be God's peculiar people rejected the gospel brought to them in
the power of the Holy Spirit. Many did this in the most scornful manner.
Others were so exasperated by the offer of salvation, the offer of pardon for
rejecting the Lord of glory, that they turned upon the bearers of the
message. There was "a great persecution." Acts 8:1. Many both of
men and women were thrust into prison, and some of the Lord's messengers, as
Stephen and James, were put to death. Thus the Jewish people sealed
their rejection of God's Page 309
mercy.
The result was foretold by Christ in the parable. The king "sent forth
his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."
The judgment pronounced came upon the Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem
and the scattering of the nation. The third call to the feast represents the
giving of the gospel to the Gentiles. The king said, "The wedding is
ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the
highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." The first call was made by Christ during
the first 3 1/2 year period of His ministry. He was teaching the disciples
how to do it in the second call made by them and the seventy. The Son of God
Himself was sent to plead with the impenitent city. It was Christ that had
brought Israel as a goodly vine out of Egypt. Psalm 80:8. His own hand had
cast 20 out the heathen before
it. He had planted it "in a very fruitful hill." The Great
Controversy, pp. 19, 20. The second Midnight Cry
call of Matthew 25, is made to all fallen churches, including the SDA church,
for in Isaiah 4:1-4, we find that 7 women (all formally organized churches)
are doing their own thing at the end-time. The Midnight Cry is to all of them
to go out of the world and all apostate churches to meet Him. That second
call is no more a call of reconciliation to the fallen SDA church than it is
to the fallen Babylonian churches when the second call is made. It is a call
to go out of all fallen churches and all formally organized churches are
fallen at that time. The call is to individuals to go out of all those fallen
churches and the world. Ron More Correspondences With Laval You continue to
contradict Ellen White and Scripture. I believe the SOP that Jesus was a
separatist. They rejected Christ, so He went to others. Ellen White said that
God would continue to work on that principle. You have agreed that the church
has proved unfaithful to the work of the Lord, yet, like a pliant Aaron, you
are trying everything possible to avoid the pain of the separation duty. It
is impossible for the wheat to mature amongst the corrupt. It is impossible
to unite with the corrupt and remain pure. But you are going to go down
trying. "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. "Christ was a protestant...The Reformers date back to
Christ and the apostles. They came out and separated themselves from a
religion of forms and ceremonies. Luther and his followers did not invent the
reformed religion. They simply accepted it as presented by Christ and the
apostles." E.G. White, Review and Herald, vol. 2, 48, col. 2. Paul left "And as they persisted in their rejection of the gospel the
apostle (Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space for
three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of
God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that
way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples,
disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus." Acts, 19:8, 9. "The recreant priests added licentiousness to the dark
catalogue of their crimes yet they still polluted by their presence the
tabernacle of the Lord, and, laden with sin, dared to come into the presence
of a holy God. As the men of Israel witnessed the corrupt course of the
priests, they thought it safer for their families not to come up to the
appointed place of worship. Many went from Shiloh with their peace disturbed,
their indignation aroused, until they at last determined to offer their
sacrifices themselves, concluding that this would be fully as acceptable to
God, as to sanction in any manner the abominations practiced in the
Sanctuary." E.G. White, The Signs of the Times, vol. 1, p.
264, col. 3, December 1, 1881. The above statement, occurring in the time of Jeremiah’s day, and
which correlates with Jeremiah 11:14, 15, proves that a church does not have
to fulfill any “stoning of Stephen” condition to close its probation. And
what about all of the other fallen churches which fell in 1844? Did they
stone anyone? Not that I know of! "The Sanhedrin had rejected Christ's message and was bent
upon His death therefore Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from the priests, the
temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been instructed in the law,
and turned to another class to proclaim His message, and to gather out those
who should carry the gospel to all nations. As the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical
authorities in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and
again the history of Christ's withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. When
the Reformers preached the word of God, they had no thought of separating themselves from the established
church but the religious leaders would not tolerate the light, and those that
bore it were forced to seek another class, who were longing for the truth. In
our day few of the professed followers of the Reformers are actuated by their
spirit. Few are listening for the voice of God, and ready to accept truth in
whatever guise it may be presented. Often those who follow in the steps of
the Reformers are forced to turn away from the churches they love, in order
to declare the plain teaching of the word of God. And many times those who
are seeking for light are by the same teaching obliged to leave the church of
their fathers, that they may render obedience." E.G. White, Desire
of Ages, 232. "And as they persisted in their rejection of the gospel the
apostle (Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space for
three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of
God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that
way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples,
disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus." Acts, 19:8, 9. Ron |