Amen. We're turning to Acts chapter 20, the Acts of the Apostles chapter 20. Welcome in the Savior's name. Thank you for joining with us and praying for us in the last number of nights. We thank the Lord for his goodness to us in the Bible clubs, but we're here now to find ourselves around the word. So Acts chapter 20, let's read from the verse number 17. Acts 20, verse 17. And from Miltus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, ye know from the first day that he came on to Asia, after what manner I have been with you in all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the laying and weight off the Jews. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 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 now may I finish my course with joy in 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 And 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 the flock, over 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 cease not to warn every one night and day with tears. My brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Amen, and we end our reading at the end of the verse number 32. The apostle Paul, aware of the dangers that imperiled the Christ Church here in Ephesus warned the spiritual oversight of the church in this city that they were to be on the watch, they were to be on the guard for those who would arise from within her own ranks and draw disciples after them therefore watch he says in verse 31 because in verse 30 he says also of your own cells shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them and down through the centuries of church history this has sadly occurred there are individuals who have come from outside the church like a wolf and have come in and have scattered the flock of God. Others have arisen from within her eyes and have departed from the faith and have taken many with them also in their departure from the faith. Now such happened in the movement that we're going to consider this evening now as often september the 30th 2020 this religious movement had 21.7 million baptized believers between 2005 and 2015 around half a million people per year have joined this movement through professions and baptisms of faith. Religious organization is one of the fastest growing organizations, primarily from membership within developing nations. The movement I refer to is called the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Currently, there are four Seventh Day Adventist Church in Northern Ireland, one in Belfast, one in Lisbon Hall, one in Banbridge, and one in Coleraine. As with other messages in this series of messages on false religion, I want to begin by giving you a little background, a little history to the Seventh-day Adventist church. Seventh-day Adventism really had its beginning in the prophecies of a man by the name of Mr. William Miller. William Miller was a totally self-trained Baptist lay preacher who had no firm theological grounding or training. This is why I say about those who arose from within the ranks speaking perverse things, William Miller was one such man. He was obsessed with one topic, the second coming jesus christ now there's nothing wrong to be interested in such a doctrine the doctrine of eschatology or the coming again of jesus christ but this man became obsessed obsessed with this one single doctrine christians are to be well balanced well-rounded believers and if you find yourself going out on a limb on a tree there's only one result that is that you'll fall to the ground we need to be well-rounded we need to be well-balanced believers and so this man became obsessed with the doctrine of the second coming of Jesus Christ so obsessed was he that he believed that he had calculated the exact time when Jesus Christ would return to the world. This is how he summarized his teaching. He said, my principles and brief are that Jesus Christ will come again to this earth, cleanse, purify, and take possession of the same with all the saints sometime between March the 21st, 1843, on March the 21st, 1844. Miller had supposedly calculated the return of Christ from Daniel's 70 weeks that we find in the book of Daniel. Well, obviously, Jesus Christ didn't come back in 1843 or 1844. And as a result, his membership, or those that followed Miller's teaching, were intensely disappointed. Miller was so sure that he was right despite what scripture tells us but at that day and of that hour no man knoweth no not the angels of heaven but my father only Matthew 24 verse 36 Speaking about the return of the lord jesus christ if you get someone that tells you That they know the exact time or the exact date whenever jesus christ is coming back again You take them to matthew 24 verse 36 or mark 13 And the verse number 33 and so william miller he was the initiator of this movement and then in 1844 Samuel Snow, he launched a movement called the Seventh Month Movement. And he was convinced that the days mentioned in Daniel, they were going to be fulfilled in the later part of that year, 1844. And so he predicted that on the 22nd of October, 1844, the calendar equivalent of the Jewish Day of Atonement, Christ would return. And virtually all the Millerites, those who had followed William Miller, accepted this man, Mr. Snow's interpretation, as well as Mr. Miller. Well, as the day approached, crowds gathered. There was a swell in the membership of this particular movement. But again, there was overwhelming disappointment, so much so that that specific date is referred to as the Day of Great Disappointment as a result many abandoned the advent faith the teaching that christ was coming And then a man by the name of haram edson. He was one of miller's followers After this day of great disappointment he remained with miller to pray that light would be given as to the reason why this return of Christ did not take place. After some time of prayer, Edson and a companion, they were walking across a field and he later commented, I was stopped about midway off the field and I saw distinctly that instead of our high priest coming out of the heavenly sanctuary to earth on the 10th day of the seventh month, at the end of 2,300 days. He, for the first time, entered into the second department of the sanctuary, for he had a work to perform in the most holy before coming to this earth. And so instead of coming out of heaven, this date, this date with regard to Christ's return, the 22nd of October, 1844, That date really signifies Christ going into the holy place or the holy of holies within the heavenly tabernacle or the heavenly temple as they would see it. Now that was very convenient because no one could as it were verify the truthfulness of such a claim. I could say that Christ is doing anything in heaven. but who could verify such a fact and so this was how they thought and edson believed that this was the lord's answers to their prayers so miller hadn't been wrong this is what edison told the people miller wasn't wrong there was really simply a misunderstanding right time but wrong place right time but wrong place. Joseph Bates was another man at the forefront of the Adventist movement. And through reading an article on the Sabbath day by a man by the name of Mr. Thomas Prebble, he was convinced that the seventh day of the week was the proper Sabbath for Christians to observe. So instead of observing the Lord's day on the first day of the week, He was convinced that Christians should observe a Sabbath on the Saturday, the seventh day of the week. In it, that particular article, the seventh day Sabbath, a perpetual sign, he argued that the seventh day Sabbath was prefigured in creation, ordained in Eden, and confirmed at Mount Sinai. There was added to Adventism an emphasis then on the keeping of the seventh day as a Sabbath with keeping the first day of the week being interpreted as making one liable to receive the mark of the beast. This is what they taught. William Miller had lectured, and we're back to William Miller again, he had lectured close to a home of a lady called Ellen G. White. She attended the lectures with her family and embraced Miller's teaching on the Second Advent. In December 1884, this is a very key date, Alan White claimed to be given a vision. a vision of Advent believers traveling along a pathway that reached to the city of God, and Jesus Christ was their guide and their leader. That vision was followed by another, revealing that she must tell others what God had shown her. And so began a life of public speaking, counseling, and writing for this leader, this lady, Ellen White. Soon a sizable group believed Mrs. White, was being guided by the Holy Spirit, and that she was a true prophetess. And therefore, her visions and her writings were to be followed. One of her visions was that she saw, or claimed to see, Jesus Christ entering into the heavenly sanctuary, in the Holy of Holies, in the heavenly sanctuary. She saw the Ark of the Covenant, and she saw the Ten Commandments, and a halo of glory surrounding the Fourth Commandment. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And no doubt, this confirmed Beetz's teaching on the seventh day Sabbath. And so these particular teachings of these individuals, White and Miller and others and Snow, they all merged together and they formed themselves in what is known today as the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Its name was officially adopted in 1860. And so that's a little history, a little background, some individuals with regard to this movement. But I want to move on to consider secondly and finally its teachings. You know, Seventh-day Adventists believe in many things that we as Christians believe. They believe in the Trinity. That is a key fundamental doctrine. They believe in creation, not evolution. They hold that God created all things in six literal 24-hour days. We believe in that. They believe in divine providence, God working all things together after the counsel of his own will. They believe that man, Adam, was created sinless, but because he fell, he entered a state of depravity and alienation from God. Well, we believe that too. They affirm the full deity of Jesus Christ in the words, Jesus Christ is very God, being of the same nature and essence as the eternal Father. We believe that Jesus Christ is truly God. And so there are many fundamentals, fundamental truths that the Seventh-day Adventist Church affirms that we also affirm. However, As with anything, all it takes is a little ounce, a little gram of poison in good food in order to bring death and destruction. And though they may affirm these truths, there are other matters upon which the Seventh-day Adventists err. And the first matter on which they err is the matter upon which every false religion errs. And I trust what you know that is, having sat under these meetings, it is with regard to the matter of authority, authority. And that really brings us to consider the Seventh-day Adventist teaching on the scripture, the scripture. All major cults, All major false religious movements have some source of authority that is outside the Bible. We believe in scripture sola scriptura. That was the Latin term that the reformers used. The Scriptures alone. The Scriptures alone. But every other false religion has a source of authority that is outside the Bible. For the Roman Catholic, that is the papacy. For the Mormon, that is the Book of Mormon. For the Jehovah Witness, it's the Watchtower magazine. For Islam, it is the Quran. For the Seventh-day Adventists, the key that unlocks the Bible's true meaning is the voice of their founding prophetess, Ellen G. White. The use of Ellen White's writings and the acceptance of her prophetic gift is inconsistent with the claim that the Scriptures alone are their sole rule of faith. They claim that the Holy Spirit opened to Ellen White's mind important events. However, we know that what comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be contrary to Scripture, which God the Holy Spirit himself has inspired. The writings of Ellen G. White are nevertheless revered by Seventh-day Adventists as equal to Scripture in their authority, Accuracy and reliability. Although most seven-day Adventists will try and downplay the stress that they place on Ellen White's writings, they do in fact believe that Mrs. White was divinely inspired. and that her books are revelations superior to every other resource and every other truth claim outside the Bible. And since they read and they interpret the Bible through the lens of Mrs. White's supposedly inspired works, her writings and practice have higher authority than scripture. So follow the reasoning. You can only understand the Bible if you read Ellen White's books and writings. This is what they teach. And so they're placing her writings above the authority and reliability and the teaching of Holy Scripture. Now by October 1981, some ministers within the denomination were beginning to raise legitimate concerns and questions about the reliability of Ellen White's writings. And so in a church magazine called Ministry, an article appeared. It appeared to have been written by a man by the name of Ron Graybill. He was a leading seven-day Adventist historian and apologetic. a preacher, and he reflected in that article the denomination's official position with regard to Mrs. White and her works. The article was entitled, Ellen White's Role in Doctrine Formation. And I'm going to quote a little part. Said the following, we believe the revelation and inspiration of both the Bible and Ellen White's writings to be of equal quality. The superintendence of the Holy Spirit was just as careful and thorough in one case as in the other. And so they put her writings on a par with the inspired word of the living God. Placing human writings on a par with the word of God is a telltale sign of a cult or a false religion. To place it on a par with the word of God is a telltale sign of a cult or a false religion. We have our subordinate creeds, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the shorter catechism, the larger catechism, but they are always subservient below the scriptures. They are not promoted. We do not believe them to be inspired by God the Holy Ghost, but they believe that the writings of Mrs. White are inspired. It is a telltale sign of a cult or false religion. They consider secondly then their teaching about Jesus Christ. Yes, they believe that Jesus Christ is God, But seven day Adventists, they question the doctrine of the impeccability of Christ. That big word simply means the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. Mrs. White stated that Christ, and I quote, could have sinned. He could have fallen. Let that sink into your mind. Mrs. White says that Jesus Christ, the eternal son, could have sinned. He could have sinned. or he could have fallen. But brethren and sisters, the teaching of Scripture is not only that Jesus Christ was not able to sin, but that he could not sin and he did not sin. Why? Because his humanity was based on his deity. His deity meant that his humanity would be a sinless, impeccable, faultless humanity. She said this about the Lord Jesus Christ. She said, In other words, Christ knew what it was. to be inflected with the deterioration that is associated with sinless or sinful humanity or sinful nature. They also attacked the vicarious atonement of Christ, the doctrine that speaks of Christ's death on the cross. In Seventh-day Adventist literature, there are statements to the effect that the atonement is still going on or that there will be a final atonement after Christ's work on the cross was finished. Let me quote. The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel sin. It, speaking of this sin, would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement. And so they speak of an atonement of sorts. There is, yes, a covering of sin. There is, as it were, a freeing from the condemnation of the law. But there is yet an atonement yet future that's still to take place. We ask the question, why then did Christ cry, it is finished? Why did he, having done the work, how was he enabled to sit down at the Father's right hand if the work of atonement had not been done? He had come to do the Father's will. And that well was done in its entirety and in its completeness by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they state in a roundabout way that the work of atonement, this work that brings us to God, this work that reconciles us to God, is not a finished work. There is yet something with regard to the atonement that is yet future. There is a future atonement that is still to be made. We believe that the atonement that Christ offered upon the cross is a finished work. There is a finished work and thank God for that. What about their teaching with regard to salvation? If you receive Christ as your savior through the Seventh-day Adventist church, only your past sins up until that moment are forgiven. From that moment on, you then must work to earn your salvation. Ellen G. White said in the Advent Review and the Sabbath Herald of the 10th of the 26th or the 26th of the 10th, 1897, this is a statement, the terms of salvation for every son and daughter of Adam are here outlined. It is plainly stated that the condition of gaining eternal life is obedience to the commandments of God. Now that should shock you. The terms of salvation, of gaining eternal life, is obedience, according to the Seventh-day Adventist, the obedience to the commandments of God. Of course, it's the fourth commandment that is being stressed since Ellen saw this one glowing in one of her visions. And so salvation becomes dependent really on what day of the week one observes the Sabbath. Let me read to you from the Seventh-day Adventist tract, one of their tracts. Christ says to every man in this world, what he said to the rich young ruler, if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. In other words, the standard for admission into heaven is a character built according to the 10 specifications or commandments of God's law. The master builder will stand right with you and in you and see to it personally that your life comes up to the requirements of God's law. And yet the New Testament tells us by the deeds of the law, no man is justified. And so it is contrary to scripture. No man can keep the law of God perfectly. That's what Christ came to do. He fulfilled the law entirely, perfectly on our behalf, fulfilling all righteousness for us, and then going to the cross and dying for our sins. And so in the eyes of seven-day Adventism, salvation is not by grace. salvation is dependent on our works and those works are being reviewed by God and what the seventh day advent is called the they call the investigative judgment now that simply means that the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven tonight is reviewing the works of all believers who have ever lived in order to determine how faithful they have been to the commandments of God. And as a result, with regard to that and his review, he will determine on the grounds of our obedience to the law of God, whether or not we get into heaven. Brethren and sisters, If I could live all my life obeying the law of God, it would still never get me into heaven. I'll only ever be in heaven because of the grace of God. I'll only ever be in heaven because of the work of Christ on my behalf. I'll only be in heaven because I am in union with Christ, the living head. Mrs. White, she said, Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner. In other words, the forgiveness of our sins is not complete. You see, the SDAs, the seven-day Adventists, they make a distinction between the forgiveness of sins and the blotting out of sins. Whenever someone repents and believes, their sins are forgiven, but according to them, they are not blotted out. The actual blotting out of our sin cannot take place at the moment when sin is forgiven. Why? Because subsequent deeds and attitudes may affect the final decision. What assurance then does any of their followers have? They live under bondage, far-seeking legalism. Here I am, I must keep the law, and I don't even know if I'm keeping it right. And so I'll never know until I find myself standing before God, the final decision is made, and thereby whether or not I get into heaven or not. Now imagine if you were brought up in such a religion, brethren and sisters. Could you lay your head upon the pillow? Could you rest on Christ fully? Could you repose your soul on the Redeemer? I think not. Mrs. White said, when Christ, by virtue of his own blood, removes the sins of his people from the heavenly sanctuary, he will, listen to this, he will place them on Satan. So our sins are placed on Satan, who must bear the final penalty of our sins. Just as the priest in removing the sins from the sanctuary confessed them upon the head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan. Thus the great plan of redemption will reach its accomplishment in the final eradication of sin. So there we have again, it is an unfinished work. All our sins are going to be placed on Satan. I lay my sins on Jesus. My sins were laid on him. He bore my sins to the tree. He took my sins to the cross. He was the scapegoat that is spoken of in Leviticus. You see, this all comes around this heretical view. It comes from their interpretation of the second goat in Leviticus chapter 16. Now, there are two goats on the day of atonement. The first goat is slain, its blood is taken into the inner sanctuary. That goat is the representation of the Godward work of atonement. God being satisfied, blood is sprinkled. God seeing the blood understands that the goat has been slain as a substitute. But the scapegoat, it speaks of the manward aspect of redemption. My sins being laid on Christ and Christ bearing my sins to the land. Uninhabitable for that scapegoat never to return again. It speaks about what God has done for me as a sinner. It is not speaking of what Satan is going to do for us. Satan would only damn us to hell. And so they misrepresent, they misinterpret really what we find there. You see the second goat is called Aziel. And many, they believe that this interpret or this translate to mean Satan, but that is not the case. Asiel is not a proper name, like David or Francis or Mary, not a proper name, but it is annoying. It is an animal, this scapegoat. It's not speaking about Satan, but it is prefiguring. the Lord Jesus Christ, and the manward work that Christ did for us. And so they be a salvation on these terms, obedience to the law of God, works. And brethren and sisters, that always makes the distinction. That's always the distinction between biblical religion and false religion. Biblical religion tells us that the work is done. False religion tells us that you must work. You must work. Their teaching on soul sleep. Seventh-day Adventist church teaches that those who die, they don't go to heaven or hell on their death, but their soul sleeps unconsciously in the grave until the resurrection. And they quote, to be dead does not mean to go to heaven. It does not mean to go to hell. It does not mean to go to purgatory. Indeed, it does not mean to go anywhere at all. It means simply an end of life. Death is cessation of life, an absence of life, the exact opposite of life and this teaching by the seventh day adventists really rests on the assumption that the word sleep in the scriptures and we read about that those who sleep in christ it really means the cessation of all consciousness however the word sleep isn't to be thought about literally, but metaphorically. And it's appropriate to be used in such a way, because there is a similarity between a sleeping body and a dead body. Restfulness and peace, they normally characterize both. And the object of the metaphor is to suggest that as the sleeper does not cease to exist while the body sleeps, so the dead person continues to exist despite his absence from the region in which those who remain can communicate with him. When the physical frame of a believer is dissolved, yes, it returns to dust, but the spiritual part, the soul, departs to be with Christ. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Paul, he said that he had his desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Christ said to the dying thief, Not next week, not after the resurrection. Today shall thou be with me in paradise. And whenever the rich man died in Luke chapter 16, we're told that he died, he was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, or he lift up his eyes. Soul sleep. No such thing in Holy Scripture. What about their teaching on hell? Seventh-day Adventists that the unsaved will be burned up in the lake of fire, and so they are annihilationists. Annihilationists. Let me quote from Alan White's writings again, the theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that consists the wine of the abomination of Babylon. There will then be no lost souls to blaspheme God. as they writhe in never-ending torment. No wretched beings in hell will mingle their shrieks with the songs of the saved. They claim that the eternal torment of the wicked cannot be reconciled with God's love and God's mercy. Let me quote again, how repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy, and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that the wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally burning hell. However, whether or not it's palatable to us, the Bible speaks of hell. Jesus Christ spoke of hell. He spoke about how men and women will be conscious in that place called hell. The Bible teaches that the unsaved will endure eternal conscious torment. shall go away into everlasting punishment. Those are the words of Christ. I suppose their primary teaching is about the Sabbath. SDAs teach that the Saturday is to be observed as the Sabbath day. They claim that the Roman emperor, Constantine, changed the day for Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday. However, what they've never been able to satisfactorily answer is why then did the early new testament church meet on the first day of the week. Acts 27 and upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread Paul preached to them ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight. In 2 Corinthians 16 verse 1 and 2, now concerning the collection for the saints as I have given order to the churches of Galatia even so do ye upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come. And so twice in scripture we read about the first day of the week and about believers gathering together, breaking bread, bringing in collections in order to relieve the wants and the needs of the saints. Now there is an obligation, I believe, for us to keep the fourth commandment. James says that if you keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, you're guilty of all. You'll find many churches saying that Sabbath observance or keeping the Lord's day is no longer in vogue. But if you break the fourth commandment, then you're guilty of breaking the other nine. You can't just throw out one commandment in order to appease your own pleasure-seeking, but rather God would have us to obey the law of God, not for salvation, but because we love the Lord. His commandments are not grievous. Some object and say that the Sabbath was Jewish and has been done away with, but however, the Sabbath wasn't initiated at Mount Sinai. The Sabbath was initiated in the Garden of Eden before man ever fell. It says that God rested on the seventh day. The word is sabbathed. He sabbathed on the seventh day. He rested the seventh day. And whenever the law of God was given on Mount Sinai, the words that commence the commandment are these, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Now you only remember that which is already in heaven. in vogue or in practice. We remember only that which already exists. How can you remember something that has never existed? You only remember that which is already existent. The Sabbath was instituted before the fall and therefore it doesn't arise because we're fallen creatures, but rather we obey it because of our relationship with the one who has made us. The Sabbath was God's provision for man. And thank God for the Sabbath day, the Lord's day, a day whereby we set aside all earthly pursuits in order, in order to worship him. And so in these areas, and my time is far, far gone, in these areas, the Seventh-day Adventist Church errs from the revelation of Scripture. and therefore must be considered as a false religion. And brethren and sisters, only by immersing ourselves in the truth of God's word will we ever be able to detect those who propagate a false gospel. We need to know the word in order to know when there is error. And so let us know the truth. Let us know the truth so that whenever error arises, we may detect it and we may speak out against it. May God, in his good mercy, deliver even those who follow such a religion, and may they come into the liberty and into the freedom of faith alone in Christ alone. May the Lord be pleased to bless His word to our hearts. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Let's stand, and that'll change your position. Just for a few moments, we're getting down to prayer. Father in heaven, we commit our time now to Thee as we come to the throne of heavenly grace. Bless us, we pray, and grant, dear Father, help us to understand these things. and give us, Lord, wisdom. May, O God, there be the removal of all false religion from our nation. May there be a coming to faith in Christ alone, for we pray these, our petitions in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen.