In this issue:
HISTORICAL, BIBLICAL OR PAPAL ADVENTISTS?
The term, “Historic Seventh-day Adventist” became popular a few years ago with the sudden explosion of home churches and independent ministries, all unhappy with the falling standards, the changing doctrines and the general worldly and ecumenical trends in the “mother” Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Terry Ross, the founder of “Servants of Our Saviour” Ministry, claims that he is the person who first coined the term. Be that as it may, it quickly became a phrase which the independent ministries favored, and many home churches began to use the term “historic Adventists” to identify themselves. It was a term which seemed to say, “we stand by the old landmarks on which the SDA Church was founded. We belong to the original SDA church and not the present day imposter!” It made a good springboard for launching the claim that the present day SDA denomination is in apostasy, has departed from the teachings of the earlier Adventists, and therefore is not the true Seventh-day Adventist Church, even though it bears the same name. Of course, the logical thing to conclude is that the “Historic Seventh-day Adventists are really the true Seventh-day Adventists.
All seemed to be well until the publication of the “Issues” book by the SDA church revealed a glaring inconsistency on the part of the Independent Ministries. On page 39 of the book, in the section entitled, “Historic Adventism – Ancient Landmarks and The Present Truth” the publishers point out that the early Adventists were non trinitarian and quote from the statement of beliefs published by the Adventists in 1872 to support their claim. They then go on to say:
“Would one be willing to accept all the content from that earlier era? Are the modern defenders of so-called historic Adventism really prepared to return to a non-Trinitarian position?”
The silence from the “Historic” Independent Ministries on this point was deafening. The Issues book was perfectly right. Are you truly a Historic Seventh-day Adventist? Since you say that the church has no right to change the position of the pioneers, but must stick by the original doctrines, then be consistent. Accept all of historic Adventism, or give up the sham of being a defender of the “faith of our fathers.”
Interestingly, Elder John Grosboll (Steps To Life) Published three little booklets in rebuttal to the Issues book published by the denomination. In the second of these booklets entitled, ISSUES: The Letter the NAD Officers did not Publish in their ISSUES Book – The Church – Part Two, Elder Grosboll reprints the 1872 statement of beliefs referred to by the SDA church leaders and makes the following remarkable statement:
“Who is an historic Seventh-day Adventist? An historic Seventh-day Adventist is a person who believes the historic teachings of Seventh-day Adventists. The following article by James White from the Signs of the Times in 1874 outlines the historic doctrines of Seventh-day Adventists. A historic Seventh-day Adventist still believes all of these . . .”
This is a remarkable statement, coming from Elder Grosboll. Let us look at the first point in the statement of beliefs as published by the Early Adventists. It reads as follows:
“That there is one God, a personal, spiritual Being, the Creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal, infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and mercy; unchangeable, and everywhere present by his representative, the Holy Spirit. Psalm 139:7”
Notice that in this statement, the one God is clearly identified as being one Person. Not three. The Holy Spirit is identified as being, not the one God, but rather, the representative of the one God. Furthermore in the second point of this statement of beliefs, Jesus Christ is stated to be, not God, but rather, “the Son of the Eternal Father, the One by whom God created all things” It is clear that this statement of beliefs teaches that the only Being who is God in the sense of being the absolute supreme authority and the source of all things, is God the Father.
Yet in his Landmarks magazine of December, 1996, Elder Grosboll, in an article entitled, The Godhead, accuses the SDA pioneers of being Arians, contends that these “Historic Adventists” believed false doctrines and contradicts their statement of beliefs by stating many times that God is not a single person, but is rather, three Beings (though he does not use the word Trinity yet he teaches the trinity concept).
“A second point that we notice in Ellen White’s writings is that she speaks of one God. She does not teach that there are three Gods, but that there is one God. And yet, at the same time, as we will see, she teaches that this one God includes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which are three personalities mysteriously united as one . . .””. . . Notice, there is One upon the throne. There is one God, but this one God includes both Christ and the Father. . .”
Landmarks – Dec. 1996, p.16
It is evident that many of these “Independent Ministers” are not willing to be “Historic Adventists” except where it is convenient for them and fits in with their agenda.
BIBLICAL ADVENTISTS?
Others of the Independent Ministries, have chosen to take a different label. Perceiving the inconsistency in calling oneself “Historic” while rejecting doctrines which are fully a part of the “Historic” package, they have chosen to refer to themselves as “Biblical Adventists”, implying that our pioneers were not Biblical in at least some of their beliefs. Here, however, we find a fulfillment of the Biblical proverb, “As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; ” (Amos 5:19). If the pioneers were non-trinitarian, the Bible is even more so. Let us briely compare the beliefs of the pioneers concerning God, with the teachings of the Bible.
Pioneer’s Belief no. 1:
“That there is one God, a personal, spiritual Being, the Creator of all things …(who is) everywhere present by His representative, the Holy Spirit
The Bible:
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him….” (1 Cor 8:6)
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” (Psa 139:7)
Pioneer’s Belief no. 2:
“That there is one Lord Jesus Christ, and Son of the Eternal Father, the One by whom God created all things…”
The Bible:
“…and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Cor 8:6)”…. God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:” (Eph 3:9)
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)
Our pioneers were men of prayer and study. God chose capable vessels to define the faith which would take the remnant into the kingdom; men who spent countless hours in seeking God’s guidance as they endeavored to learn the truth. One is impressed when reading the publications of the early Adventists with the careful research and the depth of thought, the logical reasoning, the deep spirituality of our forbears. The contrast with the present day crop of “theologians” is striking.Several of these proponents of the Trinity doctrine have claimed that Jesus never became the Son of God until He was conceived in Mary’s womb! This concept is so destructive to the basic focus of the gospel that it is appalling to think that men who profess to be the ministers of that gospel should propose it.
What says the Scripture?
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9)
Note three things here:
1. we may discern how much God loves us by the value of the gift which He gave.2. the gift which He gave was His Only Begotten Son.
3. He gave His Son, by sending Him into the world.
What was the identity of Jesus Christ at the time when He was sent? Was He then, God’s Son? If He was not, then it was not His Son that God sent. Did God the Father send another God to become the Son? No. Plain reason indicates that at the time when He was sent, He must have already been the Son, or else the whole sense of the verse is lost. The point being emphasized by the Holy Spirit in this verse, is, the revelation of God’s love. This, according to the verse, is manifested by the value of the gift which He gave. How valuable was this gift? The Holy Spirit calls upon us to discern the wonder of it all – it was His only begotten Son that He gave. Could there have been a more wonderful manifestation of God’s love? No. Nothing else could have revealed it so fully as the giving of such a gift.
But now we are told that it was not really His Son that God gave. What are we to make of the declarations of these “theologians” that the Father did not truly give His Son, but really incarnated a fellow God and gave Him the title of His Son, by virtue of the fact that He had transformed Him into flesh? What then is the measure of the love which God had for this Son? Logically, His Fatherly love for Jesus was based on the fact that He had changed Him into flesh (according to this teaching, this is how Jesus became the Son of God, therefore we must begin to measure God’s love for Jesus as a Father from that point). Do you see what I am saying? The scriptures do not ask us to behold the love of the Father for a fellow God, or for some mysterious fellow companion. The emphasis all through is the Father’s love for His Son. This is how we may measure the greatness of the Father’s love for us.
The doctrine that Jesus was not originally the Son of God is a most destructive one and is diametrically opposed to the foundation teachings of the gospel.
Hebrews 1:5,6 is used as a key text to prove that Jesus only became God’s Son at His birth. It says:
“For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”
It is correctly claimed that this text applies to Jesus’ arrival into the world. However, this becomes the basis of the claim that all references to the Sonship of Jesus must be applied from that time. It is this kind of reasoning which tempts me to question the sincerity of these men. These are men who quote profusely from the writings of Ellen White when it suits them. They surely know what Ellen White has said on this matter. How is it that they ignore her so completely on this point? This is what Sister White has to say about the arrival of Jesus into this world: “Before the foundations of the world were laid, Christ, the Only Begotten of God, pledged Himself to become the Redeemer of the human race, should Adam sin. …
” In His incarnation He gained in a new sense the title of the Son of God. Said the angel to Mary, “The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). While the Son of a human being, He became the Son of God in a new sense. Thus He stood in our world—the Son of God, yet allied by birth to the human race.” — 1SM, PG- 226, 227
It seems clear to me that there is a convenient use of the Testimonies by these men. When it suits them, they champion the writings. When it doesn’t, they ignore them completely. One glaring example of the misuse made of Sister White is in the case of a paper put out recently by one of these independent ministries. The author, in attempting to prove that Jesus is the absolute equal of the Father in every respect, quotes from the “Signs of The Times” of May 3, 1895, as follows:
“He gave His only begotten Son— not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner … but one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. — The Signs of the Times – 05-30-95
When we see what the complete quotation says, as quoted below, it is difficult not to question the sincerity of the writer. The underlined section is the part which was left out. The full quote reads as follows:
“He gave His only begotten Son— not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father’s person, and in all the brightness of his majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
When I see things like this, many strong words come to my mind. I restrain them with difficulty. This is not a matter of mere words. What are we contending for here? Popularity? Financial support? Acceptance? The scoring of points? No, no, no! The very character of our God is the issue in question here. God’s sincerity, the reality of His love, the foundation of our relationship with Him are the issues in question and shall we endanger these concepts by manipulating words? God help us to be honest! How can we escape the wine of Babylon imbibed in schools reeking with Babylonish philosophies? No wonder God has “hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes and sucklings.”
PAPAL ADVENTISTS
The Encarta Encyclopedia has this to say about the origin of the Trinitarian doctrine:
“Trinity (theology)
In Christian theology, doctrine that God exists as three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who are united in one substance or being. The doctrine is not taught explicitly in the New Testament, where the word God almost invariably refers to the Father; but already Jesus Christ, the Son, is seen as standing in a unique relation to the Father, while the Holy Spirit is also emerging as a distinct divine person.
The term trinitas was first used in the 2nd century, by the Latin theologian Tertullian, but the concept was developed in the course of the debates on the nature of Christ. In the 4th century, the doctrine was finally formulated; using terminology still employed by Christian theologians, the doctrine taught the coequality of the persons of the Godhead. … For an adequate understanding of the trinitarian conception of God, the distinctions among the persons of the Trinity must not become so sharp that there seems to be a plurality of gods, nor may these distinctions be swallowed up in an undifferentiated monism.”
The description here of how the Trinity doctrine originated, is not unique to the Encarta Encyclopedia, but is basically the same as that which may be found in any reliable encyclopedia. Note the statement that “The doctrine is not taught explicitly in the New Testament, where the word God almost invariably refers to the Father” Here is an assessment of the situation from people who do not have a religious agenda. The Trinity is not a doctrine which is taught in the Bible. So where did it originate? We are provided with an answer to this question as well: “the concept was developed in the course of the debates on the nature of Christ. In the 4th century, the doctrine was finally formulated …”
The implications of this are devastating. This is a doctrine which was formulated after the Bible was completed. A doctrine which was formulated in the Catholic councils of the 4th Century! No wonder the Catholic Church has stated:
“Our opponents sometimes claim that no belief should be held dogmatically which is not explicitly stated in Scripture . . . . But the Protestant Churches have themselves accepted such dogmas as the Trinity for which there is no such precise authority in the Gospels.”
Life Magazine, Oct. 30, 1950
This doctrine does not belong to Historic Adventism. Upon the testimony of unbiased researchers, neither does it belong to the teachings of the Bible or the apostolic church. In actual fact, this doctrine originated in the Catholic councils of the 4th century. Since when did these councils become authoritative for Adventists?
In adopting this Trinitarian teaching, Adventists have placed themselves right alongside the false protestant churches, the daughters of Babylon who claim the scriptures as their authority, but in actual fact, adopt the traditions of Rome. In following this dangerous trend, The “mother” Adventist church and the “reformers” alike have adopted the Catholic principle of accepting tradition as an authoritative source for defining Christian belief. When all things are considered, perhaps a more fitting title for Adventists who believe in the Trinity, is neither, “Historic Adventists, nor Biblical Adventists, but rather, Papal Adventists.
| The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie.One word of truth outweighs the world. Alexander Solzhenitsyn |
Why Elijah Must Come
by Donald Clayton
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
(Malachi 4:5, 6)
The promise to send Elijah “before the great and dreadful day of the Lord“, has special relevance to us today as we are aware that of all generations who have ever lived, we stand closest to the “day of the Lord“.The most obvious question however, is “Why Elijah?” What is the significance of the work of Elijah to the last days?A clue to the answer will be found in Verse 6 “He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers.” If we can understand this, then we will perhaps be able to recognize the work of Elijah today, and where we may fit into the plan of God.In I Kings 16:29-33 we read:
“And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel:… And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel ….. and went and served Baal and worshiped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal… and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”
Here we see a situation where the King of Israel had risen to the height of rebellion against God. In the process of apostasy he had gone and married a woman who did not believe in God. In fact she worshiped a false god; Baal. As is usually the case when God’s people become unequally yoked with unbelievers, the unbeliever, (Jezebel), converted the believer, (Ahab), to her religion. Now that in itself can be bad enough when the believer goes and joins himself to the unbeliever’s church, but what happened here was that the believer began to take the unbeliever’s type of religion right into his church. He felt that he was still in the right church, serving God, and leading God’s people, but his union with a woman of another religion had caused his concept of God to change, so he was now worshiping another god, and as the leader of God’s people, he was leading them to do the same thing.The hearts of the children of Israel had been turned away from God and so He needed a man brave enough to go against the popular religious current, which was teaching about many gods; the religion which was being forced upon them by their leaders, and turn the hearts of the people back to Him.
Elijah went straight to the heart of the problem. He could have gone around Israel, trying to convince the people individually, but while this method may reach a few, and may even convert some, he would not have been able to reach, let alone convince, the majority. You see, people have a tendency to love following the leader. “How can an insignificant little man like you be right, while the King is wrong?”Recently one church sister asked me, “Are you trying to say that all the presidents, pastors and leaders of the church are wrong, while you are right?” Maybe somebody today would have asked Elijah the same question.Elijah said to the King “Because of you Israel has lost its blessing. Because of you there will be no rain.”
“The leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.”
(Isaiah 9:16)
The rest of the story tells of how Elijah finally got Ahab and the prophets of the false god to show up their true colours on Mount Carmel. Pray as they might, scream as they may, their god could not answer. Then Elijah spoke to God.
“Hear me, O Lord…that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.”
(I Kings 18:37)
Elijah’s desire was that Israel would get back into a right relationship with their Father. Note the similarity of the portion underlined in the above verse, to the statement in Malachi 4:6. “He shall turn the hearts …”Today we have reached the place where, in most of the “Christian” churches the true Lord God has been substituted by a false god. Israel has left the worship of the one true God and is now worshiping a pagan god called the Trinity.
This concept of a trinity began with the Babylonians as they started to worship Nimrod, Semiramus and Tammuz. Most of the heathen nations adopted this three-god concept and Israel was distinguished from them by the fact that Israel’s God was “ONE GOD” (Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29)
Are you worshiping the true God when you worship the trinity? Obviously not! for one God cannot be three, and neither can three be one God.This false god was brought into Christianity by the same power which brought in the false sabbath. THE PAPACY The scriptures clearly teach us that this church is false and therefore not to be trusted in her doctrines. Yet the great majority of Christians today have adopted either one or both of her major false doctrines. The two major doctrines of this church are concerned with: “Who is God” and “What is His day of worship”
Both of these, the Catholic Church has changed and used tradition, rather than the scriptures as the basis for the change. First she changed the day of worship from the seventh to the first (Saturday to Sunday), and then changed the god of the people to the Trinity. In both cases, those who refused to comply with the changes were punished by the church. Yet most churches today, follow her in this.
It is clear that Israel of today has turned away their hearts from God and that is why God has promised that He will send Elijah the prophet to turn the hearts of the children back to Him. See Luke 1:16.
Elijah is YOU! ELIJAH IS ME! Can God depend on us today, to turn the hearts of His children back to Him?The TRINITY IS IDOLATRY!! Let us teach people about the one TRUE GOD. It may mean that we will have to hide beside the brooks from those who hate us for teaching the truth; It may mean that we will have to be fed by blackbirds; It may mean that your own family will hate you, but does God mean enough to you to risk the security and comfort of your home?
Is it important to you whether the millions of “children” in the churches worship the true God, or is it enough that you are one of the seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal?
In the time of crisis Elijah made it clear that the undercover Christian (Obadiah) and the prophets in the caves did not count, for they were doing nothing to try to turn Israel away from idolatry, that is why he said, “I, even I only remain a prophet of the Lord.” (I Kings 18:29)In this time of crisis God needs someone to send; someone who will “turn the hearts of the children to the Father” In this time of crisis God needs someone who is no less than Elijah, who is not afraid to stand ALONE against the leaders who are leading the people astray. It is time now for someone to “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.” (Isa. 58:1)The leaders of our churches can no longer be trusted to lead us in the pathway of Christianity, for they have married themselves to the pagan woman; the Catholic Church, and are now worshiping her god, the Trinity, and forcing the people to do the same. Jeremiah says:
“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastures! saith the LORD.” (Jer. 23:1)
“For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.” (Jer. 29:9)
The Omega Project
The greatest truth which God has unfolded to His people in recent times, is the truth about the godhead. The truth that God is not a trinity, but is one Person, the supreme Ruler of the universe who has an only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Wonderful as this truth is, we have come up against a stonewall of tradition and man-worship in our attempts to enlighten other Christians concerning this truth. This is particularly true of our efforts for Seventh-day Adventists. Pastors and church leaders have instructed people not to take literature from us, or have ordered them to destroy “every tract” when we have tried to distribute literature at churches and meetings. Some of our people have been abused verbally and physically.
Recently we hit upon an idea which has proven to be quite effective. We thought that if we could get the people to be interested in our tapes on the godhead, in a setting where the ministers would not be able to get to them before they listened to them, then perhaps we could break through to some. The best way we could accomplish this was by putting an advertisement in the Sunday Gleaner which is the most widely read newspaper in Jamaica. The problem was that such an advertisement would be very costly. We wanted it something bold, and noticeable. A one page ad would cost close to $140,000.00. Even a quarter page was far more than we could think of undertaking since this would cost over $50,000.00.For a while we had to put the idea on a shelf, but just when we were about to abandon it altogether as not being the will of God, we were visited by a brother and in our discussions we casually mentioned the idea. He immediately offered to pay for the ad, and so the project got under way.
Initially, we expected that the response to the ad would be moderate. I thought that perhaps we might get 20 or 30 orders for the tapes. However, I was in for a pleasant surprise. From the first day, we had to quickly rearrange our thinking. The orders came in thick and fast and most of the people showed great interest and a desire to talk and discuss the issues presented on the tapes. To this date we have had 370 orders for the tapes and several of these persons have called to ask for follow up literature and studies.
One problem which we immediately encountered was the question of how to copy so many tapes (1110 so far). However, the Lord had it all planned and help came from unexpected quarters. Brother David Rose got 400 tapes commercially copied in Ocho Rios. Then brother Randall Mercer sent us a high speed copy machine which enabled us to deal with the rest of orders. It was a hectic job, labelling and copying and mailing out all those tapes, but it was a blessed experience. The message has gone out to a significant number of people and the Lord promises that His word will accomplish that whereunto He has appointed it. The truth is like a time bomb out there waiting to explode. When it erupts, no time serving minister or church leader will be able to quench the fire which will be lit. Let us pray for those who have received these tapes.Below is a copy of the Advertisement as it appeared in the Sunday Gleaner. The entire ad was about 8 1/2 x 11 inches and was in two colours.
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.” — Martin Luther
Camp Meeting Notice
It’s Camp meeting time again. It’s almost time for us to once again make our way to “Copper” in the hills of St. James for four days of fellowship and spiritual refreshing.
Please indicate very early whether you will be attending this campmeeting as we need to make proper arrangements for accommodating the additional numbers who may be attending .
Camp meeting begins on Wednesday the 5th of August and will conclude on Sunday, the 9th of August.
Please contact brother David Clayton before July 17 if you are planning to attend. Call (876) 904-7392.
Each person is required to make a contribution of (JA)$500.00 towards the cost of food etc.
Speakers will include Lynnford Beachy and Doug Goslin from the USA, as well as Colin Gyles, David Clayton, and other local speakers.
Please remember to take with you:
Your own bedding, air mattress or foam for sleeping.
Eating Utensils
Bucket for fetching water from the spring.
Basin for bathing (you could use your bucket for this)
Tent (if possible).
Flashlight
Open Face is published bi-monthly and is sent free to all who desire to receive it.
David Clayton: Editor and Publisher
P. O. Box 23 Knockpatrick
Manchester, Jamaica W.I.
Phone: (876) 904-7392
email: david@restorationministry.com
