The church 2

CHURCH; IT’S
ORGANIZATION,
ORDER AND
DISCIPLINE
Sami LM
Wilberforce
Adventist
History 1903-
1905

"From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the
church on earth. In every age the Lord has had His
watchmen, who have borne a faithful testimony to the
generation in which they lived. These sentinels gave the
message of warning; and when they were called to lay off
their armor, others took up the work. God brought these
witnesses into covenant relation with Himself, uniting the
church on earth with the church in heaven. He has sent
forth His angels to minister to His church, and the gates of
hell have not been able to prevail against His people." {AA
11.2}

The Waldensian church was a visible church
Ellen White speaking of the Waldenses, after first mentioning the Celtic
Christians and Churches outside of the Roman jurisdiction, says, "The
very existence of this people, holding the faith of the ancient church,
was a constant testimony to Rome's apostasy, and therefore excited
the most bitter hatred and persecution" (1888 Great Controversy, p.
76). This demonstrates that it was these and not the other "visible
church" which was descended from the Apostles. The evangelistic
activities of this "Visible Church" can be further read in the chapter of
Great Controversy.
AT JONES

"The principles of God's dealing with men are
ever the same. The important movements of
the present have their parallel in those of the
past, and the experience of the church in
former ages has lessons of great value for our
own time." (1888 Great Controversy, p. 343)

"Although there are evils existing in the church,
and will be until the end of the world, the church
in these last days is to be the light of the world
that is polluted and demoralized by sin. The
church, enfeebled and defective, needing to be
reproved, warned, and counseled, is the only
object upon earth upon which Christ bestows
His supreme regard." (Testimonies to Ministers,
p. 49)

INTRODUCTION
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. At this time we must gather
warmth from the coldness of others, courage from
their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason. The
nation will be on the side of the great rebel leader
{5T 136.2}

THE ASSEMBLY OF BRETHREN
Heb 10:25
Rev 12:17
Rev 14:12
Mathew 12:47-50 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy
mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to
speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him
that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my
brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his
disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
For whosoever shall do the will of my
Father which is in heaven, the same is my
brother, and sister, and mother.

Those who do not feel the necessity of seeking the
assembly of the saints, with the precious assurance
that the Lord will meet with them, show how lightly
they value the help that God has provided for them.
Satan is constantly at work to wound and poison the
soul; in order to withstand his efforts we must
breathe the atmosphere of heaven. We must
individually get hold and keep hold of Christ (MS 16,
1890). {7BC 934.2}

What makes us denominational
We are Seventh-day Adventists. This is a fitting name, for
we keep the seventh-day Sabbath, and look for the
second advent of our Lord in the clouds of heaven, with
power and great glory. Even with respect to the name
indicating some of the peculiar points of faith
distinguishing us from other Christians, we are
denominational. In keeping the Sabbath that God
declares should be kept holy as a sign between Himself
and His people, we show to the world that we are His
peculiar, chosen people--a people whom He has
denominated. {19MR 40.2}

Possibly I could not fully describe the impression that was made upon
my mind by the statement that our medical institutions are
undenominational. As I was considering this matter in the night
season, it seemed as if One stood up in the midst of us and pointed us
back to the Israelites as an illustration of a distinct people,
denominated of God. That which made them denominational was
the observance of God's commandments. In the twelfth to the
eighteenth verses of the thirty-first chapter of Exodus their
distinguishing sign is mentioned. "Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep,"
the Lord declared, "for it is a sign between Me and you throughout
your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth
sanctify you. . . . It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel
forever." {19MR 38.3}

I was shown the necessity of those who believe that we are having the last
message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily imbibing new errors.
I saw that neither young nor old should attend their meetings; for it is wrong to
thus encourage them while they teach error that is a deadly poison to the soul and
teach for doctrines the commandments of men. The influence of such gatherings is
not good. If God has delivered us from such darkness and error, we should stand
fast in the liberty wherewith He has set us free and rejoice in the truth. God is
displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go; for
unless He sends us to those meetings where error is forced home to the people
by the power of the will, He will not keep us. The angels cease their watchful care
over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and
weakened by him and the power of his evil angels; and the light around us
becomes contaminated with the darkness. {EW 124.3}

Desire of Ages 212, 213
Jesus… was not accepted by the leaders in
Israel; but when others should come, assuming
the character of Christ, but actuated by their
own will and seeking their own glory, they
would be received. And why? Because he who
is seeking his own glory appeals to the desire
for self-exaltation in others.

To such appeals the Jews could respond.
They would receive the false teacher
because he flattered their pride by
sanctioning their cherished opinions and
traditions. But the teaching of Christ did
not coincide with their ideas. It was
spiritual, and demanded the sacrifice of
self; therefore they would not receive it.

The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the
truth had become representatives of Satan. They were doing the work
that he desired them to do, taking a course to misrepresent the
character of God, and cause the world to look upon Him as a tyrant.
The very priests who ministered in the temple had lost sight of the
significance of the service they performed. They had ceased to look
beyond the symbol to the thing signified. In presenting the sacrificial
offerings they were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God
Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and
hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these
channels. The whole system must be swept away. {DA 36.2}

Is not the same thing repeated in our
day? Are there not many, even religious
leaders, who are hardening their hearts
against the Holy Spirit, making it
impossible for them to recognize the voice
of God? Are they not rejecting the word of
God, that they may keep their own
traditions?

SINS OF THE PRIESTS
Sins of Priests Caused Some to Offer Own Sacrifices.--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 (ST Dec. 1. 1881). {2BC 1010.4}
Jeremiah 7

Home churches
During the life of Christ on earth he had sought to lead the Jews
out of their exclusiveness. The conversion of the centurion, and
of the Syrophenician woman, were instances of his direct work
outside of the acknowledged people of Israel. The time had now
come for active and continued work among the Gentiles, of
whom whole communities received the gospel gladly, and
glorified God for the light of an intelligent faith. The unbelief and
malice of the Jews did not turn aside the purpose of God; for a
new Israel was grafted into the old olive-tree. The synagogues
were closed against the apostles; but private houses were
thrown open for their use, and public buildings of the Gentiles
were also used in which to preach the word of God. {LP 51.1}

The Jews, however, were not satisfied with closing their
synagogues against the apostles, but desired to banish
them from that region. To effect this purpose, they
sought to prejudice certain devout and honorable
women, who had great influence with the government,
and also men of influence. This they accomplished by
subtle arts, and false reports. These persons of good
repute complained to the authorities against the
apostles, and they were accordingly expelled from that
district. {LP 51.2}

LIFE SKETCHES OF PAUL 51
On this occasion the apostles followed the instruction of
Christ: "Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you,
when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your
feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It
shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of Judgment, than for that city." The apostles were
not discouraged by this expulsion; they remembered the
words of their Master: "Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of
evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be
exceeding glad; for great is your reward in Heaven; for so
persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

STUDYING THE
WALDENSES
THE CHURCH IN THE
WILDERNESS

Amid the gloom that settled upon the earth during the long
period of papal supremacy, the light of truth could not be
wholly extinguished. In every age there were witnesses for
God--men who cherished faith in Christ as the only
mediator between God and man, who held the Bible as
the only rule of life, and who hallowed the true Sabbath.
How much the world owes to these men, posterity will
never know. They were branded as heretics, their motives
impugned, their characters maligned, their writings
suppressed, misrepresented, or mutilated. Yet they stood
firm, and from age to age maintained their faith in its
purity, as a sacred heritage for the generations to come.
{GC 61.1}

It was the policy of Rome to obliterate every trace of
dissent from her doctrines or decrees. Everything
heretical, whether persons or writings, she sought to
destroy. Expressions of doubt, or questions as to the
authority of papal dogmas, were enough to forfeit the life
of rich or poor, high or low. Rome endeavored also to
destroy every record of her cruelty toward dissenters. Papal
councils decreed that books and writings containing such
records should be committed to the flames. Before the
invention of printing, books were few in number, and in a
form not favorable for preservation; therefore there was
little to prevent the Romanists from carrying out their
purpose. {GC 61.2}

No church within the limits of Romish jurisdiction
was long left undisturbed in the enjoyment of
freedom of conscience. No sooner had the papacy
obtained power than she stretched out her arms to
crush all that refused to acknowledge her sway, and
one after another the churches submitted to her
dominion. {GC 62.1}

The emissary of Rome demanded that these Christian
churches acknowledge the supremacy of the sovereign
pontiff. The Britons meekly replied that they desired to
love all men, but that the pope was not entitled to
supremacy in the church, and they could render to him
only that submission which was due to every follower of
Christ. Repeated attempts were made to secure their
allegiance to Rome; but these humble Christians, amazed
at the pride displayed by her emissaries, steadfastly
replied that they knew no other master than Christ

Who Were the Waldenses?
According to Wikipedia:
“ a Christian movement and religious cultural group
which appeared first in Lyon and spread to the Cottian
Alps in the late 1170s”
The Great Controversy:
A group of Christians who stood foremost in resisting
the encroachment of the Papacy during the Dark Ages.
Theirs was not a faith newly founded but that which was
passed down from their forefathers.

What Was Their Prophetic Context?
• 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4
• The rise of the man of sin
• Papal Supremacy
• Revelation 12: 6
• The woman fleeing into the wilderness
• Where she was nourished for 1,260 days (years)

What Was Their Prophetic Context?
The woman fled into the wilderness:
“But of those who resisted the encroachments of the
papal power, the Waldenses stood foremost. ... They
were determined to maintain their allegiance to
God and to preserve the purity and simplicity of
their faith. A separation took place. Those who
adhered to the ancient faith now withdrew; some,
forsaking their native Alps, raised the banner of
truth in foreign lands; others retreated to the
secluded glens and rocky fastnesses of the
mountains, and there preserved their freedom to
worship God.” GC 64.

What Were The Dangers/Challenges?
• The encroachment of Papal supremacy
• Loss of the faith once delivered to the saints
• Assimilation of Romish customs and beliefs
• False education
• Worldliness
• Persecution, perhaps a martyr’s death
• Pressure to conform to the world

What was their Life Purpose?
To be guardians and promulgators of truth
“The church in the wilderness," and not the proud
hierarchy enthroned in the world's great capital,
was the true church of Christ, the guardian of the
treasures of truth which God has committed to His
people to be given to the world.” GC 64

• To be guardians and promulgators of truth
“They had the truth unadulterated, and this
rendered them the special objects of hatred and
persecution. They declared the Church of Rome to
be the apostate Babylon of the Apocalypse, and at
the peril of their lives they stood up to resist her
corruptions. While, under the pressure of long-
continued persecution, some compromised their
faith, little by little yielding its distinctive principles,
others held fast the truth.

• To be guardians and promulgators of The Truth
“Through ages of darkness and apostasy there were
Waldenses who denied the supremacy of Rome, who
rejected image worship as idolatry, and who kept the
true Sabbath. Under the fiercest tempests of
opposition they maintained their faith. Though
gashed by the Savoyard spear, and scorched by the
Romish fagot, they stood unflinchingly for God's
word and His honor.” GC 65.

THE CHURCH IN THE TIME OF CHRIST
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.
They would not respect His counsels. The temple courts were
polluted with merchandise and robbery. Selfishness and love of
mammon, envy and strife, were cherished. Everyone sought for gain
from his quarter. Christ turned from them, saying: "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem," how can I give thee up? "How often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Matthew 23:37. {8T
67.2}

HOW NATHANIEL FOUND THE TRUE CHURCH
It was enough. The divine Spirit that had borne
witness to Nathanael in his solitary prayer under
the fig tree now spoke to him in the words of Jesus.
Though in doubt, and yielding somewhat to
prejudice, Nathanael had come to Christ with an
honest desire for truth, and now his desire was met.
His faith went beyond that of the one who had
brought him to Jesus. He answered and said, "Rabbi,
Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of
Israel." {DA 140.4}

If Nathanael had trusted to the rabbis
for guidance, he would never have
found Jesus. It was by seeing and
judging for himself that he became a
disciple. So in the case of many today
whom prejudice withholds from good.
How different would be the result if they
would "come and see"! {DA 140.5}

While they trust to the guidance of human
authority, none will come to a saving knowledge of
the truth. Like Nathanael, we need to study God's
word for ourselves, and pray for the enlightenment
of the Holy Spirit. He who saw Nathanael under the
fig tree will see us in the secret place of prayer.
Angels from the world of light are near to those who
in humility seek for divine guidance. {DA 141.1}

With the calling of John and Andrew and Simon, of Philip
and Nathanael, began the foundation of the Christian
church. John directed two of his disciples to Christ. Then one
of these, Andrew, found his brother, and called him to the
Saviour. Philip was then called, and he went in search of
Nathanael. These examples should teach us the importance of
personal effort, of making direct appeals to our kindred,
friends, and neighbors. There are those who for a lifetime
have professed to be acquainted with Christ, yet who have
never made a personal effort to bring even one soul to the
Saviour. They leave all the work for the minister. He may be
well qualified for his calling, but he cannot do that which God
has left for the members of the church. {DA 141.2}

THE MINISTRY OF JOHN
The preaching of John had taken so deep a hold on the
nation as to demand the attention of the religious
authorities. The danger of insurrection caused every
popular gathering to be looked upon with suspicion by
the Romans, and whatever pointed toward an uprising of
the people excited the fears of the Jewish rulers. John
had not recognized the authority of the Sanhedrin by
seeking their sanction for his work; and he had
reproved rulers and people, Pharisees and Sadducees
alike. Yet the people followed him eagerly. The interest
in his work seemed to be continually increasing. Though
he had not deferred to them, the Sanhedrin accounted
that, as a public teacher, he was under their jurisdiction.
{DA 132.2}

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of
Judea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The
voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.... But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of
vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” The
Pharisees were very strict in regard to the outward observance of
forms and customs, and were filled with haughty, worldly, hypocritical
self-righteousness. The Sadducees denied the resurrection of the
dead and the existence of angels and were skeptical in regard to God.
This sect was largely composed of unworthy characters, many of
whom were licentious in their habits. By the word “vipers” John
meant those who were malignant and antagonistic, bitterly opposed
to the expressed will of God. {Ms112-1901}

By the rebellion of the Jewish people against God, by
their neglect to search the Scriptures as His
messengers entreated them to, they reached a point
where it was impossible for them to be convinced.
Therefore God saw fit to draw a line, placing them
on the side of the disloyal, fallen angels who
rebelled against Him in the heavenly courts. If after
receiving sufficient evidence and light the sinner
does not change his attitude of stubborn resistance,
he is numbered with transgressors for time and for
eternity. He brings upon himself his final ruin.
{Ms112-1901}

Revelation 18 understood
In all the fallen churches God has a people. His call to them is,
“Come out of her, my people.” This means a renunciation of
falsehoods framed by the enemy, which must be faithfully
delineated by the servants of God, that the humble in heart may
hear and understand. There is a plain way, a path cast up for the
ransomed of the Lord, in which all the loyal, as they follow on to
know the Lord, will find sure footing. Until the truth is made plain
from the Scriptures, those who have accepted error for truth are
not condemned by the Lord for not returning to Him. But if they are
not convinced by a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” Satan takes
possession of mind and heart and leads them in a path of self-
deception. “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the
hands to sleep.” {Ms112-1901}

The churches are called to search the Scriptures.
Those who hear the voice of God, and return to their
allegiance, are armed with invincible strength. God
accepts them as they unite with His church. He
allows them to act a part in His great work by
standing in defense of the truth. Their example and
works are in harmony with God, with Christ, and
with angels. {Ms112-1901}

But all will not accept the truth. In the fight against
the truth, opposition against God will reach a satanic
height of zeal, because men imbued by satanic
attributes will lose true courtesy, Christian
politeness, and meekness. Oh, if they only knew, if
they only understood, that there is a mighty power
of infinite resources, an Eternal One, to meet the
agencies opposing the purposes and commandments
of God! Over this world and all earthly potentates
God rules with supreme power, and in His own time
He will subject every opposing force to humiliation.
{Ms112-1901}

Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought
in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented
by a mark by the man in linen, are those "that sigh
and that cry for all the abominations that be 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 agony, even sighing and
crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. {3T 267.1}

It required a desperate struggle for those who
would be faithful to stand firm against the
deceptions and abominations which were disguised
in sacerdotal garments and introduced into the
church. The Bible was not accepted as the standard
of faith. The doctrine of religious freedom was
termed heresy, and its upholders were hated and
proscribed. {GC 45.2}

After a long and severe conflict, the faithful few decided to
dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused
to free herself from falsehood and idolatry. They saw that
separation was an absolute necessity if they would obey the
word of God. They dared not tolerate errors fatal to their own
souls, and set an example which would imperil the faith of
their children and children's children. To secure peace and
unity they were ready to make any concession consistent
with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be
too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity
could be secured only by the compromise of truth and
righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.
{GC 45.3}

Well would it be for the church and the world if the
principles that actuated those steadfast souls were revived
in the hearts of God's professed people. There is an alarming
indifference in regard to the doctrines which are the pillars
of the Christian faith. The opinion is gaining ground, that,
after all, these are not of vital importance. This degeneracy is
strengthening the hands of the agents of Satan, so that false
theories and fatal delusions which the faithful in ages past
imperiled their lives to resist and expose, are now regarded
with favor by thousands who claim to be followers of Christ.
{GC 46.1}

The early Christians were indeed a peculiar people. Their blameless
deportment and unswerving faith were a continual reproof that
disturbed the sinner's peace. Though few in numbers, without
wealth, position, or honorary titles, they were a terror to
evildoers wherever their character and doctrines were known.
Therefore they were hated by the wicked, even as Abel was hated
by the ungodly Cain. For the same reason that Cain slew Abel, did
those who sought to throw off the restraint of the Holy Spirit, put
to death God's people. It was for the same reason that the Jews
rejected and crucified the Saviour--because the purity and holiness
of His character was a constant rebuke to their selfishness and
corruption. From the days of Christ until now His faithful disciples
have excited the hatred and opposition of those who love and
follow the ways of sin. {GC 46.2}

As was his custom, Paul had begun his work at
Ephesus by preaching in the synagogue of the Jews.
He continued to labor there for three months,
"disputing and persuading the things concerning the
kingdom of God." At first he met with a favorable
reception; but as in other fields, he was soon
violently opposed. "Divers were hardened, and
believed not, but spake evil of that way before the
multitude." As they persisted in their rejection of
the gospel, the apostle ceased to preach in the
synagogue. {AA 285.2}

ACTS 19:9
The Spirit of God had wrought with and through Paul in
his labors for his countrymen. Sufficient evidence had
been presented to convince all who honestly desired to
know the truth. But many permitted themselves to be
controlled by prejudice and unbelief, and refused to yield
to the most conclusive evidence. Fearing that the faith of
the believers would be endangered by continued
association with these opposers of the truth, Paul
separated from them and gathered the disciples into a
distinct body, continuing his public instructions in the
school of Tyrannus, a teacher of some note. {AA 285.3}

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. {DA 232.2}

The people of Galilee were despised by the rabbis of
Jerusalem as rude and unlearned, yet they presented
a more favorable field for the Saviour's work. They
were more earnest and sincere; less under the
control of bigotry; their minds were more open for
the reception of truth. In going to Galilee, Jesus was
not seeking seclusion or isolation. The province was
at this time the home of a crowded population, with
a much larger admixture of people of other nations
than was found in Judea. {DA 232.3}

The Spirit of God had wrought with and through Paul in his
labors for his countrymen. Sufficient evidence had been
presented to convince all who honestly desired to know the
truth. But many permitted themselves to be controlled by
prejudice and unbelief, and refused to yield to the most
conclusive evidence. Fearing that the faith of the believers
would be endangered by continued association with these
opposers of the truth, Paul separated from them and
gathered the disciples into a distinct body, continuing his
public instructions in the school of Tyrannus, a teacher of
some note. {AA 285.3}

Said our Saviour: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be
overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that
day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell
on the face of the whole earth"--upon all whose interests are centered in this
world. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to
escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man." Luke 21:34-36. {PP 166.2}
Before the destruction of Sodom, God sent a message to Lot, "Escape for thy life;
look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain,
lest thou be consumed." The same voice of warning was heard by the disciples of
Christ before the destruction of Jerusalem: "When ye shall see Jerusalem
compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let
them which are in Judea flee to the mountains." Luke 21:20, 21. They must not
tarry to secure anything from their possessions, but must make the most of the
opportunity to escape. {PP 166.3}
There was a coming out, a decided separation from the wicked, an escape for life.
So it was in the days of Noah; so with Lot; so with the disciples prior to the
destruction of Jerusalem; and so it will be in the last days. Again the voice of God
is heard in a message of warning, bidding His people separate themselves from
the prevailing iniquity. {PP 166.4}

THE CHURCH OF THE MILLERITE
MOVEMENT

Those who preached the first message had no purpose or
expectation of causing divisions in the churches, or of forming
separate organizations. "In all my labors," said Wm. Miller, "I never
had the desire or thought to establish any separate interest from
that of existing denominations, or to benefit one at the expense
of another. I thought to benefit all. Supposing that all Christians
would rejoice in the prospect of Christ's coming, and that those
who could not see as I did would not love any the less those who
should embrace this doctrine, I did not conceive there would ever
be any necessity for separate meetings.

My whole object was a desire to convert souls to
God, to notify the world of a coming Judgment, and
to induce my fellow-men to make that preparation of
heart which will enable them to meet their God in
peace. The great majority of those who were
converted under my labors united with the various
existing churches. When individuals came to me to
inquire respecting their duty, I always told them to
go where they would feel at home; and I never
favored any one denomination in my advice to
such." {4SP 236.2}

For a time many of the churches welcomed his
labors; but as they decided against the Advent truth,
they desired to suppress all agitation of the subject.
Those who had accepted the doctrine were thus
placed in a position of great trial and perplexity.
They loved their churches, and were loth to
separate from them; but as they were ridiculed and
oppressed, denied the privilege of speaking of their
hope, or of attending preaching upon the Lord's
coming, many at last arose and cast off the yoke
which had been imposed upon them. {4SP 237.1}

In the days of the Reformation, the gentle and pious
Melancthon declared, "There is no other church
than the assembly of those who have the word of
God, and who are purified by it." Adventists, seeing
that the churches rejected the testimony of God's
word, could no longer regard them as constituting
the church of Christ, "the pillar and ground of the
truth;" and as the message, "Babylon is fallen,"
began to be proclaimed, they felt themselves
justified in separating from their former connection.
{4SP 237.2}

As his work tended to build up the churches, it was for a time regarded
with favor. But as ministers and religious leaders decided against the
advent doctrine and desired to suppress all agitation of the subject,
they not only opposed it from the pulpit, but denied their members
the privilege of attending preaching upon the second advent, or even
of speaking of their hope in the social meetings of the church. Thus the
believers found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity.
They loved their churches and were loath to separate from them; but
as they saw the testimony of God's word suppressed and their right to
investigate the prophecies denied they felt that loyalty to God forbade
them to submit. Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God's
word they could not regard as constituting the church of Christ, "the
pillar and ground of the truth." Hence they felt themselves justified in
separating from their former connection. In the summer of 1844
about fifty thousand withdrew from the churches. {GC 376.1}

The advent experience
• With carefulness and trembling we approached the time [THE
YEAR 1843, JEWISH TIME, WAS BELIEVED TO REACH FROM
MARCH 21, 1843, TO MARCH 21, 1844. THOSE WHO RECEIVED
THE ADVENT FAITH LOOKED FOR THE COMING OF CHRIST
DURING THAT YEAR.] when our Saviour was expected to appear.
With solemn earnestness we sought, as a people, to purify our
lives that we might be ready to meet Him at His coming.
Notwithstanding the opposition of ministers and churches,
Beethoven Hall, in the city of Portland, was nightly crowded;
especially was there a large congregation on Sundays. Elder
Stockman was a man of deep piety. He was in feeble health; yet
when he stood before the people he seemed to be lifted above
physical infirmity, and his face was lighted with the consciousness
that he was teaching the sacred truth of God. {1T 48.2}

There was a solemn, searching power in his words
that struck home to many hearts. He sometimes
expressed a fervent desire to live until he should
welcome the Saviour coming in the clouds of heaven.
Under his ministration the Spirit of God convicted
many sinners and brought them into the fold of
Christ. Meetings were still held at private houses in
different parts of the city with the best results.
Believers were encouraged to work for their friends
and relatives, and conversions were multiplying day
by day. {1T 48.3}

All classes flocked to the meetings at Beethoven Hall. Rich and
poor, high and low, ministers and laymen, were all, from various
causes, anxious to hear for themselves the doctrine of the
second advent. Many came, who, finding no room to stand, went
away disappointed. The order of the meetings was simple. A
short and pointed discourse was usually given, then liberty was
granted for general exhortation. There was, as a rule, the most
perfect stillness possible for so large a crowd. The Lord held the
spirit of opposition in check while His servants explained the
reasons of their faith. Sometimes the instrument was feeble, but
the Spirit of God gave weight and power to His truth. The presence
of the holy angels was felt in the assembly, and numbers were
daily added to the little band of believers. {1T 49.1}

Camps held
During the month of August, 1842, a Second-advent
camp meeting was held in Littleton, Mass. This was
the first camp meeting that I had ever attended. It
was quite a novel thing to see such a variety of
tents pitched around the ministers' stand, among
the tall, shady trees. At the opening of the meeting,
we learned that those who occupied them were
families from the various towns in the vicinity of the
camp, and the city of Lowell, who were interested in
the Advent doctrine. {1868 JB, AJB 263.2}

After some discussion on the subject, it was voted unanimously to
have three hundred similar to this one lithographed, which was
soon accomplished. They were called "the '43 charts." This was a
very important Conference. A camp meeting was now appointed
to convene the last week in June, at East Kingston, N.H., where an
immense multitude assembled to hear the good news and glad
tidings of the coming of our blessed Lord. I had not the pleasure
of attending this meeting, but heard most stirring reports of what
was accomplished there. Camp meetings and conferences were
now being multiplied throughout the Middle and Northern
States, and Canada, and the messengers were proclaiming in the
language of the message, "T H E H O U R O F H I S J U D G E M E N
T I S C O M E!" {1868 JB, AJB 263.1}

Separation
Our hopes now centered on the coming of the Lord in 1844.
This was also the time for the message of the second angel,
who, flying through the midst of heaven, cried: "Babylon is
fallen, is fallen, that great city." That message was first
proclaimed by the servants of God in the summer of 1844. As
a result, many left the fallen churches. In connection with
this message the midnight cry [See Matthew 25:1-13.] was
given: "Behold, theBridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet
Him." In every part of the land, light was given concerning this
message, and the cry aroused thousands. It went from city to
city, from village to village, and into the remote country
regions. It reached the learned and talented, as well as the
obscure and humble. {1T 53.3}

The Principles of Separation
The following Sabbath School lesson explains the principles of what makes
a church Babylon and further Babylon Fallen in only a few sentences.
“When the early church departed from God and imbibed pagan errors, she became Babylon
(not yet fallen) When she united with the state, she fell and, as an organization, was the body
of Christ no longer. While the Reformation churches held fast to the word, Christ was with them.
Then they crystallized their various errors into creeds and endeavored thus to confine God’s
word, they made themselves daughters of Babylon(not fallen). When some of them united
with the state, they fell, and God had to use other people, called out of Babylon to carry
forward His work. Now [in 1896] among these very churches which came out of the second
Babylon, confusion reigns; and now [in 1896] great Babylon, including later daughters, is in
adulterous union with the kings of earth , and is endeavoring to make that union stronger. God
calls no church Babylon which holds to His word, and follows the light that shines from it, even
though there are in its membership many who do not know Christ When the controlling
influence of a church is downward, it erects some other standard besides God’s word.

It has ever been true that a backslidden body, one that has
turned from God’s word to men, from God’s power to the
state, was never reformed in itself. Invariably God’s message
has called out those from the fallen church who would do His
will and preach His gospel. Israel went down to Egypt for help,
and their captivity and loss of power followed. Out of the
captives God gathered a faithful band to do His work. The
Jewish church failed, and God called out the apostolic church
to do His bidding. The Roman Church failed, and out of it God
called the churches of the Reformation. Some of these
churches failed to advance, and God called out others to bear
His gospel to the world such as the Baptist, Methodist,
Congregationalist, Disciple, Adventists. His last ‘called-out’
people will know no standard but His word, no power but His
Spirit.” First Quarter, Lesson IX, February 29, 1896, p. 33-34
(brackets added)

(1)The first stage is to adopt pagan doctrines such as
the Trinity or write books of a new order and set
them up as a creed or test of fellowship such as the
“28 fundamental beliefs of the General Conference of
Seventh Day Adventists” rather than the bible alone
as our creed. This is Babylon.
The second and final step is to (2)go to the state
power, or the kings of the earth. This is an
adulterous union, and at this point God’s people are
called out of “Babylon Fallen”.

Stage 1 – Babylon = Adopting pagan doctrines
“The wine of Babylon is the exalting of the false and spurious sabbath above the Sabbath … also the
immortality of the soul.These kindred heresies, and the REJECTION OF THE TRUTH, CONVERT THE CHURCH
INTO BABYLON….” {E.G. White, 2SM 68.2}
Stage 2 – Babylon Fallen = Church and State Union
“Babylon is also charged with the sin of unlawful connection with ‘the kings of the earth.’ It was by
departure from the Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a HARLOT; and
Rome, corrupting herself in LIKE MANNER BY SEEKING THE SUPPORT OF WORLDLY POWERS, receives a like
condemnation.” (Ellen White Great Controversy 382)
“The world must not be introduced into the church, and MARRIED to the church, forming a BOND OF UNITY
[Church/State union]. THROUGH THIS MEANS the church [SDA] will become indeed corrupt, and as stated in
Revelation (18:2), ‘a cage of every unclean and hateful bird’ [Babylon fallen].” (Ellen White TM 265)[Brackets
added]
“By her [Babylon’s] daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and tradition, and
follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an UNLAWFUL
ALLIANCE with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to
religious bodies that were ONCE PURE and have become corrupt.”(Ellen White Great Controversy 383)

Not Walking in the Light Leads to a Fall
”When Jerusalem was divorced from God it was because of her sins. She fell from an exalted height that
Tyre and Sidon had never reached. And when an angel falls he becomes a fiend. The depth of our ruin is
measured by the exalted light to which God has raised us in His great goodness and unspeakable mercy.
Oh, what privileges are granted to us as a people! And if God spared not His people that He
loved, because they refused to walk in the light, how can He spare the people whom He has blessed
with the light of heaven in having opened to them the most exalted truth ever entrusted to mortal
man to give to the world?” [Manuscript releases 12, pp. 319,320]
We will examine shortly the rejection of Jerusalem to see the steps that led to her “unchurching”. But
first let’s notice that God will not spare if we do not walk in the light.
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
“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 has been shining clear and
definite upon her pathway, and the light of 1882 calls her to an account. If her talents are unimproved, if
her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light has become darkness, she is indeed found wanting.”
[Ellen G. White,Testimony for the Battle Creek Church (1882), page 66]

The goodly vine planted by the divine Husbandman
upon the hills of Palestine was despised by the men of
Israel and was finally cast over the vineyard wall; they
bruised it and trampled it under their feet and hoped
that they had destroyed it forever. The Husbandman
removed the vine and concealed it from their sight.
Again He planted it, but on the other side of the wall
and in such a manner that the stock was no longer
visible. The branches hung over the wall, and grafts
might be joined to it; but the stem itself was placed
beyond the power of men to reach or harm. {PK 21.3}

Of special value to God's church on earth today--
the keepers of His vineyard--are the messages of
counsel and admonition given through the prophets
who have made plain His eternal purpose in behalf
of mankind. In the teachings of the prophets, His
love for the lost race and His plan for their salvation
are clearly revealed. ……
{PK 22.1}

Crucifying Christ Afresh – No King But Caesar – The Unchurching
When and what caused the Unchurching?
“When Christ cried out, ‘it is finished,’ the Holy Watcher that was an unseen guest at Belshazzar’s feast
pronounced the Jewish nation to be a nation unchurched. The same hand that traced on the wall the
characters that recorded Belshazzar’s doom and the end of the Babylonian kingdom, rent the veil of the
temple from top to bottom, opening a new and living way for all, high and low, rich and poor, Jew and
Gentile. From henceforth people might come to God without priest or ruler.” 5BC 1109
“They cried out for the crucifixion of Christ and, as representatives of the Jewish nation,placed themselves
under the Roman jurisdiction, which they despised, by saying ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ When they said
this they unchurched themselves.” MR 999-4
The unchurching happened when the church fornicated with the Kings of the earth as we learned
above. “When she united with the state, she fell and, as an organization, was the body of Christ no longer.”
The call to “come out of her my people” was made and approximately 50 days later we have this recorded:
Act 2:41 …the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Rebuilding That Which is Fallen – Reorganization
Remember, that God has a Church, a heavenly, which is above, which is the mother of us all.
(Heb 12:22-24, Gal 4:26)
I pray that this lessons gives us a clear view of who and what the Church is. We need to look
a little higher.
“While I was praying at the family altar, the Holy Ghost fell upon me, and I seemed to be
rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to look for the Advent people in
the world, but could not find them, when a voice said to me, “Look again, and look a little
higher.” At this I raised my eyes, and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the
world. On this path the Advent people were traveling to the city, which was at the farther
end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the beginning of the path,
which an angel told me was the midnight cry. This light shone all along the path and gave
light for their feet so that they might not stumble. If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who
was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe. But soon some grew weary,
and said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before.

Rebuilding That Which is Fallen – Reorganization
Where do we go? – Home Churches – God’s Order
A grand priviledge that God has given us is that of gathering in our houses. The early Church did this same
thing, and as we follow the pattern laid out for us by God realizing that there is nothing new under the sun,
we will see the light on this matter.
Colossians 4:15 “ and the church which is in his house.”
Philemon 1:2 “, and to the church in thy house:”
1 Corinthians 16:19 “ the church that is in their house.”
Romans 16:5 “ the church that is in their house.”
The church is not the house, but the people in the house. And the church gathered in the house. The
church has been gathering in homes and secluded places, rocks, caves, mountains, throughout the
centuries. The remnant 7000 in Elijah’s day were hid in a cave.
We can go back to Adam and Eve, Enoch, Abraham, all of whom setup the family altar. We need to
recognize that the General Conference is not the church, but it is a missionary field in which God will
command us to go and share the words of this life. He is very careful however on just how his people are
sent forth.
”You who profess to love God, take . . . Jesus with you wherever you go; and, like the patriarchs of old, erect
an altar to the Lord wherever you pitch your tent. A reformation in this respect is needed,–a reformation
that shall be deep and broad.”—(Ellen White Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 320, 321)

EPHESIANS 1:22-23 And hath put all [things] under his feet, and
gave him [to be] the head over all [things] to the church, Which is
his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
EPHESIANS 2:19-22 Now therefore ye are no more strangers
and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner
[stone]; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

1TIMOTHY 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the house of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth.
Pillar and ground of the truth.

A RADICAL DECISION BEY EGW
In the night season many things are passing before me. The
Scriptures, full of grace and richness, are presented before me. The
word of the Lord to me is: “Look on these things, and meditate on
them. You may claim the rich grace of truth, which nourishes the
soul. Have naught to do with controversy and dissension and strife,
which bring darkness and discouragement to your soul. Truth is
clear, pure, savory. Avoid all council-meetings where there is
dissension, and where men will neither credit My words and obey
My lessons, nor heed your counsel. Speak the truth in faith and
love, leaving the result with God. The work is not yours, but the
Lord’s. In all your communications, speak as one to whom the Lord
has spoken. He is your authority, and He will give you His sustaining
grace.” {Lt186-1902

My sons, I would have you firmly united as brothers in the flesh and
as brothers in Christian fellowship. {Lt186-1902}
I have a work to do, and I am now making decisions. I must remain
away from Conference meetings. I must not attend camp-
meetings. The spirit of drawing apart, as the result of judging one
another, has become so common, and the churches are becoming
so leavened with this spirit that I have no desire to attend these
meetings. After returning from them, it is often weeks before I am
able to take up my neglected work. {Lt186-1902}

Because those in positions of responsibility have for years left the
Southern field unworked, notwithstanding the most decided
testimonies urging them to take up this work; because they
continue to neglect this field, and use every manner of device in
trying to uproot the confidence of the people in those who have
done the hardest and most self-sacrificing work in the South, I have
but very little confidence that the Lord is giving these men in
positions of responsibility spiritual eyesight and heavenly
discernment. I am thrown into perplexity over their course; and I
desire now to attend to my special work, to have no part in any of
their councils and to attend no camp-meetings nigh or afar off. My
mind shall not be dragged into confusion by the tendency they
manifest to work directly contrary to the light that God has given
me. I am done. I will preserve my God-given intelligence. {Lt186-
1902}

My voice has been heard in the different Conferences and at
camp-meetings. I must now make a change. I cannot enter the
atmosphere of strife and then have to bear testimonies that cost
me much more than those to whom they are sent can imagine.
When I attend the different meetings, I am compelled to deal with
men standing in responsible places who I know are not exerting an
influence that God can endorse. And when I bear a testimony in
reference to their course of action, advantage is taken of this
testimony. These men have not clear understanding. Should I say
the things that I know, they would not, with their present
experience, use this instruction wisely and would bring upon me
inconceivable burdens. {Lt186-1902

The first angel's message, as first proclaimed, went to the
churches; and the leaders in the movement, down to April, 1844,
had no thought of forming a new organization, supposing the
churches would continue to cooperate with them in heralding the
near advent of Christ. In this, however, they were disappointed;
but it was in the order of the Lord, for the "gospel of the kingdom"
should first go to the churches. It was also His purpose to have a
people separated from the churches, that they might have liberty
to search for further light and truth; and so the second angel's
message and the midnight cry developed a company who
searched out and presented to the world the great themes of
man's nature, future rewards and punishments, the Sabbath, and
other important truths comprehended in the third angel's
message. The Lord's purpose was to have a people free to search
for, accept, and obey the developing truths of His word,
untrammeled by man-made creeds. {1904 JNL, LDT 185.4}

Babylon
When the churches spurned the counsel of God by
rejecting the Advent message, the Lord rejected them. The
first angel was followed by a second, proclaiming, "Babylon
is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
[Revelation 14:8] This message was understood by
Adventists to be an announcement of the moral fall of the
churches in consequence of their rejection of the first
message. The proclamation, "Babylon is fallen," was given
in the summer of 1844, and as the result, about fifty
thousand withdrew from these churches. {4SP 232.1}

The term Babylon, derived from Babel, and
signifying confusion, is applied in Scripture to the
various forms of false or apostate religion. But the
message announcing the fall of Babylon must apply
to some religious body that was once pure, and has
become corrupt. It cannot be the Romish Church
which is here meant; for that church has been in a
fallen condition for many centuries…..

But how appropriate the figure as applied to the
Protestant churches, all professing to derive their
doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost
innumerable sects. The unity for which Christ prayed
does not exist. Instead of one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, there are numberless conflicting creeds and
theories. Religious faith appears so confused and
discordant that the world know not what to believe
as truth. God is not in all this; it is the work of man,--
the work of Satan. {4SP 232.2}

Did the Jewish church ever become a
harlot
It was by departure from the Lord, and
alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish
church became a harlot; and Rome,
corrupting herself in like manner by seeking
the support of worldly powers, receives a
like condemnation. {GC88 382.2}

The church was represented as a chaste virgin espoused to Christ. 1
Cor. xi, 2. She became a harlot by seeking the friendship of the
world. James iv, 4. It was this unlawful connection with the kings of
the earth that constituted her the great harlot of the Apocalypse.
Rev. xvii. The Jewish church which was represented as espoused to
the Lord, [Jer. ii; iii; xxxi, 32,] became an harlot in the same manner.
Eze. xvi. Even the term Sodom, which in Rev. xi, is applied to "the
great city," is in Isa. i, applied to the Jewish church thus apostatized
from God. The fact that Babylon is distinct from, though unlawfully
united with, the kings of the earth, is positive proof that Babylon is
not the civil power. The fact that the people of God are in her just
before her overthrow, proves that she is a professedly religious body.
We think it must be apparent therefore, that the woman, Babylon of
Rev. xvii, symbolizes the professed church unlawfully united to the
world. {1855 JNA, TAR 51.1}

The close relation of the church to Christ is represented
under the figure of marriage. The Lord had joined his
people to himself by a solemn covenant, he promising to be
their God, and they pledging themselves to be his, and his
alone. Said Paul, addressing the church, "I have espoused
you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ." [2 Corinthians 11:2.] But when her
confidence and affection were turned away from him, and
she sought after vanity, and allowed the love of worldly
things to separate her from God, she forfeited the
privileges included in this peculiar and sacred relation. By
the apostle James those who assimilate to the world are
addressed as "adulterers and adulteresses." [James 4:4.]
{4SP 233.2}

“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 of 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.
Selected Messages Book 1-Page 204, 205

…A system of intellectual philosophy would be
introduced. The founders of this system would go into the
cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course,
would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created
it. 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 on human power, which, without
God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the
sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the
structure.”
Selected Messages Book 1-Page 204, 205

The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of
the truth had become representatives of Satan. They were doing
the work that he desired them to do, taking a course to
misrepresent the character of God, and cause the world to look
upon Him as a tyrant. The very priests who ministered in the
temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they
performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the
thing signified. In presenting the sacrificial offerings they were as
actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed
were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the
heart. God could do no more for man through these channels. THE
WHOLE SYSTEM MUST BE SWEPT AWAY.
DESIRE OF AGES 36.2

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 word 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.
UPWARD LOOK 131.3

Manuscript 129, 1905.
“We cannot now step off the foundation that
God has established. We cannot now enter into
any new organization; for this would mean
apostasy from the truth.—”

God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it
the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations;
it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. "Where
two or three aregathered together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them." Where Christ is, even among the humble few, this is
Christ's church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who
inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church. Where two or
three are present who love and obey the commandments of God,
Jesus there presides, let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in
the wilderness, in the city, [or] enclosed in prison walls. 17MR 81.4}

The glory of God has penetrated the prison walls, flooding with
glorious beams of heavenly light the darkest dungeon. His saints
may suffer, but their sufferings will, like the apostles' of old,
spread their faith and win souls to Christ and glorify His holy
name. The bitterest opposition expressed by those who hate
God's great moral standard of righteousness should not and will
not shake the steadfast soul who trusts fully in God. {17MR
81.4}

The Counterfeit Church Organization and the True Building
..Force is the last resort of every false religion. At first it tries
attraction, as the king of Babylon tried the power of music and
outward show. If these attractions, invented by men inspired by
Satan, failed to make men worship the image, the hungry flames of
the furnace were ready to consume them. So it will be now. The
Papacy has exercised her power to compel men to obey her, and she
will continue to do so. We need the same spirit that was manifested
by God's servants in the conflict with paganism. ……….{ST, May 6, 1897
par. 16}

The Reformers on The Church
Heb 12:22-24 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (23) To the general assembly and church of
the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just
men made perfect, (24) And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
The bible say’s regarding the Church that “God is the judge”. Therefore it is not left up to Popes or
religious leaders to decide who the church consists of. I cannot judge that, and neither can anyone,
except the spirit reveals it.
Men may have a piece of paper saying they are members of so and so church, however it is only
God who is the judge of this, and their names are “written in heaven” by God Himself, “the judge of
all.”
What did the reformers understand of the Church?
Wycliffe: “There is one only universal Church: consisting of the whole body of the
predestinate…All who shall be saved in the bliss of heaven are members of Holy Church, and no
more.”
Wycliffe did not believe that those who were not saved were members of God’s Holy Church.

Matthias of Janow: “The Church is the body of Christ, the community of the elect. All Christians
who possess the Spirit of Jesus the Crucified, and who are impelled by the same Spirit, and who
alone have not departed from their God, are the one Church of Christ: His beautiful bride, His
body. ……..
John Huss was burnt at the stake for this truth of The Church. The name Catholic means
Universal and John Huss gives his view about the one true Universal or Catholic Church.
And this is what he held–“Two righteous persons congregated together in Christ’s name
constitute, with Christ as the Head, a particular holy church: and likewise three or four, and so
on to the whole number of the predestinate without admixture…But the holy catholic–that is,
universal–Church, is the totality of the predestinate–all the predestinate in the universe: all
the predestinate, present, past, and future.
The universal Church is one, praising God from the beginning of the world to the the holy angels
are a part of the holy catholic Church…. The holy Church is made up of two parts: those who
have not sinned, and those who have ceased to sin.
The catholic Church is the bride of our Lord Jesus Christ–bride, I say, chaste, incorrupt, and
never capable of being corrupted. Christ is the Individual, the true God and man, imparting

Martin Luther replied regarding Huss’s view of the Church in agreement:
“Certain of the tenets of John Huss and the Bohemians are perfectly orthodox. This
much is certain. For instance, ‘that there is only one universal Church’; and again,
‘that it is not necessary to salvation to believe the Roman church superior to all
others.’ Whether Wycliffe or Huss has said it, I care not, It is the truth… There is no
other Church than the assembly of those who have the Word of God and are
purified by it.”
Zwingle:
“In every nation whosoever believeth with the heart in the Lord Jesus Christ, is
saved. This is The Church out of which no man can be saved. “The Church universal
is diffused over the whole world wherever there is faith in Jesus Christ–in the
Indies as well as in Zurich.
And as for particular churches, we have them–at Berne, at Shaffhausen, here
also. But the Popes, their cardinals, and their councils, are neither the Church
universal, nor the church particular.”

God’s Church is not Confined to an Earthly Organization
The Charge of Heresy- Leaving the True Church – Faith Delivered to the Saints
The "mystery of iniquity" began to work in the church in Paul's day. It finally
crowded out the simplicity of the gospel, and corrupted the doctrine of Christ, and
the church went into the wilderness. Martin Luther, and other reformers, arose in
the strength of God, and with the Word and Spirit, made mighty strides in the
Reformation. The greatest fault we can find in the Reformation is, the Reformers
stopped reforming. Had they gone on, and onward, till they had left the last
vestige of Papacy behind, such as natural immortality, sprinkling, the trinity, and
Sunday-keeping, the church would now be free from her unscriptural errors.
{February 7, 1856 JWe, ARSH 148.22}
Protestants and Catholics are so nearly united in sentiment, that it is not difficult to
conceive how Protestants may make an image to the Beast. The mass of Protestants believe
with Catholics in the Trinity, immortality of the soul, consciousness of the dead, rewards
and punishments at death, the endless torture of the wicked, inheritance of the saints
beyond the skies, sprinkling for baptism, and the PAGAN SUNDAY for the Sabbath; all of
which is contrary to the spirit and letter of the new testament. Surely there is between the
mother and daughters, a striking family resemblance. {1858 MEC, FT 76.1}

Hooper, of England, who was burnt at the stake in 1555:
“‘The general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven.’ I
believe and confess one only catholic and universal Church: which is an holy
congregation of believers, which are chosen and predestinate unto everlasting life
before the foundations of the world were laid. I believe that this Church is invisible
to the eye of man, and is only to God known; and that the same Church is not set,
compassed, and limited, within a certain place of bounds, but is scattered and
spread abroad throughout all the world: but yet coupled together in heart, will,
and spirit, by the bond of faith and charity.
I believe that this invisible Church is the field of the Lord God, wherein is neither
darnel nor cockle. It is the house and dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost; and within
that Church is neither Cain, Judas, neither the wicked rich glutton.
The same Church is the body of Christ wherein there is never a rotten, corrupt, or
infected member. It is the spouse of Christ, which is pure and clean, without
wrinkle and without spot. It is holy and without blame, cleansed and sanctified in
the blood and by the Word of her Head and well-beloved Spouse–Jesus Christ.”

John Wesley:
“As where two or three are met together in His name, there is Christ; so where two or three
believers are met together, there is a church. “Thus it is that St. Paul, writing to Philemon,
mentions ‘the church which is in his house’: plainly signifying that even a Christian family may be
termed a church. Several of those whom God hath called out (so the original word properly
signifies), uniting together in one congregation, formed a larger church: as the church at
Jerusalem. That is, all those in Jerusalem whom God had so called.
He frequently uses the word in the plural number. So, Gal. 1:2, ‘Paul an apostle…unto the
churches of Galatia’: that is, the Christian congregation dispersed throughout that country. There
is one God and Father of all ‘that has the Spirit of adoption which crieth in their hearts. Abba
Father’, which ‘witnesseth’ continually ‘with their spirits’ that ‘they are the children of God’ ‘who
is above all’– pervading all space, filling heaven and earth; ‘and in you all’–in a peculiar manner
living in you that are one body by one Spirit: Making your souls His loved abode, The temples of
indwelling God.” Here, then, is a clear unexceptionable answer to that question, What is The
Church?–The catholic or universal Church is all the persons in the universe whom God hath so
called out of the world as to entitle them to the preceding character: “As to be ‘one body’, united
by ‘one Spirit’, having ‘one faith’, one hope, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above
all, and through all, and in them all. Certainly if these things are so, the church of Rome is not so
much a part of the catholic Church.”

William Miller of the great Advent movement:
“I should oppose our being called, in an associated capacity, a church with any
name. To call any denomination the Advent Church, the Church of God, or any
other name, I regard as contrary to the usage of the apostles… A church,
according to the Scriptures, is a religious assembly, selected and called out of
the world, by the doctrine of the Gospel, to worship the true God according to
His Word.”
“Is it asked, Do you repudiate the name of Adventists? In reply, I do, when it is
applied to The Church; but not when it is applied to those who compose The
Church.”
Ellen G. White:
“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national
establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love
God and keep His commandments. “
“From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.”

A. T. Jones made a statement once regarding the reformation. He explained that the people could complain
of the leaders in the Roman Church all that they wanted. But until they were ready to recognize the truth
about the church, that the Roman Church was not the Church at all, their could be no reformation. He
summarized it in this manner:
“The people believed regarding the Roman Church that : “The church was “the ark of God,” the “ship of
Salvation.” The pilot, the captain, and the crew, might all be pirates, and use every motion of the ship only
for piratical purposes, and load her to the sinking point with piratical plunder, and keep her ever headed
straight toward perdition, yet “the grand old ship” herself was all right and would come safely to the
heavenly port.
Therefore, “cling to the ark,” “stand by the old ship,” and you will be safe and will land at last on the
heavenly shore. Such in essence is the conception held, and that for ages had been inculcated…And in the
General Council of Basle, 1432, the Pope’s legate exhorted the Bohemians that “In the time of Noah’s flood,
as many as were without the ark perished.”
So long as this delusion was systematically inculcated, blindly received, and fondly hugged, of course
reformation was impossible.
But as soon as there arose men with the courage of conviction and the confidence of truth, and spoke out
plainly and flatly that the Roman system is not The Church at all in any feature or in any sense, then
The Reformation had begun.”
It may be that should we realize this truth today, that it might cause a modern reformation.

BRO. LOUGHBOROUGH. It may with equal propriety be said
that we are patterning after the churches in building meeting-
houses. We call the churches Babylon, not because they
covenant together to obey God. I am still of the opinion I
advanced sometime since through the Review: The first step of
apostasy is to get up a creed, telling us what we shall believe.
The second is, to make that creed a test of fellowship. The
third is to try members by that creed. The fourth to denounce
as heretics those who do not believe that creed. And, fifth, to
commence persecution against such. I plead that we are not
patterning after the churches in any unwarrantable sense, in
the step proposed. {October 8, 1861 UrSe, ARSH 149.7}

A congregation may be the poorest in the
land. It may be without the attraction of any
outward show; but if the members possess
the principles of the character of Christ, they
will have His joy in their souls. Angels will
unite with them in their worship. The praise
and thanksgiving from grateful hearts will
ascend to God as a sweet oblation. {COL
298.3}

HOME CHURCHES
Some say home churches are from the devil?
Let us test this proposition by the Word of God:
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of
Achaia unto Christ. (Rom 16:5)
The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in
their house. (1 Cor 16:19)
Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. (Col 4:15)
And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house: (Philemon 1:2)
The Word of God is plain here. These home churches were from Christ and thus they are included in the
apostolic salutation here. Thus to issue a generic statement such as home churches are of the devil is
ridiculous. We must consider the circumstances and the teachings occurring in whatever home church is in
question. To reach an a priori conclusion that home churches are from the devil is actually the type of
statement that the devil himself is well pleased with.

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR LINES
SELF SUPORTING WORKERS

MADISON
The Lord does not set limits about His workers in
some lines as men are wont to set. In their work,
Brethren Magan and Sutherland have been
hindered unnecessarily. Means have been withheld
from them because in the organization and
management of the Madison school, it was not
placed under the control of the conference. But
the reasons why this school was not owned and
controlled by the conference have not been duly
considered. SpTB11 31.3

The Lord has instructed me that, from the first, the work in
Huntsville and Madison should have received adequate help. But
instead of this help being rendered promptly there has been long
delay. And in the matter of the Madison school, there has been a
standing off from them because they were not under the
ownership and control of some Conference. This is a question that
should sometimes be considered, but it is not the Lord’s plan that
means should be withheld from Madison, because they are not
bound to the conference. The attitude which some of our brethren
have assumed toward this enterprise shows that it is not wise for
every working agency to be under the dictation of conference
officers. There are some enterprises under certain conditions, that
will produce better results if standing alone

When my advice was asked in reference to the Madison
school, I said, Remain as you are. There is danger in binding
every working agency under the dictation of the conference.
The Lord did not design that this should be. The
circumstances were such that the burden bearers in the
Madison school could not bind up their work with the
conference. I knew their situation, and when many of the
leading men in our conferences ignored them, because they
did not place their school under conference dictation, I was
shown that they would not be helped by making themselves
amenable to the conference. They had better remain as led
by God, amenable to Him, to work out His plans. But this
matter need not be blazed abroad. 8MR 202.

Brethren Sutherland and Magan should be encouraged to
solicit means for the support of their work. It is the privilege
of these brethren to receive gifts from any of our people
whom the Lord impresses to help. They should have means—
God’s means—with which to work. The Madison enterprise
has been crippled in the past, but now it must go forward. If
this work had been regarded in the right light, and had been
given the help it needed, we should long ere this have had a
prosperous work at Madison. Our people are to be
encouraged to give of their means to this work which is
preparing students in a sensible and creditable way to go
forth into neglected fields to proclaim the soon coming of
Christ. SpM 422

The conferences were not established to
exercise dominion over the ministry, nor over
the local churches, but rather to plan and
expand the work of God in various regions and
areas. Furthermore, the conferences were to
act as counselors, not as dictators to the
people of God (Colin and Russell Standish,
Organizational Structure and Apostasy, p. 13).

At the beginning of this message believers were few and widely
scattered. There was no definite organization for the direction of
the work, but as believers came into the truth (53) and companies
were formed, it was manifest that some organization was
necessary. But strange as it may seem, the wisdom of man led them
to oppose all organization. Again light was shed upon the perplexing
situation by the spirit of prophecy, which resulted in a simple form
of organization for the protection and furtherance of the work; and
peace, harmony, and prosperity came out of confusion. This same
form of organization continued until the wisdom of men, to whom
the care of the organization had been committed, began to plan for
a centralizing power at the head of the work, which resulted in
retarding rather than fostering it. Missionaries in the field felt their
hands were tied, and mission fields were languishing, and the
resources were drying up. Where was the wisdom of men in this
perplexity? {LLM 35.1}

“At times, when a small group of men entrusted with the general management of
the work have, in the name of the General Conference, sought to carry out unwise
plans and to restrict God’s work, I have said that I could no longer regard the voice
of the General Conference, represented by these few men, as the voice of God.
But this is not saying that the decisions of a General Conference composed of an
assembly of duly appointed, representative men from all parts of the field, should
not be respected. God has ordained that the representatives of His church from
all parts of the earth, when assembled in a General Conference, shall have
authority. The error that some are in danger of committing, is in giving to the
mind and judgment of one man, or of a small group of men, the full measure of
authority and influence that God has vested in His church, in the judgment and
voice of the General Conference assembled to plan for the prosperity and
advancement of His work.
When this power, which God has placed in the church, is accredited wholly to one
man, and he is invested with the authority to be judgment for other minds,
then the true Bible order is changed. Satan’s efforts upon such a man’s mind
would be most subtle, and sometimes well-nigh overpowering; for the enemy
would hope that through his mind he could affect many others.” Testimonies for

"Our best, most humble, most devoted servants of Christ, are fostering in their midst what will
one day, not long hence, show itself to be the spawn of the dragon. They shrink from any rude
word against creeds with the same sensitiveness with which those holy fathers would have
shrunk from a rude word against the rising veneration of saints and martyrs which they were
fostering. . . . The Protestant evangelical denominations have so tied up one another's hands,
and their own, that, between them all, a man cannot become a preacher at all, anywhere,
without accepting some book besides the Bible. . . . And is not the Protestant Church apostate?
Oh! remember, the final form of apostasy shall rise, not by crosses, processions, baubles. We
understand all that. Apostasy never comes on the outside. It develops. It is an apostasy that shall
spring into life within us, - an apostasy that shall martyr a man who believes his Bible ever so
holily; yea, who may even believe what the creed contains, but who may happen to agree with
the Westminster Assembly, that, proposed as a test, it is an unwarrantable imposition. That is
the apostasy we have to fear, and is it not already formed? . . . Will it be said that our fears are
imaginary? Imaginary! Did not the Rev. John M. Duncan, in the years 1825-6, or thereabouts,
sincerely believe the Bible? Did he not even believe substantially the Confession of Faith? And
was he not, for daring to say what the Westminster Assembly said, that to require the reception
of that creed as a test of ministerial qualification was an unwarrantable imposition, brought to
trial, condemned, excommunicated, and his pulpit declared vacant? There is nothing imaginary
in the statement that the creed-power is now beginning to prohibit the Bible as really as Rome
did, though in a subtler way. {1887 UrS, MANA 143.1}

God’s Church is not Confined to an Earthly Organization
The Charge of Heresy- Leaving the True Church – Faith Delivered to the Saints
They are guilty of leaving the true Church, and going out and
building a new organization on sand. We’re still on the
platform praying for them.
The Church is above and it is not an earthly organization. The
roll is in heaven. The General Conference has put itself in
place of God. It is in a blasphemous position as there is one
head to the church. There is much more to be said about
this. This is merely an outline.
Many can’t see the invisible church of God, and this is why
they require a visible church.

FINISHERS OF THE
REFORMATION
WHERE HAVE WE GONE
WRONG IN THE WORK?

Laodicean Message for Adventists.
The message to the Laodicean church is highly
applicable to us as a people. It has been placed before
us for a long time, but has not been heeded as it
should have been. When the work of repentance is
earnest and deep, the individual members of the
church will buy the rich goods of heaven. [Revelation
3:18 quoted.] Oh, how many behold things in a
perverted light, in the light in which Satan would have
them see. {The Review and Herald, December 15,1904,
7 bc 961.3}

Acceptable Time Periods
•We are again in an acceptable Time
Period
•Adventism was birthed out of the
Reformation
•Adventism presented the best
opportunity of Finishing this Great
Controversy

Promise of Revival
• Hos 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they
acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in
their affliction they will seek me early.
• Hos 6:1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for
he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten,
and he will bind us up.
• Hos 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the
third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his
sight.

Since many other church-
denominations claim the
reformation as their fathers,
what then do Adventists have
to offer the world? The answer
is the gospel of Righteousness
by Faith.

Reformation Defined
•Always has to be in context of the
16th Century Reformation.
•The central truth of the Reformation
then was Justification by Faith.
•Any true Reformation must be built
on the idea of Justification by Faith.

Finishing the Reformation
• Thus the Waldenses witnessed for God centuries before
the birth of Luther. Scattered over many lands, they
planted the seeds of the Reformation that began in the
time of Wycliffe, grew broad and deep in the days of
Luther, and is to be carried forward to the close of time
by those who also are willing to suffer all things for "the
word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."
Revelation 1:9. {GC 78.1}

The Reformation did not, as many
suppose, end with Luther. It is to be
continued to the close of this world's
history. …From that time to this, new
light has been continually shining upon
the Scriptures, and new truths have been
constantly unfolding. {GC 148.4}

Christ was a protestant. He protested against the
formal worship of the Jewish nation, who rejected
the counsel of God against themselves. He told them
that they taught for doctrines the commandments of
men, and that they were pretenders and hypocrites.
Like whited sepulchers they were beautiful without,
but within full of impurity and corruption. {RH, June
1, 1886 par. 14}

Continued
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. The Bible is presented to us as a sufficient
guide; but the pope and his workers remove it from
the people as if it were a curse, because it exposes
their pretensions and rebukes their idolatry. {RH,
June 1, 1886 par. 14}

Counterfeit Reformation
Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away
from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the
faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own
conceptions, the heathen had lost a knowledge of God, and
had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel.
The principle that man can save himself by his own works
lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now
become the principle of the Jewish religion. Satan had
implanted this principle. Wherever it is held, men have no
barrier against sin. {DA 35.2}

Counterfeit Reformation
The Roman Church had made merchandise of the grace
of God. But the very means adopted for Rome's
aggrandizement provoked the deadliest blow to her power
and greatness. It was this that aroused the most
determined and successful of the enemies of popery, and
led to the battle which shook the papal throne and jostled
the triple crown upon the pontiff's head. {GC 127.1}

Our Message
The message of Christ's
righteousness is to sound from one
end of the earth to the other to
prepare the way of the Lord. This is
the glory of God, which closes the
work of the third angel.--6T 19
(1900). {LDE 200.3}

If the physical heart is healthy, the blood that
is sent from it through the system is also
healthy; but if this fountain is impure, the
whole organism becomes diseased by the
poison of the vital fluid. So it is with us. If the
heart of the work becomes corrupt, the whole
church, in its various branches and interests,
scattered abroad over the face of the earth,
suffers in consequence. {4T 210.4}

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 word 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. . . . {UL
131.3}

The leaders in the Jewish nation had signally
failed of fulfilling God's purpose for his chosen
people. Those whom the Lord had made the
depositaries of truth had proved unfaithful to their
trust, and God chose others to do his work. {RH,
February 9, 1911 par. 4}

Brethren, if you continue to be as idle, as worldly, as selfish as you have been,
God will surely PASS YOU BY, and take those who are less self-caring, less
ambitious for worldly honor, and who will not hesitate to go, as did their Master,
without the camp, bearing the reproach. The work will be given to those who
will take it, those who prize it, who weave its principles into their everyday
experience. God will choose humble men who are seeking to glorify His name
and advance His cause rather than to honor and advance themselves. He will
raise up men who have not so much worldly wisdom, but who are connected
with Him, and who will seek strength and counsel from above. {5T 461.1}

Those who claim to believe the truth do not possess that
power that God would bestow upon them if they really
believed, and were striving for conformity to His image.
The church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of
God is not in her midst. If Christ were formed within, the
hope of glory, conformity to His image would be seen,
and the church trials which separate the members from
Christ would disappear. . . . {1NL 99.4}

The Lord does not now work to bring many
souls into the truth, because of the church
members who have never been converted,
and those who were once converted but
who have backslidden.--Testimonies, vol. 6,
p. 371. (1900) {Ev 110.2}

WHO IS TO
FINISH THE
WORK!!!!!

The great and wonderful work of the last gospel
message is to be carried on now as it has never been
before. The world is to receive the light of truth through
an evangelizing ministry of the word in our books and
periodicals. Our publications are to show that the end of
all things is at hand. I am bidden to say to our publishing
houses: "Lift up the standard; lift it up higher. Proclaim
the third angel's message, that it may be heard by all the
world. Let it be seen that 'here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'
Revelation 14:12. Let our literature give the message as a
witness to all the world." {9T 61.1}

There is enough wealth in your
conference to carry forward this work
successfully; and shall the prince of
darkness be left in undisputed possession
of our great cities because it costs
something to sustain missions? Let those
who would follow Christ fully come up to
the work, even if it be over the heads of
ministers and president. {5T 369.2}

As the medical missionary work
becomes more extended, there will
be a temptation to make it
independent of our conferences.
But it has been presented to me that
this plan is not right. The different
lines of our work are but parts of
one great whole. They have one
center. {6T 235.1}

The medical missionary workers are doing
the long-neglected work which God gave
to the church in Battle Creek --they are
giving the last call to the supper which He
has prepared. {8T 71.1} My brethren, why do you
keep so many things bound up in Battle Creek? Why do
you not take the tract and missionary work into other
cities, where there is much missionary work to be done?
{8T 71.2}

The many interests centering in Battle Creek should be
divided and subdivided, and placed in other cities. You
who think you are wise men may say: "It will cost too
much. We can do the work here in Battle Creek at less
expense." Well, does not the Lord know all this? Is not
He a God who understands all the unbelieving
reasoning that holds so many interests in Battle
Creek? He has revealed to you that centers should be
made in all the cities. This would call many out of
Battle Creek to work in other places. {8T 71.3}

In order to be carried forward aright, the medical
missionary work needs talent. It requires strong, willing
hands, and wise, discriminating management. But can
this be while those in responsible places--presidents of
conferences and ministers --bar the way? {8T 71.4} The
Lord says to the presidents of conferences and to other
influential brethren: "Remove the stumbling blocks that
have been placed before the people." {8T 71.5}

Time is short, and there is a great work to
be done. If you feel no interest in the work
that is going forward, if you will not
encourage medical missionary work in the
churches, it will be done without your
consent; for it is the work of God, and it
must be done. My brethren and sisters,
take your position on the Lord's side and
be earnest, active, courageous co-workers
with Christ, laboring with Him to seek and
save the lost. {8T 75.2}

Let not those who preach the word lay
their hands upon the humblest worker
and say: "You must labor in this channel
or not work at all." Hands off, brethren.
Let everyone work in his own sphere, with
his own armor on, doing whatever he can
do in his humble way. Strengthen his
hands in the work. This is no time for
pharisaism to control. Let God work
through whom He will. The message must
go. {5T 461.2}

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. {DA 232.2}

State conferences may depend upon the
General Conference for light and
knowledge and wisdom; but is it safe for
them to do this? Battle Creek is not to be
the center of God's work. God alone can fill
this place. When our people in the
different places have their special
convocations, teach them, for Christ's sake
and for their own soul's sake, not to make
flesh their arm. {TM 375.2}

A strange thing has come into our churches. Men who
are placed in positions of responsibility that they may be
wise helpers to their fellow workers have come to
suppose that they were set as kings and rulers in the
churches, to say to one brother, 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 have
been told that if they did not follow the instruction of
these men of responsibility, their pay from the
conference would be withheld. {TM 477.2}

Worldly policy is taking the place of 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?
...This is directly where the enemy, through blinded,
unconsecrated men, is leading us (Ms. 29, 1890).

The arrangement that all moneys must go through
Battle Creek and under the control of the few men in
that place is a wrong way of managing. There are
altogether too many weighty responsibilities given to
a few men, and some do not make God their
counselor. What do these men know of the necessities
of the work in foreign countries? How can they know
how to decide the questions which come to them
asking for information? It would require three months
for those in foreign countries to receive a response to
their questions, even if there was no delay in writing.
{TM 321.1}

The Lord has not placed any one of His human agencies
under the dictation and control of those who are
themselves but erring mortals. He has not placed upon
men the power to say, You shall do this, and you shall not
do that. But there is a power exercised in Battle Creek that
God has not given, and He will judge those who assume
this authority. They have somewhat of the same spirit that
led Uzzah to lay his hand on the ark to steady it, as though
God was not able to care for His sacred symbols. Far less
of man's power and authority should be exercised toward
God's human agencies. Brethren, leave God to rule. {TM
347.3}

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