Back in June of 2022 I sent out a sermon titled “Seventh-day Adventist Cancel Culture,” which was a little over two years ago now. Perhaps you listened to it or maybe you didn’t, but since it’s been a while, please allow me to refresh your memory for a few minutes, because there’s an update that I feel obligated to share with you. It’s not the subject I was intending to share, but I think it’s important for us to know what’s going on within the great advent movement.

In June of 2022, I told you that Pastor Conrad Vine delivered a sermon titled “An Appeal to the Adventist Nobility,” which was in January of that same year. It had to do with the Covid vaccine mandates that the federal government imposed, and why the church has taken a wrong stand upon this issue and the consequences of that stand. Perhaps you’ve already heard it, but if not, you can listen to it on YouTube by typing in “An Appeal to the Adventist Nobility.” But I’ll give you a brief summary just in case you haven’t heard it or if you don’t have Internet access.

In his remarks Pastor Vine made it clear that it was wrong for the denomination to deny religious waivers for church members who requested a religious exemption not to be vaccinated based upon conscience, because they didn’t want to introduce anything into their bodies that they believed was a violation of their religious conviction, which Pastor Vine says, makes it a religious liberty issue, and he’s right! He also made the point that thousands of Seventh-day Adventists around the world have lost their jobs because of the church’s refusal to give their employers a written exemption based upon their religious convictions, and he accused the General Conference of totalitarianism and blasphemy and that they should apologize for making a wrong decision and make restitution to those who have lost their jobs or experienced financial hardship or health issues as a result.

He says ADCOM, AD meaning administrative and COM meaning committee, is the church body that issued the churches policy on vaccine mandates, which only has authority to delegate in administrative decisions and not theological or freedom of conscience issues, and Pastor Vine gave proof of that from the churches own written policies, which makes it clear that they don’t follow their own policies and changes them to their own benefit.

However, rather than making things right, the church has doubled down on their position by stating vaccine mandates are strictly a health issue and not a conscience issue at all

Now, let me inject one more thing while we’re talking about Covid, and please keep one thing in mind, because it’s very important. Covid has been and is still being used to cause fear in the minds of the public as long as possible, because fear equals what? Control. A fearful person can be controlled much easier than one who isn’t fearful, and don’t forget, the Bible says perfect love does what? Casts out fear. So if one is fearful they need to examine themselves to see if they have the faith of Jesus or not. And besides this, there are lots of dollars being funneled toward big pharma and various other medical entities that are making unscrupulous people very rich. And so, many of the current politicians in power today and the pharmaceutical companies have reason to keep the fear going, and the Seventh-day Adventist church and its medical and educational institutions also have a reason to do what the government says. So, what’s that reason?

The reason is that the church and its various institutions are living off federally funded money today, and therefore has a financial interest in issuing their vaccine policy the way they did, because government monies go to Adventist medical institutions like Loma Linda hospital and to the Adventist educational system to the tune of billions of dollars every year from the same government programs that are pushing the vaccine mandates. And so, Pastor Vine asks, “How long can the Adventist church feast on federal funds before they’re stuck in a federal rut they can’t get out of, because when the church feeds on federal funds it must dance to the federal tune.”

If it were me, I would say that the church is already stuck in a federal rut and it has been for decades, and their past track record indicates that they’re not going to change, ever, and the Spirit of Prophecy indicates that this is so, and we’ll see that later.

The bottom line is this, when the church accepts federal funds they have to do what the government says, or they will lose their funding, it’s just that simple, and when they receive billions of dollars every year, you can see that they certainly do have a conflict of interest to keep the money flowing into the treasury, which in turn helps fund the various branches of the church as a whole, including the salaries of the employees of the ADCOM who penned the churches policy on vaccine mandates. And so, you see how this works.

But my thought is this, since the General Conference has caved on the government vaccine mandates to avoid being kicked of the government payroll, what are they going do when Sunday becomes an issue? You see, the church has become so dependent upon federal funds, that to take a position contrary to the government who’s funding them, would mean that they would not have the means that helps pay the salaries of church leaders from the top of the hierarchy right on down to the bottom, because tithe that comes in from members alone isn’t enough to keep the ball rolling, and without it they’d have to shut down a big portion of their work and lay off many people.

Notice what it says in Acts of the Apostles, page 432, “When secular rulers unite with ministers of religion to dictate in matters of conscience, then it will be seen who really fear and serve God.” Now let that sink in for a minute. When secular rulers and ministers unite on matters of conscience, these ministers cannot also be serving God. So why would we want to support an organization that isn’t serving God? Is it really that simple? It really is, but of course that’s not the only reason not to support them. There are also the doctrinal issues and the woke agenda that many of the leaders and institutions have adopted over the years.

When I first shared these things with you back in 2022 I had you listen to part of a sermon Pastor Vine gave just as the General Conference was about to take place in June of that year, which I’m not going to repeat, but I would like to play about four minutes’ worth of Pastor Vine’s more recent comments since the church has turned a death ear to his last appeal.

Pastor Vine’s latest sermon is over an hour long, but I’m only going to play the last few minutes, because it contains some of the conclusions, in his mind, that he has come to in order to help the church get back on track. But again, that’s not going to happen for reasons I’ll share with you before we’re done today. If you want to hear his whole sermon you can go to my sermon notes and follow the link that is there provided.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8TEwQ4717Q

During his talk he put up a slide with four points to choose from if church members want to see a denominational course correction. #1, He says church members can choose to do nothing, which he doesn’t recommend, and in #2 he makes an appeal to pray for church leaders, and we’ll also talk about that in a little while, and #3 & #4 are the ones you’ll be listening to. Here goes.

This cancel culture began in earnest just a few weeks ago when Stephen Bohr and his “Secrets Unsealed” ministry disinvited Conrad Vine to a camp meeting that was scheduled for this month of October. He invited him over a year ago, but has now removed him from the speakers schedule, not because of his stand on how the church dealt with vaccine mandates, but because as you heard, he has mentioned a possible parachurch organization should church leaders continue to trample upon conscience once again, and because he dared to raise his voice in protest over the wrongs he has seen, calling for the removal of General Conference leaders and others responsible and for calling for a needed reformation to take place.

And really, I don’t know why Pastor Vine thinks they deserve another chance to see how they will respond to the next pandemic that comes along or some other situation, because this current situation is nothing new. It’s not the first time something like this has happened. They’ve already proven that they’re not going to change, so why wait to see if they’re going to follow the same course they’ve followed for over 100 years? This shows a lack of understanding about where all this is heading.

As far back as the 1920s when church leaders, much like what they did with the vaccine mandates, threw their German brethren under the bus when they failed to give religious exemptions to church members during WWI by changing their noncombatant status to one of bearing of arms in military service, and as a result the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement was born.

Then at a later time there was a call for corporate repentance that came from a couple ministers by the names of Robert Wieland and Donald Short, which I believe had something to do with the debacle of the 1950s concerning the church leaders capitulating to the evangelical interviews with Walter Martin and Donald Barnhouse, which resulted in the denomination publishing the book of lies titled Questions on Doctrines, and M. L. Andreasen was also involved in exposing the falsehoods contained in this Questionable Doctrine book that no one had the courage to sign their name to. However, it was published by The Review and Herald Publishing Association which makes it an official document of what the denomination believes.

Then after that there was something else that happened that most of us today are familiar with. In the 1980s and 90s there was a mass exodus from the church that took place over theological issues regarding the nature of Christ and the new theology of salvation in sin and the sanctuary doctrine and a few other things. And then who can forget the church bringing lawsuit over the Seventh-day Adventist name issue.

And so, things like this have been coming for a long time, and I believe through these successive apostacies from the truth, the Lord has been trying to wake people up to the fact that things have been going south with the leadership of the denomination for many decades, and this current situation with Conrad Vine is one more attempt for God to open the eyes of church members to what’s going on and to call people out of an apostate church.

Pastor Vine hasn’t gone so far as to say that the church is in apostasy, but this will be the end result if he continues to hold his ground. And never forget it, a church in apostasy is a Babylonian church, that’s made very clear in The Great Controversy, page 381 where it says, “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.”

So, if one says the church is in apostasy, they are saying it’s Babylon. Church leaders admit that there is apostasy in the church and always has been, but the church is not in apostasy and never will be, because the ship is going through you see. And yes, all ships go through to some place, but not all will sail safely into the heavenly port, because some go to pieces on the rocks. You can read that in Signs of the Times, January 14, 1886.2 if you want to know why ships that reject the light that comes from the keeper of the lighthouse are going to be wrecked. So, the next time you hear someone say that the church is going through, you can agree with them, because all ships are not going to go through to heaven.

Now think about this: is it possible for the remnant church of Bible prophecy to caudle the LGBTQ+ community, to murder babies through the abortion process, to trample on people’s consciences through vaccine mandates, to present sermons from the sacred desk that are kindled from the hellish torch of Satan and to perform rock music from the church platform? Is it possible for the remnant church to use tithe money to pay Catholic lawyers to take people to court and sue them because they’re convicted to call themselves Seventh-day Adventists? Is it possible for the remnant church of Bible prophecy to promote salvation in sin teachings, to be involved in the ecumenical movement, to call those who proclaim the loud cry of the third angel religious terrorists and to partner with the government and still be God’s true church? How can that be friends?

Now as I said, I don’t think Conrad realizes it yet, but being disfellowshipped is where he’s headed should he continue to expose the errors and apostasy of the leaders. At this point he must think that his current attempt to clean up the church is something new, when in reality it has been attempted time and time again for many years, but we’ll have to wait and see how this current situation develops.

Because of the way things are going in and out of the church, this may be God’s last attempt before all hell breaks loose, because remember, judgment begins where? With the leaders of the professed house of God according to Ezekiel 9:6, and then it trickles down to the membership. And remember, there is such a thing as corporate accountability. After God deals with the leaders, those who hold membership will be next to experience God’s displeasure for supporting it when they knew better or could have known better.

And if you don’t think that’s going to happen, let me read it to you from Testimonies for the Church, volume 3, page 269, “The plain, straight testimony must live in the church, or the curse of God will rest upon His people as surely as it did upon ancient Israel because of their sins. God holds His people, as a body, responsible for the sins existing in individuals among them. If the leaders of the church neglect to diligently search out the sins which bring the displeasure of God upon the body, they (the leaders and the whole body) become responsible for these sins.”

Now, you may be thinking, why are you sharing these things with us, Brother Jones? You haven’t been a member of the Seventh day Adventist church for over 30 years, and that’s true, but I am still a part of the great Advent movement, and I will be until the Lord comes, and that’s why it’s of interest to me and why it should be of interest to you.

If you haven’t noticed friends, things are escalating very quickly, not only within the denomination, but in the world in general, and we should be aware of these things and do what we can to help people understand that Bible prophecy is fast fulfilling and time is short, very short, but unfortunately the majority of church members, and worldlings alike, are soon going to experience that overwhelming surprise that’s soon to break upon the world. But it doesn’t have to be so if people would just take the time to study to show themselves approved unto God.

I don’t have time to go into it right now, but the United Nations and the World Health organization is attempting right now to take control of the United States Government and if our own Congress and Senate doesn’t stop it, we are done as a country, because our Constitution will be totally obliterated, which means no more freedom of speech or of religion. That’s all I can say about this right now but try to keep abreast of these things over the next few weeks, because prophecy is fast fulfilling.

Have you heard the term “Audio Verse?” Audio Verse is a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with thousands of Online sermons from various Adventist ministers, and Conrad Vine’s sermons used to be on it, but guess what? Every one of them have been removed from this streaming platform. Why is that? Audio Verse responded as to why they removed his sermons from their platform by saying pastor Vine “engaged in fanatical excitement, comparing the church to something akin to Babylon, and for starting a new organization.”

Now, to be fair to Pastor Vine, he has done none of these things, but such is the course of church leaders and supporting ministries to quell this uprising by stating false accusations. He will become guilty of some of these things if he doesn’t back off, but at the present time he is not fanatical, has not called the church Babylon or anything akin to it, although if the shoe fits wear it, as they say. Pastor Vine has only mentioned that a parachurch may become necessary if the church continues down the same path, and that’s enough for the leaders to take him out.

Anyway, Pastor Vine’s cancelation has definitely intensified and accelerated over the past few weeks, and church leaders are doing everything in their power right now to shut down any protest before it escalates any further. In fact, this has been their method of operating for many years. It’s called “Seventh-day Adventist cancel culture,” and this has been true way before the term became popular.

I remember very clearly back in the late 1980s and early 90s what the attitude of church leaders were when voices of protest were being raised because of the errors many church members saw coming in at that time, and as I mentioned, even before that time. But rather than thoughtfully listening to those crying out for all the abominations being done in the church, the leaders essentially said, “Sit down, shut up, and pay your tithe or else.”

You see, cancel culture is nothing new, the church has been involved in it for decades. Their attitude is, “We know best how to run things at the head of the work, and you have no say in the matter. Sit down, shut up, and pay your tithe.” You see, tithe is the real issue here. Don’t you dare stop returning tithe to the local conference or be giving it to some offshoot ministry. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,” they say, “that there may be meat in mine house, and God will straighten things out in His own time and way.” And it’s quite clear that nothing has changed since that time.

By the way, the storehouse is not the denomination, or the General Conference, a union conference, a local conference, or a conference church. There are hundreds of references to the term “storehouse” in the Spirit of Prophecy and I’ve read them all, and not once does it refer to the conference coffers as the storehouse. The storehouse is God’s cause, plain and simple, and wherever God’s cause is being proclaimed by real people, they can be supported from that storehouse. And the kind of meat that is to be in God’s house for people to feed upon is present truth, and if present truth is not being preached, then men are not to be supported from the storehouse.

Now, you know things are getting serious when the Michigan conference president has banned Conrad Vine from speaking in all the churches in his district, and when Mark Finley, the denomination’s leading evangelist, has been commissioned to chime in on the growing controversy raised by Pastor Vine with a sermon titled “Can the Church Survive,” and when Stephen Bohr of “Secrets Unsealed” has cancelled him from speaking at his campmeeting, and when Audio Verse has removed all of his sermons. This is what total cancelation looks like, and I hope Pastor Vine will be able to see this for what it is and not cave to the tremendous pressure that’s being placed upon him to cease and desist.

In 2022 when commenting on the Seventh-day Adventist Cancel Culture I said it will be interesting to see how things develop as time goes by, and a couple years have gone by now and it has become clear that the General Conference is not going to back down from its position or give heed to Pastor Vine and others like him. And why can’t they? It’s because the General Conference leaders believe themselves to be the voice of God to the people, and God doesn’t make mistakes, you see.

But in reality, it’s becoming more and more clear that the denomination is patterning after the papal beast as time goes on, and through the vaccine mandate debacle and the current canceling of Conrad Vine this has become even more evident than it already was.

In The Great Controversy, page 57 it says, the papacy claims that it “had never erred, nor would it ever err.” Sound familiar? Now understand, Ellen White made it clear in 1898 that it had been some years since she considered the General Conference to be the voice of God to the people. In Last Day Events, page 51 she said, “That these men should stand in a sacred place, to be as the voice of God to the people, as we once believed the General Conference to be—that is past.”

Now, I have read widely in the Spirit of Prophecy over the past 50 years, and I have never read an inspired statement from the pen of Ellen White that would reverse what she wrote earlier about the General Conference, and so that statement is still in force today, which means the General Conference has been cancelled in this respect.

And by the way, not long after Ellen White denounced the General Conference as being the voice of God, she gave church leaders a warning about not entering into a new organization. Let me read it to you, because church leaders use this quote today to accuse those who would dare to leave the church and start a ministry or meet together without church approval as the ones entering a new organization, when they themselves are the ones who have entered a new organization.

Notice what it says in Selected Messages, book 2, page 390, “The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work. Every truth that He has given for these last days is to be proclaimed to the world. Every pillar that He has established is to be strengthened. We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. (Were they in danger of doing this back then? Yes, that’s why she sounded the alarm. Had things been going well she would have had no reason to say these things) We cannot now enter into any new organization; for this would mean apostasy from the truth.”

So, every pillar that God has established in the early days of the movement is to be strengthened and rehearsed, or repeated, and if they’re not, then that constitutes stepping off the foundation that God has established and of entering a new organization, and that would mean what? “Apostasy from the truth.” And a church in apostasy is called what, according to The Great Controversy, page 608? Babylon! I hate to say it but truth is truth, and I determined over 30 years ago that I would not put my little candle under a bushel, but let it shine upon all who have eyes to see; and no it’s not popular, truth never is.

Now understand what was going on back in the very late 1880s and early 1900s. The new organization was developing at that very time, hence the warning, because a few men at the head of the work were trying to control the work contrary to what God had established in the early days. Did they heed the warning? Sad to say, no, they did not, and that’s why the prophet said she could no longer regard the General Conference as the voice of God.

Then she writes this from Manuscript Releases, volume 13, page 128 written January 14, 1903, to Judge Jesse Arthur, “His power (that is, God’s power) was with me all the way through the last General Conference (that would be in 1901), and had the men in responsibility felt one quarter of the burden that rested on me, there would have been heartfelt confession and repentance. A work would have been done by the Holy Spirit such as has never yet been seen in Battle Creek. Those who at that time heard my message, and refused to humble their hearts before God, are without excuse. No greater proof will ever come to them. The result of the last General Conference has been the greatest, the most terrible, sorrow of my life. No change was made.” In other words, because no change was made, the new organization she warned about was allowed to take over with business as usual.

Now, just a word to the wise. When you read Selected Messages, book 2, page 390 for instance, as we did a moment ago, or any of the compilations for that matter, there’s something inserted in this one that tries to make it look like the leaders did give heed to the warning, changes were made, and everything came out just wonderful. What they inserted was a quote from Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, pages 104-106, January 5, 1903. I encourage you to read the whole thing, but I’ll read just a short portion to you.

She writes, “One day at noon I was writing of the work that might have been done (that what?) that might have been at the last General Conference (1901) if the men in positions of trust had followed the will and way of God. Those who have had great light have not walked in the light. The meeting was closed, and the break was not made. Men did not humble themselves before the Lord as they should have done, and the Holy Spirit was not imparted. I had written thus far when I lost consciousness, and I seemed to be witnessing a scene in Battle Creek.” (So she’s in vision here and goes on to say what a wonderful thing she saw taking place and that hearts were touched and there was confession and repentance. She saw one rise up and say) “We have something to do. We must confess our sins, and humble our hearts before God. . . Those to whom he spoke sprang to their feet, making confession and asking forgiveness, and they fell upon one another’s necks, weeping. The spirit of confession spread through the entire congregation. It was a Pentecostal season. God’s praises were sung, and far into the night, until nearly morning, the work was carried on. . . There was rejoicing such as never before had been heard in the Tabernacle. Then I aroused from my unconsciousness, and for a while could not think where I was. My pen was still in my hand. The words were spoken to me: ‘This might have been. All this the Lord was waiting to do for His people. All heaven was waiting to be gracious.’ I thought of where we might have been had thorough work been done at the last General Conference, and agony of disappointment came over me as I realized that what I had witnessed was not a reality. The spirit that should have been brought into the whole work as the result of that meeting was not brought in because men did not receive the testimonies of the Spirit of God. As they went to their several fields of labor, they did not walk in the light that the Lord had flashed upon their pathway, but carried into their work the wrong principles that had been prevailing in the work at Battle Creek.”

And so, 1901 was when the seeds of rebellion popped up in the church, and afterward began to spout and grow until they have today become nearly full grown.

Now, I don’t know why those who put the compilation of Selected Messages, book 2 together would insert this quote from Testimonies volume 8 that we just read, because it doesn’t help their case at all, does it? Then right after this quote the compilers also used snippets and a lot of ellipses from a letter Ellen wrote to her son Edson to try to show that changes were made at the 1901 General Conference about not starting a new organization. In other words, the compilers took things way out of context to try to show that the General Conference leaders made a course correction back then and did not leave the foundation of our faith by entering into a new organization and that they did not go into apostasy.

So, I began to wonder what Ellen might have written to her son Edson that was between the ellipses, and I found the whole letter in the Letters and Manuscripts I have on my computer, and I found something very interesting as I read the whole thing in context. The changes Sister White said had been made had nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not the General Conference was in danger of entering into a new organization, but had to do with the way her books were being handled at the Review and Herald. You see, Ellen White had inadvertently handed her son some papers that she never meant him to have, and he was using them to try to force changes in a way that would correct the way her publications were being handled.

Notice what she wrote to Edson in this letter, that years later unscrupulous editors would use when compiling Selected Message, book 2, page 390 to make it appear that what Ellen White wrote in warning about not entering a new organization was heeded and that changes for the better were made. In June of 1901, just 2 months after the General Conference, she writes the following to Edson, “I am again much burdened as I see you selecting words from writings that I have sent you, and using them to force decisions that the brethren do not regard with clearness. I have received letters from Elder Daniells and Elder Kilgore asking me to send them instruction at once, if I have any light in reference to the points you have quoted from my letters. Your course would have been the course to be pursued if no change had been made in the General Conference. But a change has been made, and many more changes will be made and great developments will be seen. No issues are to be forced. (Now listen carefully as to what changes were made.) All the light that God has given me is that the work has been greatly hindered by the books having to pass through so many hands. Each publishing house that handles a book must be remunerated for its work. There is need to consider whether the book work cannot be handled in some improved way. There is something wrong in the tract and missionary work when so much money is needed to sustain it after all the advantages that it has had. The books should certainly be brought before the people without having to pass through so many hands, but we must move guardedly. Our words and actions must be such that they will bless others. Remember, Edson, that you are not to carry your own ideas against the judgment of the brethren and the general interests of the cause. I cannot advise you to select a few words from a letter I have written, and use these words to forbid a course which the brethren wish to pursue regarding the publication and handling of books. Changes have been made (to the handling of her books and not that the warning about a new organization was heeded), Changes have been made, and I trust that our brethren who are interested in the book work will manifest an unselfish interest in the disposal of books for the Southern field. . . If you think there is a wrong understanding at the Review and Herald or among the men at present in authority, do not move hastily.”

I share these things with you so that you will realize that the various compilations that have been assembled, can and often do, lead people to wrong conclusions. Sometimes even the headings at the beginning of chapters can be misleading and say the opposite of what was intended. So be careful and read what was originally written in context every chance you get rather than surface read and take for granted that things were done honestly when the various compilations were put together.

Now back to the development happening because of the protests made by Conrad Vine. The Internet is just blowing up about these things, and it’s interesting to me to see how Pastor Vine is changing his tune from what he said in 2022. Back then he said he was not telling church members not to support the church through tithes and offerings and that he himself will continue to do so, which was hard for me to understand at the time given the fact that the church was in the process of cancelling him for telling the truth, but now he says there may be the necessity of having a parachurch, or a church that operates independently of the denomination but works alongside the church to support its mission rather than a regime church that aligns itself with the government or the prevailing culture. And so, with a parachurch Pastor Vine believes the tithe would only go to Conferences and ministers that are faithful to Scripture, that way the conferences that go woke will go broke as he says.

So, one of two things has to happen here. In order for Pastor Vine to be held in the good graces of church leadership once again, would be for him to recant and kiss the Adventist popes ring, or for him to continue to speak out against church abuses and join those of us who have already separated from the apostasy long ago. Because if he keeps it up and enough people begin to withhold their financial support, something will have to give.

For many decades now the devil has been hard at work behind the senses setting up the Seventh-day Adventist church through federal funding in order to make it very difficult for them to say no to these funds when things like government mandates are issued, and when you think about it, wouldn’t the enforcement of a national Sunday law be a federal mandate? Indeed it would! Revelation 13:15 states that, “he (the papacy) had power to give life unto the image of the beast (apostate Protestantism), that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be (what?) killed.”

It’s coming friends, and I don’t think it’s too far off. Just think about the changes in America that we’ve seen within just the past couple years, and more importantly, the last few months! We’ve been told that the last movements would be rapid ones, haven’t we? And I believe it’s going to become even more rapid in the coming days and months. We have seen things develop which seem like they just came out of nowhere, but in reality, the devil has been laying his groundwork for America and for the church for over a century. Think of it! For over 100 years now the apostasy that began by stepping off the foundation of truth and forming a new organization is beginning to be seen more clearly, isn’t it? If you can’t see it yet, you need to ask for the eyesalve that was offered to Laodicea. It’s true that God does nothing in secret, but if we are not studying and following what we know to be right, we’re not going to see it. It’s like what the angel Gabriel said to Daniel in Chapter 12:10, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” It means everything to us to be among the wise, and we won’t be if we’re not taking the time daily to get better acquainted with God and His word.

It’s clear for anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear, that the Seventh-day Adventist church is following in the footsteps of the papacy, and I think we ought to pray for Pastor Conrad Vine that the Lord would help him understand that this is a corporate accountability issue. Because of his position, he was obligated to sound the alarm as he has done, but because no course correction has been made, nor will it be made, the next step for this pastor is to “come out of her” or become responsible for what church leaders are allowing and teaching and doing.

You know, it has been a little over 30 years ago now that I left a church in apostasy, mainly because of the new theology teaching of salvation in sin, which is akin to “once saved always saved” with just a little twist, but there’s more reason today, much more reason to leave than there was back then. Will the denomination cave to a Sunday law in order to secure its federal funding from being taken away when the mandate goes forth? Unfortunately, they will, and I know these are strong words, but they have already demonstrated that they will by throwing their membership under the bus to secure federal funding by complying with the Covid vaccine mandates, and since they won’t admit their wrong, they will be obliged to do it again.

Read Early Writings, page 261 when you have the time, and you will see that this will be the case. In the end the nominal Adventist church will be in the same condition as the fallen Sunday churches, because they will have become a fallen Sunday church themselves. This will be the end result of the omega apostasy, which the prophet said, “is developing and increasing and waxing stronger, and will continue to do so until the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout.” Special Testimonies, Series B, volume 7, page 57.

Since the church has already pretty much accepted the salvation in sin teaching of the Sunday churches, and they’ve done this in a variety of ways over the years by teaching one can have a saving relationship with Jesus and still have ongoing sin in the life; by teaching that Jesus had an unfallen human nature; by teaching that perfection of character is not possible in this life; by teaching that Jesus is going to change our characters when He comes, and other kindred heresies.

Ministers that come out of Andrews University, and Adventist colleges have been teaching these various errors for years, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. And because of this it’s not going to be a difficult thing for them to trample the Sabbath in the dust when push comes to shove. Because if victory over sin and obedience isn’t all that important to our salvation, as many believe, then the idea will prevail that what difference does it really make if we keep the Sabbath or not? And if you doubt that all this is true? Let me read you something from Review and Herald, March 18, 1884. Inspiration says the following, “The Lord has a controversy with his professed people in these last days. (He has a controversy with who? “His professed people.” When? “In these last days.” Ellen White uses the term “His professed people” over and over again to describe Seventh-day Adventists, so we know who we’re talking about here) In this controversy men in responsible positions (church leaders) will (future tense, so we’re given a glimpse into the near future here) men in responsible positions will take a course directly opposite to that pursued by Nehemiah. (Was Nehemiah a Sabbath keeper who was advocating Sabbath reform, yes he was? And he was dealing with other professed Sabbath keepers, wasn’t he? Yes) They (church leaders) will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath themselves, but they will try to keep it from others by burying it beneath the rubbish of custom and tradition. (Just like Sunday preachers have done for years, because what other arguments are there since there is no Scriptural authority for Sunday? And perhaps their motive will be to secure federal funding, what do you think?) In churches (Adventist churches) and in large gatherings in the open air (camp meetings), ministers (what kind of ministers? Apostate Adventist ministers) will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week. (Now listen, because context is crucial here. Sunday preachers don’t have to urge Sunday upon Sunday keepers, do they? No, they’re already keeping Sunday. This is talking about professed Sabbath keepers trying to convince other Sabbath keepers and those Sunday keepers that are becoming convicted about the true seventh-day Sabbath to abandon their position. This same class of apostates are mentioned in The Great Controversy, page 608. Again, what could the necessity of keeping the first day of the week be? Could it be the necessity of cooperating with government mandates so the church can survive?) There are calamities on sea and land: and these calamities will increase, one disaster following close upon another; and the little band (could nearly 23 million conference Adventists be considered a little band? I don’t think so) and the little band of conscientious Sabbath-keepers (the few who won’t take the bait and accept Sunday) will be pointed out (by who? By former Sabbath keepers) as the ones who are bringing the wrath of God upon the world by their disregard of Sunday.”

And shortly after this is when the mobs will come after those who are faithful to Scripture; those who would rather die than knowingly commit a wrong act; those who have settled into the truth so they can’t be moved.

I mentioned The Great Controversy, page 608 a minute ago and I think it will be good to read that as we draw this to a close. Notice what it says, “As the storm approaches (a storm that has arisen as a result of those who are bold enough to proclaim a call out of Babylon message, even if we’re called religious terrorists for doing so), “As the storm approaches a large class (a what? A large class, or the majority compared to the little company we read about) who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth (not much emphasis on obedience today, is there?), abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition (In other words, they join Sunday keepers, and as a result). . . They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.” Truly, there’s more to fear from within than from without, we’re told.

Stephen Bohr says, “God will take care of the wrongs in the church in His own time and way,” but at what time and in what way will God deal with it? Could it be through those who are raising their voices against it, or are we to just sit passively by and hope God will deal with open apostasy by striking people down with lightning bolts? Why did Ellen White say that those who are standing in the light will be the ones who are sighing and crying for the abominations done in the church? Why did she say that those who do this would be a “little company?” We need to think these things through!

In Mark Finley’s sermon he says there’s apostasy in the church, there always has been, and that’s true, but the church is not in apostasy, and that is not true. And so, stay in the church, because God’s going to clean it up and all the apostates will be sifted out and blown away and God will have “a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain,” as it says in Last Day Events, page 179. Yes, God will have ministers who are pure, true, and sanctified, but it won’t be who he thinks it is, because God has never worked on the principle of all the bad leaving an apostate church and all the good staying, but just the other way around.

Let me remind you of what it says in Review and Herald, March 22, 1887.2, “Are we awake to the work that is going on in the heavenly Sanctuary, or are we waiting for some compelling power to come upon the church before we shall arouse? Are we hoping t see the whole church revived? That time will never come.” Mark Finley has it just backward. The devil is a master of confusing the issues by turning things 180 degrees in an effort to make white look black and black look white.

Think of the Jewish church; who left and who stayed? It was the followers of Christ who left the apostate Jewish synagogues. Think of the Protestants and the Catholics, who left and who stayed? The Protestants left and Catholics stayed. And what eventually happened to the Protestant churches? They apostatized too, and the followers of Christ left when the second angel’s message went forth and formed the Seventh-day Adventist church. But what has happened to the Seventh-day Adventist church? It has gone the same way as all the rest of the apostate churches and we’ve had to heed the second call of the fourth angel and separate from it. And why have things gone this way all through history? Because of what it says in The Great Controversy, page 343. “The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking similarity in every great reformation or religious movement. The principles of God’s dealing with men are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time.”

“Will the Church Survive” as Mark Finley says? Yes, the church will survive, but who and what is the church? Is it the General Conference and the denominational organization with all its institutions, or is it the body of Christ made up of individuals who love God and keep His commandments as it says in Upward Look, page 315? Is it faithful souls from all past ages that constitute Gods church on earth as it says in Acts of the Apostles, page 11, or is it buildings and conferences and institutions?

I trust that you are smart enough, and intelligent enough, and dedicated enough, and know Jesus well enough to make right decisions concerning the things we’ve discussed this morning, and we will if we have the character of those mentioned in the book Education, page 57, as Pastor Vine says this is his favorite quote that he has written in the front of his Bible, and may he be true to what it says. “The greatest want of the world is the want of men,—men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.”

Do you want to be that kind of man or woman? I know you do or you wouldn’t be listening to me right now. My prayer is that it will be so.

Now earlier, and we’re almost done, I mentioned that Pastor Vine said to pray for the leaders, and I said I would be commenting on that a little later, and now later has come. Because God’s Old Testament Seventh-day Adventist church refused time and time again to follow God’s directions, the time finally came when He told Jeremiah not to pray for that rebellious people. Why? Notice what it says in Jeremiah 7:16, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will (what?) I will not hear thee.”

Has the modern day Seventh-day Adventist church had opportunity after opportunity to follow God’s directions, yes they have! But have they? No they have not. They have only strayed farther and farther from the truth “and will continue to do so until the Lord shouts from heaven,” as we read earlier. Our prayer in behalf of the denomination and it’s leaders that they might turn around won’t go any farther than the ceiling, because God will not hear. Rather pray for those who still hold membership that their eyes will be opened, but not for the denomination itself, because it’s too late for that.

“Brother Jones, how can you close probation on the church?” And my answer to that is that they have closed probation on themselves by abandoning the truth. Because they have failed to strengthen every pillar that was established and chose instead to step off the foundation and enter a new organization, the prophet said the result would mean what? “Apostasy from the truth.” As things have developed through the years the prophets words have come true, and after a certain point apostasy from the truth has no remedy, and it is my conviction that that point arrived long ago, but you have to make up your own mind.

May God truly open our eyes and ears as we approach the time of trouble that will soon break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise, and may we not be a part of those who will say, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” (Jerimiah 8:20) Unfortunately, everything points to the fact that the larger portion of former Seventh-day Adventists will sing this lamentation. May it not be you, and may it not be me.

Seventh-day Adventist Cancel Culture Update