 |
|
Reply
| | From:  Tweety134 (Original Message) | Sent: 6/17/2008 12:02 AM |
| Wow! This Ellen White thought she was God. No wonder people follow her. Seventh-Day Adventism Orthodox or Cult?* Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) arose from the aftermath of the Adventist movement of the mid-1800s. "Seventh-day" refers to the focus on sabbath, or Saturday worship. "Adventist" refers to the SDA belief that they are the fulfillment of prophecies pertaining to the latter days remnant and the coming of Christ. The world was predicted to end in 1844 with the Second Coming of Christ, by William Miller, a New England Baptist itinerant preacher. Miller's followers condemned all the churches of the day as apostate and "Babylon," and warned Christians to come out of them. A great many did, and the "adventist" movement was born and grew rapidly (Melton, J. Gordon, Encyclopedia of American Religions, Vol. 2, pp. 21�?2). Christ did not appear in 1844. After this "Great Disappointment," one "little flock" still insisted the date of their original predictions had been correct. They decided the event marked by 1844 was not the Second Coming, but the entrance of Christ into the Holy of Holies in the Heavenly Sanctuary. There, they said, He began the "Investigative Judgment." (See #6 below.) This doctrine was received and endorsed by Ellen G. White (Ibid., p. 680). From 1844 to 1851, the group taught the "shut door" doctrine, based on Jesus' parable of the ten virgins. Anyone who had not accepted the Adventist message by the time Jesus entered the Holy of Holies was to be shut out permanently, as were the five foolish virgins. Cut off from the Bridegroom, they could not join the Adventists or have any hope of eternal life. Ellen White not only approved and taught this doctrine, but her first vision experience (she claimed over 2,000 visions) was largely responsible for its being received by the Adventist group (Brinsmead, Robert, D., Judged by the Gospel: A Review of Adventism, pp. 130�?33). By 1846, the group had adopted the Seventh-Day Baptists' view that the Saturday Sabbath must be observed by Christians. A highly elevated form of this doctrine, together with the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment, became the hallmarks of Seventh-Day Adventism. In 1850, James and Ellen White began publishing a magazine, The Review & Herald, to disseminate Adventist and Sabbatarian doctrines. This helped many of the remaining "Millerites" to coalesce into a distinctive body, which adopted the name of Seventh-Day Adventist Church in 1860, and formally incorporated in 1863, with approximately 3,500 members in 125 congregations (Encyclopedia of American Religion, Vol. 2, p. 681). Ellen G. White (1827-1915) never held official title as the head of the SDA church, but was one of its founders and acknowledged spiritual leader. She rather disingenuously declined to claim the title of "prophet," calling herself a "messenger" instead (P.G. Damsteegt, et al., Seventh-day Adventists Believe �?A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines, 1988, p. 224). But she claimed to have the "spirit of prophecy," and that her messages were direct from God for the guidance and instruction of the church. With her knowledge and consent, others called her a prophet and an inspired commentator of Scripture1, and even "the Spirit of Prophecy" (Maurice Barnett, Ellen G. White & Inspiration, pp. 5�?7). Having only a third grade education, Ellen White said for years she was unable to read, bolstering the claim that her beautiful prose was inspired by God. However, it has been discovered that she not only read, but plagiarized other Christian authors throughout virtually all her writings. The sad facts of this matter have been thoroughly and indisputably established in several books. (e.g., see Walter Rea, The White Lie; and Judged by the Gospel, pp. 361�?83).
As of year-end 1999, the SDA church claimed more than 10.9 million members worldwide in 46,700 churches; there are more than 900,000 Adventists in the U.S. and Canada (making the SDA one of the fastest growing "churches" in the world -- membership up over 10% in 1999). While headquartered in Washington, D.C., SDA employment worldwide totals nearly 166,000, not including 13,815 ordained ministers. (Contributions in 1999 totaled $1.6 billion.) SDAs claim to be working in 725 languages and over 1,000 dialects. They have a large investment in publishing and education -- they operate 56 publishing houses and support 549 medical units (696 including 117 nursing homes and retirement centers and 30 orphanages); and 5,846 primary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities (with total enrollment of over a million students). They also broadcast over Adventist World Radio more than 1,000 hours per week of programming in more than 40 languages from 18 transmitters in seven international locations, and have almost 13 million students enrolled in its more than 110,000 "Sabbath Schools" (11/2001, SDA Internet web site). (The SDA church also publishes two of their own Bible "translations": The Study Bible and The Clear Word Bible.) SDA is organized as a representative democracy. Lower echelons elect representatives to higher units; determination and administration of policy and enforcement of doctrinal orthodoxy is imposed from the top down. President and Executive Committee of General Conference are standing chief administrative offices. Lower administrative units are the General Conference, Divisions (over continents), Union Conferences, local Conferences, and congregations. In the late 1950s, cult expert Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute, in collaboration with neo-evangelical Donald Barnhouse, made an extensive investigation of the teachings (doctrines) of Seventh-Day Adventism. Their purpose was to determine whether to classify SDA as part of the evangelical community, or to go along with the majority of evangelicals and treat SDAs as cult members (thereby requiring evangelicals to exercise Biblical separation). (In the 1955 edition of The Kingdom of the Cults, Martin originally did classify SDA as cultic.) Martin and Barnhouse concluded that SDA was within the bounds of Christian orthodoxy. Walter Martin, in his article in the 12/19/60 Christianity Today, said: "That Adventists should be recognized as Christians and that fellowship should be extended to them we do not deny" (p. 15).
Among those adamantly opposing that conclusion was Biblical scholar Dr. John Whitcomb, Jr., then of Grace Theological Seminary. Detailed below is Whitcomb's reasoning* for his classification of SDA as a [anti-assurance, Sabbath-keeping, Law-enslaving] cult:2
1. Source of Authority. Ellen G. White claimed to be, "a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light." The official SDA Questions on Doctrine (Q.D.) states that, "the Holy Spirit opened to her mind important events and called her to give certain instructions for these last days, and inasmuch as these instructions, in our understanding, are in harmony with the Word of God, which Word alone is able to make us wise unto salvation, we as a denomination accept them as inspired counsels from the Lord" (Q.D., p. 93). (Emphasis added.) Mrs. White claimed to have received more than 3,000 "inspired counsels from the Lord" (i.e., visions) between 1844 and 1868. (From these "visions," she produced over 100,000 handwritten manuscript pages from which were published 54 books!) Therefore, SDAs have a new source of authority in their lives -- according to SDA's dogma, if an SDA does not accept Mrs. White as infallible, they have no salvation!
2. Mankind. Seventh-Day Adventists do not believe that the whole man or any part of him is inherently "immortal" (Q.D., p. 518). SDAs believe in "soul sleep" for the saved (i.e., no conscious existence from the time of death until the resurrection), and annihilation for the wicked (i.e., the body and soul are destroyed at death rather than experiencing everlasting torment). How, then, can one get to heaven?: SDAs believe that one can have immortality only on the condition that he comes to Christ through Ellen G. White; i.e., a works program, following salvation by grace with light of revelation through Ellen G. White as the infallible guide to Holy Scripture, apart from which one cannot have immortality.3 Then, at resurrection day, the body will be re-created (necessary because of soul sleep) for all those who believe in White's guidance and teachings (while non-SDAs will remain in "soul sleep" forever; i.e., will cease to exist [annihilated] and will not suffer everlasting torment).
3. Christ. Mrs. White: "Christ took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature ... Christ took human nature and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He took our nature and its deteriorating condition" (Q.D., pp. 654-656) (cf. Jn. 14:30). According to SDA, then, Christ acquired a sinful nature! Of course, if this could have been so, there could have been no sinless sacrifice, no hope for sinners, and no Savior.
4. Atonement. "Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ" (E.G. White, The Great Controversy [TGC], 1911, p. 623; TGC has since been retitled and published as America in Prophecy, 1988). SDA teaches that, though saved by grace, we are kept by the Law (i.e., "partial atonement"). Therefore, one must keep Old Testament dietary and ceremonial laws, paying particular attention to keep the Saturday Sabbath and the Ten Commandments, and most importantly, making sure to faithfully pay the tithe. Even when speaking of being saved by the righteousness of Christ, Adventist writers refer to imparted righteousness, seldom to the Biblical concept of imputed righteousness. Calling it "Christ's righteousness," while insisting on the believer's perfection of character as a prerequisite to salvation, is at worst a thinly veiled works salvation, or at best an attempt to mix grace and works, something the Bible says is impossible to do (Rom. 11:6). Mrs. White's words are crystal clear -- one will not be forgiven until all sins are eradicated from one's life and one's character is perfected. Precisely the same heresy is found (besides many others) in Mormonism. It is not the salvation by grace alone through faith alone offered in the Bible. 5. Baptism. "�?Christ made it clear that He required baptism of those who wished to become part of His church, His spiritual kingdom"; "In baptism believers enter into the passion experience of our Lord"; "�?[B]aptism also marks [a] person's entrance into Christ's spiritual kingdom. �?it unites the new believer to Christ.�?Through baptism the Lord adds the new disciples to the body of believers -- His body, the church.�?Then they are members of God's family" (SDAs Believe �? pp. 182, 184, 187).
6. The Investigative Judgment. According to SDA theology, beginning on October 22, 1844, Christ entered upon the "judgment phase" of His ministry, whereby He blots out sin: [The SDA doctrine of the "Investigative Judgment" rests on Ellen G. White's claimed revelation that Christ entered the heavenly Holy of Holies, not at His ascension, but in 1844, wherein He then began to investigate the records of human works (TGC, pp. 362-373) (cf. Heb. 9).] "When Christ, by virtue of His own blood, removes the sins of His people from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of His ministration, He will place them upon Satan, who, in the execution of the judgment, must bear the final penalty" (TGC, p. 422). Satan, thereby, becomes the scapegoat of Leviticus 16. This lack of clear distinction between the forgiveness of sins and the blotting out of sins, makes it impossible for anyone to know, even in the hour of his death, whether he is saved or not. (SDAs are not "allowed" to experience assurance of salvation, because then there would be no pressure on them to keep the Old Testament law, as interpreted by Ellen G. White, and especially no pressure to pay the tithe.) Moreover, the concept that the sins of all men are to be laid on Satan, assigns to Satan an indispensable role in the blotting out of sin, thus nullifying the all-sufficiency of the finished work of Christ. [When Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished," i.e. completed, paid in full, it cannot be that there is yet another salvation event more than 1,800 years later, just as essential to salvation as Christ's death on the cross, in which one must believe in order to be saved. This is clearly "another gospel" (Gal. 1:6�?).]4
The "Investigative Judgment" and the "Scapegoat Theory of the Atonement" are, by themselves, so non-Biblical as to contradict Galatians 1:8-9. It is "another gospel," about which the Apostle Paul wrote, "let such be anathema" (i.e., cursed/condemned). Yet according to Ellen White, one must believe this doctrine to be saved: "Those who would share the benefits of the Savior's mediation should permit nothing to interfere with their duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God �?The subject of the sanctuary and the Investigative Judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position [in the Holy of Holies] and work [Investigative Judgment] of their great High Priest. Otherwise it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time or to occupy the position which God designs for them to fill. Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar of God �?All who have received the light on these subjects are to bear testimony of the great truths which God has committed to them. The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ's work in behalf of men �?It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects �?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 a cross. By His death He began that work which after his resurrection He ascended to complete in Heaven" (TGC, pp. 488�?9; emphasis added). 7. The Sabbath. "In the last days, the Sabbath test will be made plain. When this time comes, anyone who does not keep the Sabbath will receive the mark of the beast and will be kept from heaven" (TGC, p. 449); "�?[T]he divine institution of the Sabbath is to be restored �?The delivering of this message will precipitate a conflict that will involve the whole world. The central issue will be obedience to God's law and the observance of the Sabbath. �?Those who reject it will eventually receive the mark of the beast" (TGC, pp. 262�?3). In one of her most revered works, Ellen White wrote that Sabbath observance would be the "line of distinction" in the "final test" that will separate God's end-time people who "receive the seal of God" and are saved, from those who "receive the mark of the beast" (The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, p. 605). Describing a supposed vision direct from God, Ellen White wrote, "I saw that the Holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers" (Early Writings, p. 33; emphasis added). She also wrote of some Adventists failing to understand that "Sabbath �?observance was of sufficient importance to draw a line between the people of God and unbelievers" (Ibid., p. 85). SDAs have, thereby, made Sabbath-keeping a criterion for a personal relationship with the Lord -- even to the extent of one's salvation! Why? Because, according to SDAs, we are all to be under strict adherence to Old Testament Law, including the Ten Commandments, of which the fourth one says, "keep the Sabbath." (This Sabbath-keeping requirement was supposedly confirmed in a vision received by Ellen G. White, rather than by study of the Bible.) SDAs believe that "Sunday-keeping" will be the mark of the beast in the future. 8. Ellen G. White, the Prophet. Many rank-and-file SDA members deny that their organization any longer decrees Ellen G. White a God-inspired prophet. Yet in SDA official publications, the SDA church continues to defend Ellen White legends, and maintain there was no difference in the degree of inspiration she received from that received by Bible writers (Review & Herald, 4 October 1928, p. 11; "Source of Final Appeal," Adventist Review, 3 June 1971, pp. 4�?; G. A. Irwin, Mark of the Beast, p. 1; "The Inspiration and Authority of the Ellen G. White Writings," Adventist Review, 15 July 1982, p. 3; Ministry, October 1981, p. 8 (5); see also, Judged by the Gospel, pp. 125�?30). And in the SDA June 2000, General Conference, the church voted to more aggressively affirm and support the "Spirit of Prophecy through the ministry of Ellen White" (Adventist Today, [online: July 2000]).
* Besides relying heavily on the work of Dr. Whitcomb (1988 Syllabus notes), some of the material in this report has also been excerpted and or adapted from: "Seventh-day Adventist Church Profile," Timothy Oliver (Watchman Fellowship Profile, 1996).
Endnotes 1 The Bible lists six identifying marks of false prophets, any one of which is sufficient for identification: (1) through signs and wonders they lead astray after false gods (Dt. 13:1-4); (2) their prophecies don't come to pass (Dt. 18:20-22); (3) they contradict God's Word (Isa. 8:20); (4) they bear bad fruit (Mt. 7:18-20); (5) men speak well of them (Lk. 6:26); and (6) they deny that Jesus, the one and only Christ, has come once and for all in the flesh (1 Jn. 4:3), thereby denying His sufficiency in all matters of life and godliness (2 Pe. 1:3). Most cults are founded upon false prophecies, which, if pointed out, offer an effective way to open blind eyes and rescue cultists. SDA originated with similar false prophesies about Christ's coming. It began with William Miller's prediction that Christ would return in 1843 (revised to October 22, 1844). Miller admitted his error. However, SDA prophetess Ellen G. White (EGW), who had repeatedly endorsed Miller's prophecy, insisted that Christ had indeed come, but not to earth. Instead, He had entered "the holy of holies" in heaven "to make an atonement for all who are shown to be entitled to its benefits" (The Great Controversy, p. 480).
Number 17 of the "Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-Day Adventists" states: "The Gift of Prophecy: One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White. As the Lord's messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction." Yet EGW made numerous false prophecies: that "Old Jerusalem never would be built up" (Early Writings, p. 75), that she would be alive at the Rapture (Early Writings, pp. 15-16), that Christ would return before slavery was abolished (Early Writings, pp. 35, 276), that Adventists living in 1856 would be alive at the Rapture (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 3, pp. 131-132), and many more. Nevertheless, SDAs revere this false prophet's writings as if they were Scripture. [Return to Text]
2 Nevertheless, SDAs are continuing their efforts to be identified as "evangelical Christians." As an illustration of this effort, SDAs were very prominent at the annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) held in San Francisco, November 19-21, 1992. They presented themselves in the printed program as the Adventist Theological Society (ATS). During the meetings, they conducted at least eight workshops/seminars open to all the members of the ETS, as well as a general meeting of their own ATS on Saturday morning, November 21st. Likewise, at the 1/97 National Religious Broadcasters Convention, the SDA's "Voice of Prophecy" booth provided books and tapes of their programs, but there was no indication that this was an SDA organization. Christians need to be aware that cult groups like SDA often use the same Christian-sounding terminology, but the meanings of the words have been redefined. [Return to Text]
3 Many quotes could be given to prove that EGW taught salvation by works. Here are a few: (a) "Our acts, our words, even our most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our destiny ... though ... forgotten by us, they [our works] will bear their testimony to justify or condemn" (TGC, pp. 486-490).
(b) "When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life ..." (TGC, p. 483).
(c) "Each one of you needs to ... [be] working with your might to redeem the failures of your past life. God has placed you in a world of suffering to prove you, to see if you will be found worthy of the gift of eternal life" (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 3, p. 530). [Return to Text] 4 This teaching of the "Investigative Judgment" is the foundational doctrine and major heresy of Seventh-Day Adventism: that the atonement was not complete on the cross, but was begun in heaven in 1844 and depends upon our works. According to Ellen G. White (EGW), the blood of Christ, instead of making "an atonement for the soul" (Lv. 17:11) and "cleans[ing] us from all sin" (l Jn. 1:7), brought sin into heaven: "[O]ur sins are, in fact, transferred to the heavenly sanctuary by the blood of Christ" (Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 266). Thus, Christ had to begin the work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary (of sins His blood had brought there!) through the "Investigative Judgment." EGW declared that "Ministers who would not accept this saving message" were hindering God's work and "The blood of souls is upon them" (Early Writings, p. 234). Millerites who adopted this delusion became Seventh-Day Adventists. The whole concept of the Investigative Judgment is antithetical to the Gospel. Jesus did not wait until 1844 to enter the Holy of Holies in heaven (Heb. 1:3; 6:19�?0; 8:1; 9:6�?2, 24; 12:2). Neither is He still making an atonement in heaven (Heb. 9:25�?6; 10:11�?4). The Investigative Judgment proposes to "vindicate the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus," by showing they were "loyal," "penitent," and "faithful" commandment keepers. This is an outrage. God's justice in saving sinners is vindicated by Christ's death on the cross, period (Rom. 3:24�?6). [Return to Text] 5 The SDA Church made this statement in their Ministry magazine of October 1981, and have never retracted it -- "We believe the revelation and inspiration of both the Bible and Ellen White's writings to be of equal quality. The superintendence of the Holy Spirit was just as careful and thorough in one case as in the other" (June 1997, The Baptist Challenge). (Bold added.) This sounds like SDAs also believe that Mrs. White is inerrant. [Return to Text] | |
|
|
Reply
| |
I guess Satan did not let SHE-DEVIL see thes scriptures: Galatians 2:16-21 (KJV)
2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
TAKE THAT TO THE SHE-DEVIL IN HELL. TWEETY
|
|
Reply
| |
I just received a call from my boss, saying that the lady I was to have stayed with tonight and this weekend, was put into the hospital, awaiting an opening in a nursing home. So out goes that one also. praise the Lord. I prayed about it and seems God does want me staying home now. I am glad. just wanted to let you know. unless she drums up something else, I will be home. goodday. |
|
Reply
| |
Oh SHE-DEVIL: Dake has proven you wrong yet again BY THE WORD OF GOD!!!! NO ONE CAN REFUTE THE WORD OF GOD SHE-DEVIL. LET US SEE WHAT DAKE HAD SAID ABOUT THOSE SABBATHS. HE WROTE ALOT ABOUT THEM. POOR SHE-DEVIL YOU WERE SUCH A HYPOCRITE. 6. Christian experiences do not come by the law: "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?.... the law is not of faith: but, the man that doeth them [things of the law] shall live in them.... how turn ye AGAIN to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage?" (Gal. 1:6-9; 2:15-21; 3:1-12, 19-25; 4:1-3, 19-31; 5:l-9, 11-21). Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years [that the law required]. I am afraid of you, Lest I have bestowed labour upon you in vain" (Gal. 3:1-12; 4:9-11). Going back to observe sabbaths according to the law is spoken of here as going back into the bondage of the law. If one does this "he is a debtor to do the whole law" (Gal. 5:3). Freeborn, I am glad that you told me to study Galatians. I wonder if BEFFERS HAS STUDIED THEM? PROBABLY NOT. ELLEN TOLD HIM NOT TO GO THERE! IT WOULD PROVE HER WRONG...AND SHE DID NOT WANT THAT UNTIL SHE WAS DEAD AND WORKING IN HELL. TWEETY |
|
Reply
| |
SEE IF BEFFERS REALLY FOLLOWED CHRIST HE WOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS: HE CAN NOT PROVE THAT BEING IN BONDAGE DID BETTER THAN WHAT CHRIST DID FOR US. TWEETY |
|
Reply
| |
| Anything that is from GOD's Word that can prove you and your anti-christ beliefs wrong-you run away. Why did you leave Freeborn's group so quickly? I guess you could not take the truth of GOD's WORD THAT IS IN THE KJV SCRIPTURES. MOST DEVILS DO TREMBLE AND RUN WHEN FACED WITH TRUTH. SO YOU DID. RUN UNDER THE SKIRTS OF ELLEN WHITE. Tweety | |
|
Reply
| |
THAT HYPOCRITE IS ON BRO. BRYAN'S BOARD SPREADING HIS FILTH OF SABBATHS | John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father "neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." (Mark 7:8) When you bake a cake, do you ever wonder why your cake won't rise? Somewhere your recipe has a flaw in it. The original Acts2:38 church was a far cry fom todays. How often do we see the greater works? Instead of adhering to the word of God, The recipe, We've made denomnations and doctrines. We don't follow God's word. We would rather agree with brother or sister so and so. The Catholic church changes Gods precepts so that it is easier for the pagans to accept and we condemn them except where it pleass us to accept. Then that part of the word they changed is acceptable, palattable. Search the scripture and find out for sure? Well, no. We might discover that we are partly pagan at heart after all and this will hurt our phyche.------Sabbath Tour------Jsus Christ's Example Mark's gospel gives an account of the beginning of Christ's ministry and the gospel He taught. Repeatedly, Jesus says His gospel came directly from God the Father; it is God's message to mankind! Mark 1:1 says, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a gospel from men about the person of Christ. The "gospel of Christ" is Christ's gospel, the gospel Christ preached. It is the good news of salvation God sent by Jesus for mankind! ". . . Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom [or government] of God," calling on men to repent and believe (verses 14-15). What should they believe? In the gospel that Jesus brought from God (verse 15; John 14:10)! As part of that gospel, Jesus Christ has a great deal to say and to teach about the Sabbath and its observance. Christ and His disciples "went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught" (Mark 1:21). It is Jesus' "custom"His habit or mannerto attend the synagogue services on the Sabbath (Luke 4:16; Mark 6:2). This is not some Judaic tradition that He followed because of the culture of the time. He speaks out quite forcefully against following the "traditions of men" when they are at variance with the "commandments of God" (Matthew 15:3, 6; Mark 7:7, 9, 13), which are still very much in effect! Understand, the Sabbath is not "Jewish" in origin, as the commands to keep itcome directly from the mouth of God (Exodus 20:1; Leviticus 23:1). Moreover, He never gives any indication of changing it. That the Jews of Christ's time and today observe the Sabbath makes it no more "Jewish" than their observing the commandment against adultery makes marital fidelity a "Jewish tradition"! It could only be classified as Jewish if it had originated with the Jews. In the gospels, Jesus Christ has many disputes with the Jews, a number of which involve the Sabbath day. But they never disagree about which day is to be kept, only over what is acceptable for that day. For example, when Jesus and His disciples walk through the grainfields on the Sabbath day (Mark 2:23), the Pharisees accuse the disciples of breaking the Sabbath by plucking ears of grain to eat. They agree on which day should be kept, but they question whether the disciples' behavior is appropriate. Christ settles the question about what is proper on the Sabbath, and in doing so, He also asserts, first, that the Sabbath was made for all mankind, not merely the Jews (verse 27), and second, that He is "Lord of the Sabbath" (verse 28). Thus, any change to the Sabbath commandment must come from Him! The Pharisees also condemn Christ for healing on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10-12; Luke 13:14-15; John 5:9-10). Christ shows that they misunderstand the intent of the Sabbath day, not the day to keep it. Had Christ proposed changing the Sabbath, what a tremendous uproar would have ensued! When examining the life of our Savior, it is evident that Jesus Christ kept the seventh-day Sabbath. He is the Lordmaster, supreme authorityof the Sabbath day and gives no instruction to change it. After His death, the apostles and the church also kept it holy. Through His example, we know that Christians must still keep the seventh-day Sabbath! | <NOBR> First </NOBR> <NOBR>Previous </NOBR> <NOBR>2-3 of 3 </NOBR> <NOBR>Next </NOBR> <NOBR>Last </NOBR> | Reply
| | | The original Acts2:38 church was a far cry fom todays. I agree, but we still adhere to the Acts 2:38 msg. I'm not so sure about the seventh day sabbath, because the NT church is not to esteem one day more than another. | | Reply
| | | The New Testament church was supposed to follow Jesus' example. His habits were to be their habits . His habit was to go to temple.(church) on the seventh day. Peter and John were going to the temple on the Sabbath when They healed the lame man. Study New Testament. They kept the Sabbath. Lets be meticulously honerst here. When Did Sunday become the Sabbath? Some 400 years after the New Testament church. It was changed along with the One God being changed to the Trinity. By the same man who changed this, by the same man who placed all the power of God on earth into the body of the pope. If we are going to be Romans in one point we might as well be Roman in all. Or at the least stop persecuting them for the same thing we are doing.----Ruby -------------- Original message from "The Strait and Narrow Way" < [email protected]>: -------------- > From: Bro_Bryan > Message 2 in Discussion > The original Acts2:38 church was a far cry fom todays. I agree, but we still adhere to the Acts 2:38 msg. I'm not so sure about the seventh day sabbath, > because the NT church is not to esteem one day more than another. | | |
|
Reply
| |
BEFFERS IS LIKE SATAN: CUNNING AND SLY: The Sabbath Was Created
| Jesus, teaching as part of His gospel how to observe the Sabbath, says: "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27-28). Jesus asserts that the Sabbath was madeit was part of God's original creation. Therefore, it had to have a Maker. Who, then, made the Sabbath? God is the Creator. Yet Paul proclaims in Ephesians 3:9, "God . . . created all things through Jesus Christ." John's gospel begins: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1, 3-4, 14) The Word is Christ, who became a human being and lived among men. Yet, He existed with God the Father from eternity. Christ is God! All things were made by HimJesus Christ! The Sabbath is one of those things that He made. God made it through Jesus Christ or by Him! Notice Colossians 1:16, 18: "For by Him [Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible. . . . And He is the head of the body, the church. . . ." Most overlook this fact, but it is evident that Jesus Christ made the Sabbath! No wonder, then, He says plainly that, as its Creator, He is Lord or Master of the Sabbath! | "And [Jesus] said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath'" (Mark 2:27-28). The Sabbath was not just created; it was made with someone in mind. The prevalent idea today is that the Sabbath was made "for the Jews"but that is not what Christ says! Christ says it was made "for man"! It was something created for the benefit of all of mankind, not just for a certain group of people. God created the Sabbath immediately after He created the human racenot at the origination of the Jews: Then God said, "Let Us [plural, God and the Word] make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." . . . So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27) Verse 31 shows that this happened on the sixth day of creation week. Further, man was the very last thing or being created on that day. Man came into being, then, probably in the late afternoon of the sixth day. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:2-3) When "God said, 'Let Us make man,'" who spoke? As John 1:1-3, 14 shows, Jesus Christ is also called the Wordthat is, the Spokesman. He speaks only as the Father directs. God created all things by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16). Therefore, the One who became Jesus said: "Let Us make man." Jesus did the work of creation, as instructed by the Father. Notice that He did not complete His creating on the sixth day, but it continued through the seventh day: "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done." God ended His work, but the creation week was not yet over! Creation Week was a full seven days of creation. What did He create on the seventh day? He made the Sabbath! However, He made the Sabbath, not by work, but by ceasing from it. On the seventh day He ended the work of creationwhat was created by work. He rested on the seventh day, and by doing so, created the Sabbath. He then blessed and set apart the seventh day as a day of rest and worship for mankind.
|
| | | <NOBR>First </NOBR> <NOBR>Previous </NOBR> <NOBR>2 of 2 </NOBR> <NOBR>Next </NOBR> <NOBR>Last </NOBR> | Reply
| | Thanks for posting, Sis. I appreciate it.  | | |
|
Reply
| |
He tried to make us look like fools to everyone so he could spread his lies and ELLEN WHITE FILTH. HE WILL LEAD SOMEONE INTO HELL. THAT IS WHERE ELLEN WHITE RESIDES. TWEETY THAT IS WHY HE SO AGAINST YOU AND ME. WE KNOW TRUTH. HE WANTS TO SPREAD LIES TO THE ONES THAT DO NOT KNOW THE BIBLE. TWEETY |
|
Reply
| |
Does It Matter Which Day We Keep Holy?
| Does it really make any difference whether we keep the day God blessed and made holy? Can we substitute another day? Do we have to keep any day at all? Must the Christian respect what God makes holy? God records a plain but effective explanation in an experience in Moses' life. Moses had been raised from a baby as a prince by Pharaoh's daughter, but he had killed an Egyptian guard who had been beating a Hebrew slave. He was forced to flee for his life to the land of Midian. There, after some time, he had married a daughter of Jethro the priest of Midian. One day, leading a flock of sheep, Moses came to Mount Sinai, where he saw a large bush burning, yet the flames did not consume it. While pondering this strange sight, the Lord called to Moses out of the burning bush: "Moses, Moses! . . . Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:1-5). Why did it make any difference whether Moses took off his shoesor where? Because the ground where he stood at that moment was holy! God required him to treat holy ground with a respect he did not treat other common plots of ground. Why was this ground holy? Because God's presence was in it! God is holy, and His presence in the bush made the ground around it holy. In the same way, God's presence is in His Sabbath. He rested on the seventh day of Creation to put His presence in that day, making it holy time. Four thousand years later, when this same Being, the Word, lived in human flesh, He was still putting His presence in that same weekly recurring Sabbath: He went into the synagogues "as His custom was . . . on the Sabbath day" (Luke 4:16)! Jesus Christ is the same today as He was yesterday, and shall be forever (Hebrews 13:8). He has not changed in the least. He is still putting His presence in His Sabbath, making it holy! God commanded Moses to take his shoes off that holy ground. Likewise, the same God commands mankind to take his foot off from trampling and profaning His holy time. God requires His children to treat that day with a respect not required of other time. Notice Isaiah 58:13-14: If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. We honor God by keeping holy those things that He has made holyand only God can make things holy! We dishonor Him when we speak our own words, saying, "Well, I think the ideas and ways of men must be right. I'd rather do as they do, and have them think well of me." God commands: "Take your foot off My holy time. Quit trampling all over that which is holy and sacred to Me! Quit profaning My holy things." The sin is in profaning what God made holy. God has never made any other weekday holy. Mankind has no authority to sanctify a day. One cannot keep a day holy, unless God has first made it holy, any more than one can keep cold water hot unless it is hot in the first place! God made this period of time holy, and He commands us to keep it that way!
| | | <NOBR>First </NOBR> <NOBR>Previous </NOBR> <NOBR>2 of 2 </NOBR> <NOBR>Next </NOBR> <NOBR>Last </NOBR> | Reply
| | | My Pastor down in Texas which was a holiness preacher, said the reason folks join the Sabbath- keeping churches, is because they did'nt want to work on Saturdays. Let me say one other thing about this topic. The folks that go to church on Saturday are really putting the Lord last. If you look at your calendar, Sunday is the first day of the week, so in that respect, they are putting the Lord first. | | language=Javascript> function navAway(url) { window.location.href = url; } </SCRIPT> |
|
Reply
| |
To Israel the seventh-day sabbath was a memorial of deliverance from slavery under Pharaoh (Deut. 5:15), not a commemoration of God's rest upon completing His work. Man's rest could not have been the same day that God rested, because man was only created the day before God's sabbath. He had worked only one day, and six days are required before a sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11). It would be as meaningless for the church to observe the Jewish sabbath commemorating deliverance from Egypt as it would for England to observe the Fourth of July with Americans!—Dake's Topics |
|
Reply
| |
The pityful thing about all of this scrambling around about the 'weekly' sabbath is that the SEVENTH DAY which God sanctioned as HOLY, is NOT THE DAYS OF OUR WEEK. IT IS NOT OUR SATURDAY. IT WAS NOT EVER MEANT TO BE THAT. That LAW of Moses was ADDED to them because of their sins. God did not rest on Saturday. He did not create man on Friday. That is so carnal it is truly pityful. It is pityful that men/women, have not studied the Word of God enough to get out of this carnal, human, interpretation of God's Holy Spiritual WORD. The carnal mind cannot possibly understand these spiritual matters. That REST day of God was never instituted as a weekly rest for the body. That is part of the done away with dead old covenant, written and engraven on stone. Day one in Genesis one, IS NOT SUNDAY. you all need to get this much spiritual truth down if you possibly can. Day two is not Monday. That is foolish to say the least. and it is this MISUNDERSTANDING of what Genesis one is about, which has brought about all this other false doctrine. God's rest is neither Saturday, nor Sunday. His REST came about when Jesus Christ, not back yonder before man, came to the throne of God, after his resurrection. Now you all need to pray and seek GOD, NOT DAKE, NOT WHITE, NOT SOME CHURCH, SEEK GOD FOR HIS TRUTH. Dake did not have it. White did not have it. these churches today, do not have it. Get back into Scripture, KJV, and study and pray, repent of your sins, of following man instead of God, and seek for his truth, while you may have a bit more of time. If you fail to do this, out goes your hope of eternal life. JO |
|
Reply
| |
A BIG AMEN TO THAT MY SISTER |
|
Reply
| |
Glad you see the truth, Brother Larry.  |
|
Reply
| | | From: Dovey | Sent: 7/7/2008 8:29 AM |
The pityful thing about all of this scrambling around about the 'weekly' sabbath is that the SEVENTH DAY which God sanctioned as HOLY, is NOT THE DAYS OF OUR WEEK. IT IS NOT OUR SATURDAY. <FREEBORN> I think God would disagree with that statement. Exd 20:11 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. If we are convinced that Jesus set us a RIGHT example, and that He observed the RIGHT seventh day, we need have no further difficulty. Notice, the day Jesus kept As His CUSTOM (Luke 4:16) was the same day all the Jews kept, for they were holding their religious service in the synagogue--verses 17, 20. About 43 years after this the Jewish people were driven into EVERY NATION ON EARTH. From that time until now, they have been separated, scattered into all nations. Through the Middle Ages, the Jews in China had no way of communicating with the Jews of Africa; the Jews in Europe with those of other parts of the world. Yet today, with communication restored over every part of the world, we do NOT find the Jews all mixed up. If time had been lost, the Jews of one part of the world would be observing one day, and the Jews of other parts other days. But everywhere--in EVERY NATION ON EARTH, we find the Jewish people have been keeping the SAME IDENTICAL DAY--the day we call SATURDAY--the true seventh day, The Jewish people are the miracle of all history--and they are another proof that we have not lost the Sabbath. Ask any orthodox Jew today if HE has lost His Sabbath. Why, such an idea would be nonsense to him. He is not in doubt! Another line of proof! We have a history of the true Church of God through every century from Christ until now. It has always been a SABBATH-KEEPING Church. Through the Middle Ages, just as prophesied in Rev. 12:6, this true Church had to FLEE to the wilderness, clear beyond the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire, dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. Read it for yourselves it's right there in the pages of God's Word. In 363 A. D. the Roman Church passed the Decree of the Council of Laodicea, pronouncing the DEATH SENTENCE upon any found to be keeping the Sabbath. Many true Christians were MARTYRED for keeping this day. When men were willing to GIVE THEIR LIVES in order to keep God's commands, do you think they could lose track of the right day? And coming down to modern times, we can find this Church, the true Christian Church, keeping the day we call Saturday--the same day the Jewish people have been keeping right down through every year from Christ until now. God does not leave us lacking in right and proper instruction through His Word the Bible. WE CAN KNOW FOR SURE! For any who might be interested....Read Exodus 16 on the giving of the Manna to Israel. God used the Manna to teach Israel the exact day of the 7th day Sabbath. The Jews haven't lost the exact time of the 7th day Sabbath of the Lord. Time has not be lost. And God's Sabbath is a DAY. It's the 7th DAY! Just like He created it. LOVE DOVEY |
|
Reply
| |
Dovey, you are right, only if you are totally in the flesh, and not in the Spirit. If you think those 'natural jews' are God's great people, and his true people, you do not know anything yet about the truth. Read Romans 2. Paul showed us that those who are the true Jews are those of us who have been baptized into Christ. those of us who have the circumcision, not made with hands. It is in the Spirit. The true SABBATH is in the Spirit. You are out in that body realm. There is no salvation there. Never has been, never will be. The only ones, and they were few, of that old Jewish nation, who was ever truly of God, was the FEW who found Grace. Those under law were rebellious, stiff-necked, and worshipped idols, vexing God every day, until he destroyed them all. Their weekly sabbath is only a type and shadow of the real true Sabbath. Jesus told them that he WORKED ON THAT DAY AND HIS FATHER WORKS ON THAT DAY. For this, those jews had him crucified. Those same jews are the very ones who persecuted and killed the early christians. they are the very ones who keep this fake 'jew' worship in the forefront of our day. They are the ones responsible for all these jewish fables, of which is the need, today, for what???/...going to church on saturday>..where is any command from God to do such a thing? I ask you, find it and show us. It is NOT IN THE WORD. They were breaking their fleshly sabbath by GOING TO CHURCH. Jesus Christ ministered each and EVERY DAY. The true Sabbath of God is the TRUE REST TO THE SOUL =- THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST, BY WHICH WE NO LONGER THINK WE CAN OR MUST GO BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW. they sought it by the works of the law and not by faith. the law is NOT OF FAITH. without FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to PLEASE GOD. So by your weekly sabbath, you cannot please God, for you do deny the true Sabbath, = the Holy Ghost, given to us by Jesus. You flat refuse to look into this and study the truth. That sabbath in Ex. 20 has NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD'S SEVENTH DAY. His DAYS are not our weekly days. I am too tired to lay this out word for word. I have it already in this site, many, many times. If you want some truth, study some of them or just study the NT and ask God to OPEN YOUR BLINDED EYES. Read 11Cor. 3 again. reading the OT blinds the eyes or understanding. That is your problem. Love, Jo |
|
|
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
First
Recommend
Return to Ellen White