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The Seven Faces of Seventh-day Adventism Identifying the seven spirits of the church The Seventh-day Adventist church is composed of seven spiritual factions. The seven distinct spiritual groups may be labeled Subversives, Legalists, Spiritualists, Papists, Sheeple, Laodiceans, and true Seventh-day Adventists. Just as each of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 have a prevailing spirit that characterizes each of those seven churches [1], today each faction in the Seventh-day Adventist church has a prevailing spirit also. To those Adventists for whom it was prophesied that they would rise up against "the plain testimonies," I wish to make it very clear that it is not my words that they hate but the Spirit of Prophecy. It is the church prophetess Ellen G. White whom they profess to respect that has specified the spiritual traits of these seven groups. I have only compiled the inspired characterization and other indisputable facts and placed all of this readily available information into a logical structure. The names of the 7 groups are my own. It is time to identify the seven spirits of the Seventh-day Adventist church.
Subversives Consider this prophecy: The religion of Jesus is endangered. It is being mingled with worldliness. Worldly policy is taking the place of the true piety and wisdom that comes from above, and God will remove His prospering hand from the conference. Shall the Ark of the Covenant be removed from this people? Shall idols be smuggled in? Shall false principles and false precepts be brought into the sanctuary? Shall antichrist be respected? Shall the true doctrines and principles given us by God, which have made us what we are, be ignored? Shall God's instrumentality, the publishing house, become a mere political, worldly institution? This is directly where the enemy, through blinded, unconsecrated men, is leading us. —21MR 448.3. Ultimately, how will this situation resolve itself? The work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity she will have to do in a terrible crisis under most discouraging, forbidding circumstances. The warnings that worldly conformity has silenced or withheld must be given under the fiercest opposition from enemies of the faith. And at that time the superficial, conservative class, whose influence has steadily retarded the progress of the work, will renounce the faith and take their stand with its avowed enemies, toward whom their sympathies have long been tending. These apostates will then manifest the most bitter enmity, doing all in their power to oppress and malign their former brethren and to excite indignation against them. This day is just before us. The members of the church will individually be tested and proved. They will be placed in circumstances where they will be forced to bear witness for the truth. Many will be called to speak before councils and in courts of justice, perhaps separately and alone. The experience which would have helped them in this emergency they have neglected to obtain, and their souls are burdened with remorse for wasted opportunities and neglected privileges. —Testimonies For the Church, Vol. 5, 463. In the early days of Adventism, when the expectation was that the end of time was very near, Ellen White had this revelation: I saw the nominal church and nominal Adventists, like Judas, would betray us to the Catholics to obtain their influence to come against the truth. The saints then will be an obscure people, little known to the Catholics; but the churches and nominal Adventists who know of our faith and customs (for they hated us on account of the Sabbath, for they could not refute it) will betray the saints and report them to the Catholics as those who disregard the institutions of the people; that is, that they keep the Sabbath and disregard Sunday. —Spalding and Magan Collection, p. 1. It is clear from this second passage that the "nominal church" can only be the superficially genuine but apostate protestant church and that "nominal Adventists" are the superficial, conservative Adventists that will unite with mainstream Christianity. When will this separation take place? In Ellen White's eschatology, all these events transpire during the time of the great shaking of the church [6], just before the end of the world. One revelation that Ellen White specified very clearly is that we are already in the time for "the removal of those things that are being shaken so that the things which cannot be shaken may remain" (Hebrews 12:25-27). [7]. Since the shaking has started already, a comparison with current events is in order. Why are people leaving the Adventist church? Who are the "avowed enemies" of the Adventist faith? When people leave our church, are they siding with our "avowed enemies?" Finding the most vociferous critics of Seventh-day Adventism on the Internet only takes a little time. The following websites seem to rank at the very top in terms of rancor and disgust.
http://www.formeradventist.com The harmony between these haters of Ellen G. White and the Subversives is that both groups do not promote and apparently do not have any positive interpretation of Scripture that distinguishes their faith in any way, but their criticisms of the Adventist movement are identical. [8][9]. There are significant parallels between the Subversives and Korah, Dathan and Abiram, followed by the "two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown" in Numbers 16. They rebelled against God's appointed leader of the church. Ellen White wrote a superb piece on the rebellion of Korah in Patriarchs and Prophets, chapter 35, pp. 395-405. At the end of that chapter, Ellen White says that the same principles of that rebellion exist today. The most profound subtlety of that remarkable exposition is that Ellen White wrote that whole chapter as a defense of her own prophetic authority. It follows therefore that the greatest passion of the Subversives is their desire for self-exaltation. Do not the
same evils still exist that lay at the foundation of Korah's ruin? Pride
and ambition are widespread; and when these are cherished, they open the
door to envy, and a striving for supremacy; the soul is alienated from
God, and unconsciously drawn into the ranks of Satan. The facts relative to Korah and his company, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and against Jehovah, are recorded for a warning to God's people, especially those who live upon the earth near the close of time. Satan has led persons to imitate the example of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, in raising insurrection among the people of God. —The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 1, pp. 306-307. An excellent example of a Seventh-day Adventist church that excels at rebelling against the Messenger of the Lord while claiming to be "progressive" would be the Celebration Center SDA Church, pastored by Steve Daily, in Redlands, CA. [10]. Subversives may be classified as agents of Satan.
Now is
the very time when Satan is working with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness.
Many are
in reality fighting his battles while they profess to serve under the
banner of Christ. These traitors in the camp may not be suspected, but
they are doing their work to create unbelief, discord, and strife. Such
are the most dangerous of foes. While they insinuate themselves into our
favor, and gain our confidence and sympathy, they are busy suggesting
doubts and creating suspicion. They work in the same manner as did Satan
in heaven when he deceived the angels by his artful representations,
placing darkness for light, and making the forbearance and mercy of God to
appear as harshness and severity. As he worked at the beginning, so he
works in the end, only concealing himself more perfectly from view. . . .
OHC 360.
Legalists 1.
I was shown that quite a number who were thinking it their duty to teach
the word of God publicly had mistaken their work. They had no call to
devote themselves to this solemn, responsible work. They were not
qualified for the work of the ministry, for they could not instruct others
properly. There are little companies continually rising who believe that God is only with the very few, the very scattered, and their influence is to tear down and scatter that which God's servants build up. Restless minds who want to be seeing and believing something new continually are constantly rising, some in one place and some in another, all doing a special work for the enemy, yet claiming to have the truth. They stand separate from the people whom God is leading out and prospering, and through whom He is to do His great work. They are continually expressing their fears that the body of Sabbathkeepers are becoming like the world, but there are scarcely two of these whose views are in harmony. They are scattered and confused, and yet deceive themselves so much as to think that God is especially with them. … This class do not know what they really believe, or the reasons for their belief. They are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. —Testimonies For the Church, Vol. 1. pp. 417- 418. Yet notwithstanding all the evidences that God has been leading the body, there are, and will continue to be, those who profess the Sabbath, who will move independent of the body, and believe and act as they choose. Their views are confused. Their scattered state is a standing testimony that God is not with them. By the world the Sabbath and their errors are placed upon a level and thrown away together. God is angry with those who pursue a course to make the world hate them. If a Christian is hated because of his good works and for following Christ, he will have a reward; but if he is hated because he does not take a course to be loved, hated because of his uncultivated manners and because he makes the truth a matter of quarrel with his neighbors, and takes a course to make the Sabbath as annoying as possible to them, he is a stumbling block to sinners, a reproach to the sacred truth, and unless he repents it were better for him that a millstone were hung about his neck and he were cast into the sea. —Testimonies For the Church, Vol. 1. p. 420. Some have fanciful views which blind their eyes to important, vital points of truth, leading them to place their own fanciful inferences upon a level with vital truth. The appearance of such, and the spirit which attends them, makes the Sabbath which they profess very objectionable to the sensible unbeliever. It would be far better for the progress and success of the third angel's message if such persons would leave the truth. —Testimonies For the Church, Vol. 1. p. 413. They are strangers to gratitude. They possess a strong spirit which will not yield to reason and which will lead them on to their own destruction. —Testimonies For the Church, Vol. 1. p. 419. A strange spirit rules with this class, which would bear down and run over anyone who would reprove them. God's Spirit is not in the work and does not attend such workmen. They have another spirit. —Testimonies For the Church, Vol. 1. p. 414. 3. I saw that the minds of some of the church have not run in the
right channel. There have been some peculiar temperaments that have had
their notions by which to measure their brethren. And if any did not
exactly agree with them, there was trouble in the camp at once. Some have
strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel. 4. Another grievous sin existing in our midst, is self-sufficiency,—Pharisaism,—feeling that we are righteous, and all our acts are meritorious, when we are far from cherishing the right spirit toward God or toward our brethren. It is a spirit of wanting to be first. Self-esteem has been cherished, and you have had a spirit of criticism toward others because you were not first. Envy, jealousy, suspicion, fault-finding, and false witnessing have existed. There are unconsecrated hearts among you, who turn everything said or done, even under the special direction of God, in a wrong way. The power of Satan's temptations is strong upon these, and they view things in a perverted light. They please the enemy by their criticisms, and by making a man an offender for a word. In many of these cases that are criticised there is no actual sin; the suspicion is the result of the condition of the mind that entertains it. If one crosses their path, they have no unity or fellowship with him. They feel disgusted with all he may say or do. Those who have confidence in them share their feelings and sentiments. A spirit of retaliation is secretly at work; yet those who are thus creating disaffection and disunion, and planting the seeds of jealousy, all the while claim to be firm believers in the truth. Such do not practice the spirit of the truth. The leaven of their evil surmisings permeates the company where it exists, and God is dishonored, the principles of truth are degraded, and the Christian experience is marred and dwarfed. —RH, December 18, 1888. 5. Idle tales are brought in as important truths, and by some they are actually set up as tests. Thus controversy is created, and minds are diverted from present truth. Satan knows that if he can get men and women absorbed in trifling details, greater questions will be left unheeded. He will furnish plenty of material for the attention of those who are willing to think upon trifling, unimportant subjects. The minds of the Pharisees were absorbed with questions of no moment. They passed by the precious truths of God's Word to discuss the traditionary lore handed down from generation to generation, which in no way concerned their salvation. And so today, while precious moments are passing into eternity, the great questions of salvation are overlooked for some idle tale. —1SM 170.5. Manifestations
of Seventh-day Adventist legalism Ellen White wrote, "I have long known that fanaticism will be manifest again, in different ways. "We cannot allow excitable elements among us to display themselves in a way that would destroy our influence with those whom we wish to reach with the truth. It took us years to outlive the unfavorable impression that unbelievers gained of Adventists through their knowledge of the strange and wicked workings of fanatical elements among us during the early years of our existence as a separate people." Ellen G. White, Manuscript 115, 1908. Ellen White was not a legalist. She wrote against making sharp thrusts at Catholics. "Brethren, I feel hurt when I see that so many decided thrusts are made against the Catholics. Preach the truth, but restrain the words which show a harsh spirit; for such words cannot help or enlighten anyone." Ellen G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 64. Only legalistic Adventists believe that legalists demonstrate love and tact in their evangelism and deny that the charge of fanaticism applies to them. And they quote statements by Ellen White to support their view. "Men will misrepresent the doctrines we believe and teach as Bible truth, and it is necessary that wise plans should be laid to secure the privilege of inserting articles into the secular papers; for this will be a means of awakening souls to see the truth. God will raise up men who will be qualified to sow beside all waters. God has given great light upon important truths, and it must come to the world." Ellen G. White, Letter 1, 1875. "We must take every justifiable means of bringing the light before the people. Let the press be utilized, and let every advertising agency be employed that will call attention to the work. This should not be regarded as nonessential. On every street corner you may see placards and notices calling attention to various things that are going on, some of them of the most objectionable character; and shall those who have the light of life be satisfied with feeble efforts to call the attention of the masses to the truth?" Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 130. The cult expert Walter Martin labeled most of the "historic Adventists" he encountered as "legalists," "worshippers of Ellen White" and the "lunatic fringe." (Walter Martin Interview, Adventist Currents, Vol. 1, No. 1, July, 1983, conducted by Douglas Hackleman). However, Martin regarded Mrs. White as "a sister in the Lord." [21]. Legalistic modern-day extremist false prophets that deceive Seventh-day Adventists include:
Spiritualists See A. Graham Maxwell's Contribution to Theology and The Spiritualism of Adventism.Papists
The rise of popery in the Adventist church is the fulfillment of prophecy. That night I dreamed that I
was in Battle Creek looking out from the side glass at the door and saw a
company marching up to the house, two and two. They looked stern and
determined. I knew them well and turned to open the parlor door to receive
them, but thought I would look again. The scene was changed. The company
now presented the appearance of a Catholic procession. One bore in his
hand a cross, another a reed. And as they approached, the one carrying a
reed made a circle around the house, saying three times: "This house
is proscribed. The goods must be confiscated. They have spoken against our
holy order." Terror seized me, and I ran through the house, out of
the north door, and found myself in the midst of a company, some of whom I
knew, but I dared not speak a word to them for fear of being betrayed. I
tried to seek a retired spot where I might weep and pray without meeting
eager, inquisitive eyes wherever I turned. I repeated frequently: "If
I could only understand this! If they will tell me what I have said or
what I have done!" There is much more to the dream than its immediate context (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, pp. 569-612). The dream is prophetic. Prophecy has come true! It is now a crime for true and authentic Seventh-day Adventists (like Ellen G. White) to say the smallest and most inoffensive thing against "the holy order." Did you notice the sheepishness and timidity of the sheeple in the dream? Today, Satan has such perfect control of the Seventh-day Adventist hierarchy that even the enemies of truth laugh at the blindness of SDA leaders for being so devoid of the Spirit of God that Adventism's best and brightest can't see how they themselves have adopted medieval popery. [28]. "I love my job as Conference President. All I do is kiss the ring of everyone in positions above me and appoint ring-kissers to every position below me." [29].
Are
Seventh-day Adventists using Satan's methods?
Two notable yet unquestionably
contemptible Adventist papists are David Koot and
David J. Conklin. Dumb dogs/Sheeple Some
who occupy the position of watchmen to warn the people of danger have
given up their watch and recline at ease. They are unfaithful sentinels.
They remain inactive, while their wily foe enters the fort and works
successfully by their side to tear down what God has commanded to be built
up. They see that Satan is deceiving the inexperienced and unsuspecting;
yet they take it all quietly, as though they had no special interest, as
though these things did not concern them. They apprehend no special
danger; they see no cause to raise an alarm. To them everything seems to
be going well, and they see no necessity of raising the faithful, trumpet
notes of warning which they hear borne by the plain testimonies, to show
the people their transgressions and the house of Israel their sins. These
reproofs and warnings disturb the quiet of these sleepy, ease-loving
sentinels, and they are not pleased. They say in heart, if not in words;
"This is all uncalled for. It is too severe, too harsh. These men are
unnecessarily disturbed and excited, and seem unwilling to give us any
rest or quietude. ‘Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the
congregation are holy, every one of them.’ They are not willing that we
should have any comfort, peace, or happiness. It is active labor, toil,
and unceasing vigilance alone which will satisfy these unreasonable,
hard-to-be-suited watchmen. Why don’t they prophesy smooth things, and
cry: Peace, peace? Then everything would move on smoothly." Isaiah
wrote: Here we see that the church—the Lord's sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus "Peace and safety" is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together. —Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 211. Is there any reason to doubt Ellen G. White's dumb dogs’ prophecy? If the sleep of Seventh-day Adventists and the church leadership is being interrupted, what awakening message is being sounded among SDAs to awaken that sinful synagogue to the fearful reality of their impending doom, if they do not repent? See
Exposing Seventh-day Adventist Sheeple. The great majority of Seventh-day Adventists are sheeple. (SHEE.pul) n. They are dumber than the dumb watchdogs that refuse to bark, but they are of the same character as the dumb dogs. Sheeple are sufficiently well-defined in this Bible verse: A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. Jeremiah 5:30-31. Sister White wrote: Today a large part of those who compose our congregations are dead in trespasses and sins. They come and go like the door upon its hinges. For years they have complacently listened to the most solemn, soul-stirring truths, but they have not put them in practice. Therefore they are less and less sensible of the preciousness of truth. The stirring testimonies of reproof and warning do not arouse them to repentance. The sweetest melodies that come from God through human lips—justification by faith, and the righteousness of Christ—do not call forth from them a response of love and gratitude. Though the heavenly Merchantman displays before them the richest jewels of faith and love, though He invites them to buy of Him "gold tried in the fire," and white raiment" that they may be clothed, and "eyesalve" that they may see, they steel their hearts against Him, and fail to exchange their lukewarmness for love and zeal. While making a profession, they deny the power of godliness. If they continue in this state, God will reject them. They are unfitting themselves to be members of His family. —Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6 (1901), pp. 426-427. God has given to every man a work to do in connection with his kingdom. Each one professing the name of Christ is to be an interested worker, ready to defend the principles of righteousness. The work of the gospel is not to depend solely upon the ministers; every soul should take an active part in advancing the cause of God. But instead of this, how many in our large churches come and go like a door upon its hinges, feeling no responsibility for the progress of the work, no interest in the salvation of souls for whom Christ died. —The Review and Herald, February 21, 1893. There is a species of sheeple that I call ediphiles. All ediphiles are opposed to having to hear negative messages. They are incapable of receiving unpleasant truth. Just as long as God has a church, he will have those who will cry aloud and spare not, who will be his instruments to reprove selfishness and sins, and will not shun to declare the whole counsel of God, whether men will hear or forbear. I saw that individuals would rise up against the plain testimonies. It does not suit their natural feelings. They would choose to have smooth things spoken unto them, and have peace cried in their ears. I view the church in a more dangerous condition than they ever have been. Experimental religion is known but by a few. The shaking must soon take place to purify the church." 2SG 284. ‘There is to be a shaking among God’s people; it will be the result of refusing the truth presented.’ 2SM 13. ‘The shaking begins with the introduction of false theories.’ TM 112. Laodiceans The message to the church of the Laodiceans is a startling denunciation, and is applicable to the people of God at the present time. {3T 252.1}And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. {3T 252.2} The Lord here shows us that the message to be borne to His people by ministers whom He has called to warn the people is not a peace-and-safety message. It is not merely theoretical, but practical in every particular. The people of God are represented in the message to the Laodiceans as in a position of carnal security. They are at ease, believing themselves to be in an exalted condition of spiritual attainments. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. {3T 252.3} What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct. {3T 252.4} See The Message to the Laodicean Church
True Seventh-day Adventists are distinguished by their Sighing and Crying The day of God's vengeance is just upon us. The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. Those who link in sympathy with the world are eating and drinking with the drunken and will surely be destroyed with the workers of iniquity. "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." {5T 212.3} Mark this point with care; those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by the man in linen, are those "that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done" in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in an agony, even sighing and crying. {RH, June 8, 1886} The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God. . . . {Mar 240.3} True Seventh-day Adventists are a Small Minority The Majority of Pseudo-Adventists Will Forsake Us Now is the time for God's people to show themselves true to principle. When the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test. 5T 136. The Character of Faithful Seventh-day Adventists No truth which involves self-denial and sacrifice will be favorably
accepted by the world. A costly effort is required of every soul that will
go in an opposite direction from the multitude. All that stand in Christ's
name in defense of the truth must have a history of conflicts and
sacrifices. They cannot advance in reform, as Christ leads the way, except
at the risk of liberty and life. —ST July 26, 1883. True Seventh-day Adventists accept The Manifesto of Confessing Seventh-day Adventists. They believe that there is a war going on in the church between those who want the church to follow the heavenly standard and those who strive to be like the world. [30]. True Seventh-day Adventists see this present war culminating in a spiritual battle with an Adventist antichrist. [31]. Sister White had prophesied repeatedly that this war is necessary for the health of the church and that it will produce a glorious endtime witness. [32]. At this time God's chosen all saw clearly that we had the truth, and they came out and endured the persecution with us. EW 33.
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