Those
proclaiming the church is Babylon divert money from a channel of usefulness into
a channel of evil—Those who advocate error, will say, “The
Lord saith, when the Lord hath not spoken.” They testify to falsehood, and not
to truth. If those who have been proclaiming the message that the church is Babylon, had used
the money expended in publishing and circulating this error, in building up,
instead of tearing down, they would have made it evident that they were with
the people whom God is leading.... If those who have done this kind of work,
had felt the necessity of answering the prayer of Christ that He offered to His
Father just previous to His crucifixion,—that the disciples of Christ might be
one as He was one with the Father,—they would not be wasting the means entrusted
to them, and so greatly needed to advance the truth. They would not be wasting
precious time and ability in disseminating error, and thus necessitate the
devoting of the laborer’s time to counteracting and quenching its influence. A work of this character is inspired
not from above, but from beneath.—Testimonies
to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 43, 44.
Dear Brother M,
[Letter to one who had come to
the conclusion that the Seventh-day Adventist Church had fallen into the low
spiritual state described as Babylon.—Compilers.]
Your letter addressed to me was
received at the beginning of the Sabbath I should advise you to attend the
school, and not to leave this country until you become thoroughly settled in
your mind as to what is truth. I sincerely hope that you will attend this term
of school and learn all you can in regard to this message of truth that is to
go to the world.{2SM 63.1}
The
Lord has not given you a message to call the Seventh-day Adventists Babylon,
and to call the people of God to come out of her. All the reasons you may
present cannot have weight with me on this subject, because the Lord has given
me decided light that is opposed to such a message.{2SM 63.2}
I do not doubt your sincerity or
honesty. I have written long letters at different times to those who were
accusing the church of Seventh-day Adventists of being Babylon, that they were
not handling the truth. You think individuals have prejudiced my mind. If I am
in this state, I am not fitted to be entrusted with the work of God. But this
matter has been brought before my mind in other cases where individuals have
claimed to have messages for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, of a similar
character, and the word has been given me, “Believe them not.” “I have not sent
them, and yet they ran.” 2SM 63.3
The message to the Laodiceans is
applicable to Seventh-day Adventists who have had great light and have not
walked in the light. It is those who have made great profession, but have not
kept in step with their Leader, that will be spewed out of His mouth unless
they repent. The message to pronounce
the Seventh-Day Adventist Church Babylon, and call
the people of God out of her, does not come from any heavenly messenger, or any
human agent inspired by the Spirit of God.2SM 66.2
Jesus is coming in to give the
individual members of the church the richest
blessings, if they will open the door to Him. He does not once call them Babylon, nor ask them to come out. But He says, “As many
as I love, I rebuke and chasten” 2SM 67.1
I will say in the fear and love
of God, I know the Lord has thoughts of love and mercy to restore and heal them
of all their backslidings. He has a work for His church
to do. They are not to be pronounced Babylon, but
to be as the salt of the earth, the light of the world. They are to be the
living messengers to proclaim a living message in these last days.{2SM 67.2}
The Church Not to Be Broken Up
Again
I say, The Lord hath not spoken by any messenger who calls the church that
keeps the commandments of God, Babylon. True, there are
tares with the wheat; but Christ said He would send His angels to first gather
the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into the
garner. I know that the Lord loves His church. It is not to be disorganized or broken up into independent atoms.
There is not the least consistency in this; there is not the least evidence
that such a thing will be. Those who shall heed this false message and try to
leaven others will be deceived and prepared to receive advanced delusions, and
they will come to naught. {2SM 68.3}
In
1893 in meeting the charge that the church had become Babylon, Ellen G. White wrote: “the church, enfeebled and
defective, needing to be reproved, warned, and counseled, is the only object
upon earth upon which Christ bestows His supreme regard.”—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 49.
God has a church, a chosen people; and could all see as I have
seen how closely Christ identifies Himself with His people, no such message
would be heard as the one that denounces the church
as Babylon. TM 20.1
False Teachers to be Shunned
When
men arise, claiming to have a message from God, but instead of warring against
principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, they
form a hollow square, and turn the weapons of warfare against the church
militant, be afraid of them. They do not bear the divine credentials. God has
not given them any such burden of labor. They would tear down that which God
would restore by the Laodicean message. He wounds only that He may heal, not
cause to perish. The Lord lays upon no man a message that will discourage and
dishearten the church. He reproves, He rebukes, He chastens;
but it is only that He may restore and approve at last. How glad my heart was
made by the report from the General Conference that many hearts were softened
and subdued, that many made humble confessions, and cleared away from the door
of the heart the rubbish that was keeping the Saviour out. How glad I was to
know that many welcomed Jesus in as an abiding guest. How is it that these pamphlets denouncing the Seventh-day Adventist
Church as Babylon [See Appendix.] were scattered abroad everywhere, at the very
time when that church was receiving the outpouring of the Spirit of God? How is
it that men can be so deceived as to imagine that the loud cry consists in
calling the people of God out from the fellowship of a church that is enjoying
a season of refreshing? Oh, may these deceived souls come into the current, and
receive the blessing, and be endued with power from on high. {TM 22.2}
[The
Review and Herald, August 22 to September 12, 1893.]
I have been made very sad in
reading the pamphlet that has been issued by Brother S. [See appendix.] and by
those associated with him in the work he has been doing. Without my consent, they have made selections from the Testimonies,
and have inserted them in the pamphlet they have published, to make it appear
that my writings sustain and approve the position they advocate. In doing this
they have done that which is not justice or righteousness. Through taking
unwarrantable liberties they have presented to the people a theory that is of
character to deceive and destroy. In times past many others have done this same
thing, and have made it appear that the Testimonies sustained positions
that were untenable and false. {TM 32.3}
In the pamphlet
published by Brother S. and his associates, he accuses the church of God of being Babylon,
and would urge a separation from the church. This
is a work that is neither honorable nor righteous. In compiling this
work, they have used my name and writings for the support of that which I
disapprove and denounce as error. {TM 36.1}
To claim that
the Seventh-day Adventist Church is Babylon, is to make the same claim as does Satan, who is
an accuser of the brethren, who accuses them before God night and day.
By this misusing of the Testimonies,
souls are placed in perplexity, because they cannot understand the relation of
the Testimonies to such a position as
is taken by those in error; for God intended that the Testimonies should always have a
setting in the framework of truth. {TM 42.1}
Those who advocate error will
say, “The Lord saith,” “when the Lord hath not spoken.” They testify to
falsehood, and not to truth. If those who have been proclaiming the message
that the church is Babylon
had used the money expended in publishing and circulating this error, in
building up, instead of tearing down, they would have made it evident that they
were the people whom God is leading.{TM 43.1}
“Who is among you that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and
hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks:
walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This
shall ye have of Mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” The message that has
been borne by those who have proclaimed the church
to be Babylon has made the impression that God has
no church upon earth. {TM
44.3}
Satan
Permitted to Tempt
Instead of the unity which
should exist among believers, there is disunion; for Satan is permitted to come
in, and through his specious deceptions and delusions he leads those who are
not learning of Christ meekness and lowliness of heart, to take a different line
from the church, and break up, if possible, the unity of the church. Men arise
speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. They claim
that God has given them great light; but how do they act under its influence?
Do they pursue the course that the two disciples pursued on their journey to
Emmaus? When they received light, they returned and found those whom God had
led and was still leading, and told them how they had seen Jesus and had talked
with Him.{TM 48.1}
Have the men who have claimed to
have light concerning the church pursued this course? Have they gone to those
who are chosen of God to bear a living testimony, and given them evidence that
this light would better qualify them to prepare a people to stand in the great
day of God? Have they sought counsel of those who have been and are still
bearing the truth, and giving to the world the last message of warning? Have
they counseled with those who have had a deep experience in the things of God?
Why were these men, so full of zeal for the cause, not present at the General
Conference held at Battle Creek, as were the devout men at Jerusalem at the
time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? At the great heart of the work, men
opened their treasures of light; and while the Lord was pouring out His Spirit
upon the people, did these men receive of the heavenly anointing? While the deep movings of the Spirit of
God were made manifest among the people, and souls were being converted, and
hard hearts broken, there were those who were listening to the suggestions of
Satan, and they were inspired with zeal from beneath to go forth and proclaim
that the very people receiving of the Holy Spirit, who are to receive the
latter rain and the glory that is to lighten the whole earth, were Babylon. Did
the Lord give these messengers their message? No, for it was not a message of
truth. {TM 48.2}
There is but one church
in the world who are at the present time standing in the breach, and making up
the hedge, building up the old waste places; and for any man to call the attention of the world and other
churches to this church, denouncing her as Babylon, is to do a work in harmony with him who is the
accuser of the brethren. Is it possible that men will arise from among us, who
speak perverse things, and give voice to the very sentiments that Satan would
have disseminated in the world in regard to those who keep the commandments of
God, and have the faith of Jesus? Is there not work enough to satisfy
your zeal in presenting the truth to those who are in the darkness of error? As
those who have been made stewards of means and ability, you have been
misapplying your Lord’s goods in disseminating error. The whole world is filled
with hatred of those who proclaim the binding claims of the law of God, and the
church who are loyal to Jehovah must engage in no
ordinary conflict. “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.” Those who have any
realization of what this warfare means will not turn their weapons against the church militant, but with all their powers will wrestle
with the people of God against the confederacy of evil. {TM
50.2}
Those who are
carrying this message of error, denouncing the church
as Babylon, are neglecting their God-appointed
work, are in opposition to organization, in opposition to the plain command of
God spoken by Malachi in regard to bringing all the tithes into the treasury of
God’s house, and imagine that they have a work to do in warning those whom God
has chosen to forward His message of truth. These workers are not
bringing greater efficiency to the cause and kingdom of God, but are engaged in
a work similar to that in which the enemy of all righteousness is engaged. Let
these men who are rising up against the ways and means ordained of God to
forward His work in these days of peril divest themselves of all unscriptural
views concerning the nature, office, and power of God’s appointed agencies.{TM 53.1}
Those who have
proclaimed the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Babylon, have made use of the Testimonies in giving their
position a seeming support; but why is it that they did not present that which
for years has been the burden of my message—the unity of the church? Why did they not quote the words of the
angel, “Press together, press together, press together”? Why did they not
repeat the admonition and state the principle, that “in union there is
strength, in division there is weakness”? It is such messages as these men have
borne that divide the church, and put us to shame
before the enemies of truth; and in such messages is plainly revealed the
specious working of the great deceiver, who would hinder the church from attaining unto perfection in unity. These
teachers follow the sparks of their own kindling, move according to their own
independent judgment, and cumber the truth with false notions and theories. They refuse the counsel of their
brethren, and press on in their own way until they become just what Satan would
desire to have them—unbalanced in mind.{TM 56.1}
For years I have borne my
testimony to the effect that when any arise claiming to have great light, and
yet advocating the tearing down of that which the Lord through His human agents
has been building up, they are
greatly deceived, and are not working along the lines where Christ is working.
Those who assert that the Seventh-day Adventist churches constitute Babylon, or
any part of Babylon, might better stay at home. Let them stop and consider what
is the message to be proclaimed at this time. In place of working with
divine agencies to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord, they have
taken their stand with him who is an accuser of the brethren, who accuses them
before God day and night.{2TT 355.1}
