Chronology of SDA Apostasy - 1893-1903

1893-1903

1893:

"How dare mortal man pass his judgment upon them, and call the church a harlot, Babylon, a den of thieves, a cage of every unclean and hateful bird, the habitation of devils, making the nations drunk with the wine of her fornication, confederating with the kings and great men of the earth, waxing rich through the abundance of her delicacies, and proclaiming that her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities?" Manuscript 21 , 1893

"I understood that both these men were at the General Conference [held in Battle Creek, February 17-March 6, 1893], that is, S and C. Could they not discern there the revealings of the Spirit of God? Could they not see that God was opening the windows of heaven and pouring out a blessing? Why was this? Testimonies had been given correcting and counseling the church and many had made a practical application of the message to the Laodicean Church, and were confessing their sins and repenting in contrition of soul. They were hearing the voice of Jesus, the heavenly Merchantman, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." RH, November 8, 1956 par. 6. Ms. 21,  June 12, 1893

"Those who assert that the Seventh-day Adventist churches constitute Babylon, or any part of Babylon, might better stay at home. Let them stop and consider what is the message to be proclaimed at this time." TM, 37

"There is but one church in the world who are at the present time standing in the breach, and making up the hedge, building up the old waste places; and for any man to call the attention of the world and other churches to this church, denouncing her as Babylon, is to do a work in harmony with him who is the accuser of the brethren." TM, 50

"The counsel of Christ to the Laodicean Church was being acted upon, and all who were feeling their poverty were buying gold (faith and love), white raiment (the righteousness of Christ), and eyesalve (true spiritual discernment)." RH, November 8, 1956 par. 6. Ms. 21,  June 12, 1893

"While God's blessing was penetrating everywhere, while His PRESENCE was consecrating and sanctifying souls unto Himself, why did they not place their souls in the channel of light?" RH, November 8, 1956 par. 6. Ms. 21,  June 12, 1893

"How could they come from that meeting where the power of God was revealed in so marked a manner, and proclaim that the loud cry was that the commandment-keeping people were Babylon?"  RH, November 8, 1956 par. 6. Ms. 21,  June 12, 1893

"The work of Satan is to cover the repentant, believing, COMMANDMENT-KEEPING people of God with defiling garments..."  RH, November 8, 1956 par. 6. Ms. 21,  June 12, 1893

"Beware of those who arise with a great burden to denounce the church. The chosen ones who are standing and breasting the storm of opposition from the world, and are uplifting the downtrodden commandments of God to exalt them as honorable and holy, are indeed the light of the world." RH, November 8, 1956 par. 6. Ms. 21,  June 12, 1893

"It seems almost impossible that anyone who had a genuine experience in the faith should suggest such erroneous applications of scripture as applicable to God's commandment-keeping people." RH, November 8, 1956 par. 6. Ms. 21,  June 12, 1893

"The wine of Babylon is the exalting of the false and spurious sabbath above the Sabbath which the Lord Jehovah hath blessed and sanctified for the use of man, also [it is] the immortality of the soul. These kindred heresies, and the rejection of the truth, convert the church into Babylon. Kings, merchants, rulers, and religious teachers are all in corrupt harmony."  {2SM 68.2}Letter 16, 1893

"God has a people in which all heaven is interested, and they are the one object on earth dear to the heart of God. Let every one who reads these words give them thorough consideration; for in the name of Jesus I would press them home upon every soul. When any one arises, either among us or outside of us, who is burdened with a message which declares that the people of God are numbered with Babylon, and claims that the loud cry is a call to come out of her, you may know that he is not bearing the message of truth. Receive him not, nor bid him Godspeed; for God has not spoken by him, neither has he given a message to him, but he has run before he was sent. The message contained in the pamphlet called the "Loud Cry," is a deception. Such messages will come, and it will be claimed for them that they are sent of God, but the claim will be false; for they are not filled with light, but with darkness. There will be messages of accusation against the people of God, similar to the work done by Satan in accusing God's people, and these messages will be sounding at the very time when God is saying to his people, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee."  {RH, August 29, 1893 par. 5}

  1894:

Sister Ellen White warned that the General Conference leadership were "pursuing a similar course to that of the Roman Catholics" (Manuscript Releases, vol 9, p 179--Letter 53, 1894); that they were trying to make the General Conference "like Rome, the great head of the work" (Manuscript Release #133, p 27--Letter 71, April 8, 1894)

1895:

"Now, it has been Satan's determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus, and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Therefore God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the third angel's message, in clear, distinct lines." Testimonies to Ministers, p. 93(1895)

Sister White said in that year that leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was already "following in the track of Romanism" (Testimonies to Ministers, p 362)

1900:

"The day of God is right upon us, and the world has converted the church. Both are in harmony, and are acting upon a short-sited policy." E.G. White, General Conference Bulletin, 1st Quarter, 1900

"You are exhorted to touch not the unclean thing; for in touching this, you will yourself become unclean. It is impossible for you to unite with those who are corrupt, and still remain pure. "What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" God and Christ and the heavenly host would have man know that if he unites with the corrupt, he will become corrupt. Ample provision has been made that we may be raised from the lowlands of earth, and have our affections fastened upon God and upon heavenly things."  (RH Jan. 2, 1900)

1901:

"The people have lost confidence in those who have the management of the work. Yet we hear that the voice of the Conference is the Voice of God. Every time I have heard this, I have thought that it was almost blasphemy....We have reached the time when the work cannot advance while wrong principles are cherished." Man. 37, 1901

"That these men should stand in a sacred place to be the voice of God to the people as we once believed the General Conference to be, that is past."  GC Bulletin 1901, 25

1902:

"Now and ever we are to stand as a distinct and peculiar people, free from all worldly policy, unembarrassed by confederacy with those who have not wisdom to discern the claims of God so plainly set forth in His law." Letter 110, 1902 {MM 329.1}

1903:

"Instead of leading the world to render obedience to God's law, the church is uniting more and more closely with the world in transgression. Daily the church is becoming converted to the world." 8T 119 (1903"

"The minority report expresses in a word the feelings which actuated the minority in making the report, because we believe that the constitution proposed by the majority of the committee appears to us to be so subversive of the principles of organization given to us at the General Conference of 1897 and 1901. Those principles were given to us by the Spirit of God. In my judgment, and in the judgement of the minority of the committee, this constitution is absolutely subversive of those principles. Further: The proposed new constitution reverses the reformatory steps that were taken, and the principles that were given, and which were adopted as the principles of reorganization, at the General Conferences of 1897, and 1901, and which were incorporated in the constitution of 1901.--any man who has ever read 'Neander's History of the Christian Church,' Mosheim's or any of the other of the great historians--any man who has ever read those histories can come to no other conclusion but that the principles which are to be brought in through this proposed constitution, and in the way in which they are brought in, are the same principles, and introduced in precisely the same way, as they were hundreds of years ago when the Papacy was made." General Conference Bulletin, 35th Session, April 10, 1903, Minority Committee [David Paulson, E. J. Waggoner, and P. T. Magan]

Exactly 11 days later, in direct response to these treacherous actions by the leadership that led to the forming of the present organizational structure of the denomination, Ellen White was given following solemn declaration from Christ Himself:  "Why is there so dim a perception of the true spiritual condition of the church? . . . Who can truthfully say, 'Our gold is tried in the fire; our garments are unspotted by the world'? I saw our Instructor pointing to the garments of so-called righteousness. Stripping them off, He laid bare the defilement beneath. Then He said to me: 'Can you not see how they have pretentiously covered up their defilement and rottenness of character? 'How is the faithful city become an harlot!' My Father's house is made a house of merchandise, a place whence the divine presence and glory have departed! For this cause there is weakness, and strength is lacking.'" Testimonies, vol. 8, pp. 248, 250

"The members of the church triumphant--the church in heaven--will be permitted to draw near to the members of the church militant, to aid them in their necessity." E. G. White, The Southern Watchman, Sep. 8, 1903.

"The enemy of souls, has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization.  Were this reformation to take place, what would result?-(1) The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded.  (2) Our religion would be changed.  The fundamental principles that has sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error.  (3) A new organization would be established. (4) Books of a new order would be written. (5) A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced.  (6) The founders of this system would go into the cities and do a wonderful work.  (7) The Sabbath, of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. (8) Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement.  The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but (9) God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which without God, is worthless.  (10) Their foundation would be built upon the sand, (11) and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure." -Letter 242, October 1903 & Special Testimonies, Series B #7, p. 36-42