A Warning Rejected
Chapter Twenty-One
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In preaching the doctrine of the second advent, William Miller
and his associates had labored with the sole purpose of arousing
men to a preparation for the judgment. They had sought to awaken
professors of religion to the true hope of the church and to
their need of a deeper Christian experience, and they labored
also to awaken the unconverted to the duty of immediate
repentance and conversion to God. "They made no attempt to
convert men to a sect or party in religion. Hence they labored
among all parties and sects, without interfering with their
organization or discipline."
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"In all my labors," said Miller, "I never had the
desire or thought to establish any separate interest from that of
existing denominations, or to benefit one at the expense of
another. I thought to benefit all. Supposing that all Christians
would rejoice in the prospect of Christ's coming, and that those
who could not see as I did would not love any the less those who
should embrace this doctrine, I did not conceive there would ever
be any necessity for separate meetings. My whole object was a
desire to convert souls to God, to notify the world of a coming
judgment, and to induce my fellow men to make that preparation of
heart which will enable them to meet their God in peace. The
great majority of those who were converted under my labors united
with the various existing churches."--Bliss, page 328.
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As his work tended to build up the churches, it was for a time
regarded with favor. But as ministers and religious leaders
decided against the advent doctrine and desired to suppress all
agitation of the subject, they do not only opposed it from the
pulpit, but denied their members the privilege of attending
preaching upon the second advent, or even of speaking of their
hope in the social meetings of the church. Thus the believers
found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity.
They loved their churches and were loath to separate from them;
but as they saw the testimony of God's word suppressed and their
right to investigate the prophecies denied they felt that loyalty
to God forbade them to submit. Those who sought to shut out the
testimony of God's word they could not regard as constituting the
church of Christ, "the pillar and ground of the truth."
Hence they felt themselves justified in separating from their
former connection. In the summer of 1844 about fifty thousand
withdrew from the churches.
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About this time a marked change was apparent in most of the
churches throughout the United States. There had been for many
years a gradual but steadily increasing conformity to worldly
practices and customs, and a corresponding decline in real
spiritual life; but in that year there were evidences of a sudden
and marked declension in nearly all the churches of the land.
While none seemed able to suggest the cause, the fact itself was
widely noted and commented upon by both the press and the pulpit.
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At a meeting of the presbytery of Philadelphia, Mr. Barnes,
author of a commentary widely used and pastor of one of the
leading churches in that city, "stated that he had been in
the ministry for twenty years, and never, till the last
Communion, had he administered the ordinance without receiving
more or less into the church. But now there are no awakenings, no
conversions, not much apparent growth in grace in professors, and
none come to his study to converse about the salvation of their
souls. With the increase of business, and the brightening
prospects of commerce and manufacture, there is an increase of
worldly-mindedness. Thus it is with all the denominations."
-- Congregational Journal, May 23, 1844.
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In the month of February of the same year, Professor Finney of
Oberlin College said: "We have had the fact before our
minds, that, in general, the Protestant churches of our country,
as such, were either apathetic or hostile to nearly all the moral
reforms of the age. There are partial exceptions, yet not enough
to render the fact otherwise than general. We have also another
corroborated fact: the almost universal absence of revival
influence in the churches. The spiritual apathy is almost
all-pervading, and is fearfully deep; so the religious press of
the whole land testifies. . . . Very extensively, church members
are becoming devotees of fashion, --join hands with the ungodly
in parties of pleasure, in dancing, in festivities, etc. . . .
But we need not expand this painful subject. Suffice it that the
evidence thickens and rolls heavily upon us, to show that the
churches generally are becoming sadly degenerate . They have gone
very far from the Lord, and He has withdrawn Himself from
them."
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And a writer in the Religious Telescope testified: "We have
never witnessed such a general declension of religion as at the
present. Truly, the church should awake, and search into the
cause of this affliction; for as an affliction everyone that
loves Zion must view it. When we call to mind how 'few and far
between' cases of true conversion are, and the almost
unparalleled impertinence and hardness of sinners, we almost
involuntarily exclaim, 'Has God forgotten to be gracious? or, Is
the door of mercy closed?'"
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Such a condition never exists without cause in the church itself.
The spiritual darkness which falls upon nations, upon churches
and individuals, is due, not to an arbitrary withdrawal of the
succors of divine grace on the part of God, but to neglect or
rejection of divine light on the part of men. A 378 striking
illustration of this truth is presented in the history of the
Jewish people in the time of Christ. By their devotion to the
world and forgetfulness of God and His word, their understanding
had become darkened, their hearts earthly and sensual. Thus they
were in ignorance concerning Messiah's advent, and in their pride
and unbelief they rejected the Redeemer. God did not even then
cut off the Jewish nation from a knowledge of, or a participation
in, the blessings of salvation. But those who rejected the truth
lost all desire for the gift of Heaven. They had "put
darkness for light, and light for darkness," until the light
which was in them became darkness; and how great was that
darkness!
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It suits the policy of Satan that men should retain the forms of
religion if but the spirit of vital godliness is lacking. After
their rejection of the gospel, the Jews continued zealously to
maintain their ancient rites, they rigorously preserved their
national exclusiveness, while they themselves could not but admit
that the presence of God was no longer manifest among them. The
prophecy of Daniel pointed so unmistakably to the time of
Messiah's coming, and so directly foretold His death, that they
discouraged its study, and finally the rabbis pronounced a curse
on all who should attempt a computation of the time. In blindness
and impenitence the people of Israel during succeeding centuries
have stood, indifferent to the gracious offers of salvation,
unmindful of the blessings of the gospel, a solemn and fearful
warning of the danger of rejecting light from heaven.
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Wherever the cause exists, the same results will follow. He who
deliberately stifles his convictions of duty because it
interferes with his inclinations will finally lose the power to
distinguish between truth and error. The understanding becomes
darkened, the conscience callous, the heart hardened, and the
soul is separated from God. Where the message of divine truth is
spurned or slighted, there the church will be enshrouded in
darkness; faith and love grow cold, and estrangement and
dissension enter. Church members center their interests and
energies in worldly pursuits, and sinners become hardened in
their impenitence.
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The first angel's message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour
of God's judgment and calling upon men to fear and worship Him,
was designed to separate the professed people of God from the
corrupting influences of the world and to arouse them to see
their true condition of worldliness and backsliding. In this
message, God has sent to the church a warning, which, had it been
accepted, would have corrected the evils that were shutting them
away from Him. Had they received the message from heaven,
humbling their hearts before the Lord and seeking in sincerity a
preparation to stand in His presence, the Spirit and power of God
would have been manifested among them. The church would again
have reached that blessed state of unity, faith, and love which
existed in apostolic days, when the believers "were of one
heart and of one soul," and "spake the word of God with
boldness," when "the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved." Acts 4:32, 31; 2:47.
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If God's professed people would receive the light as it shines
upon them from His word, they would reach that unity for which
Christ prayed, that which the apostle describes, "the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace." "There is,"
he says, " one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called
in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism." Ephesians 4:3-5.
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Such were the blessed results experienced by those who accepted
the advent message. They came from different denominations, and
their denominational barriers were hurled to the ground;
conflicting creeds were shivered to atoms; the unscriptural hope
of a temporal millennium was abandoned, false views of the second
advent were corrected, pride and conformity to the world were
swept away; wrongs were made right; hearts were united in the
sweetest fellowship, and love and joy reigned supreme. If this
doctrine did this for the few who did receive it, it would have
done the same for all if all had received it.
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But the churches generally did not accept the warning. Their
ministers, who, as watchmen "unto the house of Israel,"
should have been the first to discern the tokens of Jesus'
coming, had failed to learn the truth either from the testimony
of the prophets or from the signs of the times. As worldly hopes
and ambitions filled the heart, love for God and faith in His
word had grown cold; and when the advent doctrine was presented,
it only aroused their prejudice and unbelief. The fact that the
message was, to a great extent, preached by laymen, was urged as
an instrument against it. As of old, the plain testimony of God's
word was met with the inquiry: "Have any of the rulers or of
the Pharisees believed?" And finding how difficult a task it
was to refute the arguments drawn from the prophetic periods,
many discouraged the study of the prophecies, teaching that the
prophetic books were sealed and were not to be understood.
Multitudes, trusting implicitly to their pastors, refused to
listen to the warning; and others, though convinced of the truth,
dared not confess it, lest they should be "put out of the
synagogue." The message which God had sent for the testing
and purification of the church revealed all too surely how great
was the number who had set their affections on this world rather
than upon Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were
stronger than the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to
the voice of worldly wisdom and turned away from the
heart-searching message of truth.
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In refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejected the
means which Heaven had provided for their restoration. They
spurned the gracious messenger that would have corrected the
evils which separated them from God, and with greater eagerness
they turned to seek the friendship of the world. Here was the
cause of that fearful condition of worldliness, backsliding, and
spiritual death which existed in the churches in 1844.
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In Revelation 14 the first angel is followed by a second
proclaiming: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of
her fornication." Revelation 14:8. 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. In Revelation 17
Babylon is represented as a woman --a figure which is used in the
Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing a
pure church, a vile woman an apostate church.
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In the Bible the sacred and enduring character of the relation
that exists between Christ and His church is represented by the
union of marriage. The Lord has joined His people to Himself by a
solemn covenant, He promising to be their God, and they pledging
themselves to be His and His alone. He declares: "I will
betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in
mercies." Hosea 2:19. And, again: "I am married unto
you." Jeremiah 3:14. And Paul employs the same figure in the
New Testament when he says: "I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:2.
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The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her
confidence and affection to be turned from Him, and allowing the
love of worldly things to occupy the soul, is likened to the
violation of the marriage vow. The sin of Israel in departing
from the Lord is presented under this figure; and the wonderful
love of God which they thus despised is touchingly portrayed:
"I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee,
saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine." "And thou
wast exceeding beautiful and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for
it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee.
. . . But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the
harlot because of thy renown." "As a wife treacherously
departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with
Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord;" "as a wife that
committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her
husband!" Ezekiel 16:8, 13-15, 32; Jeremiah 3:20.
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In the New Testament, language very similar is addressed to
professed Christians who seek the friendship of the world above
the favor of God. Says the apostle James: "Ye adulterers and
adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God."
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The woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17 is described as
"arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold
and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand
full of abominations and filthiness:...and upon her forehead was
a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of
harlots." Says the prophet: "I saw the woman drunk with
the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus." Babylon is further declared to be "that great
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."
Revelation 17:4-6, 18. The power that for so many centuries
maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom is
Rome. The purple and scarlet color, the gold and precious stones
and pearls, vividly picture the magnificence and more than kingly
pomp affected by the haughty see of Rome. And no other power
could be so truly declared "drunken with the blood of the
saints" as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the
followers of Christ. Babylon is also charged with the sin of
unlawful connection with "the kings of the earth." It
was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the heathen,
that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting
herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers,
receives a like condemnation.
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Babylon is said to be "the mother of harlots." By her
daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines
and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth
and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance
with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall
of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and
have become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of
the judgment, it must be given in the last days; therefore it
cannot refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church has been
in a fallen condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in the
eighteenth chapter of the Revelation the people of God are called
upon to come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of
God's people must still be in Babylon. And in what religious
bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be
found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the
Protestant faith. At the time of their rise these churches took a
noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was with
them. Even the unbelieving world was constrained to acknowledge
the beneficent results that followed an acceptance of the
principles of the gospel. In the words of the prophet to Israel:
"Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for
it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee,
saith the Lord God." But they fell by the same desire which
was the curse and ruin of Israel--the desire of imitating the
practices and courting the friendship of the ungodly. "Thou
didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because
of thy renown." Ezekiel 16:14, 15.
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Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome's example of
iniquitous connection with "the kings of the
earth"--the state churches, by their relation to secular
governments; and other denominations, by seeking the favor of the
world. And the term "Babylon"--confusion--may be
appropriately applied to these bodies, all professing to derive
their doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost
innumerable sects, with widely conflicting creeds and theories.
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Besides a sinful union with the world, the churches that
separated from Rome present other of her characteristics. 384
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A Roman Catholic work argues that "if the Church of Rome
were ever guilty of idolatry in relation to the saints, her
daughter, the Church of England, stands guilty of the same, which
has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one dedicated to
Christ."--Richard Challoner, The Catholic Christian
Instructed, Preface, pages 21, 22.
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And Dr. Hopkins, in "A Treatise on the Millennium,"
declares: "There is no reason to consider the antichristian
spirit and practices to be confined to that which is now called
the Church of Rome. The Protestant churches have much of
antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed from .
. . corruptions and wickedness."--Samuel Hopkins, Works,
vol. 2, p. 328.
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Concerning the separation of the Presbyterian Church from Rome,
Dr. Guthrie writes: "Three hundred years ago, our church,
with an open Bible on her banner, and this motto, 'Search the
Scriptures,' on her scroll, marched out from the gates of
Rome." Then he asks the significant question: "Did they
come clean out of Babylon?"--Thomas Guthrie, The Gospel in
Ezekiel, page 237.
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"The Church of England," says Spurgeon, "seems to
be eaten through and through with sacramentarianism; but
nonconformity appears to be almost as badly riddled with
philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought better things
are turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the faith.
Through and through, I believe, the very heart of England is
honeycombed with a damnable infidelity which dares still go into
the pulpit and call itself Christian."
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What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church
first depart from the simplicity of the gospel? By conforming to
the practices of paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of
Christianity by the heathen. The apostle Paul declared, even in
his day, "The mystery of iniquity doth already work." 2
Thessalonians 2:7. During the lives of the apostles the church
remained comparatively pure. But "toward the latter end of
the second century most of the churches assumed a new form; the
first simplicity disappeared, and insensibly, as the old
disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new
converts, . . . came forward and new-modeled the
cause."--Robert Robinson, Ecclesiastical Researches, ch. 6,
par. 17, p. 51. To secure converts, the exalted standard of the
Christian faith was lowered, and as the result "a pagan
flood, flowing into the church, carried with it its customs,
practices, and idols." --Gavazzi, Lectures, page 278. As the
Christian religion secured the favor and support of secular
rulers, it was nominally accepted by multitudes; but while in
appearance Christians, many "remained in substance pagans,
especially worshiping in secret their idols."-- Ibid., page
278.
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Has not the same process been repeated in nearly every church
calling itself Protestant? As the founders, those who possessed
the true spirit of reform, pass away, their descendants come
forward and "new-model the cause." While blindly
clinging to the creed of their fathers and refusing to accept any
truth in advance of what they saw, the children of the reformers
depart widely from their example of humility, self-denial, and
renunciation of the world. Thus "the first simplicity
disappears." A worldly flood, flowing into the church,
carries "with it its customs, practices, and idols."
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Alas, to what a fearful extent is that friendship of the world
which is "enmity with God," now cherished among the
professed followers of Christ! How widely have the popular
churches throughout Christendom departed from the Bible standard
of humility, self-denial, simplicity, and godliness! Said John
Wesley, in speaking of the right use of money: "Do not waste
any part of so precious a talent, merely in gratifying the desire
of the eye, by superfluous or expensive apparel, or by needless
ornaments. Waste no part of it in curiously adorning your houses;
in superfluous or expensive furniture; in costly pictures,
painting, gilding. . . . Lay out nothing to gratify the pride of
life, to gain the admiration or praise of men. . . . 'So long as
thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.' So
long as thou art 'clothed in purple and fine linen,' and farest
'sumptuously every day,' no doubt many will applaud thy elegance
of taste, thy generosity and hospitality. But do not buy their
applause so dear. Rather be content with the honor that cometh
from God."--Wesley, Works, Sermon 50, "The Use of
Money." But in many churches of our time such teaching is
disregarded.
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A profession of religion has become popular with the world.
Rulers, politicians, lawyers, doctors, merchants, join the church
as a means of securing the respect and confidence of society, and
advancing their own worldly interests. Thus they seek to cover
all their unrighteous transactions under a profession of
Christianity. The various religious bodies, re-enforced by the
wealth and influence of these baptized worldlings, make a still
higher bid for popularity and patronage. Splendid churches,
embellished in the most extravagant manner, are erected on
popular avenues. The worshipers array themselves in costly and
fashionable attire. A high salary is paid for a talented minister
to entertain and attract the people. His sermons must not touch
popular sins, but be made smooth and pleasing for fashionable
ears. Thus fashionable sinners are enrolled on the church
records, and fashionable sins are concealed under a pretense of
godliness.
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Commenting on the present attitude of professed Christians toward
the world, a leading secular journal says: "Insensibly the
church has yielded to the spirit of the age, and adapted its
forms of worship to modern wants." "All things, indeed,
that help to make religion attractive, the church now employs as
its instruments." And a writer in the New York Independent
speaks thus concerning Methodism as it is: "The line of
separation between the godly and the irreligious fades out into a
kind of penumbra, and zealous men on both sides are toiling to
obliterate all difference between their modes of action and
enjoyment." "The popularity of religion tends vastly to
increase the number of those who would secure its benefits
without squarely meeting its duties."
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Says Howard Crosby: "It is a matter of deep concern that we
find Christ's church so little fulfilling the designs of its
Lord. Just as the ancient Jews let a familiar intercourse with
the idolatrous nations steal away their hearts from God, . . . so
the church of Jesus now is, by its false partnerships with an
unbelieving world, giving up the divine methods of its true life,
and yielding itself to the pernicious, though often plausible,
habits of a Christless society, using the arguments and reaching
the conclusions which are foreign to the revelation of God, and
directly antagonistic to all growth in grace."-- The Healthy
Christian: An Appeal to the Church, pages 141, 142.
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In this tide of worldliness and pleasure seeking, self-denial and
self-sacrifice for Christ's sake are almost wholly lost.
"Some of the men and women now in active life in our
churches were educated, when children, to make sacrifices in
order to be able to give or do something for Christ." But
"if funds are wanted now, . . . nobody must be called on to
give. Oh, no! have a fair, tableau, mock trial, antiquarian
supper, or something to eat--anything to amuse the people."
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Governor Washburn of Wisconsin in his annual message, January 9,
1873, declared: "Some law seems to be required to break up
the schools where gamblers are made. These are everywhere. Even
the church (unwittingly, no doubt) is sometimes found doing the
work of the devil. Gift concerts, gift enterprises and raffles,
sometimes in aid of religious or charitable objects, but often
for less worthy purposes, lotteries, prize packages, etc., are
all devices to obtain money without value received. Nothing is so
demoralizing or intoxicating, particularly to the young, as the
acquisition of money or property without labor. Respectable
people engaging in these change enterprises, and easing their
consciences with the reflection that the money is to go to a good
object, it is not strange that the youth of the state should so
often fall into the habits which the excitement of games of
hazard is almost certain to engender." 388
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The spirit of worldly conformity in invading the churches
throughout Christendom. Robert Atkins, in a sermon preached in
London, draws a dark picture of the spiritual declension that
prevails in England: "The truly righteous are diminished
from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart. The professors of
religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers of the
world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature comfort, and
aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer with
Christ, but they shrink from even reproach.... Apostasy,
apostasy, apostasy, is engraven on the very front of every
church; and did they know it, and did they feel it, there might
be hope; but, alas! they cry, 'We are rich, and increased in
goods, and stand in need of nothing.'" --Second Advent
Library, tract No. 39.
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The great sin charged against Babylon is that she "made all
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
This cup of intoxication which she presents to the world
represents the false doctrines that she has accepted as the
result of her unlawful connection with the great ones of the
earth. Friendship with the world corrupts her faith, and in her
turn she exerts a corrupting influence upon the world by teaching
doctrines which are opposed to the plainest statements of Holy
Writ.
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Rome withheld the Bible from the people and required all men to
accept her teachings in its place. It was the work of the
Reformation to restore to men the word of God; but is it not too
true that in the churches of our time men are taught to rest
their faith upon their creed and the teachings of their church
rather than on the Scriptures? Said Charles Beecher, speaking of
the Protestant churches: "They shrink from any rude word
against creeds with the same sensitiveness with which those holy
fathers would have shrunk from a rude word against the rising
veneration of saints and martyrs which they were fostering. . . .
The Protestant evangelical denominations have so tied up one
another's hands, and their own, that, between them all, a man
cannot become a preacher at all, anywhere, without accepting some
book besides the Bible.... There is nothing imaginary in the
statement that the creed power is now beginning to prohibit the
Bible as really as Rome did, though in a subtler
way."--Sermon on "The Bible a Sufficient Creed,"
delivered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, Feb. 22, 1846.
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When faithful teachers expound the word of God, there arise men
of learning, ministers professing to understand the Scriptures,
who denounce sound doctrine as heresy, and thus turn away
inquirers after truth. Were it not that the world is hopelessly
intoxicated with the wine of Babylon, multitudes would be
convicted and converted by the plain, cutting truths of the word
of God. But religious faith appears so confused and discordant
that the people know not what to believe as truth. The sin of the
world's impenitence lies at the door of the church.
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The second angel's message of Revelation 14 was first preached in
the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to
the churches of the United States, where the warning of the
judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally
rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most
rapid. But 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
advent 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. Not yet, however, can it be said that
"Babylon is fallen,... because she made all nations drink of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication." She has not yet
made all nations do this. The spirit of world conforming and
indifference to the testing truths for our time exists and has
been gaining ground in churches of the Protestant faith in all
the countries of Christendom; and these churches are included in
the solemn and terrible denunciation of the second angel. But the
work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination.
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The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will
work "with all power and signs and lying wonders, 390 and
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;" and they that
"received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved," will be left to receive "strong delusion, that
they should believe a lie." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11. Not
until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the
church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout
Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change is
a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8
is yet future.
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Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God
that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great
body of Christ's true followers are still to be found in their
communion. There are many of these who have never seen the
special truths for this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with
their present condition and are longing for clearer light. They
look in vain for the image of Christ in the churches with which
they are connected. As these bodies depart further and further
from the truth, and ally themselves more closely with the world,
the difference between the two classes will widen, and it will
finally result in separation. The time will come when those who
love God supremely can no longer remain in connection with such
as are "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
GC.390.002
Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result of rejecting
the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6-12, the church will have
fully reached the condition foretold by the second angel, and the
people of God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate
from her communion. This message is the last that will ever be
given to the world; and it will accomplish its work. When those
that "believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:12), shall be left to
receive strong delusion and to believe a lie, then the light of
truth will shine upon all whose hearts are open to receive it,
and all the children of the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed
the call: "Come out of her, My people" (Revelation
18:4).
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