And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
Revelation 14:6
"During the time of the founding pioneers of the Seventh-Day Adventist church (from the mid 1800’s to the early 1900’s), there could be no question as to what Seventh-Day Adventists believe after hearing a sermon, lecture or reading a publication from an Adventist pastor, speaker or author. If a member were to attend any Seventh-Day Adventist Church on a Sabbath, that person would not have to wonder what topics were going to be addressed. The distinctive messages of the three angels of Revelation 14:6-12 would be clearly and definitively articulated in no uncertain language,...There has been an unfortunate change however, leading up to 1957 when The Review and Herald Publishing Association published the book “Seventh-Day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine,” prepared by Seventh-Day Adventist leaders, Bible instructors and editors, wherein most of the foundational pillars of the Seventh-Day Adventist faith were completely rejected and renounced, some overtly, others covertly.
From that time until the present, a first-time visitor may attend a Seventh-Day Adventist Church on a Sabbath and hear a message almost identical to the messages being preached every Sunday in non-Seventh-Day Adventist congregations, the churches of Babylon. The only difference would be the respective names of the churches and the day in which the services are held. The messages being preached and emphasized today in the popular churches of the world are based upon the social gospel, which is a gross perversion of the everlasting gospel.
It is truly unfortunate that today Seventh-day Adventist pastors are patterning after these churches and generally are no longer preaching
the judgment-hour message,
the significance of 1844,
Christ’s mediatory work in the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary,
the fall of Babylon and who constitutes Babylon,
the mark of the beast and its image,
along with the lifestyle reforms that God calls for in these last days.
They are rather preaching a social gospel that leads to ecumenism and the reception of the mark of the beast. They are not accomplishing the commission that God has established the Seventh-Day Adventist church for, which is to proclaim by pen, voice, and lifestyle the components of the everlasting gospel; which, if accepted, will lead men and women to be prepared for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Ellet Joseph Waggoner, in one of his articles, addresses the social gospel that is now permeating the Seventh-Day Adventist churches, and places it in its proper perspective when contrasted with the work of the everlasting gospel.
“There is a widespread conviction or sentiment that nothing more is needed for the redemption of society than a rearrangement of social
conditions; salvation will be wrought by science and sanitation; the heart will be cleansed by an external application; lusts and envies, and hatreds, will cease when the body’s cravings are satisfied. On the top of these vain dreams there comes the clamour for a social gospel…The preacher is to put into the background the eternal truths that he may
cater for temporal wants.”
In response to the recent killings of unarmed African American males at the hands of Caucasian police officers, who were not charged, members of the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination have not been silent. Marches and rallies have been organized and conducted by students and staff-members of Oakwood and Andrews Universities, and other Seventh-Day Adventist institutions, protesting injustice and demanding change. During these marches and protests, there has been no mention whatsoever of sin and righteousness and the only remedy for societal and institutional evils and abuses. Social reform and the acquisition of temporal benefits are meaningless if those being targeted, both the oppressed and the oppressor, are not led to repentance and heart conversion. Christ’s truth is not uplifted and emphasized in these activities;
The words of Ellen White concur....
“The government under which Jesus lived was corrupt and oppressive; on every hand were crying abuses,–extortion, intolerance, and grinding cruelty. Yet the Savior attempted no civil reforms. He attacked no national abuses, nor condemned the national enemies. He did not interfere with the authority or administration of those in power. He who was our example kept aloof from earthly governments. Not because He was indifferent to the woes of men, but because the remedy did not lie in merely human and external measures. To be efficient, the cure must reach men individually, and must regenerate the heart..” The Desire of Ages, page 509
There is a striking contradiction between the message and goals of the everlasting gospel and the message and goals of the social gospel. Because the social gospel does not emphasize sin, righteousness, and judgment, but focuses solely upon standing for the oppressed, the participation in the social gospel movement will surely lead its advocates to support and fight for the agendas of the LGBTQ community, which feels it is being oppressed. Additionally, within the Seventh-Day Adventist church, social gospel proponents will adamantly fight in favor of the unbiblical practice of women’s ordination, and will clamor for gender equality. The mission of the social gospel has nothing to do with distinguishing between right and wrong, righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and error, it is rather to stand up for the oppressed at all costs, even if that means taking positions that clearly defy the word of God.
An evident sign that a large number of Seventh-day Adventists are infected by the social gospel is that non-Adventist reading material is promoted in Seventh-Day Adventist churches, schools, and institutions, ministers from Babylon are invited as guest-speakers in Seventh-Day Adventist churches, and Seventh-Day Adventists are partnering with Roman Catholics and other Sunday-keeping denominations to do humanitarian work. If Seventh-Day Adventists were preaching and teaching the three angels’ messages, along with their humanitarian work, non-Adventists would have no desire to join with them."
Hilari Henriques
