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Is the Church Infallible?

Regarding the testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered. Nothing must be done untimely. {1SM 57.2}

Seventh-day Adventists say it does not matter how far they go in apostasy, they are still the church of God. Sr White said the SDA church is not Babylon. At the time when Sr White said that, the Adventist church was still teaching correct messages. She made it clear that it was the commandment-keeping people that made the church the church of God.

Again I say, The Lord hath not spoken by any messenger who calls the church that keeps the commandments of God, Babylon. {2SM 68.3}

God has a church upon the earth who are His chosen people, who keep His Commandments. TM page 61.

When Seventh Day Adventists decided to join participate in the Armed Forces and joined with the Kings of the earth in their warfare, were they keeping the commandments of God? Sr White wrote that the church is not infallible but in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon;

We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful bird; and will we be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the existing evil? {21MR 380.1}

She also made the following statement in her time, but would she say the same thing today?

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 {TM 50.2}

Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive of the truth and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist church, calling themselves the commandment-keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive the plagues of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God.–19MR 176 (1898). {LDE 172.2}

Do we put tradition and the word of the church above the bible? There are many church organizations that exist today that were once pure. Consider the church at Rome in the apostolic days, it was pure but is now the Catholic Church. It continues as a organization but has it fallen? Or the Jewish Nation who still claim to be Gods church, are still they the depositories of God’s truth? I’ve noticed no decided reform movements been made in the SDA church but rather backsliding and apostasy.

What Does The Word Babylon Mean?

The term ‘Babylon’ is derived from ‘Babel’ and signifies confusion. It is employed in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate religion. GC page 381.

The existing confusion of conflicting creeds and sects is fitly represented by the term ‘Babylon’ which prophesy (Rev 14:8, 18:2) applies to the world loving churches of the last days. PP page 124.

Adventists in the second angels message started to call the people out of the fallen churches even though their fall was not yet complete. Only one divine message was enough to make the churches Babylon. The rest of the teachings were the same among the early Adventists, as the other denominations. The message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the Adventist message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower.

In the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches. The second angel’s message is, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” And in the loud cry of the third angel’s message a voice is heard from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” {Mar 171.4}

Is The Fall prophesied?

Song of Solomon 5:2 I (THE CHURCH) sleep but my heart waketh: [it is] the voice of my beloved (JESUS) that knocketh, [saying], Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, [and] my locks with the drops of the night. 3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole [of the door], and my bowels were moved for him. 5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped [with] myrrh, and my fingers [with] sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. 6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, [and] was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

Isaiah 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

From the beginning of the fall, the people were already called out of these churches.  Are we rejecting many divine messages and not the only one as did the churches in 1844?  Christ our Righteousness has never been accepted by the church as a whole since it was rejected in 1888. The health reform message has been ignored. Joining ecumenical movements goes against divine council. Accepting military service breaks the 6th commandment directly.  There are honest individuals among SDA’s. Other churches too have true Christians amongst them who have not heard the special testing truths for our time/present truth.

In the days of the Reformation, the gentle and pious Melancton declared, ‘There is no other church than the assembly of those who have the word of God, and who are purified by it. ‘ Adventists, seeing that the churches rejected the testimony of God’s word, could no longer regard them as constituting the church of Christ, ‘the pillar and ground of the truth’; and as the message, ‘Babylon is fallen’, began to be proclaimed, they felt themselves justified in separating from their former connection. SOP 4 page 237.

The message proclaiming the fall of Babylon is repeated by another angel or could it be a ‘movement’ in our days.

Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.  2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Revelation 18:1,2,4. This scripture points forward to a time when the announcement of the fall of Babylon as made by the 2nd angel of Revelation 14 [see verse 8] is to be repeated, with the additional mention of the corruption’s which have been entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first given, in the summer of 1844. In defiance of the warnings which God has given, they will continue to trample upon one of the precepts of the Decalogue until they are led to persecute those who hold it sacred. GC page 603.

Hence the Movement

Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared: “Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Revelation 18:5. She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of His judgments these faithful ones must be called out, that they partake not of her sins and “receive not of her plagues.” Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard: “Come out of her, My people.” These announcements, uniting with the third angel’s message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth. {GC 604.1}

The work and message today should be to call people out of Babylon. We are not allowed to soften the message but proclaim it as God has given in Revelation Chapter 18.  Whoever rejects the message rejects God, the Holy Spirit and their salvation.

Matthew 10:13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 10:15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

We need to warn the people of the coming doom, and offer them the remedy to cure their spiritual sickness.

http://sabbathsermons.com/2009/12/24/gods-perfect-and-permissive-will/

http://sabbathsermons.com/category/a-sister-to-fallen-babylon/

Sabbath Sermons is a small resource information ministry in Australia standing upon the original platform of the Adventist truth. We are dedicated to spreading the special 'testing truths' for our time and are not affiliated with the various denominations. This website is administered by lay members only

Comments (13)

  • Reply MichaelEdits - 17/02/2011

    There are too many churches. That guy walking across the Middle East spreading the word had many good things to say. All these intermediaries and churches and interpreters are bad interfaces that get between the speaker and his intended audience and corrupt the message. The question should be “Are churches twice as fallible as humans, or are churches 100 times as fallible as humans?” Throw all your church leaders into a room and they’ll need five days to agree on the shape of the conference table.

  • Reply John Langat - 10/12/2010

    Your message siu so convincing from the quotations.That is the evidence we need.I think my mind is opening more to truths and revelaed will of God than ever before.I think you have done alot fo research on this topics than I do.God bless you and keep praying for us.
    John

  • Reply Ronny - 26/12/2009

    Hi,

    Interesting article. I believe that the problem is not doctrine but rather that we have forgotten what the matter is all about. When we have forgotten the point of everything then we begin to deal with the issues that are introduced into the church and into our lives. Questions such as Conservative vs Liberal or what dress to wear, what food to eat and so on, is it really our business to meddle, to be busybodies when it comes to what other people do? The Bible speaks of this in 1 Peter, but also mentions that there is a time to speak, but as I say there is also a time to be quiet and not speak. We know that the devil will have infiltrated the Church of Christ are we going to be discouraged because of this? Or is it simply a fulfillment of Prophecy? Is the Seventh day Adventist church Babylon because of they allow people the freedom to believe and to disagree with whatever they want? Is it truly a war between people over issues, if so then there is really something wrong.

    We forget the important issue when we speak of who is fallen from God’s grace and who is not. Like Jesus told Peter in regards to what John’s mission was after the resurrection, in not so many words “it is not your business” So let us instead of being busy and judgmental and talking about things we have no clue whatsoever, be busybodies only with ourselves.

    As for the moral decline and fall of Roman church, the Christians spread throughout the entire world already in the first and second century, even to Asia, China and India the Sabbath keeping Christians spread, even to the southern tips of Africa. The church that spread to Alexandria and Rome, began their apostasy quite soon, where people began begin busy with what other people said and did. From the year 135 AD this is the battle of Masada. Sunday was introduced earlier than this but here a split was made. From this date the 7th day Sabbath was not safe anymore due to the persecution of the Jews.

    Take care everyone and Happy Sabbath.

    Ron

  • Reply Brian Culliton - 27/08/2009

    Sorry, I do not have a facebook account, but you are welcome to comment on my blog anytime.

    I look forward to reading a historical account of Christians observing a seventh day Sabbath. I’ve studied early church writings for ten years and I can tell you that Sunday worship is well documented in history. I have never come across any credible reference claiming that Christians observed Sabbath. If you know of something that supports your belief I would be very interested in seeing it. In fact, that is the reason I came here. I know the facts of history, but for the life of me I cannot figure out where this claim of Christians keeping Sabbath in the early church comes from. Hope you can help me out 🙂

    God bless,

    Brian

    • Reply imssdarm - 27/08/2009

      Here are a few recommended websites especially the first one;

      http://www.sabbathtruth.com/history/sabbath_history1.asp

      http://www.truthontheweb.org/sunday.htm

      http://www.sabbathtruth.com/history/History_of_the_Sabbath.pdf

      http://www.remnantofgod.org/sabhist.htm

      Here are some extracts from the dark ages of what persecution Christians suffered for keeping the Sabbath;

      “Some have suffered torture because they would not rest when others kept Sunday, for they declared it to be the holiday and law of Antichrist.” – Sebastian Frank, AD 1536. By this time in history the Seventhday Sabbath was severely under attack.

      Council, Moscow, 1503 : “The accused Sabbath-keepers were summoned; they openly acknowledged the new faith, and defended the same. The most prominent of them,…were condemned to death, and burned publicly in cages, at Moscow, Dec 17.1503- H. Sternberfi, Geschichte der Juden

      “This zeal for Saturday-keeping continued for a long time: even little things which might strengthen the practice of keeping Saturday were punished.” – Bishop Anjou, Svenska Kirkans Historia after Motet i Upsala.

      “The famous Jesuit, Francais Xavier, called for the Inquisition, which was set up in Goa, India, in 560, to check the ‘Jewish wickedness’ (Sabbath-keeping).” – Adney, The Greek and Eastern Churches p 527,528.

      “Some of you, contrary to the warning, keep Saturday. You ought to be severely punished. Whoever is found keeping Saturday, must pay a fine of ten marks.” – History of King Christian the Third (of Norway 1544AD), Niels Krag and S. Stephanius.

      “Aiphonse, king of Aragon, etc., to all archbishops, bishops, and to all others…We command you that heretics, to wit, the Waldeneses and Insabbathi (those who keep the Sabbath), should be expelled away from the face of God and from all Catholics and ordered to depart from our kingdom.” – Marianae Praefatio in Lucam Tudensem and quoted in Macima Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum Vol 25 p 190

      ‘The Pope has authority and has often exercised it, to dispense with the command of Christ.” Decretal, de Tranlatic Episcop. Cap.( This is very true as he did away with God’s seventhday Sabbath and replaced it with his own first day or Lord’s day….the day of the Sungod.~kh)

      ‘The Pope has power to change times, to abrogate (change) laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ.” Decretal, de Tranlatic Episcop. This , my friends, is blasphemy. The pope believes that he can forever change the laws of the very Creator without retribution. Notice this very similar wording in the book of Daniel:

      The Sabbath-keeping “Jews” in the early Roman Empire were treated poorly, as fools and superstitious second class citizens. They were unfairly taxed by their Roman ‘masters’ (Vespasian 69-79 AD, Domitian 81-96 AD, and Hadrian prior to his outlawing of Judaism in 135 AD). The Sabbath became to the Romans a disgraceful symbol of Judaism and they regarded it as superstitious folly. The Sabbath is ridiculed by all of the oppressors of God’s people this is revealed to be true in Israel’s history by Jeremiah in Lamentations 1:7 -Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.

      Some bible texts;
      Acts 16:13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted [thither].
      16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard [us]: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

      here’s another about the NT sabbath.
      http://ezinearticles.com/?id=940815

      Acts 13:42, 44 “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next. And the next Sabbath came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God.”

      Acts 18:4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

      Acts 15:19-29 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the GENTILES who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality,from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

  • Reply Brian Culliton - 26/08/2009

    You said,

    “There are many church organizations that exist today that were once pure. Consider the church at Rome in the apostolic days, it was pure but is now the Catholic Church.”

    When did the church in Rome become impure? Can you show me when and how this change took place?

    Thank you!

    • Reply Brian Culliton - 27/08/2009

      Hi Sabbath Sermon,

      I am not Catholic or SDA and generally I agree with your assessment Catholicism. I agree that Catholicism sprung up from Constantine’s era, and its foundation was Nicea. But if the fall of the Roman church occurred in the time of Constantine, as you said it did, am I to assume you believe the church in Rome was pure up until that time?

      In the 300 years from its founding to the council of Nicea the church in Rome gathered and worshiped on Sundays. In fact, all the churches gathered on Sundays and the practice of doing so dates back to the apostolic era. Your “Tis the Season” post the author associates Sunday worship with paganism. Do you believe the early apostolic church practiced paganism by observing Sunday worship? Did Polycarp, who learned the Gospel directly from the Apostle John and received the bishopric in Smyrna from him, bring paganism into the church in your opinion?

      God bless,

      Brian

    • Reply imssdarm - 30/08/2009

      I transcribed especially for you this hour long dvd;

      http://sabbathsermons.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/the-new-testament-sabbath/

  • Reply Valuable Internet Information » Is the Church Infallible? - 23/08/2009

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