This morning we’re going to do a follow up study dealing with the statement we discussed last time in Selected Messages 1:204, 205  about the structure being swept away, and as we allowed the testimonies  themselves to be the key to explain the messages given as Scripture is explained by Scripture, we saw that the sweeping away has to do with “the structure of truth” being removed, or swept away from the Seventh-day Adventist Church and not that the physical assets of the church would be swept away.

But there’s another question in this statement that also needs to be answered, and that is, what does the phrase “storm and tempest” refer to? because that’s what does the sweeping away. One might conclude when reading this statement that storm and tempest hasn’t come yet, and so how could the structure already be swept away? So I want to take a little time to look at that this morning and once again allow the testimonies themselves be the key that will explain the messages given, and I’ll probably be repeating myself a little bit and reading a couple statements I read last time, but I’ll try to keep that to a minimum hoping you have already listened to last month’s sermon titled “When Will The Structure Be Swept Away?”

First of all I’ll read just one or two sentences from the Manuscript that’s been compiled in Selected Messages, book 1 so there will be no confusion as to what the sweeping away of the structure represents. On page 204 Sister White makes mention of some of the false theories that are in the book “Living Temple” and she says the following, “The spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy.”

When Sister White uses the phrase “sweep away the whole Christian economy,” that means that all true Christian teaching, values, and principles that are founded upon the pillars of our faith would be swept away, and this was written just before she begins to outline the 11 steps that lead to the structure being swept away. So we know from the context that it’s the truth that would be swept away and not the churches physical assets as we discussed last time.

Then on page 206 and onward she goes on to tell how firmly the foundation of our faith was laid and gives a warning not to allow the structure of truth that was established in the early days of the Advent movement to be swept away from that foundation. And indeed there are several other statements in other places where she says the structure of truth is what would be swept away, and all in the context of the falsehoods in the book “Living Temple.”

I’ll read just this one from Letter 250, 1903, and you can get the rest from last month’s sermon notes if you would like. The prophet says, “A heavy burden has been laid upon me because of the perils that have been brought in by some of our medical missionary leaders. I have had to write much concerning the strange doctrines and theories expressed in Living Temple. Were these theories accepted by our people, the strong pillars of our faith and the truths that have made Seventh-day Adventists what they are would be swept away.” So what is it that’s going to be swept away? “The strong pillars of our faith and the truths that have made Seventh-day Adventists what they are.”

And one more from Letter 38, pages 1, 2, also written in 1903,  Ellen says, “I do not wish to ignore or drop one link in the chain of evidence that was formed as, after the passing of the time in 1844, little companies of seekers after truth met together to study the Bible and to ask God for light and guidance. . . . The truth, point by point, was fastened in our minds so firmly that we could not doubt. . . The evidence given in our early experience has the same force that it had then. The truth is the same as it ever has been, and not a pin or a pillar can be moved from the structure of truth. That which was sought for out of the Word in 1844, 1845, and 1846 remains the truth today in every particular.”

Here we see again that “the structure of truth” has to do with the doctrines that were established in the early days of the Advent movement and not a pin or a pillar is to be removed from that structure, because if that were allowed to happen, then the structure of truth would be swept away and replaced by the false theories in Doctor Kellogg’s book. And unfortunately that is exactly what has happened.

So how does the Spirit of Prophecy describe the phrase “storm and tempest?” Well, it refers to several different things, such as: “war and bloodshed,” “perilous times,” “adversity,” “tests,” “oppression,” “persecution,” “bereavement,” “affliction,” “losses,” “trouble and calamity,” “scenes of sore conflicts,” “trials and difficulties,” “heat and pressure” as is the case when one is being examined for their faith, also when things are not going “smooth,” “great perplexities,” “temptation,” “heresy and false doctrines,” and “coping with “error.” All of these various things are situations we have to cope with while here on this sin cursed earth, and how we deal with them will determine the kind of character we form, and they are all described as going through a time of “storm and tempest.” And I’ll put a list of all the references at the bottom of the sermon notes if you want to look them up for yourself.

In Christ’s Object Lessons, page 331 it says, “Christ has given us no assurance that to attain perfection of character is an easy matter. A noble, all-round character is not inherited. It does not come to us by accident. A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; we form the character. (How, you might ask?) It is formed by hard, stern battles with self. Conflict after conflict, (such as I just mentioned) must be waged against hereditary tendencies. We shall have to criticize ourselves closely, and allow not one unfavorable trait to remain uncorrected.”

So here we see how the way we respond to various types of conflict, or these times of storm and tempest that come to us, is what shapes our character and reveals whether or not we follow after the truth or choose to remain in error. In John 10:27 Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they (do what?) they follow me.”

In other words, wherever God goes, the truth goes with Him, because He is the truth, and those who follow Him will have to go where He goes, and when He goes if they want to continue to follow Him, and if not, they’re in danger of being deceived, because when a vacancy is created by God leaving, we can know for certain that it will be filled by the devil and his evil angels. It’s kind of like the story Jesus told in Matthew 12:43-45 about when an evil spirit goes out of a person and the void is not filled with the Holy Spirit, and when the evil spirit goes back and finds it empty, he invites seven other spirits worse than himself to come join him and the person ends up in worse shape than he was at the beginning.

The last of those 11 points we talked about last time, where it says, “but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless,” is what causes the structure of truth to be swept away, because again, if God is not there, then the structure of truth that was painstakingly studied out in the early days of the Advent movement would no longer be there either, and when that happens, people are left to themselves to depend upon their own worthless human power, and as a result mistakes will be made and sins will be committed. It can’t be any other way.

But you know, sometimes it takes a little while to figure this out like it did for me, because we’re all at a different places in our understanding, aren’t we? but once I knew without question that the 11 steps in Selected Messages, 1:204, 205 had been taken and God had been removed and wasn’t coming back, because remember, one of the 11 steps tells us that “nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement.” In other words there would be no repentance once it started down that road. Once that truth dawned upon me I knew that the only safe course was to hurry up and go after the One who took the structure of truth with Him when He left. Was it easy? No, it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. To me it was every bit as hard as going through a divorce, and even more so, because we’re talking eternal life here. And the reason I knew I had to leave was because it’s dangerous to stay when you know the Holy Spirit is no longer there. And don’t forget, when the Holy Spirit is no longer directing in the affairs of the church, but left to men who are teaching error that is a deadly poison to the soul, it becomes very dangerous to stay, because we’re told plainly that “God will not keep us,” if we knowingly go where error is being taught, as we read last time in Early Writings 124, 125.

Now listen carefully, because what I’m about to tell you is very important to a proper understanding of this sweeping away process. When you read the whole article from beginning to end in Selected Messages 1:193-208, which deals with that 11-step process that leads to the structure being swept away, it has absolutely nothing at all to do with Sunday sacredness or a Sunday law, but has everything to do with how we respond to the pantheistic salvation in sin message brought in by the errors contained in  the book “Living Temple,” and that in turn forms the kind of character that will either leave when the truth leaves, or stay in a place of darkness where the truth has been swept away.

And the reason I bring this out is because the idea prevails today that the sweeping away of the structure has to do with the churches physical structure and all its physical assets that will be swept away when a Sunday law begins to be enforced, but that’s not it at all! The “structure of truth” is swept away long before the Sunday law crisis comes, and the sweeping away happens when those 11 steps have been fulfilled, and they were all fulfilled long ago when church leadership decided not to heed the warnings given in those 11 steps.

In fact, it was a process that started back in the early 1900s when a new organization began to be established with only a few men at the head of the work rather than allowing God to be at the head of the work, and each successive step continued on through the years until today we have a church where the alpha apostasy has become the omega apostasy, but it’s the same old lie that Kellogg introduced into Adventism over 100 years ago with just a little twist, just a little different spin: like the false idea that Jesus had an unfallen human nature; like perfection of character is not possible in this life, or necessary; like Jesus will change our character when He comes, but I want you to notice what the apostle says about this in 1 John 3:2. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he writes, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall (what?) we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” It doesn’t say we will become like Him, but that we will already be like Him in character, and there’s a big difference. Jesus isn’t going to wave a magic wand over us and correct all our character defects when He comes! That work must already be accomplished before He comes, or it will never be done and we will be lost for all eternity.

Do you know how the SDA Bible Commentary comments on this verse? I no longer have the commentaries, but I distinctly remember it saying something like the following, “Today, while we are falling into sin, we are said to be the sons of God.” Is that true? Remember what we read last time about the alpha apostasy in Semons and Talks, 1:343? Let me refresh your memory. It says, “In Living Temple the assertion is made that God is in the flower, in the leaf, in the sinner. But God does not live in the sinner. The Word declares that He abides only in the hearts of those who love Him and do righteousness. (Not those who are falling into sin) God does not abide in the heart of the sinner; it is the enemy who abides there.” So we see here in the SDA Bible Commentary that we are called the sons of God while we are falling into sin. That is a lie! In fact, it is THE lie! And it is something that Seventh-day Adventist now teach from the pulpit and from their “books of a new order.”

1 John 3:4-10  “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil (in our hearts). Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (So as long as we abide in Christ we will not sin, because sin and Jesus do not co-habitate). In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

And let’s look at a few more verses in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12. Here the apostle Paul is talking about “the mystery of iniquity” that was already at work in his day, but would eventually come to an end. Verse 8 says, “And then shall that Wicked (papacy) be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause (because they did not receive the love of the truth) God shall send them (those who are going to perish) strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (better translated “the lie, because it’s not just any lie but a specific lie, and the next verse tells us what it is) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The Word “pleasure” here in the Greek means “to think well of, that is, approve.” In other words, those who are sinning will think that God approves of them while they’re doing it. Sounds a lot like God is in the sinner, doesn’t it? Sounds a lot like being called sons of God while we’re falling into sin. You see, this has been Satan’s big lie right from the beginning. This is how he fooled Eve in the garden when he said she could disobey God, or sin, and she wouldn’t die; that she would have eternal life even though she deliberately sinned against God. That was the first sermon ever preached on the immortality of the soul we’re told in Testimonies for the Church, 1:342. Let me read it to you, “The great original lie which he told to Eve in Eden, ‘Ye shall not surely die,’ was the first sermon ever preached on the immortality of the soul. That sermon was crowned with success, and terrible results followed. He has brought minds to receive that sermon as truth, and ministers preach it, sing it, and pray it.” And unfortunately even Adventist ministers preach it, sing it, and pray it today as well.

In Manuscript 129, 1905 it says, “The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed (or practiced and repeated) 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. We cannot now enter into any new organization; (but that’s exactly what has happened) for this would mean apostasy from the truth.”

And as I mentioned, this warning was given in 1905 because Sister White could see that a “new organization” was developing even at that early date. In other words, to teach differently than the truths that were established in the early years would be to engage in a process of reorganization. That has happened, and that’s what got the ball rolling down hill to begin with, and since that time all the other points have fallen in place just as predicted.

The storm and tempest that does the sweeping away of the structure of truth has to do with how the church has responded to the pantheistic salvation in sin teaching brought in by Doctor Kellogg and how it has developed more insidiously within the church. And unfortunately those who reject the structure of truth made up of all the pins and pillars that were established in the early days of the movement and make excuses for why they can’t have victory over sin, when the big test comes they will already be “prepared to join the easy popular side” when Sunday becomes an issue. I believe you can find that in The Great Controversy, 608

Notice how Review and Herald, April 21, 1891, explains this, “Christian character is not achieved in an instant, but day after day we are to add to our faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. It is in this way that we are to be made ready for the coming of Christ. (And that also means ready to make the right decision when a Sunday law comes) If we do not advance in the light, we shall be among that company who sit in darkness, for whom no place is found in heaven.” And friends, when pantheistic falsehoods about our salvation are being taught, it’s a dark place.

And please keep the following in mind: when the quote under consideration in Selected Messages was written, not many years previous there was a Sunday law crisis that came through the Blair Amendment, if you remember, and this was in the same timeframe when Doctor Kellogg was formulating his pantheistic salvation in sin theory that he wrote down in the book “Living Temple,” which the prophet called the alpha apostasy.

And so what we see happening right now, and it’s been building for some time, is that the alpha of pantheistic theories that entered into Adventism over 120 years ago, that God lives in the sinner, but God does not abide in the heart of the sinner, it is the enemy who abides there, this lie is what has now grown into the omega apostasy that has metastasized into a variety of lies that promote this one big lie, and history is being repeated today just like Ellen White said it would just before the Lord comes, and we must be preparing for the final exam right now if we would make the right decision when the Sabbath/Sunday test comes. And the thing is, it’s doubtful that the right decision will be made if we are still sitting in a church where the structure of truth has been swept away and when church leaders begin urging the people to keep Sunday. We read that last time in Review and Herald, March 18, 1884.8, but let me read it to you again in case you missed it. It says, “The Lord has a controversy with his professed people in these last days. . . . (so we know we’re talking about Seventh-day Adventists here. She goes on to say) “In churches (Adventist churches) and in large gatherings in the open air, (camp meetings) ministers (Adventist ministers) will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week.” In other words, it’s going to be a necessity to keep Sunday in order to avoid persecution and the loss of everything we have and everything the church owns.

In Testimonies for the Church, 5:160 it says, “Satan’s snares are laid for us (for Seventh-day Adventists) as verily as they were laid for the children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan. (And are we not on the very borders of the heavenly Canaan today?) We are repeating the history of that people.” And friends, because that history is being repeated today, that means that those who remain in a church where the structure of truth has been rejected and as a consequence removed, and they don’t even realize it, will share the same fate as Israel of old when they rejected the structure of truth.

As I already mentioned, not long before these words were penned, a Sunday law was being urged in Congress through the Blair Amendment and also when the pantheistic theories of salvation in sin were being introduced into Adventism through “Living Temple,” and these same two elements will be promoted in the church that has rejected the structure of truth as salvation in sin prepares the way for the acceptance of Sunday sacredness.

And notice also how the Spirit of Prophecy connects ancient Israel and modern day Israel (that is, the Seventh-day Adventist Church) in Testimonies for the Church, 8:67, 68, “Jerusalem is a representation of what the church will be if it refuses to walk in the light that God has given. (So we must ask, is the church of today, walking in the light that God has given? And if the answer is no, then what happened to ancient Israel has happened to modern day Israel) Jerusalem was favored of God as the depositary of sacred trusts. (What about SDAs, have they been favored of God as the depositary of sacred trusts?) But her people perverted the truth, and despised all entreaties and warnings.  (Has the church of today done the same?) They would not respect His counsels. . . . (Is the church of today respecting the counsels of the SOP? No! Ancient Israel didn’t either, and what did Jesus do and say to them?) Christ turned from them, saying: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,’ how can I give thee up? ‘How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!’” Matthew 23:37.

“So Christ sorrows and weeps over our churches, over our institutions of learning, that have failed to meet the demand of God. (Have things been corrected since this was written, or have things gotten worse?) He comes to investigate in Battle Creek (today she would say Silver Springs Maryland), which has been moving in the same track as Jerusalem. The publishing house has been turned into desecrated shrines, into a place of unholy merchandise and traffic. (Books of a new order) It has become a place where injustice and fraud have been carried on, where selfishness, malice, envy, and passion have borne sway. Yet the men who have been led into this working upon wrong principles are seemingly unconscious of their wrong course of action. (They need the eye salve offered to Laodicea, don’t they?) When warnings and entreaties come to them, they say: ‘Doth she not speak in parables?’ Words of warning and reproof have been treated as idle tales.

“When Christ looked down from the crest of Olivet, He saw this state of things existing in every church. (Every Adventist Church) The warnings come down to all that are following in the tread of the people of Jerusalem, who had such great light. (Three angels’ messages) This people is before us as a warning. By rejecting God’s warnings in this our day, men are repeating the sin of Jerusalem. The Lord sees what the human agent does not see and will not see—the outcome of all the human devising in Battle Creek. (Or depending on human power, which without God, is worthless) He has done all that a God could do. He has flashed light before the eyes of the people, that their sins might not reach the boundary where repentance cannot be felt. (Here we have a description of the unpardonable sin! That’s why Jesus had to say to ancient Israel, your house is left unto you desolate. The structure of truth left with the One who created it; the One who wrote it on stone.) But by a long process of departure from just and righteous principles, men have placed themselves where light and truth, justice and mercy, are not discerned. This course has become part of their very nature.” This warning was given in 1898, and again, during the same timeframe as “Living Temple.”

Now here’s another point I wanted to make last time, but we ran out of time. Some of the statements about the structure being swept away can sound like it might be referring to the sweeping away of the physical church structure, but when we understand this properly and take the weight of evidence, as we’re told to do, it’s definitely talking about the structure of truth that is swept away from those who have rejected it. However, in a sense, there is something tangible that will be swept away before everything is said and done, and that is the name on the church sign that was given to the remnant church in 1860. Last time we saw that the majority are going to cave in when it comes to the Sunday law, because they’re cowards and traitors, as we read in The Spirit of Prophecy, 4:426, and because they haven’t formed the right kind of character by allowing the various forms of storm and tempests that have come into their lives, they’re going to want to hang on to those physical church assets when the Sunday law test comes rather than stand in defense of truth and righteousness.

If church leaders are going to urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week, as we read that they will in, Review and Herald, March 18, 1884, and please go back and listen to the last sermon titled “When Will The Structure Be Swept Away,” if you need to refresh your memory or if you haven’t heard it yet. But when church leaders start urging upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week, they will absolutely have to have a name change, because they will no longer be able to call themselves Seventh-day Adventists, plain and simple! That name that they thought they were protecting when they sued Raphael Perez and others a few years ago, they’re going to have to give up, because they will then be Sunday keepers, and in that sense the physical name will end up being swept away as well, because the Sabbath is a big part of the structure of truth in these last days. First the structure of truth goes and then the name. One has happened, one is yet future.

When they give up the Sabbath and accept Sunday in its place, the government by then will be controlled by apostate Protestantism, or the image of the beast, and they will allow them to keep their institutions, and churches, and schools and use them to promote Sunday, and by this act they will have accepted the mark of the beast. The very church that was supposed to warn people against receiving the mark, will themselves receive the mark. And I have a sneaking suspicion that church leaders will also come to believe and promote the false doctrine of once saved always saved right along with Sunday sacredness, because that’s where the pantheistic teaching of the new theology of salvation in sin leads. How very sad!

You see, this big lie of salvation in sin is what will cause the Sabbath truth to be given up, because if victory over sin is not possible and that God lives in the sinner, then what’s the big deal about suffering because of Sabbath keeping. If God is going to change our character when He comes, then what’s the big deal, you see?

One more inspired statement in closing from Testimonies for the Church 5:463, “And at that time (that is when the work is closing up) the superficial, conservative class, whose influence has steadily retarded the progress of the work, will renounce the faith and take their stand with its avowed enemies, toward whom their sympathies have long been tending. (You see, that’s why I say that those who have had the structure of truth swept away from them beforehand will not make this decision on the spur of the moment, because “their sympathies have long been tending” toward that end long before Sunday becomes an issue with teeth in it) These apostates will then manifest the most bitter enmity, doing all in their power to oppress and malign their former brethren and to excite indignation against them. This day is just before us.”

STATEMENTS ABOUT THE MEANING OF STORM AND TEMPEST

Review and Herald, September 17, 1901.9, “war and bloodshed”
Loma Linda Messages, June 2, 1905, page 100.4, “perilous times”
Youth Instructor, April 28, 1886, par. 5, “full of peril”
Letter 6, 1880 (3BC 1146.2), “adversity”
8T, 173.1, “tests”
That I May Know Him, 360.3, “oppression” and “persecution”
RH December 11, 1883.16, “bereavement, affliction, and losses, trouble and calamity”
RH March 25, 1884, Art. B, par. 5, “scenes of sore conflicts”
RH April 23, 1901, Art. A, par. 8, “trials”
RH July 4, 1907, par. 6, “heat and pressure”
ST January 3, 1906, “difficulties, not always smooth, meeting trials”
13MR 390.2, “error”
Letter 229, July 30, 1905, “temptation”

STORM AND TEMPEST