Michigan Camp Meeting 2016: The Harvest is Great

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Facing the Critic

Jeff Dowell

1. Facing the Critic: Introduction

Father, we just want to thank You so much for loving us.

We thank You for the time we could come together and study Your Word together.

And Lord, we know that this is a very difficult subject, and we just pray for Your guidance today in the Holy Spirit.

So we're going to look at Introduction Part 1.

And today we're going to look at the Introduction Part 1.

And we're going to look at the background of some of these guys who've actually been in the Adventist church and have left the church.

So I've titled this particular meeting, this series, Facing the Critics.

You know, by the way, Every wind of doctrine is blowing, yes?

You know, the storm is coming and the ship's going to go through.

Because if we're not, we're going to be shaken to and fro, right?

We're going to be caught up with every wind of doctrine.

Well, we're going to talk today about Dale Ratzlaff and others who's associated with Dale Ratzlaff.

Have any of you ever heard of Dale Ratzlaff before?

Then you know what we're going to talk about, don't you?

Let me give you a little background to Dale Ratzliff.

Dale Ratzliff was a fourth generation, Seventh-day Adventist, SDA, and was educated in SDA schools from first grade through seminary.

He pastored in the Adventist church for 13 years, 7 of these years as a Bible teacher at Monterey Bay Academy at La Selva Beach, California.

Dale Ratzliff has authored several books and magazines against the Seventh-day Adventist church.

He is president of Life Assurance Ministries.

For the past 25 years, I have studied Dale Ratzliff's books about the Sabbath.

I want to start with a statement Dale makes, a very alarming statement.

Dale Ratzlaff says, Many SDA pastors no longer believe in a number of the unique teachings of historic Adventism.

However, most hold their views in private and share them only with trusted associates.

Many years ago, when I conducted a seven-month study of the Sabbath, I felt no compulsion to persuade any of you to change your beliefs concerning the Sabbath.

However, now that many years have transpired, and I have restudied this subject, and have received hundreds, probably many thousands of phone calls, letters, and emails from both current and former Sabbath keepers, I now feel I must share with you my deep concern.

I also know that there are many SDA pastors, college and university professors, and some administrators and evangelists, both currently employed and retired, who have communicated with me that they do not hold many of SDA's unique teachings, including the Sabbath being the seal of God, or the testing truth for the last days, Sundays of the Mark of the Beast, SDA 1844 sanctuary theology, the writings of Ellen White as a continuing and authoritative source of truth, or the Adventist church being the remnant church of Bible prophecy." That's alarming statements there, isn't it?

How much of not believing does it take to be something else?

If you don't believe it, go be something else.

On the 1 hand, they want to be loyal to their church.

On the other, they are seeking to help the church drop its cultic, historic teachings and move the denomination to a Christ-centered, solo scriptura organization that focuses on the pure, simple gospel of Jesus.

Now how can these people remain in the church that he just spoke of with honesty, integrity, and most of all, the truth.

The mission of Life Assurance Ministries is to proclaim the good news of the new covenant gospel of grace in Christ and to combat the airs of legalism and false religion.

It is with deep regret and sorrow that I now feel compelled to include the Adventist church in the kingdom of the cults." I believe Dr.

He was an apologetics Christian research person who pressed the issue with Adventists of being either a cult or not a cult.

He died many years ago, and right before he died, Dale's referring to that right now by saying, I believe that Dr.

Martin had already made the change in his mind, but died before he could make the change in print." Listen to what he says, "...Ellen White did not invent erroneous theology, but she cemented it into the foundation of Adventism.

The writings of Ellen White support, and are often the chief support, for all of their unbiblical doctrines.

Most Adventists who tell evangelicals they no longer believe in the investigative judgment, or other heirs of Adventism, will not publicly renounce these heirs." Now, I want to suggest there are several books written in response to some of these things.

For example, Marvin Moore wrote an excellent book, you need to get a copy of that if you can, called The Case for the Investigative Judgment.

So I'm going to give you a few little resources along the way that you could actually look at, okay?

By Marvin Moore, The Case for the Investigative Judgment, excellent book on investigative judgment.

Then Judd Lake wrote a book called Ellen White Under Fire.

He wrote a few responses in his books in regard to Ratzlaff.

He wrote The Sabbath Under Cross Fire and the Sabbath in the New Testament.

Then of course, Clifford Goldstein wrote Graffiti and the Holy of Holies.

But the main thing we're going to look at today is people who have been Seventh-day Adventists and have left the Adventist church.

1 such person is a woman by the name of Colleen Tinker.

Colleen Tinker, she's the editor of Proclamation Magazine.

And She's the editor of Proclamation Magazine.

She works with Dale Ratzliff, and she's the editor of Proclamation Magazine.

2. Facing the Critic: No Evening and Morning

Father, we just want to thank you for the breath of life you've given to each of us here today.

We thank you, Father, for your Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us.

And as we study this subject today, Lord, we pray for your Holy Spirit in a mighty way.

Teach us, Lord, what You want us to know, that we may follow You.

Now each day of class, we actually go deeper and deeper and deeper.

So like I said, some of this is, we'll get into 1 today that's in parts pretty technical.

But that's okay because we'll make it simple.

By the way, I was sharing with a guy the other day, yesterday, if anybody here doesn't understand what I'm saying, I wanna make it clear.

I want you to be able to understand clearly.

Nobody go out of this place not understanding what we're saying okay because I've seen people do that before they'll go through a meeting and then they'll leave and they'll go man I didn't get anything out of that I didn't understand it have you ever been to that kind of thing I don't want that to happen so If anybody has that kind of thing, just simply say to me, explain it.

Because I want it to be clear and straight to the point.

We're looking at Dale Ratcliffe, and this is a response to Dale Ratcliffe.

And Dale's come up with an argument that some people have not heard before.

Some of you may have heard it, but a lot of people haven't.

We're going to cover no evening and morning, no word Sabbath, part 2.

But I want to start off with a Bible text.

Because I believe biblical truth will prevail.

Truth will counter error, but error will never counter truth.

I want to start off with this text today.

Because if you're not in the truth, and you say something that's not right, guess what?

It's going to come right back around and bite you.

And we're going to see that today in our study.

But I'm going to quote a text that Jesus said this.

Jesus said in Matthew 12.37, "'For by Thy words Thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." By the way, there's only going to be 1 person keep you out of heaven.

Now, I wanna go to Genesis chapter 1, and we're gonna look at, excuse me, chapter 2 and verse 1.

We're gonna look at chapter 2 and verse 1.

"'Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them.

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Now do you notice in this text about the seventh day, there's no evening and morning.

If you read Genesis chapter 1, all the way through the narrative of creation of each day, you read, and the evening and the morning was the first day, and the evening and the morning was the second day.

But when it comes to the seventh day, there is no evening and morning.

He says the seventh day account, point number 1, the seventh day account does not have the formula and there was evening and there was morning.

Now, 0.2, by the way if you could turn your cell phones off, that would be good.

There is no mention of the word Sabbath in the Genesis account.

So when you read Genesis 2, verses 1-3, did you read the word Sabbath?

So he's raising these 2 points right in Genesis that there's no evening and a morning attached to the seventh day, and there's no word Sabbath in regard to the seventh day.

We're gonna cover 2 points today, so we see it clearly.

Number 1, no formula, evening and morning.

Number 2, no mention of the word Sabbath.

So let's start with number 1, No formula, evening and morning.

By the way, what we're going to look at today doesn't only counter what Ratzliff says, but also an atheist on the days of creation.

So we're going to cover some things today that's really going to be really insightful when it comes to dealing with an evolutionist or atheist as well.

Because sometimes they'll say, well, creation was thousands or millions or billions of years, right?

And so we're going to look at that today too, from the Bible and the Bible alone.

So Ratzaphan is booked Sabbath and Crisis.

Here's what Dale says, "...while some have argued that all the days of creation are long, indefinite periods of time, the text of Genesis does not support such arguments.

Now, do you remember what I talked about yesterday when I mentioned the Paul principle?

Where he's standing there watching them both fight each other?

Well, we're going to see how this happens to these guys, and we're going to look at it today.

He goes on to say, "...neither is there sufficient evidence, it seems to me, in the whole of Scripture, to draw such a conclusion." Now here's what he says, "...rather, I believe we should accept each day of creation as a regular day marked with evening and morning by the rotation of the earth.

If the first 6 days of creation are accepted as regular days, it can be assumed that the seventh day would also be what?

He says, I believe we should accept each day of creation as a regular day.

We should accept the seventh day of Genesis 2.2 and verse 3 as either a regular day marked with evening and morning, now watch what happens, or...

Or as an indefinite period of time, and then he says both are possible interpretations drawn from the facts of the Genesis account.

What do we say as Adventists that Babylon is confusion?

A mixture of 1 thing with that of another.

3. Facing the Critic: No Word ‘Sabbath’ in Genesis

Father, we just ask your Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us today.

Help us understand clearly what this issue is all about, Lord.

And we just pray that your Holy Spirit will move upon our hearts, draw each 1 of us here today closer to you.

It's a very important subject and we pray for your guidance in Jesus' wonderful name we pray, Amen.

Okay, so what we're going to look at today is part 3.

No commandment for Adam to keep the Sabbath.

Remember in Genesis It says, and God rested the seventh day, right?

So he says there's no commandment for Adam to keep the Sabbath rest in Genesis.

By the way, have you ever heard somebody say there's no commandment to keep the Sabbath in the New Testament.

Well we're going to cover that really good tomorrow.

And so if you're going to miss a time, miss last week.

Because we're going to look at that tomorrow.

So today we're going to look at no commandment for Adam to keep the Sabbath rest in Genesis.

Now do you remember when I started off the other day with the text where Jesus talked about your own words are either going to justify you or they're going to condemn you, right?

That's a very important point because we're going to see how Dale's books contradict each other and how he himself contradicts himself.

Now, I believe, my premise is, I believe the Bible does not contradict itself.

If somebody has an apparent contradiction, I guarantee you the problem's not with God.

The problem is with their interpretation of the text.

Okay, so when you have that kind of premise in which the Bible itself is the supreme authority, and you trust what the Bible says, the Bible's not gonna contradict itself.

Bible's not gonna contradict itself, and Paul or Peter aren't going to contradict each other.

There's harmony and unity with the Word of God.

And that's the way God wants us to be too.

So Dale says on page 25 of his book, Sabbath and Crisis, and then on page 27 of his book, Sabbath in Christ, watch what he does.

He says this, point, there is no command for mankind to rest in the Genesis account.

So his main premise right from the start is his mindset says there's no commandment in Genesis to keep the Sabbath.

In this discussion on the Sabbath, I want to tell you I do not ask trap questions and trick questions.

What I would ask him, because he's the 1 that says there's no commandment in Genesis to keep the Sabbath.

So I'm going to ask him a very simple question.

I'm going to ask the question, what is Dale's point?

And you're going to see why I ask that question.

Are you saying that because there was no command in Genesis, in the Genesis account, that there was no rest on the seventh day for mankind?

You see, they could muddy the water with questions or things they say to you.

You want to get right to the point and make it clear.

Are you saying that because there was no command in the Genesis account that there was no rest on the seventh day for mankind.

Now you're going to want him to say yes and he's going to say yes.

You know it's really interesting that you could lead people right into a corner by the very things they say.

And we're going to do that based on this very question.

34 pages later, on page 59 of this book, where he says there's no command to keep the seventh day Sabbath for mankind in Genesis, in the Genesis account.

Page 59, 34 pages later, and on page 74 of his book Sabbath in Christ, 47 pages later, watch what he says.

On the other hand, what Israel was commanded to do on the Sabbath would have been done naturally by Adam and Eve, therefore no command would have been needed.

See his own words is going to come back and bite him, yes or no?

Stick with the Bible, stick with the truth.

His point is there's no command in Genesis account to keep the Sabbath for Adam.

When we get into this, let's say we're going to really dive into this right here.

There's more in that statement than what you think.

And we're going to really go into this to see that.

But what's really good is when you compare them side by side.

There is no command for mankind to rest in the Genesis account.

So let's put that on the screen in a paradigm, in a diagram.

So there was no command, that's what he said, correct?

Now, Let's move on and ask this question.

Dale says no command would have been needed in the Genesis account because it would have been done naturally, focus on naturally, by Adam and Eve.

On page 21 and 25 of his first book, pages 23, 25, and 27 of his second book, here's what he says.

He says this, nothing is said about man resting.

In fact, man is not even mentioned in connection with this seventh day creation rest.

4. Facing the Critic: No Commandment to Keep the Sabbath in Genesis

Father, we just want to thank You again for the opportunity to come here and study Your Word.

And we pray that Your Holy Spirit will lead us, guide us, and help us understand this very, very important subject about the Sabbath, we pray.

Okay, what we're going to look at today, I really like this particular 1 because we're going to see how these guys have really...

And when you hear this, You're going to hear people say this.

And when you hear this, you're going to know immediately from our study today that it's simply not so.

You know, it's 1 thing for somebody to say something.

It's another thing to prove it, isn't it?

But we're going to go to the Bible and we're going to prove it from the Bible today.

So what we're going to look at today, here's 1 of the things these guys say.

They say there's no Sabbath commandment in the New Testament.

Now remember, they said there was no commandment in Genesis, remember?

Now, they're saying there's no commandment in the New Testament.

Then they say 9 commandments are repeated in the New Testament except the fourth commandment, the Sabbath.

Now, they only do this to get around the Sabbath.

See, so this is what they say, and we're going to look at it carefully, and I mean carefully.

Now churches are taught by their pastors and leaders not to keep the Sabbath.

Matter of fact, we've all just finished the unlocked revelation.

We do a series of meetings, you know, and when it comes to the Sabbath, what's the first thing these people do when they come to these unlocked revelations, they run to their pastor, right?

And they say to their pastor, you know, I'm learning something about this Sabbath thing, right?

That was the old Jewish Sabbath, nailed to the cross, all this and that.

So they're taught by their pastors that the Sabbath isn't important.

They don't really study it out for themselves.

For example, John MacArthur, a well-known preacher.

And if you've ever heard of him or have seen him, he's a very dynamic speaker and he captivates the audience.

Written commentaries, all that kind of thing.

Well, I'm going to show you what John MacArthur says about the very thing we're going to talk about today.

All 10 Commandments are repeated in the New Testament some numerous times except the fourth command.

It is never repeated in the New Testament, not 1 single time.

Now you would think a theologian, now the credibility, What about the credibility?

They really don't because of who says it.

And then, if I'm not saying something right, you know what I'd hope you would do as a Christian brother and sister?

Series

Facing the Critic

3. Facing the Critic: No Word ‘Sabbath’ in Genesis

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