OTG – Watchman – ScottsJunction

Watchman

by Robert Scott

There’s nothing more important in life than understanding why and how we should live it.

My personal testimony is that I believe we have been created by an omnipotent God who has revealed Himself to us through the life and sacrifice of His only begotten Son and through His Word which has been given to mankind in the Bible and supported through the teaching and leadership of people who have submitted themselves in faithful service to Him.

I share my testimony with others because part of my understanding of what God teaches in His Word is that we must do so with the aim of helping others to know truth and be motivated to make the right choice for themselves while under attack by an enemy. This is given as a principle referred to in the Bible as a watchman on the wall. It’s up to you to heed whatever understanding you have or any warning you hear. It’s up to me to share my knowledge and to give God’s warning to others. We make our own choices and the result will be either everlasting death or eternal life.

None of us are perfect. It’s not about us being perfect. It’s about us recognizing that we aren’t perfect and that the only way to be transformed and made perfect is through the power of God and Jesus because of Their desire to make that possible.

“How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” — Penn Jillette, an atheist

I care that anyone who will hear and accept God’s Word will be saved, even my supposed enemies. We are all God’s children. We are all unworthy. Not everyone will persist in refusing the knowledge of God and the conviction in their hearts to repent, but those who do we are told will be rejecting the Holy Spirit which is to reject eternal life, the unpardonable sin. It’s only unpardonable when we reject grace and pardon. I care especially about those who I perceive to be under the influence of false teachers. To challenge such false teachers is necessary to help others see life saving truth. While challenging false teachers must be done judiciously, it must never be avoided when the jeopardy they create becomes known. That would be cowardice, which God also hates.

Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. 1 Timothy 5:20

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22

God’s Word – Understanding vs Interpretation

Interpreting God’s Word and understanding God’s Word are both legitimate and necessary, but often times there are some who respond to appeals to God’s Word with resistance by asserting that interpretation is subjective and therefore not authoritative. The real issue is one of authority. Is God your authority or are you and your own understanding your authority. God is either fully capable of giving mankind His Word in a reliable and understandable form as we have in the Bible, or He’s not. If He’s not, or if you assert that His Word is not authoritatively reliable, then you are holding yourself to be something superior to God. To understand God is to accept His words. To interpret God has the potential to interject one’s own opinion to add to or to take away from the plain meaning of God’s written Word. Is God, including His Word, your authority or not?

We are not left without inspired guidance. See https://scottsjunction.com/watchman/millers-rules/ for rules of biblical interpretation endoreced by the pen of inspiration.

Choose you this day whom you will serve. Take upon yourself either the seal of God or the mark of the beast. There is no middle ground. To suppose that there is a neutral middle ground is to be lukewarm. God hates lukewarmness because it is a rejection of Him while still claiming His Word and His name without submission to His authority.

Beware of closed minds and hard hearts. It can be very discouraging to encounter others who refuse to engage in a study of God’s Word with any apparent interest in learning truth. Too often, these closed minds and hard hearts are very close to us – our spouses, children, siblings and parents, for example. Frequently, these closed minds are very religious, even religious leaders. There is only ONE way to be restored to our Heavenly Father, to be saved. Seek to know that one way to be saved and let no other influence or idea shake your faith or determination to remain faithful to your Creator and Savior. Only you can cheat yourself out of accepting the grace of Jesus and walking His narrow way. Don’t let the pressure and influence of others be more important to you than the truth given us by God in His Word.

Rejecting God’s Word often is done in the name of science which is to suggest that our own understanding is capable of determining truth more reliably than to simply believe God’s Word. The result of such reliance upon our own understanding results in what the Bible calls philosophies of men.

When God’s Word appears to us to be contradictory, we have two choices in how we respond. We can either choose to believe that God’s Word is in fact contradictory and therefore unreliable as our authority, or we can choose to trust God’s capacity to provide us with consistent truth in the Bible and determine that it is our own failure to understand the words of God that causes us to perceive contradictions. Contradictions in God’s Word evaporate with further understanding of God’s Word. God provides both His written Word and the guidance of His Holy Spirit to lead us to a right understanding. God requires that we both exert effort and have faith in Him.

When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. Matthew 13:19

It is always unsafe to put our faith in the interpretations of others. We must individually test every word and action of ourselves and others against the truth of God’s Word. Only God’s Word will provide us with a safe test of truth. Preachers and teachers are potentially very helpful in our journey to know God’s Word, but only when they teach faithfully what God’s Word says. God hates false teaching and preaching by those who interject their own fanciful interpretations of God’s Word that lead to false gospels. The grace of Jesus is sufficient to cover all sin that is confessed and repented of but will not cover the slightest unrepented sin or false teaching.

A commonly asserted attack on God’s Word is to claim that if someone has not had the privilege of hearing or reading the Word of God that this is evidence that God’s Word is not necessary for us nor is our effort to understand and interpret God’s Word important. This is a dangerous deception. God has indeed written His law upon our hearts through our very DNA and we will be held accountable for responding to the law of God made known to us through our consciences and nature. However, that does not diminish in any way the truth or authority of God’s written Word. This argument certainly will not apply as a defense to anyone making it. Anyone who puts forth this argument necessarily is aware of God’s written Word and God will hold us accountable for that which has been revealed to us.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. John 12:48

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 1 John 2:5-6

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority—not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support. GC 595.1

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. Revelation 22:18-19

Lucifer – The Father of Sin

It has been helpful in understanding God’s Word to realize that sin arose before this earth and mankind were created. There was a conflict in Heaven between Christ and Lucifer, i.e. Satan. Lucifer was the highest created being in the universe and felt that he was so much like Christ that he should be equal to Christ, the only begotten Son of God. The difference between Christ and Lucifer was insurmountably monumental. Christ is the begotten Son of God and as such He is divine. Lucifer is a created being and as such is not and never can be divine. Lucifer wanted to be worshipped by other created beings. Worship is reserved to God. Because Jesus is divine He is worthy of our worship. The only means by which Lucifer can seek worship is to make himself equal to Jesus. The only way Lucifer can be equal to Jesus is to argue that Jesus is not divine, that He is not the only begotten Son of God. It is this fundamental conflict between Christ and Lucifer that underlies mankind’s entire experience.

In The Image of God

The conflict in Heaven between Christ and Lucifer occurred prior to the creation of man. It seems that mankind was created in no small part to help illustrate the relationship between God and His Son. Mankind was created in Their image. To be in the image of God is a huge deal. Lucifer, while being created as the highest angel in Heaven, was not created in the image of God, not like mankind was designed and created. God made Adam in much the same way that He made Lucifer. Adam was formed from the dust of the earth and given life through the breath and Spirit of God. Eve, however, was not made from dust. Eve was created in a manner that helps to illustrate to the universe how the Son of God was begotten of the Father. Adam pre-existed Eve and Eve was brought forth from the very material of Adam, not fashioned from inanimate dust. This is the very meaning of the word ‘woman,’ to be brought forth from man. Together, as one-flesh, Adam and Eve possessed the capacity to procreate. Jesus was brought forth from God and through Jesus all things have been created. Eve was brought forth from Adam and through Eve all mankind has been procreated. This is an important aspect of being in the image of God. This is one way that mankind is designed to glorify God and His only begotten Son. If we believe this, we will not perish. (John 3:16) To reject God is to worship a false image, a false god. Any belief that denies the true Father God and His only begotten Son results in our loss of eternal life.

Lucifer did not possess the capacity to procreate and he was not created through procreation. Christ was brought forth from the very material of God, not the dust of the earth. God through Jesus created the dust of the earth from which Adam was formed. Christ the only begotten Son of God pre-existed all things as is necessarily true if He is the creator of all things. Adam and Eve were two separate individuals but were made one-flesh in eternal relationship. God and His Son are one in relationship. Prior to the creation of Adam and Eve there is no evidence of any example in God’s creation that illustrated this aspect of the image of God. This relationship between God and His Son is sacred and holy. The image of God reflected in husband and wife is holy. Mankind has been made in the image of God to illustrate the love God has for His Son. While we cannot begin to grasp the enormity or nuance of this reality, we can at least see the fundamental truth that Christ is the begotten Son of God and that we, mankind, have been made in the image of God. We risk wasting this remarkable truth by attempting to assert our own importance in places that are reserved for God alone.

The War in Heaven Continues on Earth

Lucifer challenged Christ’s place as the divine Son of God. Lucifer deceived one third of the angels to likewise be malcontent with their created status. God, however, is God. God by definition will win this war. Another quality of God is to not force anyone to choose Him. God is love. Mankind and the universe must experience the full impact of Lucifer’s sin because God is love. God’s love requires that our destiny is determined by our choice, not by His power. God allowed one third of the angels to choose to reject Him. God will allow as many of mankind that will reject Him to receive the reward of their choice. The only thing Lucifer can do short of submitting to God’s authority is to seek to hurt God by deceiving as many as possible to reject God.

Our lives here and now are about making our choice. We choose to either obey and give glory to God or to follow Satan in his rebellion. It’s that simple. God’s love allows Satan to tempt us to make the wrong choice. Satan does this by deceiving us and trying to make us think that we too can be like God; that we won’t surely die if we choose to sin. God protects us in at least two ways. God gives us truth by which to recognize and avoid deception. This truth comes to us in written form as Scripture. God also gives us, if we ask for and accept it, the power of His Spirit through the life of His Son that enables us to, where we cannot on our own, obey Him. Truth and power are ours, but we can choose to disregard both of these indomitable weapons against sin and seek to do things on our own outside of God’s blessing. God wins, but Satan has his victories. Will you be one of Satan’s victories?

One of the truths God reveals through His Word is that the time of the end will be as the days of Noah. The days preceding the flood of Noah’s day are described as people sinning continually. Out of the entire population of earth only eight people, all from Noah’s family, obeyed God and entered the ark. God will win, but many people will fall victim to Satan’s deceptions and be destroyed. This is the reality in which we live today.

Satan’s deceptions are lies directly from him as well as the encouragement he provides for us to rely on human understanding. There are intelligent, capable people in the world who suppose that their capacity to understand and describe some small aspect of what God has created enables them to possess a greater understanding than is given us in God’s plain Word. Philosophies of men, our own understanding, and all manner of self-reliant efforts will be used by Satan in his campaign of deception. “The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.” Isaiah 3:2-4

God’s Test is Simple

God could not have made the test for Adam and Eve more fair. There could not have been anything simpler. Adam and Eve were surrounded by an abundance of everything they could possibly need or want. The only motivation to eat of the forbidden fruit was to disobey and to seek that which is not intended or possible for mankind to possess. Eve transgressed first, but it was Adam who God held responsible for the downfall of all mankind.

The test for mankind in the last days will be similarly simple to obey. The forbidden fruit was a test of loyalty to God. In the last days our test will be to simply and definitively declare who we will worship. This is the message of Revelation 14, the three angels’ messages.

Many will choose to partake of the forbidden god, the false god identified by the mark of the beast in God’s Word. Excuses will be put forth such as, “It doesn’t really matter what we believe about who God is. God will reveal His truth AFTER we get to Heaven. We won’t surely die. God is love. God won’t kill anyone. God’s Word can’t be obeyed. We do what we do in the name of Jesus, surely He will save us even if we don’t obey His Word. Relationship is what is important, not obeying God’s Word.” God’s test is simple. God’s test is clear. God’s test is eternally determinative. God’s test is an open book test. Failing God’s test is a deliberate choice. God’s law is not negotiable. God’s law has never changed and will not change. Despite God’s love, He is no respecter of persons. If we are to be saved, we will obey Him, now. That is how we love Him.

If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:3-4

Many people will fail God’s test, not because the test is hard but because our hearts are hard. Those who pass the test are like gold refined by fire. God will only accept those who are pure in heart. God will only receive what He calls the wheat from among the tares. The way is straight and narrow. Few there be that find it. It is not a matter of intelligence or wealth or power. This is a test of heart, a test of love for and obedience to our Creator and for His creation. The last days will be as the days of Noah in which the whole world is sinning continually. The Holy Spirit’s urgings to repent will be rejected. God’s work will be done and God will declare, “It is done.” Let the just be just and let the unjust be unjust still. Not one person is unable to pass God’s test with flying colors. God gives the answers in open book form. Jesus does all the work of passing the test. The only thing we must do is to sincerely accept the free gift of life from our Creator. Pride will cause many to reject this free gift. Many will prefer to believe their own philosophies rather than the plain Word of God. God’s answer key will be refused with all manner of excuses from not trusting God’s ability to give us a reliable testimony in the form of the Bible to simply just calling the Bible a myth. The Bible proves itself. The pure in heart will let the Bible speak for itself as reliable truth and will accept the transformation of heart possible exclusively through the gospel of Jesus. One of the saddest realities is that people will reject God’s Word while claiming to believe God’s Word. The reason there are so many churches claiming to be based upon God’s Word but disagreeing with each other is not because God’s Word is unreliable or confusing, but because the world is united in rejecting God while using His name in vain. The path to destruction is broad. Satan doesn’t care which reason you put forth to deny God.

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. John 12:48

The tide of woe that flowed from the transgression of our first parents is regarded by many as too awful a consequence for so small a sin, and they impeach the wisdom and justice of God in His dealings with man. But if they would look more deeply into this question, they might discern their error. God created man after His own likeness, free from sin. The earth was to be peopled with beings only a little lower than the angels; but their obedience must be tested; for God would not permit the world to be filled with those who would disregard His law. Yet, in His great mercy, He appointed Adam no severe test. And the very lightness of the prohibition made the sin exceedingly great. If Adam could not bear the smallest of tests, he could not have endured a greater trial had he been entrusted with higher responsibilities. PP 60.4

Had some great test been appointed Adam, then those whose hearts incline to evil would have excused themselves by saying, “This is a trivial matter, and God is not so particular about little things.” And there would be continual transgression in things looked upon as small, and which pass unrebuked among men. But the Lord has made it evident that sin in any degree is offensive to Him. PP 61.1

To Eve it seemed a small thing to disobey God by tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree, and to tempt her husband also to transgress; but their sin opened the floodgates of woe upon the world. Who can know, in the moment of temptation, the terrible consequences that will result from one wrong step? PP 61.2

Many who teach that the law of God is not binding upon man, urge that it is impossible for him to obey its precepts. But if this were true, why did Adam suffer the penalty of transgression? The sin of our first parents brought guilt and sorrow upon the world, and had it not been for the goodness and mercy of God, would have plunged the race into hopeless despair. Let none deceive themselves. “The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. The law of God can no more be transgressed with impunity now than when sentence was pronounced upon the father of mankind. PP 61.3

The difference between the narrow way and the broad path to destruction is a simple matter of sincere priorities. When knowing God and desiring to obey Him is the priority, the daily necessities of life are interruptions to our passion and efforts to know God and spend time with Him and His Word. When worldly and material interests are the priority, knowing and obeying God is the distraction. Religiosity is probably the vilest distraction as it makes worldly things the priority but in the name of God which not only misses the point but can deceive and discourage others to their eternal destruction. That’s what Jesus hates about the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Jesus died for US so that we can know the Father and be restored in relationship with Him. The shortest and fastest route to the Father is a straight line, a narrow way.

Our journey is mostly about taking steady steps forward rather than rushing to mile markers. We choose where we will put our feet. Jesus through His Holy Spirit in us gives us what we need for the next step, but He can’t if we don’t let Him. Our freewill is more important to God than our salvation. Our part is to emphatically choose whom we will love and obey.

Love will offend

God’s love is not the absence of offensiveness. God’s love is about doing righteousness to others despite being offensive when necessary. Those who reject God’s true love will be offended by true love. God rebukes those He loves. God commands us in His Word to rebuke those we love. We rebuke those we love to encourage them to be right with God which is the only path that leads to salvation. How much do you have to hate someone to not rebuke their violations of God’s Word, to be disinterested in their salvation?

Those who profess a wrong concept of God’s love, a false gospel, will be offended by the Word of God and its admonitions to rebuke one another. False love will avoid the work and discomfort of rebuking others and will instead prefer to preserve their own selfish sense of comfort while letting their supposed loved one fall into destructive sin without our warning and pleas to repent. We can’t make others be faithful to God, but we must be watchmen and give warning of danger.

Those whom God has set apart as ministers of righteousness have solemn responsibilities laid upon them to reprove the sins of the people. Paul commanded Titus: “These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” There are ever those who will despise the one who dares to reprove sin; but there are times when reproof must be given. Paul directs Titus to rebuke a certain class sharply, that they may be sound in the faith. Men and women who, with their different organizations, are brought together in church capacity have peculiarities and faults. As these are developed, they will require reproof. If those who are placed in important positions never reproved, never rebuked, there would soon be a demoralized condition of things that would greatly dishonor God. But how shall the reproof be given? Let the apostle answer: “With all long-suffering and doctrine.” Principle should be brought to bear upon the one who needs reproof, but never should the wrongs of God’s people be passed by indifferently. 3T 358.3

The life he has given us is a sacred responsibility, and no moment of it is to be trifled with; for we shall have to meet it again in the record of the Judgment. In the books of heaven our lives are as accurately traced as in the picture on the plate of the photographer. Not only are we held accountable for what we have done, but for what we have left undone. We are held to account for our undeveloped characters, our unimproved opportunities. RH September 22, 1891, par 1

We will either choose to be offended by sin or to be offended by Jesus. Following Jesus is not a popular path in the world.

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. Matthew 11:6

Offending others by being faithful to God’s Word is not the same thing as offending people with unnecessary harshness.

A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. Proverbs 18:19

We are commanded to rebuke as lovingly as we know how, to be tactful in how we deal with each other. The ultimate standard is our faithfulness to God. We must act with courage using our best efforts in the moment even at the risk of offending someone. We are imperfect people and will never achieve a perfect tone of voice and will not always choose the optimal words or timing as we rebuke each other. If both people in a situation that calls for rebukes have Jesus in their hearts they will yield to truth and true love and repent and forgive and be reconciled.

The cause of God demands men who can see quickly and act instantaneously at the right time and with power. If you wait to measure every difficulty and balance every perplexity you meet, you will do but little. You will have obstacles and difficulties to encounter at every turn, and you must with firm purpose decide to conquer them, or they will conquer you. GW 133.3

Sometimes various ways and purposes, different modes of operation in connection with the work of God, are about evenly balanced in the mind; and it is at this very point that the nicest discrimination is necessary. And if anything is accomplished to the purpose, it must be done at the golden moment. The slightest inclination of the weight in the balance should be seen, and should determine the matter at once. Long delays tire the angels. It is even more excusable to make a wrong decision sometimes than to be continually in a wavering position; to be hesitating, sometimes inclined in one direction, then in another. More perplexity and wretchedness result from thus hesitating and doubting than from sometimes moving too hastily. GW 133.4

I have been shown that the most signal victories and the most fearful defeats have been on the turn of minutes. God requires promptness of action. Delays, doubtings, hesitation, and indecision frequently give the enemy every advantage…. GW 134.1

The timing of things may tell much in favor of truth. Victories are frequently lost through delays. There will be crises in this cause. Prompt and decisive action at the right time will gain glorious triumphs, while delay and neglect will result in great failures and positive dishonor to God. Rapid movements at the critical moment often disarm the enemy, and he is disappointed and vanquished, for he had expected time to lay plans and work by artifice…. GW 134.2

The greatest promptness is positively necessary in the hour of peril and danger. Every plan may be well laid to accomplish certain results, and yet a delay of a very short time may leave things to assume an entirely different shape, and the great objects which might have been gained are lost through lack of quick foresight and prompt dispatch. GW 134.3

Much may be done in training the mind to overcome indolence. There are times when caution and great deliberation are necessary; rashness would be folly. But even here much has been lost by too great hesitancy. Caution, up to a certain point, is required; but hesitancy and policy on particular occasions have been more disastrous than would have been a failure through rashness.—Testimonies for the Church 3:496-498. GW 135.1

Jesus offended people.

And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. Matthew 13:57

Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:12-14

Jesus describes the last days which are characterized by people being offended.

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:4-13

We are called to endure to the end, to be faithful to God despite either being offended by others or by offending others with the truth of God’s Word. Offensiveness is not a clear measure of love. Love obeys God. Love will at times be offensive. We must stand for the right though the heavens fall.

I saw that many souls will sink in darkness because of their covetousness. 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 become responsible for these sins. 3T, pg. 269

… He should first have attempted to restrain evil by mild measures; but if these did not avail, he should have subdued the wrong by the severest means. He incurred the Lord’s displeasure by not reproving sin and executing justice upon the sinner. He could not be depended upon to keep Israel pure. Those who have too little courage to reprove wrong, or who through indolence or lack of interest make no earnest effort to purify the family or the church of God, are held accountable for the evil that may result from their neglect of duty. We are just as responsible for evils that we might have checked in others by exercise of parental or pastoral authority as if the acts had been our own. PP 578.2

Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Leviticus 19:17

Deception Fails or Succeeds on Us Individually and Corporately

You must study for yourself. You must fill your own lamp with oil if you wish to be prepared to meet Jesus when He comes. Anything I share with you is meant only to raise your awareness, encourage you to prepare yourself, and help you understand the gravity of remaining with a choice to reject God either by actively denying God or by carelessly disregarding what God has said is really true. You’ve already made your choice. If it isn’t the right choice, you don’t have much time to change it.

We are deceived in many ways. One way in which I was deceived for the majority of my life I now recognize as a deception that most of the world has fallen prey to, including the majority of religious leaders who profess to serve God. God’s Word tells us to be sealed by Him, to worship Him alone. God’s Word is plain regarding what’s true. Are you reading it carefully? Or, are you accepting instead the representations of what God’s Word says given by others? Pray for the Spirit of God to guide your mind and start reading again like you’ve never done before. It’s almost too late.

One of the plainest texts in all of the Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Do you see the alternatives God describes for you in this text, to perish or to have eternal life? What is the condition that your Creator God is telling you in this text qualifies you for eternal life? This is not a trick question. Even a child can see the answer. The answer is “whosoever believeth in him.” How fantastic would it be for Satan to persuade you to not believe in Him, in Jesus the only begotten Son of God? Chances are, if you are like me, you have fallen prey to one of Satan’s biggest and oldest deceptions. Satan denies that Jesus is the legitimate Son of God and that Satan should himself be elevated to the same status as Jesus. When given the opportunity to tempt Jesus in His human incarnate form and in a state of physical deprivation, Satan clearly reveals his agenda by tempting Jesus with the words, “If thou be the Son of God.” Satan believes that if he is ever to be worshipped like Jesus is worshipped that he must attack Christ’s legitimate divine sonship of God. Even the thief on the cross in Christ’s last moments of life on earth presented Jesus with the challenge, “If thou be the Son of God.”

It is the truth and our acceptance of it, that Jesus is the Christ, the begotten Son of God worthy of our worship, that is the rock upon which Jesus builds His church. Peter listened to the voice of God in his heart and beleived that Jesus was the Christ. This is the same belief we must have if we are to be part of Christ’s church.

Matthew 16:15-18 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Satan’s False God – The Trinity

A sure way to get you to deny Jesus as the only begotten Son of God is to replace Him with a different god, a false god. Satan does this through the invention of a false god he calls the Trinity. To suggest that the Trinity is a false god can create conflict among so-called believers very quickly. People are disfellowshipped from church, condemned to hell if possible, for suggesting that the Trinity is not the true God of the Bible. That harsh treatment alone should reveal a lack of the true spirit of God’s love. God doesn’t force our consciences. The truth is found in the Bible. The only truth that matters for you is the truth that you either acknowledge or deny.

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Romans 1:25

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

It turns out that churches under the influence of Satan don’t care if we do good things or bad things as long as we stay content in our denial of Jesus as the only begotten Son of God. We must ensure that what we call Jesus is who God the Father says Jesus is. God’s name and the name of His Son are used in vain rampantly. Just asserting that we love Jesus doesn’t ensure that we even know the real Jesus. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7: 21-23

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:3

What To Do

I was raised and educated in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) denomination. I was taught to believe that my church possessed an understanding of God’s Word that is correct and extremely important for the days in which we live, the last days. I do believe that those who founded the SDA church were faithful followers of God and created materials with the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God that we still have today that help us to understand God’s Word in truth. However, it has become my sad awareness that even before I was born that this SDA denomination departed from the truth that God led those pioneering protestant people to know and have replaced fundamental understandings of God with error. I was raised in error on a tradition of truth. I care about truth and God and if my denomination has departed from this truth then I must respond in some way that defends the truth of God’s Word despite what my denomination has done or continues to do.

In 1980, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists with worldwide representation as the highest authority in the denomination voted to change gods. The Trinity was voted as the official second fundamental belief of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. This necessarily means one of the following: 1) The SDA denomination had been worshipping the wrong god from 1844 to 1980 and that a change to the Trinity is the biblically correct god. This would mean that Ellen White was a false prophet or that God led the church in error prior to 1980. 2) The SDA denomination had been rightly led by God through the legitimate prophetic gift of Ellen White to reject the Trinity and that the change made in 1980 is wholesale apostasy and idolatry. Or, 3) The SDA denomination did not possess a correct understanding of God before 1980 and still does not possess a correct understanding today. Something is very rotten in this history. You will be saved by believing the right God, not by belonging to any particular denomination, especially one that worships a false god.

The 1980 change of gods was the culmination of a long and steady errosion of understanding and faith in the original pillars of Adventism. This errosion began during the lifetime of Ellen White and she responded with firm specificity. The Kellogg issue of 1903 and his book The Living Temple marks the first phase of this deception. Following the death of Ellen White, further events transpired including the wrongly introduced statement of beliefs railroaded by F.M. Wilcox that inserted the word ‘Trinity’ into a rogue list of beliefes that first formally appeared in the 1931 Adventist Yearbook without the customary and necessary approval of the church body. Leroy Froom furthered the push towards adopting the Trinity with his books and efforts. The entire process leading up to the 1980 vote under the leadership of Neal Wilson, GC president, was also done without church body awareness or participation in any honest manner. Neal Wilson had the audacity to claim, “We are not suggesting changing any belief or doctrine that this church has held. We have no interest in tearing up any of the foundations of historical Adventism. This document is not designed to do that, nor to open the way so that it can be done. It should be clear that we are not adding anything nor are we deleting anything in terms of historical Adventist theology. We are trying to express our beliefs in a way that will be understood today.” (General Conference Bulletin, Review and Herald, April 23rd 1980, ‘Seventh Business Meeting, Fifty-third General Conference session’) Changing the identity of the god you profess to believe is most certainly changing belief and doctrine.

Ellen White was a woman regarded as a true prophet of God by SDAs. I believe that she was a true prophet, but you certainly don’t have to believe that. I find that the entirety of Ellen White’s work is in submission to the Word of God and that she even tells us to totally disregard her if we find anything that seems to us to be in conflict with God’s Word. I have found nothing in her works that is in conflict with God’s Word, but you must make your own choices. A hallmark of Adventism is the three angels messages which is a clarion call to choose who you will worship. Will you have the seal of God or the seal of Satan, i.e. the mark of the beast.

One example of how people get tripped up with Ellen White’s writings is illustrated with these two quotes:

They must have His grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot resist evil. – Steps to Christ, 52.2

Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. – Desire of Ages 671.2

These two quotes appear to contradict each other. One says that sin is resisted and overcome ONLY through the agency of the Third Person of the Godhead. The other says that the Spirit of Christ is what is needed to resist evil. Either these quotes contradict each other or they agree with each other. If they contradict each other then Ellen White is a false prophet and should not be trusted and neither should the SDA denomination which holds her to be a true prophet. If they are in agreement then it is obvious that the “Third Person of the Godhead” is the “Spirit of Christ” which means that there is not a third god being, but that the Holy Spirit is the person of Christ and is divine but not a third being. It’s critical to read such quotes in their context. If we read further in the same paragraph where the phrase “Third Person of the Godhead” is taken from in Desire of Ages page 671, we see that Ellen White tells us that it is the Spirit of Christ that has been given, not a third god being. Ellen White obviously is conveying something with the words “Third Person” that means something other than a third entity. We must submit ourselves to the truth God intends, not what we want to believe or what we allow ourselves to believe through lazy study.

Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church. Desire of Ages 671.2

There are others who have done much good work to lay out in plain fashion what God’s Word says on many subjects including the topic of the false Trinity. Some of these other people share my appreciation for Ellen White as a reliable witness for God and they refer to her writings to help both establish an understanding of Scripture as well as to establish the historical truth of what the early Adventist pioneers believed and taught.

You must make your own choices. You must do your own study. You must know God’s Word for yourself. You must accept the Holy Spirit in your mind and heart yourself. You must reject God and accept destruction in the lake of burning sulfur yourself. Rejecting God is our default choice. To make a choice for eternal life requires intentionality and truth.

Get the Counsel of Others

I offer some references to work done by others that I have found helpful. Here are some videos that provide a good starting place to grasp what is really meant by “Trinity” in contrast to the biblical Father and only begotten Son. There is much more information available beyond this. Whether you choose to disagree with the messages here or not, plan to be able to show from the Bible what you believe to be a correct understanding of truth.

Here is a website with a great deal of information on the subject of why the trinity doctrine is not biblical.

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” 1 Peter 3:15-17