SDA History: Non-SDA Literature for SDA beliefs

"The rise of the papacy as supreme power was presented in a book and paper by Frances Dvornik in 1961. 

Byzantium and the Roman Primacy. The American Ecclesiastical Review 289-312. Online available 12th of June 2016 at http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=1355.

 

The Collectio Avellana is a prime source for research of this type. These 244 manuscripts dealt with heresies and schism and how the papal and imperial powers approached the issues. 

It ends with the last letter written by emperor Justinian to pope

Vigilius on the 14th of May 553. 

 

The Corpus Novellae of Justinian is an ingredient part of this research.

 

The Liber Pontificalis is another source that is essential for a study like this. It originated in the year 510 in the days of the primacy of the papacy insistence pope Homisdas and the intention was to illustrate the role of the popes.

 

D. Deliyannis, (2014). The Roman Liber Pontificalis, Papal Primacy, and the Acacian Schism. Viator Vol. 45/2: 1-16. For
the date of its compilation as between 514-530 see Liber Pontificalis by Duchesne 1886: XLV. Duchesne knows of two manuscripts Parisinus 5140 and Vaticanus 3764 (Duchesne 1886: XLVII).

 

The popes with whom Justinian and Theodora dealt that are relevant here are pope Johannes II (533-535); pope Agapetus (535-536); pope Silverius (536-537); Vigilius (537-555).

 

A helpful source for those who struggle to get access to the originals or good translations thereof of the papal letters to Justinian and other pertinent sources mentioned in this writing, is the Source Book Vol. 2 on AD 538 by Heidi Heiks (2010). 

 

For a helpful chronology of Justinian, the Gothic kings, the Vandals as well as the year from Creation as calculated by Jerome, see the Chronica Minora edited by T. Mommsen 1894.

 

Newton all calculated the 1260 days of Revelation and Daniel as 1260 years.

He felt that any period that indicated a division of the Roman Empire is a candidate for this event starting the 1260 years.
Bishop Newton apparently said that if one is to find the ten kings, one has to look at the broken pieces of the Roman Empire” 

For Frere the starting date for the 1260 years is 536.

Faber wanted it to start before 325 A.D. and Cuninghame suggested the thirteenth century.

Maitland used Frere and Cuninghame to argue against Faber that the date is not 606 but 533 with the Edict of Justinian.

For Mede the prophetic persecution started in 456 A.D.23 

Frere was in search for the year the Edict was published.

Hales suggested 620 A.D. Bishop Newton in 727 A.D. and Lowman in 757A.D. 

These are the times given for the ‘saints given in the hands of the beast’ as predicted by Daniel and Revelation. Maitland himself seems to say the event took place sometime in the fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth centuries. He called on all researchers of the 1260 days as 1260 years to cite their sources with accuracy and check
whether the source was correctly used and cited.
W. Spicer (1918) wrote on the 1260 years. In his diagram he dates it either between 533 to 1793 or between 538 to
1798. Spicer said that in 533 came the recognition of the supremacy of the pope and in 538 the sword came to Rome.

He found from secondary sources that used the originals that a turning point was in the year 538 when Vigilius became pope in the place of pope Silverius. He was removed in 537 but Justinian intervened and he was kept until 538.

H. S. Prenier, (1919), “on the 1260 days” Andrews University, James White library, Adventist Research Center lower floor.

In 1854 T. M. Preble wrote a manuscript which is a review of the argument to prove that the 1260 years started in 519 A.D.

A Millerite F. H. Berick (1853) wrote a research on 1260, 1290 and 1335. An article appeared on the opic of the end of the 1260 years in 1843. W. Digby, (1831), also wrote on the 1260 years. K. van Wyk, (1992), presented a devotional on new aspects surrounding the historicity of 538 regarding numismatics and Justinian.

 

Revelation 13:12 says that the “dragon gave him his power, his seat and great authority”... then the actions of Justinian, Belisarius answering the call of the pope to come to Rome with his military for defense, the coin change of Justinian in 538, his public announcement to the whole empire that he is a theologian and not a

soldier in 538 on his coins, his ecumenical and theological interest in Systematic Theology recognized by pope Johannes in his 533 letter to Justinian, Justinian’s emphasizing the supremacy of the papacy in his letter to Johannes, all these factors point to a paradigm shift in the history of that time: that is to say, the fall of the Pagan Rome Empire and the Ascendancy and development of the papacy to form the Holy Roman Empire. 

--With the seat of Justinian symbolically “vacant” as emperor, the “symbolic power gap” was there for the papacy to take it. Augsburger (1952) indicated that it was the church who fed the people after 538 A.D. described as disastrous years. 

--Diehl wrote “In this hour which marks for her (Rome) the end of ancient times, she was taking on the aspect that she was to keep during the whole Middle Ages and upon the debris of the palaces of the Caesars was slowly rising the authority of the popes.”

--Gregory the Great described the rise of the church on the ruins of Rome of the Gothic wars Gregory described very eloquently the summary of the churches’ rise to power “Amid the frightful storms of the Gothic War classical civilization perished in Rome and throughout Italy. In cities burnt, desolated and mutilated, ruins remained the sole evidence of former splendor. 

The prophecy of the Sybil was fulfilled. The night of barbarism had descended on the Latin world, a darkness in which no light was visible other than of the tapers of the church and the lonely studentlamp of the monk brooding in his cloister.”

--George Butler in 1885, as a president of the Seventh Day Adventist church, cites a speech of a bishop at the Ecumenical Council in
1870 which said: "Pope Vigilius, A.D. 538, bought the papacy from Belisarius, agent of the Emperor Justinian; though to be sure he broke his promise, and paid nothing Is this mode of gaining the tiara canonical?" (Vatican Council 1870: 189 cited in George Butler 1885: from the American Tract Society Pamphlet with the title: "The
Speech of a Bishop in the Vatican Council"). 

Butler listed many outside scholars who already understood the 1260
years prophecy, the fall in 1798 and the beginning in 538. 

It was not an invention by Seventh Day Adventists since it is historical and Biblical, recognized earlier by many commentators and historians."

538 A.D. and the Transition from Pagan Roman Empire to Holy Roman Empire: Justinian’s Metamorphosis from Chief of Staffs to Theologian

But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,).... Mark 13:14

SDA History: A.T. Jones on Preaching

It is time for You, Lord, to work: 

for they have made void Your law. 

Psalm 119:126

"I cannot preach the commandments of God without preaching the

faith of Jesus; and that I can not preach the faith of Jesus without preaching the commandments of God.

I am to preach the commandments of God so that it will be the faith of Jesus only; and I am to preach the faith of Jesus so it will be nothing but the commandments of God." 

A.T. Jones

SDA History: W.A. Spicer on the 2 Great Fundamental Truths Uniting

"OUR periodicals and books dealing with the 1844 movement have frequently mentioned the name of O. R. L. Crosier. He was a friend of Hiram Edson, of western New York. 

 O. R. L. Crosier

Hiram Edson was the first to catch a glimpse of the Bible doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary. 

Young Crosier, school-teacher and preacher, was the man walking over the fields with Edson on that morning of October 23, 1844, the day after the disappointment when Elder Edson stopped alone for a few moments of prayer by a shock of corn. Then it was that the truth was flashed into Brother Edson’s mind, “The sanctuary to be cleansed is in heaven.” 

This earth was not the sanctuary to which Christ was to come in

Hiram Edson

1844! Hiram Edson told his experience to Crosier and others, and they began immediately to study the Bible doctrine of the sanctuary. Crosier was the student penman who wrote out the exposition. 

Hiram Edson led out in securing funds and arranging for its publication. 

This exposition was a most important step in the development of the advent doctrines.

It came to the attention of our pioneer Sabbath-keepers in New England. Soon Joseph Bates, of Massachusetts, visited Edson and the group with him and gave to them the Sabbath light. 

Thus two great fundamental truths were shining out, 

clear and bright." 

W.A. Spicer

SDA History: Church Pioneers on Constitutional Amendment & Mark of the Beast

And 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. Luke 21:34

"YET I know that some still ask, "Must not there be an amendment to the Constitution?" and, "Have we not taken the position that there is to be an amendment to the Constitution?" 

We have preached that there might be an amendment to the

Constitution.... We have said that that is a way in which it might be done. 

But I never supposed for a moment that any one had ever taken the position that that is the way in which it must be done–that it must be done that way or not at all, or that that is the precise way in which the image of the beast would be made. 

We all know that it could be done that way; but I never supposed any one would fix upon that as just the way in which it would be done." A.T. Jones

SDA History - Loughborough on Steps to Christ Book

"My mind is impressed this morning to read again Eph. 4:13: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the

fullness of Christ." 

In my first talk I told something about the work of the gifts in producing unity; but that is not all there is to it, for our text says, "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 

And here is this little work of Sister White's, "Steps to Christ," which Brother Jones has called the "Gospel Primer" -- yes, and it's a whole library -- Q: in what direction does it point?

A: Is it not in this very direction of growing to the up full measure of the stature of Christ?" 

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

SDA HISTORY - Ellen White's Letter of Gentle Rebuke to A.T. Jones

Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2 NIV

"I was attending a meeting, and a large congregation were present..... you were presenting the subject of faith and the imputed

righteousness of Christ by faith. 

You repeated several times that works amounted to nothing, that there were no conditions. 

*The matter was presented in that light that I knew minds would be confused and would not receive the correct impression in reference to faith and works, and I decided to write to you. 

You state this matter too strongly. There are conditions to our receiving justification and sanctification, and the righteousness of Christ. 

I know your meaning, but you leave a wrong impression upon many minds. 

While good works will not save even one soul, 

yet it is impossible for even one soul 

to be saved without good works. 

God saves us under a law, that we must ask if we would receive, seek if we would find, and knock if we would have the door opened unto us." 

E.G.W.

SDA History: Early Shepherds Rod HERESY in Indiana in 1930's

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies.... 2 Peter 2:1

Q: HOW did this HERESY, of Victor Houteff's Shepherd's Rod Movement from out of California, reach as far as Indiana in the 1930's before the internet?
These clips are taken from the Heretical "Symbolic Codes" Magazine of Houteff from the 1930's about the heretical movement in Indiana.

So it was C.T. something or another who brought the poison to SDA's in Indiana.....

"Brother C. T. _____ under date of Sept. 2 explains his numerous experiences in his travels through the middle west in the interest of the SRod which, for lack of space, we cannot enumerate herein, and has been able to interest a number of families of which several of them have already fully taken their stand on the side of present truth. Besides his public and private studies he has scattered much of our free literature." { 1SC3: 2.6 }

Q: HOW did this catch on in a nearby county to where I live? This is scary that this blatantly spiritually offensive movement caught on in Blackford County.
"Sr. Sebring of Hartford City writes as follows:
I have been reading and studying the SRod, Volumes One and Two, and the four tracts….I have read them several times and the more I read, the more I see the truth in them…. 
I have belonged to the church for 42 years,…but when those in office received word from the conference to drop in 30 days all that believed the SRod, they stopped me from leading the prayer meeting and took my Sabbath School class away from me and warned me not to teach the SRod in the church…but I am glad I can be partaker with Christ in His sufferings." { 1SC5: 2.5 }

SHAME on Cleve Smith.....
"Dear Brethren:
I was baptized into the S.D.A. church about 23 years ago and was happy in the truth at that time. But later, as I saw the church departing from the fundamental principles, in despair I quit going to Sabbath School and paying tithe for something like 10 or 12 years. This summer I took courage and renewed my former experience by repenting and confessing my sins, and by attending regularly the

church here at Hartford City, and endeavoring to help it also to return to the old landmarks. 
About that time Bro. Cleve Smith, a firm believer in the SRod, came to my house and gave me tracts #1 and #2. At that time Elder Moore and wife were leaving the city for the summer and he put me in charge of the prayer meetings during his absence. Everything went fine until at one prayer meeting I invited Bro. Edwards to give the study, but when they found out that he was a believer in the SRod, such opposition was raised that I had to take up the study myself.
One Sabbath later on, the assistant elder belittled the SRod so much that his opposition against it urged me to look into the matter for myself. I told them that I had a greater desire now than ever before to read the books. So I ordered Volume 1 and 2, but before I received them the church had called a business meeting in which they asked a certain sister, who has been a S.D.A. for over 40 years, if she believed the teachings of the SRod. Answering in the affirmative, they put her on probation for 30 days, after which they were to remove her name from the church record if she did not by that time renounce the teachings of the SRod. But she is now rejoicing in the sealing message more and more." { 1SC5: 2.9 }

Q: The Heresy Rocks Muncie
"The church at Muncie, Indiana, has made another drive against the members who are studying the SRod. The first two were made by the Indiana Conference president. He came to the church under the impression that the entire membership was being led astray, and seemed astonished when he learned that only one member was studying the SRod. But in his attempt to stamp out present truth, he suggested this member be given 30 days in which to renounce the SRod. A vote was taken and carried in his favor. However, as in the end of the “30 days” the one in question was still studying, the Conference president called another meeting and disfellowshipped this member on the former vote. 
Nevertheless, instead of crying down the SRod it just gave it a good start. Several meetings have been held with a goodly number present. Books and tracts have been distributed and there are several interested ones weighing the claims of the SRod. The church elder and deacon, like the Jesuits in the days of the Inquisition, and the Pharisees of old, were spying to find out who were studying the SRod. They called another meeting, at which portions of the Bible and Testimonies were read by the accused, but the reading made no effect. The church officials would try to turn the readings around and use them against the accused. They finally made a call for all who were against the SRod to move to one side of the room and the command was obeyed. Besides the ones who were studying the SRod, three others remained seated, feeling they could not intelligently say they were against a thing that they had not studied and knew nothing about. Nevertheless they were all given the customary 30 days. 

(Signed) R. H. Smith, Muncie, Ind." { 1SC6: 3.11 }

Back to Blackford County....
"A certain family came recently to Hartford City. I called on them bu

t found they had never heard of the message. So I gave them the SRod and the tracts. Now they are rejoicing in present truth and are having a real reformation in their home, what with restoring the family altar, observing the principles of health reform, returning to the system of tithing, and ordering their conversation.
The church voted my name off the books two weeks ago, and last Saturday night there were two ministers here and they surely did preach against the SRod."
{ 1SC6: 4.3 }

Mr. Edwards 19.....
"We are having some grand SRod meetings here. Last Sabbath we met at the home of Bro. _____ in Muncie, and there were present 19 in all. 
Let us have courage, for victory is sure, and that right soon. I never have felt the Lord so near, nor never have I felt so full of courage as now. Praise His name! 
(Signed) Wm. Edwards,
Hartford City, Ind." { 1SC7: 3.4 }

Experience of Philebaum in Hartford City....
"When the reform message came to me it found me for one thing heavily in debt. Immediately I began to ask the Lord to take care of this debt for me in such a way as to satisfy my creditor and leave us on friendly terms. This He straightway did, and now I am in a much better position to fulfill the admonition, “Whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 
How thankful I am that God hears the faithful prayers of His people and looses their heavy burdens! By His grace I mean to do all to His glory and help finish the work. 
(Signed) H. H. Philebaum
Hartford City, Ind." { 1SC7: 3.8 }

Thursday Nights in Muncie.....

"I am still holding meetings here; also we have organized a prayer band which meets on Thursday nights. We have Sabbath P.M. studies also. 
I am glad to tell you that we have one more member in our company. The church voted him out last night, March 4. He is determined to help rescue the brethren in Zion.
(Signed) Oran Richardson,
Muncie, Indiana" { 1SC10: 4.17 }

Vories Decieves 2/3 in Logansport....
"Dear Brother Houteff:
 Our dear Brother Vories brought the message to us here and there

surely has been a stirring up; many are accepting it and I pray to God that no one shall reject it. However, I am sure there will be a division among us; but the sealing message will find out how many are on the Lord’s side. 
Brother Vories and myself have been preaching the “Shepherd’s Rod in a round about way, preparing them by degrees. But at last we really had to tell them the message, and I am happy to say (thanking God for it) that more than two-thirds have accepted it. 
But now the church elder has stopped us from leading the meeting so you can see that the professed people of God today, as of old, will not endure sound doctrine.” 
(Signed) L. F. OTTO
Logansport, Ind." { 2SC3,4: 9.2.6 }

---Well, at least they had the guts to publish critics 

of their movement and magazine

here are a couple of good ones we can conur with....

"Please discontinue sending any of your tracts or letters to our home as we are not interested and all such are put into the fire. We are well satisfied with the “Truth” as taught by the Seventh-day Adventist denomination and want none of the Shepherd’s Rod teachings. 

{7SC1-6: 3.1.2 }
I wish you would please keep this junk to yourselves. I don’t want it. I use it for paper to start a fire and I don’t need it because I have plenty of paper to start a fire with.
I don’t know who sent you my address but you might tell them they surely made a mistake. 

{ 7SC1-6: 3.1.5 }"

SDA History: A.T. Jones Response to Mormon Polygamy & the Government [12/13/1888]

Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. Matthew 22:21

A.T. Jones before U.S. Senator Blair:

"I should have come to that, even though you had not asked the question. But as you have introduced it, I will notice it now. 

My argument throughout is that the civil government can never have anything to do with men's duties under the first four of the ten commandments; and this is the argument embodied in Washington's words. 

These duties pertain solely to God. 

Now polygamy is adultery. 

But adultery is not a duty that men owe to God, in any way, much less does it come under any of the first four commandments. 

This comes within the inhibitions of the second table of the law of God - the commandments embracing duty to our neighbor. 

--How men should conduct themselves toward their fellow-men, civil government must decide; that is the very purpose of its existence. Consequently, the practice of polygamy lying wholly within this realm, is properly subject to the jurisdiction of civil government. 

My argument does not in the least degree countenance the principles of Mormonism, nor can it fairly be made to do so. 

--I know that is is offered a s very ready objection; but those who offer it as an objection and as an argument against the principles upon which we stand, thereby make adultery a religious practice. 

But against all such objection and argument, I maintain that adultery is not in any sense a religious practice. 

--It is not only highly irreligious, but it is essentially uncivil; and because it is uncivil, the civil power has as much right to blot it out as it has to punish murder, or thieving, or perjury, or any other uncivil thing. 

Moreover, we deny that honest occupations on any day of the week, or at any time whatever, can ever properly be classed with adultery.

It is every man's right in this country, or anywhere else, to worship an idol if he chooses. That idol embodies his conviction of what God is. He can worship only according to his convictions. It matters not what form his idol may have, he has the right to worship it anywhere in the world, therefore in the United States.

*But suppose that in the worship of that god he attempts to take the life of one of his fellow-men, and offer it as a human sacrifice. 

*The civil government exists for the protection of life. liberty, property, etc., and it must punish that man for his attempt upon the life of his fellow-man. 

*The civil law protects man's life from such exercise of any one's religion, but in punishing the offender, the State does not consider the question of his religion at all. 

It would punish him just the same if he made no pretensions to worship or to religion. 

It punishes him for his incivility, for his attempt at murder, not for his irreligion. I repeat, the question is not considered by the State; the sole question is, Did he threaten the life of his fellow-man? Civil government must protect its citizens. This is strictly within Caesar's jurisdiction; it comes within the line of duties which the Scripture show to pertain to our neighbor, and with it Caesar has to do." 

A.T. Jones

SDA History: What We Shall Preach

And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed....And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:...And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Daniel 8:14/Revelation 15:5/21:3

"In Daniel is the sanctuary; in Revelation is the sanctuary—its cleansing and all its work. 

In both books, then, as certainly as we preach the books, we shall preach of the sanctuary and its cleansing in heaven, and in ourselves on earth." 

A.T. Jones

SDA HISTORY: Jones on "Caesar"

"The people inhabiting the territory formerly called the province of

New Hampshire, do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other to form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or state, by the name of the State of New Hampshire."
In the Constitution of New Hampshire of 1792, these articles are repeated word for word. They remain there without alteration in a single letter under the ratification of 1852, and also under the ratification of 1877.

Consequently, sir, the very state which sends you to this capitol is founded upon the very theory which you here deny. 

---This is the doctrine of the Declaration of Independence; 

---it is the doctrine of the Scripture; 

---and therefore we hold it to be eternally true.

These sound and genuine American principles - civil governments deriving their powers from the consent of the governed, and the inalienability of the rights of conscience, - these are the principles asserted and maintained by Seventh-day Adventists.

When Caesar exacts of men that which pertains to God, then Caesar is out of his place, and in so far as Caesar is obeyed there, God is denied. When Caesar - civil government - exacts of men that which is God's, he demands what does not belong to him; in so doing Caesar usurps the place and the prerogative of God, and every man who regards God or his own rights before God, will disregard all such interference on the part of Caesar.

This argument is confirmed by the apostle's commentary upon Christ's words found in Romans 13:1-9. It is written: -
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. 

--For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 

--Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall received themselves damnation. 

--For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. 

Q: Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? 

--Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. 

--But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 

Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. 

--For, for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 

--Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. 

Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt no kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

A.T. Jones

SDA History: Bates Method

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: Matthew 25:21

"Joseph Bates went to Battle Creek in 1852 and when he arrived, he

asked the postmaster for the name of the most honest man in that town. He was given the name of David Hewitt. 

Bates spent all day at the Hewitt home presenting a thorough and systematic study of the Advent Movement, including the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14. 

The family accepted the entire presentation and soon a group was meeting in their home until a building could be erected for meetings." 

StepsToLife

SDA History: War of 1812 POW, Church Pioneer Bates

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11

"Probably his most trying experience was as a prisoner of the British during the War of 1812. 

At that time the British used impressment to fill the ranks of their

Navy. One April evening in 1810, 12 men and an officer entered a boardinghouse in Liverpool, England, where they “seized and dragged” Joseph Bates and some other Americans and put them in jail. 

The next day Bates and those with him were forced into the British Navy. Bates served on two large Royal Navy fighting ships. 

In 1812 the United States declared war on England because of the impressment issue and maritime rights. Bates and his American companions demanded to be made prisoners of war, as

they refused to fight against their own country. 

The British granted their request, and as prisoners of war they were confined on various prison ships. After numerous escape attempts, Bates and his friends were sent to Dartmoor Prison, a damp and dreary place near Plymouth, England. While there, Bates witnessed the “massacre,” when British guards opened fire on the prisoners, killing seven and wounding 60.
Finally the Treaty of Ghent was signed, and in April of 1815 Bates returned home a free man. After an absence of more than six years, Bates received a warm welcome. Among those who welcomed him was a childhood friend, Prudence Nye, who in 1818 became his wife." AR

SIMPLIFYING ADVENTISM: Mission, Cornerstone Doctrine, Identifying Mark & Unique Characteristic of SDA Chruch Through the Prism of Sola Scriptura

 

SIMPLIFYING ADVENTISM: 

Mission, Cornerstone Doctrine, 

 Identifying Mark & 

Unique Characteristic of SDA Chruch 

Through the Prism of Sola Scriptura 

Sola Scriptura (Latin for 'by Scripture alone')

The MISSION of the SDA Church is the 3 Angel's Messages:

[Last Call To The World]
1) And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 

Saying with a loud voice, 

Fear God, and give glory to Him; 

for the hour of His judgment is come: 

and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, 

and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 

2) And there followed another angel, saying, 

Babylon is fallen, is fallen,....

3) And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 

If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; ...

*And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 

Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, 

and is become the habitation of devils, 

and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird....., 

Come out of her, My people, 

that ye be not partakers of her sins, 

and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Revelation 14:6-10/18:2,10

The Cornerstone DOCTRINE of the SDA Church is the SANCTUARY DOCTRINE:

[From the SYMBOLISM of the Earthly Sanctuary to the REALITY of the Heavenly Sanctuary]
And he said unto me, 

Unto two thousand and three hundred days; (years)

then shall the sanctuary be cleansed....

*We have such an high priest, 

who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 

*A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, 

which the Lord pitched, and not man. 

1) Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 

--For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 

--And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold,..

--Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 

--But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 

2) But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

--For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 

--much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?... but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 

-**-And as it is appointed unto men once to die, 

but after this the judgment:

Daniel 8:14/Hebrews 8:1,2/9:1-4.6,7,11-14,26,27

The IDENTIFYING MARK of the SDA Church is the 7th Day SABBATH:

[The Seal of His Law that Identifies Him as Creator -- and therefore as God]
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy 

Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 

*But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: 

in it thou shalt not do any work...

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, 

the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: 

wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

Here is the patience of the saints: 

here are they that keep the commandments of God, 

and the faith of Jesus.

Exodus 20:8-11/Revelation 14:12

In this GREAT CONTROVERSY between God and His opponent, played out here on this Space Fabric of Time, 

between the Pillars of the 2 Decrees from the Throne of God, 

of "Let There Be Light" (Gen. 1:3) to "It is Done" (Rev. 16:17) --

The Apostle Paul gives us a WARNING:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 

but against principalities, against powers, 

against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 

against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 Ephesians 6:12

God sent mankind a Text Message, the Bible--giving us origins, destiny, meaning and morality.

It Begins & Ends the same: It begins with God leaning over and

breathing the breath of Life into Adam. It ends with God leaning over and wiping away the tears of the saints. -- It Begins and Ends with God leaning over and touching us--mankind. In the pages in between He tells us what He thinks of us: ...that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James 5:11

Picture the Letter of 3rd John as a Summary of God's Text Message to YOU:

Beloved, 

I wish above all things 

that thou mayest prosper

(personal wellbeing)

and be in health,

(physical wellbeing) 

even as thy soul prospereth.

(spiritual wellbeing)

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. But I trust I shall shortly see thee, 

and we shall speak face to face.

3 John 1:2,4,14

The Unique Characteristic of the SDA Church is the Gift of the SPIRIT of PROPHECY in its midst:

[We believe through Ellen White]

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, 

and went to make war with the remnant of her seed,

1- which keep the commandments of God, 

2- and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

And I fell at his feet to worship him. 

And he said unto me, 

See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren 

that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: 

for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Revelation 12:17/19:10

Her writings are considered by her and the Church, to be the "Lesser Light" pointing toward the "Greater Light" (the Bible). They are in NO WAY to take the place of Scripture nor are on par with the canon of Scripture itself. Rather, under inspiration, they highlight the Present Truth in the Bible for this age---

(Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 1 Peter 1:12).

EXAMPLE: The dietary principles of God are in Scripture. Well before the Hebrews in the days of Moses, God distinguished clear back in the Days of Noah, that there are Clean and Unclean Meat for mankind. She pulled the HEALTH MESSAGE from the Scriptures that many Christians had been missing - or ignoring for centuries - yet it was always there.

This last day movement would not only keep the commandments of God but have the Spirit of Prophecy within it. 

***12 Samples of Ellen White***

On GRACE: 

"If you feel yourself to be the greatest sinner, Christ is just what you need, the greatest Savior. Lift up your head and look away from yourself, away from your sin, to the uplifted Savior; away from the poisonous, venomous bite of the serpent to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world."

On OBEDIENCE: 

"God has given us His commandments, not only to be believed in, but to be obeyed." 

Message for LAODICEA: 

"You know the truth, you believe the truth, you even love the truth.---But the truth hasn't changed you. Let the truth change you."

On PRAYER: 

"Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. 

You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him.

His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them.
Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. 

Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. 

There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. .... no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest.
......He knows the sorrows that we feel to the depths of our being, but which we cannot express."

On What to Contemplate:

"It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of

Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones."

On the "IF": 

"If we ever reach heaven, it will be by linking our souls to Christ, leaning upon Him, and cutting loose from *the world, *its follies *and enchantments."

On SEXUAL IMMORALITY: 

"O, how disgusted is God with the tame, lifeless, Christless efforts made by some of those who profess to be his servants. Not one particle of Sodomitish impurity will escape the wrath of God at the execution of the judgment. Those who do not repent of and forsake all uncleanness will fall with the wicked.

Those who anciently committed these sins were taken without the camp and stoned to death. Temporal and eternal death was their doom; and because the penalty of stoning to death is abolished, this sin is indulged in beyond measure, and is thought to be a small offense.
Indulgence in unlawful things has become a power to--deprave mankind,--to dwarf the mind,--and to pervert the faculties.
Just such a state of things as exists today existed before the flood and before the destruction of Sodom."

On Christ in the SANCTUARY: 

"The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan

of salvation as was His death upon the cross.
By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven. The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ's work in behalf of men.
It concerns every soul living upon the earth."

On the SABBATH:
"Like the Sabbath, the week originated at creation, and it has been preserved and brought down to us through Bible history. God himself measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time.
Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God rested, and he then blessed this day, and set it apart as a day of rest for man."

On the STATE OF THE DEAD:

"Nowhere in the Sacred Scriptures is found the statement that the righteous go to their reward or the wicked to their punishment at death. Upon the fundamental error of natural immortality rests the doctrine of consciousness in death—a doctrine.... opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures, to the dictates of reason.

Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited by transgression. 

Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he did not possess; But what did Adam, after his sin, find to be the meaning of the words, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou

shalt surely die”? 

Did he find them to mean, as Satan had led him to believe, that he was to be ushered into a more exalted state of existence? 

The Bible declares that the dead know not anything, that their thoughts have perished; they have no part in anything that is done under the sun; they know nothing of the joys or sorrows of those who were dearest to them on earth. God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people who claimed, as do the spiritualists of today, to hold communication with the dead. But the “familiar spirits,” as these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be “the spirits of devils.” 

The theory of the immortality of the soul was one of those false doctrines that Rome, borrowing from paganism, incorporated into the religion of Christendom. 

Martin Luther classed it with the “monstrous fables that form part of the Roman dunghill of decretals.”

The Bible clearly teaches that the dead do not go immediately to heaven. They are represented as sleeping until the resurrection. 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Job 14:10-12. In the very day when the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl broken (Ecclesiastes 12:6), man's thoughts perish. They that go down to the grave are in silence. They sleep; they are awakened by the trump of God to a glorious immortality. “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.... So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-54. "

On ERROR:

"Error cannot stand alone, and would soon become extinct if it did not fasten itself like a parasite upon the tree of truth.
--Error draws its life from the truth of God.
--The traditions of men, like floating germs, attach themselves to the truth of God, and men

regard them as a part of the truth.
--Through false doctrines, Satan gains a foothold, and captivates the minds of men, causing them to hold theories that have no foundation in truth.
Men boldly teach for doctrines the commandments of men; and as traditions pass on from age to age, they acquire a power over the human mind.
But age does not make error truth, neither does its burdensome weight cause the plant of truth to become a parasite.
--The tree of truth bears its own genuine fruit, showing its true origin and nature.
--The parasite of error also bears its own fruit and makes manifest that its character is diverse from the plant of heavenly origin."

A WARNING: 

"...by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence."

Q: Do you know of any other denomination that preaches the 3

Angel's Messages, lifts up the Beauty of the Sanctuary Doctrine where the Plan of Redemption is laid out, believes in keeping ALL the Commandments of God (including the 7th day Sabbath of the 4th Commandment) and has the Spirit of Prophecy -- not in an arrogant way that makes up new things but rather, under inspiration, points deeper into what's already there in the Bible?

Links for MORE on the 3 ANGEL'S MESSAGES:

3 Angel's Message Simplified

Dig Deeper: 3 Angel's Message Simplified (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

3 Angels' Messages SIMPLIFIED Series: Message 1

Dig Deeper: 3 Angels' Messages SIMPLIFIED Series: Message 1 (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

3 Angels' Messages SIMPLIFIED Series: Message 2

Dig Deeper: 3 Angels' Messages SIMPLIFIED Series: Message 2 (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

3 Angels' Messages SIMPLIFIED Series: Message 3

Dig Deeper: 3 Angels' Messages SIMPLIFIED Series: Message 3 (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Amos Summarizes 3 Angel's Message

Dig Deeper: Amos Summarizes 3 Angel's Message (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Links for MORE on the SANCTUARY DOCTRINE:

SANCTUARY DOCTRINE simplified

SANCTUARY DOCTRINE simplified (sancdoct.blogspot.com)

Paul Describes the Christians Disease (While Teaching the Sanctuary Doctrine)

Dig Deeper: Paul Describes the Christians Disease (While Teaching the Sanctuary Doctrine) 

2300 Days/Years Succinctly Laid Out

Dig Deeper: 2300 Days/Years Succinctly Laid Out (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Cleansing of the Sanctuary Simplified

Dig Deeper: Cleansing of the Sanctuary Simplified (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Uriah Smith & the Prophetic Apartment of the Sacred Scriptures & the 2300 days

Dig Deeper: Uriah Smith & the Prophetic Apartment of the Sacred Scriptures & the 2300 days 

ALPHA & OMEGA of the SANCTUARY

Dig Deeper: ALPHA & OMEGA of the SANCTUARY (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Links for MORE on the SABBATH:

"Tree" Lesson of Sabbath

Dig Deeper: "Tree" Lesson of Sabbath (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Sabbath Debate SIMPLIFIED

Dig Deeper: Sabbath Debate SIMPLIFIED (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Your Biological Connection to the Sabbath

Dig Deeper: Your Biological Connection to the Sabbath (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

The "Severing" at the Creation

Dig Deeper: Creation Moment 4/20/2023 - The "Severing" at the Creation 

What is the Doctrine of Sunday Sacredness?

Dig Deeper: What is the Doctrine of Sunday Sacredness? (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Council of Trent admitted they teach the commandments of men

Dig Deeper: Council of Trent admitted they teach the commandments of men