“The Sanctuary+the Sabbath+the Spirit of Prophecy = Seventh Day Adventism” (Sunday Evening April 10th, 2011)

Selected Scriptures

O.S. In Low Hampton, New York, the Home of a Baptist Farmer and Preacher by the Name of William Miller Still Stands.

-> The Land and the House Were Purchased by the Adventist Heritage Ministry in 1984

-> On This Property, the Original Seventh-Day Adventist Chapel Also Stands Which Was Built in 1848

-> Inside, You Will Find a List of the Charter Members of the Original Church, and You Will Also Find These Words Etched on the Wall

“For at the Time Appointed, the End Shall Be”

-> William Miller Learned That the Hard Way

-> I Believe That He Was a Very Sincere Man Who Simply Bought Into Some of the Popular, But Erroneous, Apocalyptic Teachings of His Day

-> As a Result, He Predicted That the Exact Day of Christ Return Would be March 21st, 1843

-> And When This Did Not Occur, He Concluded That His Original Time Line Must Have Been Incorrect, and He Changed His Prediction to March 21st, 1844

-> When That Date Came and Passed, William Miller Offered a Formal Apology and His Followers Who Were Known as “The Millerites” Disbanded

-> I Believe It is Worth Noting That William Miller Was Not Alone in This Prediction

-> Dr. Walter Martin, in His Book Entitled “The Kingdom of the Cults” Said This; He Said,

“Following the chronology of Archbishop Ussher, and interpreting the 2300 days of Daniel as 2300 years, many Bible students of various denominations concluded that Christ would come back about the year 1843. Of this studious number was one William Miller, a Baptist Minister and resident of Low Hampton New York”

St = Now, if You Know Much About Bible Prophecy, It is Easy to Understand How a Sincere Man Like William Miller Could Make This Mistake

-> Because It is Not Uncommon in the Bible for “Years” to be Spoken of in Terms of “Days” or of “Weeks”

-> Let Me Give You an Example of That

Genesis 29:27 (Turn and Read)

-> Jacob’s Father-in-Law Laban Spoke These Words to Jacob, and We Know That He Was Not Referring to a Literal Week, But Rather, a Week of Years (Heptad)

-> In Daniel Chapter 9, We Also Find Arguably, the Most Significant Prophetic Passage of Scripture in the Bible, Because It Gives Us an Outline of History

-> And in That Passage, We Find a Description of Seventy Weeks of Years (Daniel 9:24-27)

-> Miller’s Error Began When He Interpreted the Word “Days” in Daniel 8:14 to Refer to “Years”

-> This Verse in the King James Version, Which Miller Studied From, Says This:

“And he said unto me, unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (KJV)

-> Miller Linked This to Daniel 9:25, and He Concluded Correctly That the King Artaxerxes Permitted Ezra to Spearhead a Return to Jerusalem in the Year 457 B.C. Which is When This Prophetic Clock in Daniel Begins

-> The Problem Was That the Word “Days” in Daniel 8:14 in Hebrew Literally Means “Mornings and Evenings”

-> Miller Made the Mistake of Simply Adding 2300 Years to the Year 457 B.C. and Came Up With the Year 1843, and He Sincerely Thought He Was on to Something Big

-> In Fact, I Believe That No One Was More Disappointed When the Lord Did Not Return on March 21st of 1843 or on March 21st of 1844 Than Miller Himself

St = After That Date Came and Passed, William Miller Wrote These Words

“Were I to live my life over again, with the same evidence that I then had, to be honest with God and man I should have to do as I have done. Although opposers said it would not come, they produced no weighty arguments. It was evidently guess work with them; and I then thought, and do now, that their denial was based more on an unwillingness for the Lord to come than on any arguments leading to such conclusion. I confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment; yet, I still believe that the Day of the Lord is near, even at the door; and I exhort you, my brethren to be watchful and not let that day come upon you unawares”

-> Dr. Walter Martin Said This About Him; He Said,

“For William Miller the era of chronological speculation was over, and he died shortly after the fiasco, a broken and disillusioned man who was, nevertheless, honest and forthright, when in error or repudiating error. I believe he now enjoys the presence of the Lord whose appearing he so anxiously awaited”

-> Now, All We Need to do is Read a Verse Such as This One That is Found in Matthew 24:36 to Realize That Miller’s Teaching Contradicted God’s Word, Because Jesus Himself Said,

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone”

-> But Nevertheless, We Have no Reason to Doubt That William Miller Was a Sincere Man, and He Was Never a Seventh Day Adventist

-> As I Will Describe in Just a Few Minutes, the Seventh Day Adventist Movement Really Came About as a Result of Three Other People: Hiram Edson, Joseph Bates and Ellen G. White

-> And Whether They Represent a Cult or a Separate Denomination is a Matter of Great Debate, Because They Adhere to Many Important Orthodoxed Christian Doctrines Including: the Inspiration of Scripture, the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the Virgin Birth of Christ, the Vicarious Atonement of Christ and the Physical Bodily Resurrection of Christ___________________________________________________________________________

T.S. So With That in Mind, I Want to Cover Two Points Tonight I. A Basic Presentation of Their Doctrines II. A Biblical Evaluation of Their Doctrines

I. A Basic Presentation of Their Doctrines

1) The Doctrine of the Sanctuary

-> When William Miller’s Prediction Did Not Occur on March 21st of 1844, One of His Most Devoted Followers by the Name of Hiram Edson Decided to Avoid the Jeering of His “I Told You So Neighbors” by Taking a Shortcut Through a Cornfield

-> On This Day, in the Cornfield, However, Edson Claims That He Suddenly Had a Vision

-> And According to Edson, in This Vision, It Was Revealed to Him That “The Sanctuary” That Was Being Referred to in Daniel 8:14 Was Not on the Earth, But Rather, in Heaven

-> And That Christ Had Passed From One “Apartment” of the Sanctuary Into Another “Apartment” of the Sanctuary to Perform a Closing Work Now Known as “The Investigative Judgment”

-> This Means That Ever Since 1844, According to Edson, Christ Entered “the Second Phase” of His Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary Which Involves Reviewing the Cases of Believers to Determine Their Worthiness of Eternal Life

-> In the Year 1846, This New Interpretation of Daniel Was Put Forth by a Man Named O.R.L. Crosier, Who Outlined and Defended Hiram Edson’s Concept in a Lengthy Article in “The Day Star” Which Was a Millerite Publication

-> As a Result, This is Now Part of Seventh Day Adventist Theology, and It is Known as “The Doctrine of the Heavenly Sanctuary and Investigative Judgment” __________________________________________________________________

T.S. 1) The Doctrine of the Sanctuary 2) The Doctrine of the Sabbath__________________________________________________________________

2) The Doctrine of the Sabbath

-> Another Person Who Influenced Adventist Theology Was a Retired Sea Captain by the Name of Joseph Bates

-> Bates Led a Group of Millerites Who Resided in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, He Taught the Necessity of Observing Saturday as the Unchangeable Sabbath

-> He Issued a Forty-Eight Page Pamphlet Entitled “The Seventh-Day Sabbath a Perpetual Sign” in 1846

-> And Three Years Later, He Issued a Second Pamphlet Call “A Seal of the Living God”, in Which He Stated That the “Seal” Referred to in Revelation 14:9-12 Was the Observation of the Sabbath

-> According to Bates, Those Who Keep the Sabbath Represent the Remnant Church of 144,000 , and All Those Who Refuse to Observe the Sabbath Will Receive the Mark of the Beast

-> This Was Added as One of the Criteria Involved in the Investigative Judgment That is Taking Place to Determine Who is Worthy of Receiving Eternal Life

-> And Those Who Do Not Observe the Literal Sabbath Day are Called “Apostates” by Those Within the Seventh Day Adventists Movement _________________________________________________________________________

T.S. 1) The Doctrine of the Sanctuary 2) The Doctrine of the Sabbath 3) An Emphasis on the Spirit of Prophecy_________________________________________________________________________

3) An Emphasis on the Spirit of Prophecy

-> A Third Person Who Had a Great Deal of Influence Upon the Adventist Movement Was a Woman by the Name of Ellen G. Harmon of Portland, Maine

-> Later, She Married and Became Mrs James White

-> Ellen White Claimed to be a Prophetess, and She Claims to Have Had Many Visions That Have Confirmed Many Adventist Doctrines

-> And Much of What She Taught Was Very Legalistic in Nature

-> Here are a Few of Examples of Her Writings

“Man is no passive thing to be saved in indolence. He is called to strain every muscle and exercise every faculty in his struggle for immortality”

-> You Will Notice That Eternal Life is Not a Gift You Receive; It is a Prize for Which You Must Struggle, According to the so Called “Prophetess” Ellen White

“Those who are willing to make any sacrifice for eternal life will have it, and it will be worth suffering for, worth crucifying self for”

-> Here is Another One

“Jesus has purchased redemption for us. It is ours. But we are placed here on probation to see if we will prove worthy of eternal life.”

-> Now, I Have a Couple of Problems With That Statement

-> Because for One, Salvation is Not a Matter of Probation; It is a Matter of Possession

-> And Secondly, No One Ever Has or Ever Will be Proven “Worthy” to Receive Eternal Life

-> But Even So, We Must Keep in Mind That the Seventh Day Adventists Officially Do Not Claim That Ellen White Was Infallible, They Say That the Scriptures are to be Revered Above Her Teachings

St = The Authoritative Seventh Day Adventist Position on Ellen White is as Follows:

“While Adventists hold the writings of Ellen G. White in highest esteem, yet these are not the source of our expositions. We base our teachings on the Scriptures, the only foundation of all true Christian doctrine. However, it is our belief 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. But we have never equated them with Scripture as some falsely charge”___________________________________________________________________

T.S. 1) The Doctrine of the Sanctuary 2) The Doctrine of the Sabbath 3) An Emphasis on the Spirit of Prophecy 4) A Belief in Satan as Our Scapegoat___________________________________________________________________

4) A Belief in Satan as Our Scapegoat

-> The Seventh Day Adventists Teach That Satan is the Scapegoat Described in Leviticus 16

-> They State That Satan Will Eventually “have rolled back upon his own head, not only his own sins, but the responsibility for all the sins he has caused others to commit”

-> They do Not Believe, and This is Very Important, That Satan Will in Any Way Make an Atonement for Our Sins

-> But They do Believe That He Will Bear the Retributive Punishment for Sins

_______________________________________________________________________

T.S. 1) The Doctrine of the Sanctuary 2) The Doctrine of the Sabbath 3) An Emphasis on the Spirit of Prophecy 4) A Belief in Satan as Our Scapegoat 5) The Doctrine of Annihilation _______________________________________________________________________

5) The Doctrine of Annihilation

-> Another Teaching That the Seventh Day Adventists Adhere to That I Believe is at Odds With What the Bible Actually Teaches is Annihilation

-> They Reject the Doctrine of Eternal Torment for Five Reasons

a. Because Eternal Life is a Gift of God, the Wicked do Not Possess Eternal Life

b. Because Eternal Torment Would Perpetuate and Immortalize Sin, Suffering, and Woe, and Contradict What They Believe the Bible Teaches Which is That These Things Shall Simply be No More.

c. Because It Seems to Us to Provide a Plague Spot in the Universe of God Throughout All Eternity, and It Would Seem That It is Impossible for God to Abolish It

d. Because in Our Thinking, It Would Detract From the Attribute of Love as Seen in the Character of God, and Postulates of a Wrath Which is Never Appeased

e. Because the Scriptures Teach That the Atoning Work of Christ is to Put Away Sin, First From the Individual, and Ultimately From the Universe_______________________________________________________________________

T.S. 1) The Doctrine of the Sanctuary 2) The Doctrine of the Sabbath 3) An Emphasis on the Spirit of Prophecy 4) A Belief in Satan as Our Scapegoat 5) The Doctrine of Annihilation 6) The Doctrine of Soul Sleep_______________________________________________________________________

6) The Doctrine of Soul Sleep

-> They Believe That the Condition of Man Upon Death is One of “Unconsciousness”

-> Immortality is Bestowed Upon the Righteous Dead at the Second Coming of Christ

-> The Impenitent, Including Satan, the Author of Sin, Will be Reduced by the Fires of the Last Day to a State of Non-Existence

7) Some Orthodoxed Christian Beliefs

-> There are Several Things That the Seventh Day Adventists Believe on Critical Issues That are in Direct Alignment With Orthodoxed Christian Theology

-> This Has Caused Men Like Walter Martin, Who Was an Authority on Cults, and Donald Grey Barnhouse to Say That the Seventh Day Adventist Movement is Not a Cult, But Rather, a Legitimate Christian Denomination

-> Both of These Men I Mentioned Agree That the Seventh Day Adventists Have Teachings That are Incorrect and Reflect a Wrong Interpretation of Scripture

-> But They Also Say That None of These Involve a Critical Issue of the Orthodoxed Christian Faith Such as “The Prolegomena”, Which is the Doctrine of God, or “Soteriology” Which is the Doctrine of Salvation

-> Now, I Want You to Know That I Do Not Necessarily Agree With These Men, But I Mention That to Point Out That This One is “A Close Call” for Many

-> And That is Because Their Doctrine of Faith Which Did Not Emerge Until 1957 Affirms Numerous Orthodoxed Christian Doctrines

-> The Title of This Comprehensive Explanation of Their Faith is Called Simply “Questions on Doctrine”, and This is What It Tells Us

ON THE INSPIRTATION OF SCRIPTURE

“Seventh-day Adventists believe that all scripture, both Old and New Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation, was given by inspiration of God and constitutes the very word of God”

“Seventh-day Adventists hold the Protestant position that the Bible and the Bible only is the sole rule of faith and practice for Christians”

ON THE NATURE OF CHRIST

“Jesus Christ is very God and He has existed with the Father from all eternity”

“Christ, the Word of God, became incarnate through the miraculous conception and the virgin birth; and He lived an absolute sinless life here on earth”

“We should have no misgivings in regard to the perfect sinlessness of the human

nature of Christ”ON THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST

“Seventh-day Adventists do not believe that Christ made but partial or incomplete sacrificial atonement on the cross”

“Most decidedly the all-sufficient atoning sacrifice of Jesus our Lord was offered and completed on the cross of calvary”

“This was done for all mankind, for he is the propitiation..for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2)

ON THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

“Jesus Christ arose literally and bodily from the grave. He ascended literally and bodily into heaven. He now serves as our advocate in priestly ministry and meditation before the Father”

ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

“Jesus Christ will return in a premillenial, personal, imminent second advent”

“Jesus will assuredly come the second time…His second advent will be visible, audible, and personal…”

ON THE PLAN OF SALVATION

“The vicarious, atoning death of Jesus Christ, once for all, is all-sufficient for the redemption of a lost race…Man was created sinless, but by his subsequent fall entered a state of alienation and depravity…Salvation through Christ is by grace alone, through faith in His blood…Entrance upon the new life in Christ is by regeneration, or the new birth…man is justified by faith…sanctified by the indwelling Christ through the Holy Spirit”

“…The law of ten commandments points out sin, the penalty of which is death. The law cannot save the transgressor from his sin, nor impart power to keep him from sinning…That one is justified, not by obedience to the law, but by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. By accepting Christ, man is reconciled to God, justified by His blood for the sins of the past, and saved upon the power of God

Pt = If I Had the Time, I Could go On, Because the Seventh Day Adventist Movement Does Adhere to Many Orthodoxed Christian Beliefs - at Least Officially They DoII. A Biblical Evaluation of Their Doctrines

1) Regarding Christ Return

-> I Believe That There are Many Beliefs Within Seventh Day Adventism That Can be Easily Exposed as False by Evaluating What the Bible Actually Teaches

-> To Begin With, Their Whole Movement, Came About, as They Should Acknowledge, Because They Did What Jesus Said Should Not be Done

-> Namely, They Were Trying to Set an Exact Date for His Return

-> I Mentioned Matthew 24:36 in My Introduction, But This is Not the Only Time Jesus Warned Us Not to do This

-> In Mark 13:33, Jesus Said,

“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come”

-> And Almost His Last Words, Before His Ascension, Were These in Acts 1:7

“…’It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” _________________________________________________________________________

T.S. 1) Regarding Christ’s Return 2) Regarding the Sabbath Day_________________________________________________________________________

2) Regarding the Sabbath Day

-> It Was Hard for Me to Determine Where to Begin on This One

-> The Fourth of the Ten Commandments Does Say That We are to Remember the Sabbath Day and to Keep It Holy (Exodus 20:10)

-> And Jesus Did Not Come to Abolish the Law, But Rather to Fulfill It

-> However, It is Interesting to Note That While All of the Other Nine of These

Commandments are Mentioned in the New Testament; This One Never Is

St = The Apostle Paul Also Stated That Which Day We Observe to Worship God Should Not be Allowed to Become a Test of Fellowship

-> In Romans 14:5-6, Paul Said,

“5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God”

-> In Addition to This, There are Numerous Things That Happened on the First Day of the Week in the New Testament

Ex. Jesus Rose From the Dead on the First Day of the Week (John 20:1)

Ex. Jesus Met to Worship With His Disciples on Several Occasions Always on the First Day of the Week (Matt 28:8-10; Luke 24:34; John 20:19-23)

Ex. The First Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost Occurred on the First Day of the Week (Acts 2:1ff)

Ex. Jesus Gave Us the Great Commission on the First Day of the Week (John 20:21; Matt 28:1-20)

Ex. Christians Were Called Upon to Give Their Offerings on the First Day of the Week (1 Cor 16:1-2)

Ex. The Early Christians Worshipped on the First Day of the Week (Acts 20:6-9)

-> And Now, Listen Carefully to What the Bible Says in Colossians 2:16-17

“16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or (Listen) a Sabbath day -- 17 things which are a mere

shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ”

-> You See, Here is the Problem as I See It

-> Those Involved in the Seventh-Day Adventist Movement are Chasing After the Shadow Instead of the Substance on This Issue

-> And the Same Could be Said About Their “Legalistic” Observance of the Old Testament Dietary Laws

3) Regarding Soul Sleep

-> The Bible Clearly Teaches That There is Never a Time When Believers or Unbelievers Will be in a State of Unconsciousness After Death

-> In Luke 16, We Find the Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and the Bible Says That Lazarus Was Fully Conscious of Where He Was

-> And the Rich Man in Hades Was Fully Conscious of Where He Was, and the Fact That He Had Five Brothers Who Needed to be Warned Not to Come to What He Called “…this place of torment” (Luke 16:19-31)

-> We Can Also Mention 2 Corinthians 12:1-4

-> Because in This Passage, Paul Described Being Caught Up Into Paradise (Heaven), and He Said That He Heard Inexpressible Things Which He was Not Permitted to Describe

4) Regarding Annihilation

-> Revelation 14:11 Says About Those Who Take the Mark of the Beast That…

“…the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night…” (Rev 14:11)

-> Revelation 20:10 Says

“…the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever”

-> And This Same Word for “Forever” is Used to Describe Heaven in Revelation 22:5

Pt = If We Lose an Eternal Hell, We Also Must by Necessity Lose an Eternal Heaven

5) Regarding Judgment

-> The Bible Clearly Teaches That Believers Shall Not be Condemned

-> John 5:24 Jesus Said,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life”

-> And Romans 8:1 Says

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

-> So the Seventh-Day Adventist are Clearly Unscriptural When They Suggest That Christians Will Come Under an “Investigative Judgment”, and Whether They Receive Eternal Life or Not Will be Based on Keeping the Commandments

-> Verses Like Ephesians 2:8-9, and Galatians 2:16 Make It Very Clear That No One Can be Saved by Works

-> And Once Again, We Have Romans 11:6 to Consider Which Says

“And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work” (NKJV)

-> So, After Examining the Seventh-Day Adventist, This is My Conclusion

-> Most of Their Doctrine is Basically Sound (Ex. Deity of Christ, Virgin Birth, Atonement of Christ Etc.), Especially When Compared to Cults Like Mormonism

-> Some of It is Definitely Way Out There (Ex. Soul Sleep), But What Should Concern Us the Most is That Portion of Their Doctrine That Deals With Salvation

-> And So, I Feel Like Saying to the Seventh-Day Adventist, You are Not Far From The Kingdom

-> But, You Will Have to Reject This Whole Concept of “Investigative Judgment,”

Or Interpret It Very Differently Than You Do, Because It States That a Person Can Become Worthy to Receive Eternal Life Based on Works

-> And That is a Teaching That Contradicts the Nature of the Gospel