The organisation of the church of God
For those familiar with the 1901 General Conference bulletin God’s messenger points out the reasons why the work has not gone ahead with power at this time as it ought. There is an urgency to go ahead with this work right now but it starts with the hearts of individuals making up the congregations. It relies not on the sanctions of men but of God as is every member’s duty.
Why the Spirit of God is not manifest with power to His people?
Since1901 when God’s messenger gave warning, false teachings and change in worship and theology has accelerated and set a division in the church, that will soon be tested. Here through the Spirit of Prophecy is outlined why the Holy Spirit will not accept the work of many.
1. Hasty words and unloving heart
1 Corinthians 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
“At the last Conference which I attended here, there was gossiping and controversy in every house….Slow to speak, slow to wrath. It only takes a word to fire up a man who has not made a practice of talking with God. This spirit is as contagious as the leprosy. One and another catch it, and thus dissension and strife and commotion are brought in. God is not in any of this work”
The gospel to be carried into the world has to a large degree been lost within the church- the perfection required of God in a perfected relationship with Him is more often not being taught and largely opposed.
2. The principles of health reform: A healing message of physical and spiritual dimension by which God makes Himself manifest
Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
“The principles of health reform have been proclaimed by us as a people for thirty years. And yet there are among us ministers of the gospel and members of the church who have no respect for the light that God has given upon health reform. They eat as they please, and work as they please. God calls for a straight testimony to be given to those who claim to believe that we are living in the last days of this earth’s history. A line of distinction must be drawn between those who serve God, and those who serve him not. God calls upon his people to put away self-pleasing. When in body, soul, and spirit they will dedicate themselves to God, his power will be revealed in a remarkable manner.
After Christ’s baptism he preached the gospel to the cities that were round about. He was working and healing—the medical missionary work was bound up with the preaching of the gospel. I am so thankful for the medical missionary work, carried in gospel lines. It is to be taught, it is to be carried forward; for it is the very work that Christ did when on this earth. He was the greatest missionary the world ever saw.
You may say: “Why not, then, take hold of the work, and heal the sick as Christ did?”—I answer, You are not ready. Some have believed; some have been healed; but there are many who make themselves sick by intemperate eating or by indulging in other wrong habits. When they get sick, shall we pray for them to be raised up, that they may carry on the very same work again? There must be a reformation throughout our ranks; the people must reach a higher standard before we can expect the power of God to be manifested in a marked manner for the healing of the sick.
We talk of the Holy Ghost; we preach of the Holy Ghost; but we need to understand better what the office of the Holy Ghost is. We need to understand that we must co-operate with God in every sense or God can not co-operate with us. ‘We are laborers together with God.’”
How can one labour together with God using methods of the world? That which God ordained not is being practiced. Joining that which God first ordained – His organised institutions to the universities of the world becomes not the work of God. God’s methods of healing are distinctly His and point to Him. Many had their faith personally tested as they opt for chemo therapy and drug treatments which church organisations also offer!
A physician who has the moral courage to imperil his reputation in enlightening the understanding by plain facts, in showing the nature of disease and how to prevent it, and the dangerous practice of resorting to drugs, will have an uphill business, but he will live and let live. . . . He will, if a reformer, talk plainly in regard to the false appetites and ruinous self-indulgence, in dressing, in eating and drinking, in overtaxing to do a large amount of work in a given time, which has a ruinous influence upon the temper, the physical and mental powers. . . . {MM 222.1} Doctors educated in drug therapy have power by their qualifications in worldly institutions heading up the work and the church supports it but the churches spirituality is diminished by it. Where are the naturopath courses from our institutions? Kellogg and Seventh Day Adventists are recognised for having founded such principals but where is it in the main stream medical work of the church? Are there not two very different streams of thought and practice being presented to the world?
“The early naturopaths and their contemporaries attached great importance to a natural healthful diet. John Kellogg was a physician, Seventh Day Adventist, and a vegetarian who ran the Battle Creek Sanitarium which utilized natural therapies.” Michael Murray N.D. & Jospeh Pizzorno N.D. The encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine A Brief History of Naturopathy p3
Many schools of naturopaths and physiotherapists were influenced by this early work. So where are our learning institutions in these medical fields which should be found worldwide as SDA institutions rather than scattered independent ministries? So in this work faithful SDA had to go without what should have been mainstream support to promote that which God enjoined.
No kingly power preventing the ministry
Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
“The fact that one does not in all things conform to our personal ideas or opinions will not justify us in forbidding him to labor for God. Christ is the Great Teacher; we are not to judge or to command, but in humility each is to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him” So shall I wait for authorisation and reference signatures to go ahead to do what God has called me to do as a life ministry? Should it not be that ministry will assist me rather than prevent me in my calling?
Many ‘ministers’ of the gospel are not Christ’s disciples at all. Are they feeding the flock with present truth that makes them wise unto world events and the current status of the church and to salvation? We are in a crisis and there are many dump dogs that will not bark! Are they visiting the members in their homes? Will they look for the lost or like most give them a friendly face and blessing when they come to them rather than the other way around? Are they assisting or rather hindering people in their ministry or are they just pushing their watered down ministry and rules? Ye are all brethren, go and understand what that means rather than exercising the authority of men.
One ‘minister’ I was acquainted with was more interested in studying for his master’s degree than in visiting people. In fact he really didn’t visit or personally attend to his flock and he is not just one but of many and remembering they are paid salaries for this. Who are they really working for? Who are we really working for if we are not active in ministry as Christ has asked us to be? Therefore we have personal responsibility to where we place our tithes, if it is going to the most effective place where it will be utilized for the gospel of Christ.
“Here are the very words that we want to bring into our life practice. The men that have long stood in positions of trust while disregarding the light that God has given, are not to be depended upon. God wants them to be removed.
When the power of God is manifest in the church and in the management of the various departments of his work, when it is evident that the managers are themselves controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, then it is time to consider that you are safe in accepting what they may say, under God. But you must know that you are guided by the principles of the Word of the living God. The Great General of armies, the Captain of the Lord’s host, is our leader.
Now I want to say, God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to control it in every line. Here is a vineyard presenting its barren places that have received no labor. And if one should start out to till these places in the name of the Lord, unless he should get the permission of the men in a little circle of authority he would receive no help. But God means that his workers shall have help. If a hundred should start out on a mission to these destitute fields, crying unto God, he would open the way before them. Let me tell you, if your heart is in the work, and you have faith in God, you need not depend upon the sanction of any minister or any people; if you go right to work in the name of the Lord, in a humble way doing what you can to teach the truth, God will vindicate you.
If the work had not been so restricted by an impediment here, and an impediment there, and on the other side an impediment, it would have gone forward in its majesty. It would have gone in weakness at first, but the God of heaven lives;
The time has come when this people are to be born again. Those that have never been born again, and those that have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins, and cannot see afar off, and have practiced their old habits of talking, prejudicing others, hindering the work, and being generally in the way of its advancement, would better be converted. God wants you to be converted, and may he help, that this work may go forward. He is a power for his people when they come into order. There must be a renovation, a reorganization”
“The facts relative to Korah and his company, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and against Jehovah, are recorded for a warning to God’s people, especially those who live upon the earth near the close of time. .. The testimonies borne against hurtful indulgences, as tea, coffee, snuff, and tobacco, have irritated a certain class, because it would destroy their idols.”
As we read the admonition here it comes full circle to what is really the greatest need in the church- to proclaim the real gospel; that is, what it really means to be born again. Willing servants of God that are ready to take Him at His Word and act upon it. To have a perfect working union with Him. Is there a need for organisation? Yes? Where? In the church structure at conference level and in the medical fields but that is according to God’s ideal as He has specifically outlined. What happens when the ideal is not there? We follow Christ’s example how He dealt with apostasy in the church while on earth.