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The Trumpet That Shall Never Call Retreat
Larry Kirkpatrick
Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. (Revelation 22:14-16)
It has fallen to us to live in a time when fewer and fewer boundaries are respected or acknowledged. We live in a time when the Holy Spirit is being withdrawn from this world. We are the church sent to that narrow place in time when the Spirit is being withdrawn and still before Jesus returns. This is our lot to live through.
We live in the time when Satan's work of evil attains its perfection. His masterpiece of deception, 6000 years (or more) in the making arrives in the same day that we do. It is all or nothing for him. He holds nothing back, keeps nothing in reserve. He seeks to destroy and delay the work of God through His church. But the truth of God is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat. And in the end the universe shall see who
The Pastoral Example of Paul
Standing for truth today is not always easy. Sometimes even a church, will block such a stand. But hear this from Ellen G. White: "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." (Ellen G. White, Education, p. 57). Being the enfleshment of such a call is not easy. But it is necessary
Join me, won't you in Acts chapter 20:22-34, and hear these mighty words of Paul:
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Paul knew what he had to do. He had to tell the truth. In Galatians 1:10 has makes the same truth clear: "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." And in the same book and verse 4:16 he asked his readers the question, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" There was a serious theological rumble under way in Galatia and Paul was in the fight to the finish. For the sake of the congregations he had poured his labor of love into for the Lord Jesus, he refused to compromise. At risk of being misunderstood and viewed as a harsh customer, he told the truth.
And I am sure that there were many places where, when he left town there was some rejoicing, because Paul had urged God's people to live responsibly. And it earned him the enmity of some who, even if they did not know themselves so well as they thought they did, were withholding something from the Lord. And in the knowledge of their hidden treasure-basket and their own guilt, secretly they identified with the unruly ones Paul and church leadership had had to deal with. Secretly they worried because deep down they knew that they too were only part-way in the Lord's will.
In the Camp of the Army
The Seventh-day Adventist Church stands on this planet today as the bastion of the Lord, the borderline between truth and error. With all of our failings and falterings and missteps all too many, still this is the fortress of God. Many false teachers have gone out into the world. Paul prophesied to the people of God that wolves would arise in their own midst after his work had closed. And they have, in myriad forms. Jesus foresaw and forewarned us. Listen.
I want you to hear a familiar statement from the pen of inspiration. This comes to us from Ellen G. White's book Desire of Ages, p. 324: "When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world."
That comes to us from the year 1898. Now hear another quotation
I testify to my brethren and sisters that the church of Christ, enfeebled and defective as it may be, is the only object on earth on which He bestows His supreme regard. While He extends to all the world His invitation to come to Him and be saved, He commissions His angels to render divine help to every soul that cometh to Him in repentance and contrition, and He comes personally by His Holy Spirit into the midst of His church. . . . Consider, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord has a people, a chosen people, His church, to be His own, His own fortress, which He holds in a sin-stricken, revolted world; and He intended that no authority should be known in it, no laws be acknowledged by it, but His own.
The next paragraph now: "Satan has a large confederacy, his church. Christ calls them the synagogue of Satan because the members are the children of sin. The members of Satan's church have been constantly working to cast off the divine law, and confuse the distinction between good and evil. Satan is working with great power in and through the children of disobedience to exalt treason and apostasy as truth and loyalty. And at this time the power of his satanic inspiration is moving the living agencies to carry out the great rebellion against God that commenced in heaven. . . . However specious the pretext, if the church waver here, there is written against her in the books of heaven a betrayal of the most sacred trusts, and treachery to the kingdom of Christ. The church is firmly and decidedly to hold her principles before the whole heavenly universe and the kingdoms of the world. . . . The church, being endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depository, in which the wealth of His mercy, His love, His grace, is to appear in full and final display. . . The gift of His Holy Spirit, rich, full, and abundant, is to be to His church as an encompassing wall of fire, which the powers of hell shall not prevail against." (Ellen G. White, Testimonies for Ministers, p. 15-18.
Oh, and the year? 1892.
The original statement comes from 1892, and was about the church. The Desire of Ages statement, six years later used the same language of the individual as was used of the church six years before. The Desire of Ages passage was built out of it, adapted from it.
What are the implications? Those who would exalt their independence from the church must realize that they are not entities alone out there separate from the church or from their brothers and sisters. Yes, God would hold you as an individual as a fortress in which no authority but His own would be known, but that is also His purpose for His church. These purposes run parallel. "Consider, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord has a people, a chosen people, His church, to be His own, His own fortress, which He holds in a sin-stricken, revolted world; and He intended that no authority should be known in it, no laws be acknowledged by it, but His own."
Brothers and sisters, friends and guests, error has no place in this church. The Lord has a people, a chosen people, His church, to be His own." Our God has spoken through His apostle of His church thusly in 1 Timothy 3:15, that she is "the pillar and ground of the truth." As such, she must never grant the influence of her name to those who would promote error. Other minds would be unsettled. Souls would be lost. Such would be the result of accepting another authority than God's into His fortress.
Remember, He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat. When God removed Satan's membership from heaven, He embarked on a war between good and evil. He put Satan on notice that never would He, God, surrender truth to the place of error. God will never call a retreat from truth. And He has placed planetside here one entity, one bastion, one entity that must be relentless, not only in demonstration of love, but relentless also in upholding God's honor and maintaining His truth and His good name. There can be no turning back from this, ever.
On Error
Just here let us call to mind again the reference the Lord gave us two weeks ago concerning error:
That which Brother D calls light is apparently harmless; it does not look as though anyone could be injured by it. But, brethren, it is Satan's device, his entering wedge. This has been tried again and again. One accepts some new and original idea which does not seem to conflict with the truth. He talks of it and dwells upon it until it seems to him to be clothed with beauty and importance, for Satan has power to give this false appearance. At last it becomes the all-absorbing theme, the one great point around which everything centers; and the truth is uprooted from the heart.
No sooner are erratic ideas started in his mind than Brother D begins to lose faith and to question the work of the Spirit which has been manifested among us for so many years. He is not a man who will entertain what he believes to be special light without imparting it to others; therefore it is not safe to give him influence that will enable him to unsettle other minds. It is opening a door through which Satan will rush in many errors to divert the mind from the importance of the truth for this time. Brethren, as an ambassador of Christ I warn you to beware of these side issues, whose tendency is to divert the mind from the truth. Error is never harmless. It never sanctifies, but always brings confusion and dissension. It is always dangerous. The enemy has great power over minds that are not thoroughly fortified by prayer and established in Bible truth.
There are a thousand temptations in disguise prepared for those who have the light of truth; and the only safety for any of us is in receiving no new doctrine, no new interpretation of the Scriptures, without first submitting it to brethren of experience. Lay it before them in a humble, teachable spirit, with earnest prayer; and if they see no light in it, yield to their judgment; for "in the multitude of counselors there is safety." (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 292-293)
Notice here that heaven does not make light of the false teaching. Instead it acknowledges that "That which brother D calls light is apparently harmless." But what is the divine analysis? "It is Satan's device, his entering wedge." One idea, or one ideological theme, relentlessly entertained, consumes the thinker. Being an idea composed of error and not of truth, it does not sanctify but rather corrupts. Everything begins to revolve around that one idea. The one who has developed it begins to build a whole philosophy out of it. Everything is tied together like the spokes of a wheel, centering around this master theme.
Today it is, for some, the notion that there is something wrong with the Bible doctrine of the investigative judgment. For some it is that there is something wrong with the writings of Ellen White. For another it takes the form of an objection to the roll of obedience in the gospel. And for some it takes the form of questioning "the work of the Spirit which has been manifest among us for so many years.
Brother D was "not a man who will entertain what he believes to be special light without imparting it to others." It was not safe to give brother D influence. Nor is it safe for us to grant influence to any promoter of destructive doctrines. This church must never let stand open a door through which Satan will rush in many errors to divert minds from the importance of the truth for this time. We are warned to beware of just these kind of side issues. They take the focus off of Jesus and truth and refocus it on obscurities, speculations, fanatical views, and confusing and divisive teachings.
Remember the facts of this quotation, one of Ellen White's very strongest. She speaks in global, universal, absolute, final terms. Of error she says,
Error is NEVER harmless.
Error NEVER sanctifies.
Error ALWAYS brings confusion.
Error ALWAYS brings dissension.
Error is ALWAYS dangerous.
Those are five absolute facts concerning error we must never forget. God and heaven above call us to be faithful in what to do about strong error that might spring up and attempt to clothe itself in the livery of heaven.
Heaven Raises Up a Defense of Truth
God raised up, in these last days (last as in "final," and in "last") the Seventh-day Adventist Church to present to the world truth. Our mission is to present not just truth in the general sense, but present truth. And we are to do so militantly! We have not been raised up to coddle error, or to be a haven-place for error. Our task is to live and give the truth. Now as soon as we say that, we have also said its converse; that our task is to not live error and not give error. The church is a sanctuary for those seeking truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the life. If He is Truth then He is not error. If He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, then He is not the way of error, or deception, or death.
These days were foreseen: "Our people need to understand the oracles of God; they need to have a systematic knowledge of the principles of revealed truth, which will fit them for what is coming upon the earth and prevent them from being carried about by every wind of doctrine." (Ellen G. White, testimonies, vol. 5, p. 273).
Do you realize that Satan is not asleep? That he is working away even now to achieve his ends? Do you think he will sit back and let us proclaim the truth here from this place and leave us alone if he has agencies through whom he can work? Consider this statement:
Great changes are soon to take place in the world, and everyone will need an experimental knowledge of the things of God. It is the work of Satan to dishearten the people of God and to unsettle their faith. He tries in every way to insinuate doubts and questionings in regard to the position, the faith, the plans, of the men upon whom God has laid the burden of a special work and who are zealously doing that work. Although he may be baffled again and again, yet he renews his attacks, working through those who profess to be humble and God-fearing, and who are apparently interested in, or believers of, present truth. The advocates of truth expect fierce and cruel opposition from their open enemies, but this is far less dangerous than the secret doubts expressed by those who feel at liberty to question and find fault with what God's servants are doing. These may appear to be humble men; but they are self-deceived, and they deceive others. In their hearts are envy and evil surmisings. They unsettle the faith of the people in those in whom they should have confidence, those whom God has chosen to do His work; and when they are reproved for their course they take it as personal abuse. While professing to be doing God's work they are in reality aiding the enemy.
Brethren, never allow anyone's ideas to unsettle your faith in regard to the order and harmony which should exist in the church." (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 273).
And consider this statement:
Faithful ministers of the gospel are often made sorrowful by the conduct of those members of the church who do not help, but hinder them, making their work severe and taxing by bringing in strange things, which have no foundation in truth, but are a tissue of falsehood. These persons corrupt the word of God by mingling with it their human opinions, thus making the genuine testing truths for this time of none effect." (Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, p. 59)
The above two quotations carry a wealth of important truth. From them we discover that there are those whose work is to destroy the confidence of church members in God's servants, in heaven's appointed spiritual leaders. "They unsettle the faith of the people in those in whom they should have confidence, those whom God has chosen to do His work." And then what happens? "And when they are reproved for their course they take it as personal abuse." Her analysis? "They are aiding the enemy." And her warning, immediately following, the very next line in fact? "Brethren, never allow anyone's ideas to unsettle your faith in regard to the order and harmony which should exist in the church."
Then there are those whom she says bring "in strange things, which have no foundation in truth, but are a tissue of falsehood." Their work is described as corrupting "the word of God by mingling with it their human opinions." But these tissues of falsehood, these human opinions mingled with truth are deadly for precisely the reason she then gives: "Thus making the genuine testing truths for this time of none effect."
Brethren, let there be no mistake. A church that is a just a sleepy, common church
Achan
God sets before the Mentone church two futures, life or death. In one future, the church carries forward the Lord's mission to glory. We have our part in the giving of the third angel's message, in the falling of the latter rain. In the other future, this congregation becomes the haven of fanatics, just one more church where truth and error are so mixed. In this other dark future we take the course of Eli and refuse to be faithful to God.
What about the demise of Achan and his family? You know, the destruction of not only Achan but his family as well is a confusion to many people. They feel like God was arbitrary when He killed them all. We all know the story of Achan. I Won't go into it at any length here, but let me put your attention on two or three thoughts. I will not use my words here, but only those words which are inspired. But what of two questions. First, was his family involved?
Achan and his whole family had perished because they transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and for that one man's sin, all the congregation of Israel had suffered." (Ellen G. White, ST, May 12, 1881)
All [Achan and his family] were involved in the transgression. (Ellen G. White, Child Guidance, p. 234)
Second, what about his course, how it affected the nation, and how true or untrue his confession was?
Achan's sin brought disaster upon the whole nation. For one man's sin the displeasure of God will rest upon His church till the transgression is searched out and put away. The influence most to be feared by the church is not that of open opposers, infidels, and blasphemers, but of inconsistent professors of Christ. These are the ones that keep back the blessing of the God of Israel and bring weakness upon His people. (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 497)
He [Achan] had developed a character that was entirely unsound, and had manifested his rebellion in the very presence of God when he was working mightily for his people. (Ellen G. White, YI, February 8, 1894)
No man lives to himself. Shame, defeat, and death were brought upon Israel by one man's sin. That protection which had covered their heads in the time of battle was withdrawn. (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 494)
So great had been his [Achan's] hardihood and persistence, that even at the last Joshua feared he would assert his innocence, and thus enlist the sympathy of the congregation and lead them to dishonor God. He would not have confessed, had he not hoped by so doing to avert the consequences of his crime. It was this hope that led to his apparent frankness in acknowledging his guilt and relating the particulars of the sin. (Ellen G. White, ST, May 5, 1881)
There is a vast difference between admitting facts after they have been proved and confessing sins known only to ourselves and to God. Achan would not have confessed had he not hoped by so doing to avert the consequences of his crime. But his confession only served to show that his punishment was just. (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 498)
In some events in our church's past, Mrs. White had this through divine insight to say:
Some, I saw, seemed to others to make thorough work. But that God who reads the heart knew that the seeds of rebellion were within them, and by their names was written, 'Unstable souls, who wrest the truth to their own destruction' . . . . they find these things will not go, and they settle back wishing to be again in union with the church and ready at a fit opportunity to rebel again." (Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, p. 374)
Brothers and sisters, a church is responsible for what it knows and for what it should know. Jesus pointed out our responsibility in John: "Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." John 9:41.
Problems at the Kellogg Era
Ellen White told John Harvey Kellogg the following. It may have application again today in the challenge this church faces.
My brother, you are represented to me as in danger of standing apart from our people, feeling that you are a complete whole. But if you bind yourself up with those of your own mind, apart from the church, which is Christ's body, you will make a confederacy that will be broken to pieces, for no union can stand but that which God has framed. Those who are receiving an education in medical lines hear insinuations from time to time that disparage the church and the ministry. These insinuations are seeds that will spring up and bear fruit. The students might better be educated to realize that the church of Christ on earth is to be respected. They need a clear knowledge of the reasons of our faith. This knowledge they must have in order to serve God acceptably. Line upon line, precept upon precept, they must receive the Bible evidence of the truth as it is in Jesus.
Do not, I beg of you, instill into the minds of the students ideas that will cause them to lose confidence in God's appointed ministers. But this you are most certainly doing, whether you are aware of it or not. In His providence the Lord has placed you in a position where you may do a good work for Him in connection with the gospel ministry, bringing the truth before many who otherwise would not become acquainted with it. Temptations will come to you to think that in order to carry forward the medical missionary work you must stand aloof from church organization or church discipline. To stand thus would place you on an unsound footing. The work done for those who come to you for instruction is not complete unless they are educated to work in connection with the church.
The medical missionary work is not to be made all and in all. In this point you are carrying things to extremes. There is a large work to be done. (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 8. pp. 158-162)
Then there is a man we know and somewhat revere. He was a giant
During his best years he was indeed a giant. He was surely used by the Lord for mighty work, both in giving the 1888 message and also in standing in defense of religious liberty. But something went wrong with AT Jones. He joined forces with Kellogg. He fell under his captivating influence. He turned against the church leaders and Ellen G. White. In the years 1907-1909 he was defrocked and disfellowshipped from the SDA church.
You might be interested to know that at the end he was teaching that each person is led individually of God, that no church could disfellowship anyone, that Ellen White wrote things that were wrong, that all the Adventist people themselves were to have the "Spirit of Prophecy." He began to turn many ideas and phrases familiar to us inside-out, excavating, taking the terminology and turning it to confuse. He was going out and speaking in churches and turning them against the SDA church organization. Ellen White pled for him to stop, but he would not. (I am talking about the years of his downfall in particular).
He kept claiming that he was being taken out context. He said Kellogg was being taken out of context in his book The Living Temple, which EGW said was error because it taught pantheism, the idea that God is in everything. While I was at Southern College in Tennessee I secured permission and was able to read from an original copy of The Living Temple. It is subtle, but it is there. The book does indeed teach pantheism. But Jones had gone so far that he thought Ellen White was wrong and Dr. Kellogg was right.
Do you know how, in the end, our brethren had to counteract him? Here's what they did. They read to the people long passages from Jones in his own words and discredited him by showing that he was not being taken out of context. In fact, a 96 page pamphlet was prepared and distributed at that time taking this strategy. The baleful influence of his then destructive work was broken.
Principles for a Present-Truth Church
Remember, the Lord has sounded a trumpet that shall never call retreat. He has set up a church to deliver present truth to this world and prepare the way for Jesus to come. Consider now two last quotations from the Spirit of Prophecy on this point before we close:
The word of God does not give license for one man to set up his judgment in opposition to the judgment of the church, neither is he allowed to urge his opinions against the opinions of the church. If there were no church discipline and government, the church would go to fragments; it could not hold together as a body. There have ever been individuals of independent minds who have claimed that they were right, that God had especially taught, impressed, and led them. Each has a theory of his own, views peculiar to himself, and each claims that his views are in accordance with the word of God. Each one has a different theory and faith, yet each claims special light from God. These draw away from the body, and each one is a separate church of himself. (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 428)
Let none speak lightly of the duty of the church to administer censure and rebuke; neither let them criticize the action of the church when this painful task becomes necessary. Christ has given plain instruction regarding the duty of the church toward those who, while professing to be loyal members, are bringing dishonor to the cause of God by their course of action. "Every plant, which my Heavenly Father hath not planted," he says, "shall be rooted up." God has commanded that those who prove themselves unworthy of church-fellowship shall be separated from his body. Those who speak against the exercise of this authority, speak against the authority of Christ.
The one who first brought temptation into the courts of heaven is constantly working against the peace and prosperity of the church on earth. To those who will listen to his words, Satan represents the authority of the church as harsh and lacking in sympathy, because it seeks to free the members from corrupting influences. . . . The church does injustice to God when it allows to exist as part of itself elements that are bringing dishonor to his cause." (Ellen G. White, RH, March 19, 1908)
The Last Supper
Jesus exposed Judas at the last supper. He said His betrayer was there present. Right among the apostles there was one who was operating on a different foundation than they were. He was trying to manipulate God, force Jesus to show His hand. His betrayal of Christ had a religious goal. He would force Jesus to show who He was. Jesus bore long with Judas. But in the end Judas acted on his own principles. He was not subdued to God's government. He had his own blueprint for how things should be done.
Jesus showed it was Judas then who would betray Him. But even then the disciples had trouble catching on. At the time they misunderstood. But the truth was also that they did not want to understand, either. But our Lord exposed Him. Go to Matthew 26:20-25:
Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
Jesus labored long with Judas. But in the end he had to be exposed. He was operating on a different foundation than the one Jesus was operating under.
Conclusion
None need array themselves against the truth of God. Heaven wants churches that care about the truths we have been granted opportunity
The church must rise above its tended nature to go ostrich when firm things must be done. While we love and are patient with those in error, we can never let them make God's church their base of operations. The blessing of God is at risk.
Remember, "The word of God does not give license for one man to set up his judgment in opposition to the judgment of the church, neither is he allowed to urge his opinions against the opinions of the church. If there were no church discipline and government, the church would go to fragments; it could not hold together as a body. There have ever been individuals of independent minds who have claimed that they were right, that God had especially taught, impressed, and led them. Each has a theory of his own, views peculiar to himself, and each claims that his views are in accordance with the word of God. Each one has a different theory and faith, yet each claims special light from God. These draw away from the body, and each one is a separate church of himself."
Let us stand firm, side by side with Jesus, and present truth unadulterated. Let us stay in the battle between truth and error on the side of truth. Let us be true to our Lord, and realize that "The church does injustice to God when it allows to exist as part of itself elements that are bringing dishonor to his cause." May God grant us that we shall not be numbered with such. Heaven help us to be, not in word but in fact, those to whom Jesus at last says, "You have washed your robes in My blood, stood stiffly for My truth, enter in." (Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 16)
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