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The Amish Voice 5
Revelation 20 explains what will happen:
death and hell were cast into the lake of
fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire
(Revelation 20:14-15). Although the
SDA church teaches that this second
death is short and temporary, it would be
far better to hear God’s explanation of
how long the lake of fire lasts:
the devil
that deceived them
was cast into the lake
of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and
the false prophet are,
and
shall
be
tormented day and
night
for ever and
ever
(Revelation
20:10).
These and other Bible
verses show that though it might be more
pleasant to think of the wicked suffering
a little punishment and then ceasing to
exist, God tells us that the lake of fire and
the punishment and torment of the
wicked is for ever and ever.
Which will
you believe: the SDA church or the
Word of God?
Sabbath Day
Another emphasis of the Seventh-Day
Adventist church is the belief that the
only proper day to worship God is on
Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. In fact,
they tie this in with their emphasis on the
three angels’ messages of Revelation 14.
The message of the first angel, they
believe, is to preach the everlasting
gospel (the SDA message) to all people.
The message of the second angel is the
fall of Babylon, in part due to the
corruption of the Protestant churches
which have rejected the SDA “truth.”
The third angel’s message deals with the
mark of the beast and the observance of
the seventh-day Sabbath. The observance
of the seventh-day Sabbath, they teach, is
the seal of God identifying the true
followers of God.
We see in the Bible that the apostles met
on the first day of the week. We see
throughout church history that Christians
met on the “Lord’s Day,” or the first day
of the week. However, Jesus taught that
true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth: for the
Father seeketh such to worship him. God
is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth
(John 4:23-24). While the great majority
of Christians since the time of the early
church worshipped and still meet
together on Sunday, whether a church
meets on Saturday or on Sunday is
neither a matter of salvation, nor a
determination of who receives the mark
of the beast. True Christians can meet on
Saturday or on Sunday (though the great
majority since the resurrection have met
on the Lord’s Day). It would be quite
wrong to declare that those who worship
God on one day rather than the other
cannot be born again.
Conclusion
But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,
so your minds should be corrupted from
the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he
that cometh preacheth another Jesus,
whom we have not preached, or if ye
receive another spirit, which ye have not
received, or another gospel, which ye
have not accepted, ye might well bear
with him
(2 Corinthians 11:3-4).
There are many false religions in the
world. Many of these false religions are
related to Christianity.
Some of these sound very
good and are often
difficult to distinguish
from true Christianity. To
detect these counterfeit
religions, we must know
the truth. It is not enough
to be told what to believe
or even to trust that what
someone tells us is right,
even if someone seems to
use to Bible to prove one’s beliefs.
Remember:
Mormons,
Jehovah’s
Witnesses,
Roman
Catholics,
Anabaptists, Seventh-Day Adventists,
Baptists, Methodists, and others all use
the Bible and claim to have the truth;
however, not all of these groups teach
God’s truth. It is not enough to use the
Bible to teach a belief, for even Satan
does this. In the Garden of Eden, Satan
asked Eve,
Y ea, hath God said
. . . ?
Satan quoted from the Bible as he was
tempting Jesus in the wilderness. We
must be careful to examine God’s Word
and to seek God rather than simply
believe man.
Like the Berean Jews who
received the
word with all readiness of mind, and
searched the scriptures daily, whether
those things were so
(Acts 17:11),
let
us
search
the
Scriptures daily and
make sure that we are
not being deceived