Shaken or Sealed?

Will God’s faithful need to leave the church in the last days?

Suppose you’re taking a long trip by train. The train is rolling along at a rapid pace. You’re making good time. You look forward eagerly to the completion of your journey.

Yet there are some unanswered questions in your mind. You’re not entirely clear about that last leg of your trip. You don’t know for certain whether the train will actually take you all the way to your destination. Perhaps the train only goes within a few miles of your station, and then you will have to leave the train to walk the rest of the way. Or it’s possible that, without even stopping, the train might suddenly veer off in the wrong direction. Unless you jump off, you’ll be taken away from your hoped-for destination.

It’s even conceivable that a terrible train crash lies in the yet-unforeseen future. Maybe a bridge is out. The engineer may be unreliable. Again, jumping off the train would seem the only possible course to avoid tragedy.

What are you to do?
A knowledge of the train’s final destiny surely would have an impact on the decisions you must soon make. Fortunately, you have a map of the train’s route. It shows clearly what the train is going to do; with that knowledge, you also know what you ought to do.

Just as the train passenger needs to know that the train will arrive safely at his destination, so we need to be sure of the final destiny of God’s church. Will it endure to the end? Will God’s faithful few need to leave the church in the last days, or will the faithful few stay in the church while everyone else leaves?

Of course, the train illustration is flawed. We don’t “ride” into God’s kingdom on our church membership. Salvation isn’t determined on the basis of names on the church books. And yet, it is important to know how God is going to use His church in the last days. We need to understand what is meant by that important expression, “the shaking.” What events will constitute the shaking? How will the shaking affect each of us? Will God’s believers be shaken out? Or will the unfaithful be shaken out? How will God purify His church? And how can we be confident that we are among those who, knowing Jesus, will receive God’s seal, so that we may live forever? We want to face the future with a firm assurance in Jesus.

Throughout history, God’s people have often drifted into apostasy. Periodically they have adopted the customs and practices of the people around them. Note some examples:

Old Testament. God called Abraham out from among the idolaters of his day because of his obedience. He was a “friend of God,” a loyal, devoted follower of the true God. In subsequent generations, God called Abraham’s descendants, the people of Israel, out of Egyptian bondage to maintain this obedient relationship with Him.

When Israel persisted in disobedience, God allowed them to face oppression, persecution and defeat at the hands of their enemies, and eventually to go into captivity, in order to teach them dependence upon Him. Then He called them out of Babylon’s paganism to be His separated people once more. Through the prophets’ warnings and appeals to repent, and through the scourge of persecution, He tried to purify them, pruning the unfruitful branches. Some responded, but most of Israel blatantly continued in rebellion.

New Testament. The Greek word for church in the New Testament is ekklesia, a gathering or assembly, especially one that had been “called out” of a larger community (in Greek, ek means “out” or “out of” and klesia is from the word that means “to call”). The New Testament church was a body of believers called out of the world to maintain faithful allegiance to God (see 1 Pet 2:9).

Church history reveals that the New Testament church drifted away from God. Pagan practices began to slip into the church. Images, Sunday worship, human ordinances, indulgences—all were signs of the growing apostasy.

Reformation. The Reformation was also about God calling out of God’s people. First, God called the reformers out of the papacy, which had become Babylon. Then those reformers—Wycliffe, Huss, Jerome, Luther, Calvin, and others—called out other true believers from the main body. But when the Protestant churches failed to keep pace with the advancing light of God’s Word, God again called Bible students out of Protestantism during the Advent movement.

Whenever the corporate body at large has drifted away from God, spurned the principles of the Scriptures for the practices of the world, and refused the advancing light of God’s Word, God has called out a body of believers from the Babylonian confusion and rebellion.

SHAKEN OUT OR IN?

Many Seventh-day Adventists today are deeply concerned as they see certain conditions within their church. They sincerely wonder whether God is about to call out a body of believers from the Seventh-day Adventist church in order to purify it. In fact, certain movements we often call “offshoots” base their entire philosophy on the idea that God is going to purify the church by calling out a faithful few.

But God’s method is to call people out of paganism, out of Egypt and Babylon, not out of Israel. He works to purify His people, pruning some branches of the parent stock and grafting others in (see Rom 11, especially vv. 17-23). He removes the dead wood.

In Hebrews 12 Paul recounts Israel’s experience at Mount Sinai when God delivered the Ten Commandments. He speaks of the darkness, the thundering, the great voice speaking, and the fear. Then He says:
“His voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain” (vv. 26-27 RSV). Notice that the unshakable things are left, and the things that are shaken are removed.

Verse 28 continues, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.”

Remnant Remains. God purifies His church not by calling out the faithful, but by shaking out the unfaithful. Those who are loyal to the principles of God’s Word and the teaching of Jesus remain. We call them “the remnant.”

Isaiah used an agriculture illustration to describe the same concept when he said, “You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away” (Isa 41:16 RSV). John the Baptist echoed that symbol: “His shovel is ready in his hand and he will winnow his threshing-floor; the wheat he will gather into his granary, but he will burn the chaff on a fire that can never go out” (Matt 3:12 NEB).

Winnowing. The farmer finds that his wheat is all mixed together with chaff, the worthless husks of the grain. To separate them, he takes the mixture of wheat and chaff and throws it all up into the air. The chaff, being lighter, is blown away in the wind. The wheat remains.

Commenting on this process, Ellen White says:
"The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place" (Selected Messages, 2:380).

Clearly, God’s method of purifying the church today is not to call out a small group who are faithful. On the contrary, He will shake out the unfaithful. The church will not fall; it will triumph!

This leads us to some fundamental questions. Who will be shaken out when the crisis comes? What classes, what groups of people will be shaken or sifted out? How can you and I be sure we’re among those who remain?

FOUR CLASSES SHAKEN OUT

Among those shaken out will be people matching one or more of the following descriptions.

1. The Worldly. “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor 4:4 RSV).

Ellen White observed, “Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. . . . In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church” (Testimonies for the Church, 5:81).

Much in this world is beautiful. But there is also a great deal that leads us away from a meaningful relationship with Jesus. Yet haven’t you found when you look into the face of Christ, when His charms and His matchless love have captivated your heart, that the things of this earth, in the words of the song, “grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace”?

The true Christian consciously chooses Christ and His way. There will be a clear difference between the worldly and the followers of Jesus. I like the way J. B. Phillips translated Romans 12:1-2: “With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good.”

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem the night of the Saviour’s birth, Scripture records that there was no room for them in the inn. No room for Jesus—what a tragedy. And today it’s very easy for the minds of even God’s professed people to become so captivated with “stars” in the fields of sports, television, Hollywood and popular music that they have little room for Jesus in their thinking. Whether or not they bear the name Christian, the minds of the worldly are too filled with other things to give Jesus priority.

2. The Superficial. The second class that will be shaken out are the superficial Christians. The Bible describes these people as “holding the form of religion but denying the power of it” (2 Tim 3:5 RSV). Regarding this group, Ellen White predicted, “The superficial, conservative class, whose influence has steadily retarded the progress of the work, will renounce the faith and take their stand with its avowed enemies, toward whom their sympathies have long been tending” (Testimonies for the Church, 5:463).

Who make up this superficial, conservative class? They are quite different from the worldly. They may be alarmed at certain trends in the church. You may not find them sitting in front of the television for five or six hours a day or going into worldly places of entertainment. Still, they are only superficial.

One pastor described them like this: “They are the status quo Christians. ‘Why, everything’s all right,’ they say. ‘Don’t worry. We’re right on target. Don’t rock the boat. By all means, be committed, pay your tithe, and go to Sabbath School and church, but don’t be too zealous. Don’t go too far overboard. We are going to make it all right and the church is going to get through the crisis.’ Their prayers are formal and ritualistic. They study the Bible only occasionally. To them its pages are dull.

The Great Controversy puts it this way: “Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive” (p. 625).

3. The Self-Confident. Self-confident members may be neither worldly nor superficial. But Paul has some very direct counsel for them: “Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12 RSV).

Ellen White adds a similar thought: “Those who have had great light and precious privileges, but have not improved them, will, under one pretext or another, go out from us” (Testimonies for the Church, 6:400).

These are the people who are standing still, relying on their present experience, not improving their opportunities to grow in Christ. Like Peter, they say, “Lord, though all men forsake you, I’ll go with you through the fire all the way to death. You don’t have to worry about me, Lord. I’m confident that when the crisis breaks, when the trial comes, I’ll defend you. When Calvary comes, Lord, I’ll be there by your side. In fact, I’ve already got my sword ready.”

When at Gethsemane Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus, he wasn’t aiming for that man’s ear. He was ready to fight and even kill! He was filled with self-confidence. But Peter needed more than his own human resources to face the crisis.

There are many today who are not in the worldly group, or in the superficial, conservative class. They may even be spending great amounts of time with God in Bible study and prayer. But the basis of their religious experience is themselves rather than the Saviour. They believe that, no matter what, they certainly won’t give up the faith. Unfortunately, anyone who puts confidence in his own ability to stand firm rather than in Jesus is like the man in Jesus’ parable who built his house on shifting sand rather than on the rock. When the crisis comes his self-centered experience will collapse.

How important it is for us to learn daily dependence! We need to kneel down each morning to admit, “Dear God, I know that by myself I’m unable to cope with Satan’s temptations. I know I need Jesus and His power in my life today.” Jesus wants to lead you and me to be less confident in what we can do and more confident in what He can do, to have less confidence in our power and more confidence in His.

In practical terms, righteousness by faith means that every day I trust Jesus totally to live in me through His Spirit, enabling me to cope with the temptations of Satan that are sure to come. Each day I must deliberately place my confidence in Christ, both for pardon of my sins and for power to live for Him. The self-confident will go out from us when the shaking comes.

4. Lovers of Self. Those in the final group lead lives that revolve around self. They are not willing to make sacrifices for God or His work. In a description of people living in the last days, 2 Timothy 3:2 puts “lovers of self” at the head of the list.

Early Writings offers a sobering assessment of the prospects for those who put self ahead of Christ and His service: “The mighty shaking has commenced and will go on, and all will be shaken out who are not willing to take a bold and unyielding stand for the truth and to sacrifice for God and His cause” (p. 50).

How Many Leave? How much of the church will these four classes represent? Here is what Ellen White has to say: “Soon God’s people will be tested by fiery trials, and the great proportion of those who now appear to be genuine and true will prove to be base metal. . . . To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test” (Testimonies for the Church, 5:136, emphasis added).

So the great proportion will not remain. The majority will forsake God’s church.

One thing that may be hard to believe today, which we know will come to pass, is this: Those who leave God’s church in the last days will become the most bitter opponents of God’s true believers.
They will eagerly take their places as witnesses in courts of law, denouncing the Christian experience of those who remain faithful. (See The Great Controversy, p. 608.)

When Jesus stood before Pilate, accused and condemned by His countrymen, His inner commitment to do His Father’s will enabled Him to remain steadfast. Noting Jesus’ inner desire to please His Father, the book of Hebrews quotes the words of Psalm 40:7-8 and applies them to Him: “Here am I: . . . I have come, O God, to do thy will” (Heb 10:7 NEB). Doing His Father’s will was the motivating force in Jesus’ life. Again, only those who are committed to doing the Father’s will are going to remain loyal when the majority forsake Him.

FOUR CAUSES OF THE SHAKING

At least four agencies are going to cause the shaking.

1. False Doctrines. In the final conflict many will accept heresies, erroneous teachings, and be shaken out as a result. Listen to these specific words of Scripture: “The Spirit says expressly that in after times some will desert from the faith and give their minds to subversive doctrines inspired by devils” (1 Tim 4:1 NEB).

Ellen White adds this apt metaphor in Testimonies to Ministers:
“When the shaking comes, by the introduction of false theories, these surface readers, anchored nowhere, are like shifting sand” (p. 112).

Heresies, then, play a part in purifying God’s church. Those who follow them will not stand in the time of shaking.

2. Miracles. Others will leave the church on the basis of deceptive miracles. “He [Satan] will make people sick, and then will suddenly remove from them his satanic power. They will then be regarded as healed. These works of apparent healing will bring Seventh-day Adventists to the test” (Selected Messages, 2:53).

Those who are looking for the spectacular and who desire miracles more than the truth will accept this counterfeit.

3. Persecution. A great number will be shaken out of the church because of persecution. In The Great Controversy, Ellen White shares this insight:
“As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition” (p. 608).

When persecution really breaks, those Adventists who desire praise, flattery, and popularity will leave.

4. True Witness’s Counsel. A fourth cause of the shaking is revealed in Early Writings, page 270:
“I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and put forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God’s people.”

Who is this true witness to the Laodiceans? Jesus. And what is His counsel to the Laodiceans as found in Revelation 3:18? “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire.”
The gold is a faith that works by love. So Jesus is saying, “I counsel you to have a living faith.” Faith is having such a close friendship with God that we do whatever He asks because we truly love Him and know He desires our best good. We read about the impact of this faith in 2 Peter 1:5-7: “Supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (RSV).

Christ’s Righteousness. What else does Jesus counsel His people to buy? “White raiment, that thou mayest be clothed” (Rev 3:18). This represents Jesus’ righteousness. But is Jesus’ righteousness a cloak to cover the sins that I am presently committing so that I may continue to commit them and not feel guilty? Or is the righteousness of Christ a provision made for every sinful act that I’ve committed in the past, a provision made for my sinful nature, and a provision to break the power of sin in my life right now? This is what it is, isn’t it?

The white raiment both covers the sinner and cleanses him. In so doing it represents Jesus as both the dying lamb and the living priest, and it signifies both sin’s penalty broken and sin’s power broken. So the character garment offered to the Laodiceans is an experience of victory.

Holy Spirit. Then Jesus offers to “anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Rev 3:18). This eyesalve represents the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, so that we begin to see our real need.

We experience a conviction of sin that drives us to Jesus. And within our church there’s going to be this type of revival, caused by this illumination—a revival of living faith, with men and women obtaining victory in a new and fresh experience with Jesus. And as people’s minds are opened up by the Holy Spirit, they will sense the nearness of Jesus’ coming.

In earth’s last hours, when the mark of the beast is enforced, the worldly, the superficial, the self-confident Laodiceans and the lovers of self will leave us. Many of these may be in the church now, but they will be shaken out then.

It is in this time of shaking that God will purify His church. As one class is shaken out, another will be sealed. Satan will introduce doctrinal heresies into the church. In addition, he will work false miracles. Thousands of superficial, lukewarm, Laodicean Seventh-day Adventists will be deceived. Nevertheless, God will have a group of people who know what it means to walk daily with Jesus. Settled into the truth, they will be sealed.

Are there problems in the church? Yes. Even apostasy? Yes. What is more, we have been told to expect it. Should we then leave the church and try to find or establish a purer group? No. The shaking is coming, and God will purify His church. Those who determine to be loyal and true to Him will not leave “the only object on earth on which Christ bestows His supreme regard,” “enfeebled and defective though it be” (Selected Messages, 2:396). Rather than be discouraged by the faults and failings of others, we may begin now to “gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason” (Testimonies for the Church, 5:136), in preparation for the challenges of the final crisis.

God has a work yet for this church to do, and you and I may be a part of it. May God help us to be wheat, not chaff, for the great shaking and winnowing of the last days.