Seventh Day Adventism
The churches of Christ
Greet You
(Romans
God, in his long planned scheme which was kept in secret until he
was
ready
to reveal the same, has given us the Bible, which contains his word or
his revealed
will to man. He demands a strict adherence to the teaching of his
revealed
word. The man who goes beyond, disregards or changes the word of God
one iota
exposes himself to the wrath of Almighty God. The Holy Spirit tells us
to
"Study to shew ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim.
The doctrine of "Seventh Day Adventism" has gained and is yet gaining
much prominence in the land today. We are frequently called in question
about
this doctrine and are asked to explain it in the light of the teaching
of the
Bible. With the help of Almighty God and a heart filled with love for
all
mankind, we shall study the claims of this sect in light of the
teaching of the
word of Almighty God.
First, let us turn to history and learn something about the origin of
Seventh
Day Adventism. When it comes to modern denominations, we have to go to
secular
history to read about them, for the Bible is as silent as a grave-yard
tomb
about them. Certainly the Bible is God's book and God's book speaks of
his
church. Any church not mentioned in the Bible is not the Lord's church.
This cult had its origin in the mind of one Mr. William Miller here in
The followers of Mr. Miller were so gullible and deceived by his false
prophecy
that some of them sold their possessions and bought themselves white
robes to
save Christ the trouble of getting them for them when he arrived, but
Christ
did not show up in 1844, so Mr. Miller gave up setting dates for the
coming of
Christ.
He was at least honest to admit his failures and give up, but Mr.
Miller had an
ardent follower by the name of Mrs. Ellen G. White who took up where
Mr. Miller
left off and tried to patch up the blunders of Mr. Miller and thus
became the
mother of "Seventh Day Adventism" and "ism" in this
connection simply means it just isn't so.
Mrs. White made her gullible followers believe that God intentionally
caused
Mr. Miller to prophesy falsely, for she said, and I quote, "His hand
covered a mistake in the reckoning of the prophetic periods. Those who
were
looking for their Lord did not discover this mistake, and the most
learned men
who opposed the time also failed to see it. God designed that his
people should
meet with a disappointment." (Page 99 of Spiritual Gifts by Mrs. E. G.
White). What an accusation to bring against God Almighty. Mrs. White
accuses
God of causing Mr. Miller to prophesy falsely. Hear God Almighty in
Deuteronomy
18:21. "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing
follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not
spoken,
but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously."
Thus the word of God proves that Mr. Miller was a false prophet, for
his
prophesy failed to come to pass. Therefore, the Lord did not reveal
such to Mr.
Miller. He merely spoke presumptuously. This same teaching of God
proves also
that Mrs. White is a false prophetess. Therefore, Seventh Day Adventism
is
founded and built upon the foundation of a false prophet and a false
prophetess. Mrs. White claimed to have been an inspired prophetess and
Adventists so esteem her until this good day. See the Preface of the
book,
Great Controversy, by Mrs. E. G. White.
It is surely pitiful that people are so gullible as to swallow the
claims of
this woman whose claims contradict the plain teaching of the word of
God.
Listen to this: Mrs. White claimed to have been taken up into heaven,
caught up
there by the power of God. She claimed to have looked into the most
holy place.
She said, "In the holiest I saw an ark, in the ark was the golden pot
of
manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of stone which folded
together
like a book. Jesus opened them and I saw the ten commandments written
on them
with the finger of God, the holy sabbath looked glorious, a halo of
glory was
all around it. I saw that the sabbath was not nailed to the cross."
(Early
Writings of Mrs. E. G. White, page 26).
Now, there it is, ladies and gentlemen. God said by the Holy Spirit,
through
the apostle Paul, that Christ took the sabbath day out of the way
nailing it to
the cross (Col. 2:14-16), but according to Mrs. White the Holy Spirit
did not
tell the truth, for God caught her up into heaven and showed her that
the
sabbath was not nailed to the cross. It is beyond me to understand how
intelligent people will accept the false claims of a woman who
repudiates the
plain teaching of the Holy Spirit.
The Adventists accept the writings of Mrs. White as authority. God said
through
the apostle Paul, "But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp
authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first
formed, then
Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the
transgression." God forbids a woman to exercise authority in religion.
God
delegated the work of evangelism to men, not women. He selected twelve
apostles, who were all men, and ordained that the revelation of God
should be
given to the world by men (Matt. 10:1-7; 28:16-20; Mark
The teaching of the Seventh Day Adventists is Judaizing and not
according to
grace and truth at all. Let us therefore examine their claims and see
how they
stand in the light of the teaching of the word of God.
First: they claim that the law of Moses and the law of God were
separate laws.
They agree that the law of Moses was done away, but claim that the Ten
Commandments were the law of God and are still binding on the people
and more
than that, they are now binding on the Gentiles as well as on the Jews.
LOVED ONES, isn't it a bit amusing that they make such a claim and yet
are not
able to read from God's word or point out any place in the Bible where
the ten
commandment law, as given to the Jews under the old covenant, was ever
binding
on the Gentiles? They are mistaken in their teaching that the law of
Moses and
the law of God were different laws.
Here is proof that the law of Moses and the law of God were the same:
God gave
the law of Moses (Ezra 7:6). Moses gave God's law (Neh.
Our Adventist friends try to make a distinction between the law of God
and the
law of Moses; they say that the Ten Commandment law was the law of God
and that
the law of Moses was the ceremonial law which had in it the new moons,
feasts,
etc. But, listen to what God has said in Second Chronicles 31:4. "He
appointed
also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to
wit, for
the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for
the
Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is
written in
the law of the Lord." This is not the Ten Commandments, yet, it is said
to
be the law of the Lord. So the law they call the ceremonial law and
claim to be
Moses' law is, according to the Bible, the Lord's law.
The ten commandment law was attributed to Moses also, for Christ said
in Mark
Again, Luke 22:23 says, "And when the days of her purification
according to
the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to
The very idea of claiming that the law of God was only the ten
commandment law,
when the Bible plainly teaches that what they call the ceremonial law
and
attribute only to Moses is the law of the Lord. God Almighty abolished
the
entire old constitution, the ten commandments and all, and Jesus
Christ, the
Son of God, instituted and brought into force a new covenant which was
established upon better promises.
Our Adventist friends overlook the fact that the Old Covenant and the
ten
commandments were one and the very same thing. Here is the proof that
the Old
Covenant was the ten commandments. Turn with me to Exodus 34 and let us
commence reading at verse 27. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou
these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant
with
thee and with
But still another proof that the covenant and ten commandments were the
same.
Turn now with me to First Kings 8:9, "There was nothing in the ark save
the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord
made a
covenant with the children of
But, what did God say about the covenant? Hear him: "Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel,
and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made
with
their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out
of the
land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband
unto
them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make
with the
house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in
their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
they
shall be my people" (Jer. 31:31-33).
Someone may ask, "Why did God make a new covenant?" The answer is
found in Hebrews 8:7. "For if the first covenant had been faultless,
then
should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with
them,
he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant
with the house of
But one may ask what fault can be found with the ten commandments? Here
are the
answers: (1) they were against the people (Col. 2:14), (2) they were
contrary
to them (Col. 2:14), (3) they were the administration of death, they
brought
death to the violators (2 Cor. 3:7-16), and (4) they did not completely
forbid
sin.
One could lie without breaking a single one of the ten commandments.
There is
only one of the ten commandments that forbids lying and it just forbids
lying
against your neighbor. Therefore, one could lie as much as he pleases
as long
as he did not lie against his neighbor. The commandment that was
against lying
simply said, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor"
(Ex.
Suppose the ten commandments were in force as some claim and I was
under the
law and I would tell you that I went down to the ocean and caught a
whale
weighing ten tons and I brought him back home in my hip pocket, cooked
and ate
him all at one meal? Which one of the ten commandments would I have
broken?
Which one? You must admit that if I had told you a thing
like that I would have been a lying Lilly, but which one of the ten
commandments will I have broken? I know you see it. It would not have
broken a
one of the ten commandments. That is a good reason for God finding
fault with
the ten commandment law. He found fault with it and made a new one, and
the new
covenant forbids lying altogether. Hear it, "Lie not one to another,
seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds" (Col. 3:9). Again,
"Wherefore, put away lying, speak every man the truth with his
neighbor:
for we are members one of another" (Eph.
Thus we see that the old covenant was faulty and God has given us a new
one. It
is called a "new and living way" (Heb.
The Adventists want us to believe that God gave the sabbath to Adam,
but it was
not given to Adam. It was given to the children of Israel only, 2500
years
after creation, when they came up out of Egypt (Ezek. 20:10-12). He
made it
known in the regions of Sinai (Neh.
They contend that inasmuch as the Lord said, "Remember the sabbath day,
to
keep it holy," that it had been given before, for we remember things
past.
Now, if "remember the sabbath" means that it had been given before,
then, remember this day that ye came out of Egypt means that they had
come out
before (Ex. 13:3). Remember the sabbath simply means, "I am giving you
the
sabbath, remember to keep it."
But let us examine a few more scriptures that they use to justify their
unauthorized so-called sabbath keeping. What about their claim to keep
the
sabbath because Jesus kept it (Luke
Again, they claim that inasmuch as the Lord told his disciples in
Matthew 24 to
pray that their flight be not on the sabbath day, that makes the
sabbath a holy
day and binding on God's people today. Now, if "pray that your flight
be
not on the sabbath" makes the sabbath holy in A.D. 70, then "pray
that your flight be not in winter" means that the winter was a holy
season
(Matt. 24:20). It was not the sacredness of the day nor the season, but
the
safety of the disciples. Gates were closed on the sabbath and winter
made it
difficult to escape when the attack came. It came in A.D. 70.
Well, they say Paul went into the synagogue on the sabbath day to
preach. True,
but the Jews who were observing the sabbath day were not Christians.
That is
why Paul's preaching stirred them to indignation (Acts 17:2-10;
18:4-15). He
had to go to them on the sabbath day for that was the only time they
met. If I
should go over to preach to the Adventists today, I would have to go on
Saturday if I would expect to meet them. Paul disputed with them when
he went
into their synagogue; he tried to reason with them and persuade them
(Acts
17:2, 3; 18:4; 19:8). His preaching caused trouble in the Jews'
synagogues
(Acts 19:8, 9; 18:6; 17:5-9). We would do the same as Paul if permitted
in the
assembly of the Adventists to preach.
Friends, the sabbath was given by God to national
But when did the sabbath end? Amos, the prophet of God, gave that
information
long before Christ came. Hear him (Amos 8:5). The question is asked
when the
sabbath will be gone and the answer is given in verse 9. "And it shall
come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun
to go
down at
Paul said, "Christ is the end of the law of righteousness to everyone
that
believeth" (
The law was added because of transgression till the seed should come to
whom
the promise was made. The seed was Christ, therefore, the law was added
until
Christ came (Gal.
However, our Adventist friends would have you to believe that "under
the
law" means under condemnation of the law, but he is wrong again. Under
the
law means under the dominion of the law. Hear Paul in Romans 7:1, "Know
ye
not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law) how that the law
hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth?" The law always has dominion
over the man. Man is under its dominion. In Galatians 4:4 we are taught
that
Christ was made under the law. Was he made under the condemnation of
the law?
Shucks. The argument is ridiculous.
They also readily run to Matthew 5 to show that Christ came not to
destroy the
law, but to fulfill it. That is true and if Christ did not fulfill it,
then he
didn't do what he came to do. But he did what he came to do, for in his
prayer
to his Father, he said, "I have finished the work, which thou gavest me
to
do" (John 17:4). So Christ fulfilled the law, and that ended it. That
is
why we read in Romans 10:4 that Christ is the end of the law of
righteousness,
to every one that believes. He came to fulfill the law and not one jot
or
tittle passed from the law til Christ fulfilled it.
To a group who were trying to hold on to a part of the law, Paul said,
"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified
by
the law; ye are fallen from grace" (Gal. 5:4). Again, "Blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary
to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. And having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing
over them
in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in
respect of an
holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a
shadow of
things to come; but the body is of Christ" (Col. 2:14-17). This does
not
refer to the yearly Sabbaths as Brother Adventist would have you to
believe.
All of them are pointed out here. Holy day (feast day, A.S.V.) has
reference to
the yearly Sabbaths, new moon refers to the monthly Sabbaths, and the
sabbath
days has reference to the weekly Sabbaths. All of them were taken out
of the
way and nailed to the cross. Our Adventist friends have been trying to
pull
them down ever since Mrs. E. G. White had her nightmare.
God has made a new day in which, saith the prophet, we will rejoice and
be glad
(Psa. 118:22-24). The day is the first day of the week - the day of
Christ's
resurrection (Matt. 28; Mark 15; Luke 24). In that day there was
rejoicing and
gladness. Christ assembled with his disciples on that day (John 20:19).
He
assembled again with them the next first day of the week (verse 26).
Then after
the establishment of the Lord's church, the disciples assembled upon
the first
day of the week to break bread (Acts 20:7). They were also commanded to
lay by
him in store or give of their prosperity on the first day of the week
(1 Cor.
16:1, 2). This is the day the Lord hath made and let us be satisfied
with it.
Finally,
Some
Things to Remember
1. Only ONE law came from Mt. Sinai (Gal. 4:24) - NOT two (moral and
ceremonial).
2. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ
(John 1:17).
3. Under the old law, sins were forgiven by the offering of animal
sacrifices
(Heb. 10:1-2; 9:18-22).
4. Under the New Covenant, sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ (1
Pet.
1:18, 19; Heb. 9:11-14; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14;
1 John 1:7).
5. Christ is the mediator of the New Testament (Heb. 9:1517); Christ is
mediator of a better covenant which is established upon better promises
(Heb.
8:6-9).
Paul Gives the Reason for Adventist Blindness
Go with us to Second Corinthians 3:6. "Who also hath made us able
ministers of the new testament; not of the letter [or law], but of the
spirit:
for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the
ministration of
death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious so that the
children of
Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of
his
countenance; which glow was to be done away: How shall not the
ministration of
the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation
be glory
much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glow. For
even that
which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the
glow that
excelleth. For if that which was done away was glorious much more that
which
remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great
plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face,
that the
children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which
is
abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth
the same
vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is
done away
in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon
their
hearts. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be
taken
away" (2 Cor. 3:6-16).
One does not have to wonder what law he was talking about, for it is
clearly
pointed out that the one he had reference to was the one that was given
when
Moses' face shone, which was the one which was given at Mt. Sinai. This
clearly
points out the reason for Adventist blindness. They are usually back
there
reading Moses in the Old Testament and applying the thing that was only
to
national Israel to themselves.
God plainly said that the Sabbath was a sign between him and the
children of
Israel. Turn with me to Exodus 31:12, 17. "And the Lord spake unto
Moses
saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel saying, Verily my
sabbath
ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your
generation." The 17th verse says, "It is a sign between me and the
children of Israel forever." How can any fair thinking man or woman
miss
this? The sabbath was a sign between God and the children of Israel,
not
everybody, but involved only God and the children of Israel.
When a man gives a lady an engagement ring, we all know that the ring
is a sign
between that man and the woman he intends to marry, not between the man
and
every woman in the country, but only between the man and the woman to
whom he
gave the ring. If we can understand this illustration, it looks to me
like we
can understand the fact that the sabbath embraced only God and the
children of
Israel and was given as a memorial of their deliverance from Egyptian
bondage
(Deut. 5:15).
No work was allowed to be done on the sabbath day at all. Violators
were put to
death (Ex. 31:15; Num. 15:32-36). If the sabbath was in force as the
Adventists
claim, they would all be dead, for they work on what they call the
sabbath.
They drive through the cities, their preachers preach on that day and I
personally know that preaching is work, for I have been preaching many
years.
Paul calls it a work, for he told Timothy to do the work of an
evangelist (2
Tim. 4:5). They had better be glad that Christ took it away.