Republished May 26, 2010 (first published October 14, 2008) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following report is taken from “Avoiding the Snare of Seventh-Day Adventism.” 165 pages. $8.95

The Seventh-day Adventist denomination was established in 1860 in America. “Seventh-day” refers to sabbath worship. “Adventist” refers to their belief that God raised them up to announce the coming of the Lord. They have 15 million members worldwide in 61,000 churches, and they are working in 203 countries.

THE HISTORY OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

Seventh-day Adventism originated with the Second Coming movement of the 1800’s. William Miller, a Baptist preacher, concluded in 1818 that Christ would return to earth in 1843. When that was proven wrong, he changed the date to October 22, 1844. His belief was based largely on an interpretation of Daniel chapters nine and twelve using the erroneous day/year equation (one prophetic day equals one historical year). Tens of thousands of people followed Miller, and many different groups sprang up within this excited religious atmosphere, all of them looking for the immediate return of Christ.

After 1844, Miller quit setting dates and admitted his mistake, but some of his followers went on to form Seventh-day Adventism.

James White, Joseph Bates, and others began practicing sabbath-keeping in 1844 and published their views through pamphlets.

CHRISTIANITY TODAY REJOICES IN CHARISMATIC LEAVEN (Friday Church News Notes, May 21, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a recent article, David Neff, vice president of Christianity Today, writes positively about the Charismatic movement and likens it to leaven. “Some analysts say the mainline charismatic renewal fizzled. It is more accurate to describe it the way Jesus pictured the kingdom of God: like yeast that spreads through bread dough. You can hardly identify it as a movement anymore, but it has changed the way most churches worship. Repetitive choruses and raised hands are now common. Except in pockets of hardcore resistance, the fact that a fellow Christian may praise God in a private prayer language hardly elevates an eyebrow” (“Ardor and Order,” Christianity Today, May 12, 2010).Hughie Seaborne of Australia, , a former Pentecostal, makes the following important comments: “During the years I was indoctrinated with the teachings of Pentecostals and Charismatics, there was always a doubt that I couldn’t put my finger on until 1994 when the Toronto Blessing broke on to the world stage and forced me to do some serious study, especially on end-time revivals. Once I came to the conclusion that Toronto couldn’t be from God, and if Toronto was supposed to be the lead up to the revival which was going to usher in the Kingdom, as everyone was claiming, then obviously the hope of such a revival was based upon deception. When I finally came to this conclusion, it was like someone turned on a light. The absence of a worldwide revival in one’s eschatology gives major portions of Scripture a whole new meaning. ... As for Matthew 13:33, the leaven, which represents false doctrine, is taken by the woman and hidden in the three measures of meal. The meal represents pure, unadulterated doctrine. The Bible says she hid it! She didn’t do this openly, but by stealth. She didn’t come out and announce to everyone that she was going to leaven the meal. So straight away I should have been able to see, contrary to what my Pentecostal/Charismatic indoctrinators taught me, that she is doing something evil to the doctrine. This has absolutely nothing to do with world evangelism and unprecedented end-time harvests, as David Neff is no doubt suggesting. It has to do with the spreading of wrong doctrine in the teachings of the professing churches. And it has spread and permeated the teachings to such a degree that, like leaven in the loaf of bread, it is no longer discernible. But it has achieved its intended purpose, as David Neff has unwittingly divulged in his glowing article. ‘It has changed the way most churches worship...except in pockets of hardcore resistance.’ I wonder who he is referring to? It’s those fundamentalists who still think Scriptures such as 2 Timothy 4:1-5 and 2 Peter 2:1-2 are relevant. I wonder who the woman is in Matthew 13:33? I can’t help thinking of Revelation 17:3-6. The amazing thing about the Charismatic Movement is that there has been a ‘woman arrayed in purple and scarlet’ lurking in the background from its very inception, hiding in the shadows, pretending not to be a part of the goings on. However, a little research reveals otherwise. When I got saved in an Anglican/Uniting Co-operating Church in Weipa in 1982, we had two services on a Sunday. One in the morning, which was Charismatic Anglican, and the other in the evening which was attended by progressive type Catholics who were into the Charismatic experience. That was my introduction to ecumenism, which, in line with my teaching, I first thought was a great thing. I got on really well with the RCs until I started asking very simple doctrinal questions. Today, Charismatic experiences, and all that that embraces, is the glue that binds the Ecumenical Movement together. The Roman Catholic who has professed to have spoken in tongues, for example, immediately qualifies as a brother or sister in Christ. There’s leaven that’s been mixed in the meal, by a woman.”

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

BALANCED PREACHING (Friday Church News Notes, May 14, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Through the years, many individuals have written to me to express their concern that I might not be “balanced” in my preaching, but balance has a lot to do with the particular circumstance in which a preacher finds himself. Was Noah balanced when he “preached righteousness” for 120 years as the ark was being constructed. Was Jeremiah balanced in his constant negativity toward Israel? What about John the Baptist? He lived out in the wilderness and preached repentance, repentance, repentance. Was he balanced? You see the same thing in the New Testament epistles. The message to a particular church or group of churches depended upon their condition at that particular time. What Jesus preached to the church at Philadelphia was entirely different from what He preached to the church at Laodicea. If a church or a region or a nation is becoming worldly and carnal and is in a moral tailspin, should a preacher ignore this and strive for “balance”? In 1962 Independent Baptist preacher Oliver B. Greene preached a series of 25 radio messages on the wrath of God. Twenty-five! Wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath. Was that balanced preaching? Who cares! The fact is that it was exactly what America needed in 1962, and it is exactly what America needs today. What we need is some preachers who will be less concerned about “balance” and more concerned about truth and righteousness! We don’t need more balance, we need more unmitigated zeal for the truth!!!!! A generation of intellectually “balanced” preaching has given us a generation of backslidden Christians. By the way, I have no sympathy for for hobby horsing or lack of study that results in the preacher saying the same thing every time he preaches. I’m not talking about ignorance or laziness. We don’t need that any more than we need New Evangelical “balance”!

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I want to share with you the account of a day that began as the worst day in my life and ended as the best day in my life. I will tell you first how I got to that day, and then I will tell you what happened on that day.

I was born in a small country in South America, although my grandparents were from somewhere in the Indian Subcontinent. I often attended a Lutheran Church with my mother when I was a child. My parents divorced when I was eleven years old, and my mother, two brothers, and I, immigrated to Canada when I was fourteen years old.

I did not go to Church for years after we moved to Canada. By the time I finished High School, I was questioning the existence of God. I went to University, and by the time I finished my four year degree in Science, I was very much a secular humanist/atheist. That’s a person who does not believe that there is a God and believes that humans are the ultimate and best product of evolution.

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

THE WORST PROBLEM WITH IB FRIENDS INTERNATIONAL (Friday Church News Notes, May 7, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In my estimation, the worst problem with Clarence Sexton’s Independent Baptist Friends International movement is that it has circled the wagons against “criticism.” The reason I joined an Independent Baptist church in 1973 not long after I was converted was the separated Christian living, the willingness to take the whole Bible seriously, even “fanatically,” and the bold defense of the faith. I had grown up in Billy Graham’s denomination, the king of non-judgmentalism and the chief enemy of Biblical separation in our generation. Being convinced that the Graham philosophy is unscriptural, I joined the Independent Baptists. It was in the early 1990s that I first saw signs of a bold rejection of separation among Independent Baptists and the spread of the damnable New Evangelical “judge not” philosophy. This occurred in conjunction with the rapid growth of Contemporary Christian Music and its contemporary Southern Gospel counterpart. Widespread love for carnal music accelerated the spread of the non-judgmental philosophy among Independent Baptists. Music, we are told, is an inconsequential issue. The Promise Keepers movement was another catalyst for the non-judgmental philosophy. When I exposed the ecumenism of Promise Keepers, I was rebuked and mocked by the some IB leaders. They argued that the good outweighed the bad and that we should be glad that men were being taught to assume their spiritual responsibilities. This is the theme-song of Independent Baptist Friends International. When I wrote a lengthy e-mail to Pastor Sexton, a gracious and respectful e-mail expressing my concerns, he did not even acknowledge its receipt. He knows of me and my ministry; he has preached in my home church and has talked with my pastor on several occasions. I have heard from several other men who have tried to communicate with Sexton about this matter and have been ignored, some of whom consider him a personal friend and all of whom appreciate him as a brother in the Lord and a fellow soldier for Christ. I am not talking about ignoring warnings from a man’s hateful enemies; I am talking about ignoring warnings from friends. And not just ignoring the warnings, but even treating the warners as troublemakers. I have received angry e-mails from several men rebuking me for speaking out against IB Friends. They say that I should shut up and just focus on the “big issues.” Well, I’m not going to shut up. Big problems usually grow from small ones. God has instructed me to prove ALL things, to preach with rebuke and reproof, to earnestly contend for the faith. Without judging and reproof, there is no mechanism of correction and error can grow apace. Sexton urges all of us to be friends, and I am all for it. God’s Word tells me that the wounds of a friend are faithful (Prov. 27:6). Paul was a friend when he rebuked Peter’s “small” hypocrisy. He was a friend when he reproved the church at Corinth for their errors, including such “small” things as the sin of misusing the Lord’s supper and taking one another to court. I urge Clarence Sexton to stop stonewalling reproof, to stop pretending that criticism of IB Friends is some sort of carnal persecution. I urge him to publicly acknowledge that his friends have every biblical right and responsibility to criticize what he is doing. I have a suspicion that his critics in this matter are the best friends that he has.