NOTE: This article first appeared in the March 2020 edition of the General Conference Executive Committee Newsletter https://executivecommittee.adventist.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ECN-March-2020.pdf
Is our church just one more church? What sets us apart from the rest of Christianity? Where are we now, and where are we headed—what justifies our existence?
God answers all these questions. He sees us in the context of the Great Controversy that is raging on planet Earth: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” 1 Peter 2:9.
This statement defines our identity and purpose. But can’t the rest of the Christian world claim the same thing? Yes, in part, but not in its entirety—and that small margin is what makes all the difference.
Presenting the Whole Truth
Many churches do an excellent job of leading people to Jesus. But if the great truths for this hour are excluded, it’s an incomplete, watered-down gospel. The Bible should always be presented as a whole—only by studying the Old Testament can we understand the New. And deceiving is not merely lying—it is also mixing the truth with error, and more subtly, not telling the whole truth. We can guard against this by refreshing our origins, identity, message, commitment and mission from our homes, pulpits and classrooms.
Not Just One More Church
We are more than a church—we are the final movement that God raises in a prophetic time, with a prophetic message centered on Jesus and His grace, to restore the whole truth and to prepare the world for His return.
God's messenger remind us, “Seventh-day Adventists have been chosen by God as a peculiar people, separate from the world. By the great cleaver of truth He has cut them out from the quarry of the world and brought them into connection with Himself. He has made them His representatives and has called them to be ambassadors for Him in the last work of salvation. The greatest wealth of truth ever entrusted to mortals, the most solemn and fearful warnings ever sent by God to man, have been committed to them to be given to the world” (7T 138).
Or as Paul said, the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). For that purpose, God called Israel (Deut. 7:6-9; 14:2; Isa. 60:1-3), not to be just one more people group, but His special people. He placed them at the crossroads of civilizations with a sacred purpose. He revealed to them through the earthly sanctuary how He acts in this rescue plan, and did not leave it up to them to choose how to live, how to worship and how to evangelize, but gave specific instructions.
Unfortunately, they failed, but God’s plan didn’t end. At the precise prophetic moment, when somewhere beyond the stars and out of the reach of human vision, something big was about to happen in Heaven that would affect every human being—something “as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross” (GC 489), God opened the books. The world had to know!
A Prophetic Birth Certificate
For that, God raised a people from a disappointment—prophesied by Jesus in his vision to John centuries ago (Rev. 10:5-11)—to a sacred appointment, to restore all the light of his truth “to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people,” presenting “with a loud voice” the last three most solemn messages of love ever given to mortals (Rev. 14:6-12).
That disappointment was actually the birth certificate of the true people of God. Moreover, if the last church hadn’t arisen from a disappointment during the prophetic moment by studying Daniel’s prophecies, it could not be the true church, and would still be part of Babylon. When our pioneers understood—after the disappointment—by diligently studying the Scriptures to discern what had happened on October 22, 1844, they situated themselves by faith where Jesus was ministering. From there, they began to preach all the truths of the plan of salvation revealed in the earthly sanctuary services.
Shortly thereafter, God himself granted the gift of prophecy to this people, thereby defining the two outstanding characteristics of the remnant at the end: they keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 12:17; 19:10). These two components always appear together in the Scriptures, and they define the true people of God (Isa. 8:19, 20).
In Ellen White's first vision, God clearly established the rise, course and destiny of this movement that would later be called the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A “narrow path, cast up high above the world.” The evangelical world does not have this light we have received. And if the truth of the Heavenly Sanctuary is not understood, then the plan of salvation is not fully understood. It ends at the Cross. But there is a Present Truth for this hour, and it comes to us from the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary.
Beware of Distractions
There are certain distractions and dangers that can undermine our identity, purpose and mission as a remnant.
Distraction No. 1: To stop presenting the Present Truth. The everlasting gospel was the plan of salvation presented to Adam and Eve from the very beginning. But there is also the Present Truth—a specific message that each generation has been commissioned to present, all within the context of the everlasting gospel. Ellen White emphasizes that what we need to preach in the Adventist Church today is the Present Truth. And what is the Present Truth for this hour? The truths centered on the Most Holy Place, where Jesus ministers. If you want to preach the Present Truth today, simply find out where Jesus is now—what He is doing today—and then preach it. Sadly, there are winds of change in this approach that have distracted us from our peculiar message and our distinctive mission.
Distraction No. 2: To focus only on social justice and humanitarian aid, without leading people to Jesus and the full gospel message. Many secular entities do excellent social work in helping communities. But social aid and social justice are not our final mission as a church. Passages in Micah 6, Isaiah 58, and James emphasize we should help others, but that’s more about Christian living. Jesus Himself did good works, but His mission was not just to relieve suffering, but to save the human race. And yet, He lived His religion—showing love and compassion within the context of His mission. We highlight “Christ’s method alone,” and this is good. It is very important to help people with their temporal needs, but we cannot stop there. We need to move even further, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to lead people to the foot of the cross and the full Advent message focusing on the three angels’ messages. We must urge people to take steps to follow and obey Him.
Distraction No. 3: To imitate other denominations in their liturgy, music, and growth methods. For Israel, it was with catastrophic results (Num. 22-24). Some are seeking ideas from contaminated sources, which deny great biblical truths, and then apply those methods in our churches. Although not everything that others do is wrong, the question still remains: Have any of these Protestant churches accepted the Three Angels’ Messages and the truth about the Heavenly Sanctuary that is the foundation of our faith? Does this sound like a place where we should acquire our lifestyle, musical style, worship methods, and evangelizing methods? I think the answer is obvious!
More perplexing is that with the abundance of light we have, what motivates us as Adventists to adopt the style of worship and growth methods of churches that the Bible describes as “Babylon” or the “synagogue of Satan,” when these churches despise the message of Present Truth? Why would we want to go back from the Most Holy Place, to the Holy Place, or to the atrium in our approach of presenting the message to the world? God never suggested that Israel adopt the methods or worship style of the surrounding nations in order to reach them.
Distraction No. 4: To emphasize an existentialist Adventism where discipleship is separate from doctrine. If we speak only about the Master and His virtues and do not teach what the Master asks us to teach, how good a disciple can we actually be? How can new believers teach others the truth that they themselves did not learn?
Some half-truths are heard that sometimes confuse: “We must be inclusive,” “We must appeal to what people like,” “We must give people what they feel they need,” “We must be pluralistic,” “We must not judge anyone,” “We must love and accept people unconditionally,” and “What matters is love.”
This change in approach has caused some to become anthropocentric rather than theocentric. It seems that the concern in some churches is that secular people feel comfortable in worship, and a “Thus says the Lord” has been replaced by messages of motivation, convenience, and cultural contextualization. And the revelations from God and Ellen White are replaced by quotes from specialists.
When preaching ceases to be prophetic, doctrinal, and Christ-centered, and is based only on grace without compromise, it leads to personal conformity and satisfaction where genuine revival is impossible. A gospel of grace produces liberalism, and a gospel of warning produces fanaticism. We are neither fanatical nor liberal. We are disciples who receive and accept the grace to live in commitment.
In some pulpits and institutions, we have gone from one extreme to another, from doctrinal formalism to a subjective existentialism. Some people have begun to assume an anti-doctrinal stance, in which the basic pillars of the Adventist faith are seen as mere requirements of an obsolete, legalistic religion. The outcome? Mass apostasy. This could well be classified as ministerial and teaching malpractice. Millions are in the secularism of Babylon, waiting to be invited to leave, but we cannot help them if we repeat the mistake of the Christian church that lost its identity when flooded by the unconverted world and adopted their pagan customs.
Our God-Given Responsibility
Do we grasp the responsibility placed by God on you and me in these last days of the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan?
“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention. The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God’s people are to be true to the trust committed to them” (9T 19).
What a privilege, and what a responsibility! We know how things will end. There will be one last generation that will stand firm and love the Lord so much that they will obey Him. They will be sealed for eternity, established in all biblical truth so that they cannot be moved. That generation will participate in wonderful things—the latter rain and the completion of God’s work—and the earth will be illuminated with the glory of God (Rev. 18:1). My prayer is that we will be that last generation. Maranatha.
Elder Robert Costa serves as associate ministerial secretary and worldwide evangelism coordinator for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.