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I want to talk this week about the subject of “relationships.” Technically, all of our recent Bible studies have been about this topic, but we have been calling it by different names. We have spoken of covenants. We have spoken about Church membership. We have spoken about the two great Commandments in the Law, the first directing worship toward Yahweh, and the second directing His agape-love to our neighbor. We have spoken about “denominations,” which is not a bad word, as modern Christendom would have people believe, but having a denomination means having a name given by Yahweh that represents His love for us and our love for Him. These are all relationships and their symbols.
Doctrines, as we commonly use the word, are teachings. They are intended to educate us about who our Father is, and to teach us about the relationship that He has with His people. Obviously, since the doctrines are the signposts and the relationship is the reality, the relationship is more important. This does not mean that the teachings are not important, however. The Scriptures ask us, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14) Obviously, the preacher is less important than the God whom he preaches, infinitely less… but without the preacher, how shall people hear the truth?
The relationship that the doctrine teaches is infinitely more important than the doctrine, but without the doctrine, without the signpost, how shall they find the destination? This is the proper and balanced way of understanding doctrinal positions. We are able to hold them, understand them, teach them, but not – in every case – to make a test of fellowship about them, otherwise we would be setting up a creed.
Creation Seventh Day Adventists, like our SDA Pioneers, are openly and decidedly non-Trinitarian in our understanding of the Godhead. We make this statement because most, if not all, of our baptized members are of this view. The original Adventist Church was non-Trinitarian because most, if not all, of its baptized members were of that view. One can find exceptions, where individuals held some beliefs that would be considered supportive of the Trinity, but they were the rare outlier, not the norm. And we, like they, do not enforce the viewpoint as a test of Christian character.
This doesn’t mean we sweep it under the rug, or ignore it. There is a reason why we teach against it. We consider it an error, and a potentially dangerous error, but one that can be sincerely held without violating the Law of Yahweh. This can be a very difficult concept to grasp for some people. There is absolute truth. Yahweh is a God of absolute truth… why does He not immediately sweep away all misconceptions about Himself immediately upon the point of conversion? It is a good question. We were recently asked a very similar question about the reformer William Miller, whose teachings paved the way for Sabbath-keeping Adventism, but who did not, himself, become a supporter of the observance of the Biblical Sabbath.
Why could he not see the truth, although he himself was a teacher of righteousness? All we can do is draw on our own experiences to try and understand the depth of our Father’s mercy. When the truth about the Trinity was presented to me following my conversion, it made perfect sense immediately. This does not mean that my experience becomes the standard by which anyone else’s sanctification should be judged. That was a blessing for me, and perhaps for some others, but I am not qualified to stand in judgment of anyone else’s experience, except when they testify to that experience.
A testimony of victory over sin, supported by fruits in the life, is the qualification for baptism, for example. Yahweh gives His people discernment to examine baptismal converts, as it is written, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Yahshua the Messiah is come in the flesh is of God.” (1John 4:1, 2)
Since that day, of course, the deceptions have become a lot more subtle. But the principle remains the same… receive the testimonies of those who bear them, and then test the spirit as the Father instructs the Church. It is important, because the saints of Yahweh, even the “new” saints, must be educated in holiness. There is a parable that tells us that some seeds sown by the gardener fell on stony ground. We read of that here, “Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth, and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” (Mat 13:5, 6)
This is not talking about long-time Christians falling away. This is not talking about saints who are in the message for a time, but then are tempted out of it. No, these are newly-sown seeds that never even had a chance to put down roots. Satan is not a merciful enemy. His eye does not spare men, women, or little children… and so, while there are some who say that baptismal examinations, and validating the testimony of a baptismal candidate, is not taught in the Bible, we see in verses such as these our responsibility toward our new brothers and sisters in the faith. We are given the authority, the ability, to ensure that the newly sown seeds have the best opportunity to grow. We give them good soil, which is composed of the teachings of truth, we water them with prayers and the examples we set, and we watch the Spirit make them flourish.
Let’s look at the Godhead issue that I mentioned. The reason why we see it as a potentially dangerous error is because it changes the way one envisions the relationship between the Father and Son, and therefore Their relationship with us. It changes the way that people see the Holy Spirit, as a Person with will and agency, instead of the influence of the Personal Father and Son on the spiritual part of who we are. A Personal Holy Spirit would “possess” people to do the will of the Father, just as a fallen angel would with regard to method – one independent moral agent replacing another. That is not really freedom, even if we initially agreed to that arrangement. Instead, the Spirit is a voice, a call, an influence... and I am not saying that is ALL that it is. It is the very life and presence of the Son, but these are words that mean different things to different people, and different things in different contexts. Thus, we are left with a mystery if we try to define the Holy Spirit in any kind of objective or scientific sense. We know enough about this subject to be salvific, but never to claim to be an authority. The greatest of prophets were silent on the nature of the Holy Spirit. Without a direct revelation on this, of which there has been none, who are we to claim greater knowledge than that which is read in the Scriptures?
So here we see that even in teaching the truth about the Godhead, the reason why we do it is not because it is important to be doctrinally “correct” in our wording, but because it impacts that divine-to-human relationship. Because we love our fellow man, we want them to know the Father and Son as we do, and to have the kind of relationship with Them that we do. If there is any other motive for teaching against the Trinity, any other motive at all, that is not evangelism. That is not teaching the Gospel. That is not doing the will of Yahweh. If it is not to promote the love-relationship between the Savior and those specific individuals He seeks to redeem, it is, or quickly becomes, a dividing weapon, and a tool of the Enemy himself. We have seen this, the zealotry, the fanaticism, the use of truth, even truth, to harden hearts, fracture fellowships, and facilitate cold, unloving, often angry, conversations.
That is not the work of the Bride of Christ. That is not the Voice of The Bride.
Now that is just one example. The general principle is this: The voice of the Bride is the message of the Church to bring our fellow man together into a single, united people under the Son of Yahweh. It uses doctrines as tools, not as means unto themselves, but as tools to teach the relationship that the Father and Son seek through the life, death, and resurrection of Yahshua, and the raising up of a people be sanctified, and to bring Them to the world. That is the purpose of the Church.
We are talking about relationships this week. Some people are insensitive to their own need for relationship. Recently, and certainly not for the first time, I heard someone say, “I don’t need a Church. I have Jesus. I don’t put my trust in denominations, only in the Son of God.”
This shows ignorance of all the things that he mentioned… ignorance of Jesus, ignorance of the Church, ignorance of what a “denomination” is. This sounds judgmental, for me to make that statement, but it is an observation made according to the Spirit of Yahweh. The Word of God, which forms our standard for judgment, tells us very different things about those words than this individual has been taught and accepted.
But more important than denying the teachings – remember, the teachings are just the signposts to the reality – such a statement denies a very important relationship. Can one “have Jesus” and not need His Church? Let’s start there… before we even get to the relationship between Yahshua and individuals, what about the relationship between the Bride and the Bridegroom?
The Scriptures tell us, referring to Yahshua, “He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom.” (John 3:29)
The truth of this statement gives us the authority to bring a very pointed testimony to bear: if you are worshipping a Jesus who does not have a Bride, you are not worshipping, or loyal to, the Bridegroom, who is the Jesus, the Yahshua, the Savior, of the Bible. This, just as much as Trinitarianism, and I would argue even more severely, distorts the Biblical teaching of the relationship of Christ to His people. This is something the Bible directly teaches. That makes the rejection of the Church covenant a far more serious heresy that this doctrinal dispute about the Godhead that has so many within Adventism all up in arms. They are, as the Scriptures characterize it, straining at a gnat while swallowing a camel. (Mat 23:24) Whether or not the Holy Spirit is a Person in some sense of that word, if one does not identify with the Bride, and the Bride as described in the Bible, one does not have the Bridegroom at all.
Someone recently asked, in a critical tone, “Why are you people (meaning CSDAs) always talking about Church membership? I am a Christian. I am an Adventist. I don’t need any Church building, or organization to tell me who I am.” I am paraphrasing, and I’m doing it generously, because her ideas were not so clearly put… but it is important that we firmly meet this disorganized way of thinking.
We are talking about Church Membership because we are Bible-believing Christians, whose message does not change due to circumstances. We are heralds and representatives of Yahshua the Messiah, the Bridegroom, the One who has the Bride, and the One who invites people to have a personal relationship with Him in the context of His covenant with humanity. Let’s not forget that last part. The Good News is not only that we have a Savior, but that we have been given the gift of brothers and sisters who also love us with the Savior’s love, and are going to help to refine us so that we perfect the divine character. Who wouldn’t want that? Well, we know who wouldn’t want that… and why. The Bible says, “If you want to know whether your faith is sincere, and your love of God is legitimate, look at your relationship with your fellow believers.” “If a man say, ‘I love God,’ and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1John 4:20)
Nobody should be lulled into a false sense of security by the use of the word “hateth.” Some people might read that and say, “I don’t hate anyone, I just don’t want to covenant with others.” That is the Biblical definition of hatred. We read, “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
Obviously, this is not saying that someone must have bad feelings, anger, or resentment toward the members of our biological family. It simply means that if they are preferred to the Messiah and His Bride (I include the Bride here because He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom) then they are not true disciples. In exactly the same way, if someone says, “I love God, but I don’t want to be in a committed relationship with His people,” they are preferring solitary worship, a worship of their own idolatrous opinions, over the company of the saints. That is the “hatred” defined in Luke 14, a preference to be away from, loving something more than, the object or people in question. He that says, “I love Jesus, but I prefer not to be with His people,” is a liar, as the Apostle explains. And to be clear, this is not even preferring God over man, because it is Yahweh and Yahshua that instruct us to be One, to be united with His saints, (Zeph 3:9, John 17:21) so the very conception of it is unscriptural, and a doctrine of devils.
To those who reject the Word’s teachings about covenants, organization, and unity, which are impossible to sincerely miss for the sincere Bible student, we are commissioned to bring them healing. We may say to them, “Has a Church that you trusted fallen? That is unfortunate, but it doesn’t change the message. Have you been disfellowshipped by an unjust modern Sanhedrin? That is sad, but that just proves that they are of the Beast, not that you are cast off from Christ, and without a home. The message has not changed. The blessing of being One People has not changed.”
Let us read the entirety of Psalm 133, all three of its verses, because it is a song in the Voice of The Bride: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there Yahweh commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Psalm 133:1-3)
We could spend the rest of this meeting unpacking the teachings in these three verses, and I hope that it comes up in our discussion afterward, but let me just point out a few things that stand out to me:
1) The relationship of unity to Aaron’s garments is not a coincidence, and it is not merely poetic exuberance. Aaron’s garments represent glory and beauty, (Exo 28:2, 40) which, as you may recall from The Two-Fold Covenant, is the name of the staff representing Yahweh’s relationship with His people.
2) The “precious ointment” is the thing that made the human instruments of the sanctuary service holy. The ointment went on the Ark of the Covenant, all the vessels in the tabernacle, the altar of burnt offerings, Aaron the High Priest, and His Sons. (Exo 30:25-32) Without the anointing of that oil, one is not a vessel of the divine. One is not a representative of Christ, and none of His. Consider that carefully, if you think that Yahweh justifies and sanctifies those ministers and ministries that seek to do His will separate from the actual Covenant of His Bride. The ointment of unity is what gives an earthly vessel divine purpose.
3) Where did Yahweh command the blessing, which is “life for evermore?” It is “there,” where “brethren dwell together in unity.” I don’t think I need to explain that any more clearly than the Psalm already does.
Satan has done his work well. He has made people mistrustful of the Bride, while at the same time claiming that they need and have the Bridegroom. The fallen angel has succeeded in the minds of many people at separating the Husband and His Wife. And yet, what does the Scripture say? “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.” (Gen 2:24) In a sense, a man is more “one” with his wife than with his father. I don’t want to apply that too explicitly to the divine Father and Son, but I think it speaks to the strength of the commitment that Christ has to His people, that He “left” His Father in Heaven in order to become one with us. And then, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man [or demon] put asunder.” (Mark 10:9)
Those who reject what the Bible says about the Church, its unity, its authority to teach the Gospel as a united Body, have let someone “put asunder” that divinely ordained union. And it is this that opens them up to misunderstanding the Beast and its image. Those who reject the union of the Bride and the Bridegroom will much more easily accept the alternative union of a fallen Church with the world and its kings. This is, therefore, very much a “Three Angels Message” teaching, very much a part of the Gospel.
Yahweh’s people have always been organized, and the Bride and the Bridegroom have always been a single, spiritual Unit from the very beginning. When husband and wife marry, because we are physical beings, we are “one flesh.” When the Son and the Church marry, because they are spiritual Beings, they are “one spirit.” The parallel here needs no great exposition, it should be clear. And beyond “clear,” the Scriptures document it. Let’s look at a few verses that show us something significant about this relationship.
“Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, for the land shall be desolate.” (Jer 7:34)
“Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.” (Jer 25:10)
Now we are going to go further in Revelation 18 than we usually go, to look at the judgment pronounced on the fallen Church from which the true Remnant is called: “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, ‘Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all […] and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’” (Rev 18:21, 23)
When Yahweh pronounces this very unique kind of judgment, rejection of a rebellious people, we read that He takes away from them the voice of the Bride and the voice of the Bridegroom. The voice of the Bridegroom we would expect… Yahshua’s Spirit no longer pleads with those who are joined to their idols. But the voice of the Bride goes with Him, always, because They are together.
This is a most significant use of symbolism. These passages are talking about expressions of joy. In the Hebrew culture, there is nothing more joyful than a new marriage, a wedding of two people known and loved by the community. So when Yahweh says He will bless a people, the strongest language and example He can use is that of the voices of a Bride and Groom. Conversely, when He pronounces judgment, a curse, it is the removal of this highest joy. Such a symbol transcends merely a physical couple, but speaks of the very presence of His Spirit among them, as demonstrated by its use in Revelation 18.
Consider Sodom and Gomorrah. We read that because ten righteous men, ten genuine worshippers of Yahweh could not be found, there was judgment and destruction. (Gen 18:32) By the way, this was not just destruction permitted (for some say that God never directly destroys the sinner) but destruction decided and pronounced. There is no “cause-and-effect” principle which states that sexual immorality leads to meteorites of sulfur raining down on a city. There is no “cause-and-effect” principle that says looking back with longing on an old, sinful life turns you into a pillar of salt. These are direct, divine pronouncements, executed as an open rebuke to the world and the universe: sin leads actively, as well as passively, to death.
In Sodom, there were not 10 righteous men. There was no Church. Because there was no voice of the Bride, there was no voice of the Groom. God did not say, “If you can find me 10 righteous angels Sodom or Gomorrah, I will spare the cities.” No, while God is everywhere, He is not IN everything. He is, however, in His Bride, and here is where Dr. Kellogg’s Pantheism (not Trinitarianism, they are different beliefs entirely) would have distorted the relationship being taught in the SDA Church in the 1800s. Kellogg taught that God’s spirit was in everything, and Yahweh’s prophet rebuked him for that viewpoint.
If God is in everything, there is nothing special or unique about the Bride of Christ and the relationship that causes Him to dwell in us. That is why it is wrong. It would undermine the concept of the Covenant and Church Membership. THAT is why it was called the alpha of heresies, and not only that, but the alpha of “deadly” heresies, because it mischaracterizes the relationship that Yahweh uniquely has with His people when He is in covenant relationship with them. To those not yet sealed into the truth, consider this example from our past a warning: misunderstanding the relationship God wishes to have with you is deadly. Rejecting the Bride, and thinking that you can still have a relationship with the Groom... that is deadly. That is why it is a “big deal” among Bible believing saints of Yahweh... few as it appears we may be in these dark times.
So yes, in Sodom and Gomorrah, there may have been many angels observing the immorality with shame and disgust, but it was not their presence that would have spared the city. It was the voice of the Bride… and because there was no Bride, there was no Bridegroom, and judgment fell in a very direct, visible way.
The voices of the Bride and the Bridegroom are together; they are present together, or they are absent together, for He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom. There is no Scripture that says, “Because the Church is corrupted, I will remove from you the voice of the Bride, but I will leave the voice of the Groom.” No, they are “one Spirit,” they are, as they say, “a package deal.” They are always together somewhere, and if it’s not where you are, then let yourself be found. “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’” (Rev 22:17)
Now, it is true that the Spirit goes forth and seeks those who will worship Yahweh. It is true that the Shepherd goes out and looks for the Lost Sheep. And so He can reach out to people individually, anywhere in the world. But when He finds that sheep, He does not say, “Ah, good, there you are... stay there so I know where to find you.” No! Hear this, and hear it well... when the Shepherd finds the lost sheep, He brings it home. He brings it right into the Sanctuary, the safe place, the Flock, on His own shoulders, and He says, “Now you are home.” He unites the lost sheep with its family, with the Divine Bride, and there is not a verse, Scripture, or passage, that says anything different. There is not a single justification for saying, “I will have the Son, but I will not have His people.” And even if they mean that they are members of a worldwide, unstructured, invisible Church that is waiting to be revealed, they are following a voice that claims to be a Bridegroom with an invisible wife. The Bridegroom is yet to appear, but the purpose of the Bride, the Bride of the Bible’s Bridegroom, is to be seen!
A few studies ago, I read Isaiah 49:15, which speaks about Yahweh’s love for us that, even if a mother forgets the child she is nursing, even if that were possible, Yahweh’s devotion to us is greater still. Now, look at what we find just a couple of verses later. We read, “Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. ‘As I live,’ saith Yahweh, ‘thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.’” (Isa 49:18) In the very passage that Yahweh declares love for His people, He promises to make them a gathering-point, a harvest-point, for people to come together, for people to find unity, and for them to be clothed as with an ornament… as a Bride stands out, made to be the revelation of His glory… this is the promise, not after probation closes, but when people may still be gathered together as the Bride. “Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold.”
Some have claimed, or accused, the CSDA Church of being just another independent ministry, seeking to draw disciples after itself. We have answered that charge in terms of spiritual gifts, which the Bride will have, and invited others to come and see for themselves. But even more fundamentally than that, one of the things that really distinguishes the CSDA Church from the independent ministries and ministers out there is that we aren’t trying to build our own kingdom, set up a tithe base to pay our Bible workers, or put some special, unique spin on the Scriptures other than what it plainly says in order to attract attention to our scholarship or inspiration.
What we have is the Voice of The Bride which, remember, is “the message of the Church to bring our fellow man together into a single, united people under the Son of Yahweh.” Where else is the Voice of The Bride to be found in the world today? I have not heard it elsewhere in this manner.
We are actively pushing for unity with other believers, and if they have more to teach than we do, we will listen and learn. If they have more light than we have been given, we rejoice that there is more light. We are not trying to be the head, or the boss... our earnest desire is to fulfill Psalm 133, to fulfill Isaiah 49:18, which we just read, and the prayer of Christ in John 17. That is the Spirit’s direction to us, which we eagerly, joyfully pursue. This is what gives us a Biblical testimony, an honest testimony, of the Victory we have found in unity with Christ, and yes… that makes us unique; I would say, it makes us uniquely the Bride with whom the Bridegroom is One, and for whom the Bridegroom is quickly returning.
This week, we have spoken about relationships, and about voice of the Spirit through Yahshua’s people, to join all believers together in one Faith, under one Lord, and by one Baptism, (Eph 4:5) and as Wise Virgins to await the coming of the Groom so that we may joyfully enter into the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. May all who hear our testimony come with us, we pray, to this everlasting celebration.
David.
An Enduring Witness
“The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God's plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to ‘the principalities and powers in heavenly places,’ the final and full display of the love of God.” [The Acts of The Apostles, p. 9]
“Christ gives power to the voice of the church. ‘Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ No such thing is countenanced as one man’s starting out upon his own individual responsibility and advocating what views he chooses, irrespective of the judgment of the church. God has bestowed the highest power under heaven upon His church. It is the voice of God in His united people in church capacity which is to be respected.” [Counsels for The Church, p. 241]
“Very close and sacred is the relation between Christ and His church – He the bridegroom, and the church the bride; He the head, and the church the body. Connection with Christ, then, involves connection with His church.” [Education, p. 268]