Jesus - Salvation Army Rejects Adventism: The Editor's Column

 •  14 min. read  •  grade level: 10
"There is a name we love to hear,
We love to sing its worth;
It sounds like music in our ear,
The sweetest name on earth.
"It tells us of a Savior's love,
Who died to set us free;
It tells us of His precious blood,
The sinner's perfect plea.
"Jesus! the name we love so well,
The name we love to hear!
No saint on earth its worth can tell,
No heart conceive how dear."
When the blessed Son of God came down into this world and took human form, He received the name of JESUS. In fact, He was so named of the angel before His birth. It was the name which God chose to express who that Person was. It was not like the names often given to children, without any thought of their meanings. His name Jesus signifies that He was Jehovah the Savior. It is the same name that is found in the Old Testament as Joshua, or Jehoshua. There it was only as a type of Him who was to come. (There are two places in the New Testament where the name Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name Joshua, and refers strictly to Joshua of the Old Testament, as the contexts prove. See Acts 7:4545Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; (Acts 7:45) and Heb. 4:88For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. (Hebrews 4:8).)
The precious name of Jesus stirs the affections of the children of God as it recalls His lowly pathway of suffering in obedience to God and service to man. It recalls to our hearts the cross with all its shame and abnegation, and reminds us of His death
for us on the accursed tree. Can we who know Him meditate on the import of that name and not be moved to thankful praise and adoration? But that precious name was only despised by men. When the Jews brought Jesus to Pilate to have Him sentenced to death, Pilate sought to reason with them, and, when they chose Barabbas, he said, "What shall I do then with JESUS?" To this they replied, "Let Him be crucified." Matt. 27:2222Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. (Matthew 27:22). Then, when He had been crucified, Pilate put up over the cross these words—"Tim is JESUS." It was the world's verdict, and not only Pilate's. They thus gave vent to their evil hearts and, as it were, said, This is what we think of JESUS. But though cast out here, God raised Him from the dead and "made that same Jesus,... both Lord and Christ." Well has the poet, J. G. Deck, said,
"Though earth disowns Thy lowly name,
God honors it in heaven."
Stephen also, just before his martyrdom, "saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." Acts 7:5555But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, (Acts 7:55). But his recounting of what he saw only filled the crowd with mad rage, so that they "stopped their ears,... cast him out of the city, and stoned him." It was an augmenting of their wicked hatred of Jesus which had been shown out at the cross.
But God has "highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth" (infernal beings); "and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:9-119Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9‑11). God has decreed that all men, angels, and infernal beings are going to bow before that One who has the name of JESUS. Many of these will not do it willingly, but this chapter expresses their entire subjugation to Jesus. All must bow before that One who was the lowly and despised Jesus of Nazareth. The poet Deck also wrote:
"Father, Thy holy name we bless,
Gracious and just Thy wise decree,
That ev'ry tongue shall soon confess
Jesus the Lord of all to be!
But oh! Thy grace has taught us now
Before that Lord the knee to bow."
By God's grace we have been led to praise Him and bow before Him in the day of His grace. What a wonderful thing it is to have our eyes opened to see some of the beauties in Him who was called Jesus, and to have our hearts drawn out in affection to His blessed Person, so that we can further sing with the poet:
"Him as our Lord we gladly own;
To Him alone we now would live,
Who bowed our hearts before Thy throne,
And gave us all that love could give.
Our willing voices cry aloud,
Worthy art Thou, 0 Lamb of God!"
But alas there is in Christendom a careless, flippant way of mentioning the name of Jesus. He is not spoken of with the reverence due to Him whom God has delighted to honor. It shows a sad lack of appreciation of the glory of His Person, and a lack of heartfelt attachment to Him. The blessed Savior would encourage the intimacy of those who are His by faith in His finished work and shed blood, but He does not condone familiarity. He would say to the disciples, "I then, your Lord and Master." He did not say to Peter, Take a piece of money from the fish and give it as tribute for "us," but rather, for "Me and thee." He must have the pre-eminence, and a heart taught of God will certainly and gladly render it to Him. "He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father." John 5:2323That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. (John 5:23). Well may the mention of His name bow our hearts to worship Him!
Yet, that precious name is often taken in vain and used in profanity among men and women. Fellow-Christian, does it offend and try your soul when you hear it thus used? Or have you become calloused by its common usage, so that it does not affect you? It tells a sad state of soul if your answer is that you are not grieved when you hear it. We may not always be able to reprove it, but we should never cease to feel it as an affront to One whom we dearly love. We should dissociate ourselves from such use of the precious name of Jesus; but if we reprove it, it is well if it can be done in the attitude of one who is wounded by it.
In the last chapter of Revelation the Lord Jesus speaks of His coming back with His rewards, but it is when the accents of the words which give assurance that it is Himself—the same Jesus who was here—sound on the ears of the Church, that there is a response: "I JESUS have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come." Rev. 22:16, 1716I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 17And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:16‑17). The Holy Spirit desires His coming, and the bride responds to those words from His own mouth- "I Jesus." She says, "Come," and, finally, "Even so, Come, Lord Jesus." v. 20. She gives Him His title, "Lord."
And it is well when Christians give Him His full title—Lord Jesus Christ. He is worthy of all honor, and we delight to give it to Him. But still, it is what is involved in the precious name JESUS that awakens a responsive chord in our hearts.
(THE SALVATION ARMY REJECTS ADVENTIST LITERATURE)
• In our October issue, on page 271, we published a report taken from the Seventh-day Adventists' official "church paper," the Review and Herald, stating that the New York headquarters of The Salvation Army had applied to the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference headquarters for "inspirational literature that could be supplied to their 2000 field leaders across the United States." Our editorial has brought forth from The Salvation Army a letter which states that the Review and Herald story "is not according to all the facts, and represents The Salvation Army in a light altogether false and unfortunate."
According to The Salvation Army's letter, one of their officers had come across a temperance magazine named "Alert" and thought it would be good material to put into the hands of their field representatives. This magazine carried the imprint of the International Temperance Association, to which this officer applied for 2000 copies. (There were no indications in the magazine that it was published under the auspices of the Seventh-day Adventist sect.) The International Temperance Association assured The Salvation Army officer that the Association would be glad to supply the material without cost, and would also send other material useful for youth leaders. This was accepted on the supposition that "it would be temperance material."
The following day The Salvation Army headquarters received a letter "from the Home Missionary Department of the Seventh-day Adventists following an alleged telephone message and offering to send free 2000 copies of Seventh-day Adventist pamphlets. The S.D.A. pamphlets and the Alerts arrived at the same time." The Salvation Army statement continues:
"Now it is obvious that The Salvation Army had no way of knowing the connection between the temperance people and the S.D.A. group as they have different letterheads and seemingly different offices in Washington, D.C. When the two sets of materials arrived, however, it seemed obvious that there was a tie-in." Then their letter says:
"We are naturally perplexed concerning the situation whereby a telephone communication to the International Temperance Association can bring forth an inquiry and shipment of pamphlets from the Seventh-day Adventists, but so it is."
The plight of The Salvation Army is understandable, for they are not the first ones to be led inadvertently into contact with the Seventh-day Adventists through literature published by the Adventists under the name of some innocuous-sounding publishing house, such as the Southern Publishing Association, Pacific Press Publishing Association, etc. They have so many different front organizations (even the Pathfinders youth group) that the unwary are easily caught. For many years their weekly (now monthly) publication, The Signs of the Times, had nothing in it to indicate that it was a Seventh-day Adventist publication, nor did their principal radio program, The
Voice of Prophecy, make any mention of its being an Adventist broadcast.
Now we see that the publication, Alert, does not carry any Seventh-day Adventist identification, and they have various other publications which still conceal their real identity. Not long ago we had a card from one of our readers stating that the Seventh-day Adventists have a radio program known as "The Quiet Hour" which goes unsigned. Their special tent meetings. and various campaigns to draw the crowds are frequently advertised without stating that they are Adventist.
Now we are happy to report that when The Salvation Army discovered the "tie-in" between Alert and Seventh-day Adventism, "Instructions were therefore immediately given that the Alerts should not be used even though they did not appear on the surface to have any S.D.A. implication." As for the straight Adventist literature received, this "has been shipped back to the S.D.A. headquarters in Washington as undesirable and unsuitable for Salvation Army needs." "Not a single S.D.A. pamphlet has been distributed to any Salvation Army Officers."
While on the subject of Adventist fervor and methods, we can inform you that approximately 150 television stations carry the nationwide Adventist TV program, Faith for Today, on a sustaining basis; that is, without charge (Review and Herald, Dec. 5, 1957). Doubtless Seventh-day Adventists' zeal equals that of those to whom the Lord said, "Ye compass land and sea to make one proselyte" (Luke 23:1515No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. (Luke 23:15)). (It may well put many orthodox, fundamental Christians to shame.) Therefore, Christians, beware of covert and overt Seventh-day Adventist efforts.
How good that God has let us know that deceptions would increase in these last days (and they have on every side), so that we need not be discouraged by them, but remember the words:
"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." 2 Tim. 3:13, 1413But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 14But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; (2 Timothy 3:13‑14).
 With the December issue of Our Hope magazine, that publication ceased after almost 64 years of continuous circulation. It was founded and for more than fifty years was edited by
Arno C. Gaebelein. We had occasion last year to call our readers' attention to the capitulation of Our Hope to the great effort being made to whitewash Seventh-day Adventism. This will end the matter as far as Our Hope is concerned (except for the damage to souls), for those responsible will now have no way to retrace their steps in what we consider to have been a colossal blunder. We had hoped that its publisher and its editor would yet see the light and retract their statements regarding the Seventh-day Adventists and their doctrines.
But Dr. D. G. Barnhouse now takes over the name of Our Hope to add to his Eternity magazine, as well as the circulation lists, etcetera. This will be of no help by and large to people who will get the new Eternity-Our Hope, for Dr. Barnhouse is a most outspoken advocate of Christians' taking the Seventh-day Adventists into their embrace. Furthermore, he has written derisively of those who would stand faithful and reject such compromise with delusion and error. He has fallen in with the character of the day and its broad inclusivism and toleration. He can go on with the National Council of Churches and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., with their modernist elements and doctrinal compromises, which have undermined the foundations of the faith.
In another day, "Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me." Exod. 32:2626Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. (Exodus 32:26). When the camp was defiled, and the Lord's glory involved, it was no time for indifference or compromise. Faithfulness demanded decision. Just so, in these last days, the days of which Jude speaks, we need to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints," for we are in danger of having it taken from us. Are we willing to lose it by default? Inclusivism and ecumenicalism (promotion of a world church) are hastening on the days of Babylon the Great and that state of the professing church most hateful to Christ "lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot." Because of this very noxious state, Christ will spew the detestable thing out of His mouth. (Rev. 3:1616So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16).)
 A copy of the January issue of the newly-merged Eternity Our Hope magazine has reached us. On its cover its a large picture of Arno C. Gaebelein, and on the inside is an article by Dr. D. G. Barnhouse in which he "traces the life of A. C. Gaebelein, outstanding Bible teacher and founder of Our Hope." It is a very laudatory article in which the Editor-in-Chief, D. G. Barnhouse, promises to run some writings of A. C. Gaebelein in future issues. At this point we hasten to call attention to the incongruity of the combination, for A. C. Gaebelein was uncompromising in his opposition to the false doctrines and deceptive teachings of Seventh-day Adventists. Numerous quotations of his could be adduced, but we shall use just one (which has been sent to us by one of our readers):
"We have special reference to the Seventh-day Adventist delusion. They teach the abominable untruth that the Lord Jesus Christ did not enter into the Holiest till the year 1844 had been reached.... THAT THIS IS A DENIAL OF THE GOSPEL AND SATANIC IS SELF-EVIDENT" (emphasis ours).-A. C. Gaebelein on Daniel the Prophet, p. 100. So to have some of this faithful man's writings posthumously used in a magazine which has taken the lead in accrediting the Seventh-day Adventists with all their frightful evil doctrines as "sincere believers" and "redeemed brethren and members of the body of Christ" is ironical to say the least. To put the writings of a man who called the Adventists' bizarre teaching "a denial of the Gospel" and "Satanic," along with the writings of a man who said of the very same false doctrine that "while admittedly strange" it "is not heretical," ill befits his memory.