Establishing the Underground Church, Part 7
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry once again. Today we’re going to look at some very important issues related to the underground church. We will also look at how it will all end. The underground church will necessitate a different way of managing the church that is not an institutional church or a public church. It is definitely more organic. So, as we begin to explore these issues let us ask God to bless us this day as we study.
Dear Father in heaven, we realize that we are nearing the time when it would be absolutely necessary to establish or reestablish the underground church. We don’t know how to do it because we have never experienced a hostile environment to our faith. But as this opposition arises, we pray that we will understand what to do to make the underground church a reality. Thank you for Your Holy Spirit. We invite You to send Him now as we study the scriptures and the inspired writings. In Jesus name, amen.
First of all let me say that you will hear from some people, and maybe even pastors, that the underground church will not be needed at the time of persecution. But that simply is not true. Persecution always forces those that are persecuted into working underground. Either the whole of the remnant public church will have to become the underground church or a small portion of it will become the underground church while the structure continues on as a compromised entity. I will say more on this false concept later on in this message. But I want you to be aware of the false concepts that you will hear.
The underground church operates in a different way than a public church or an institutionalized church. Its very nature is fundamentally different. So, it requires people that can be trusted with the faithful leadership of the churches that won’t compromise in order to achieve their earthly goals. But who can be trusted? You can put in place all the protections possible but in the end, you can’t really do anything but fully trust in the Lord to protect His church. All you can do is seek to minimize tragedies.
Jesus couldn’t trust one of his closest companions. And He knew that he would betray Him. He had ambitions that were unsanctified. And they led him to basely betray the Lord of glory to the rulers and religious leaders of his day. Jesus was crucified because Jesus exposed the evil motives of church leaders. Do you think that will happen again?
Listen to what Judas said when he threw the bribery money down at Caiaphas’ feet. It’s found in Matthew 27:4, 5.
“Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”
The point that I would like to make is that the disciples recommended Judas to be a disciple in the first place. But they were as undiscerning as rocks. Jesus accommodated Judas as part of His team. But even after Judas became one of Jesus disciples, if the disciples had been discerning spiritually, they would have sooner or later recognized that Judas was working against Christ. Do you think there are some people today who look really good and spiritual but who are traitors?
How do you know who is untrustworthy? There is a very interesting statement found in the 1888 materials that tells us how God plans to reveal those who can’t be trusted, to the true sheep of his fold. It’s found in a letter to S. N. Haskell in the 1888 materials, chapter 122, page 1002.
“Before the great trouble shall come upon the world such as has never been since there was a nation, those who have faltered and who would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths will reveal this before the real vital test, the last proving, comes, so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the True Shepherd. The time of our educating will soon be over. We have no time to lose in walking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty because of uncertain voices.”
So, ahead of the time of trouble, those who have not stuck to the truth and upheld the faith and not walked according to the light that has been graciously given to them, have faltered and would ignorantly lead the people in unsafe paths, will reveal the fact that they are not trustworthy before the real vital test.
That’s really significant. God is going to show His faithful people ahead of time who they can’t trust. He will reveal those whose voices are not the voice of the true shepherd. While this statement is talking about church leaders who do not lead the people in safe paths, it is also talking about others as well. One wonders why this isn’t a statement found in a prominent compilation somewhere.
This is a leadership discernment issue. Leaders will disqualify themselves from being discerning, and those who are following Jesus, and are wise, realize that they cannot trust the judgment of these leaders. Friends, this statement also reveals that there is a test before the final test to reveal the true character of the false shepherds and imposters. While COVID-19 was a pretty obvious test that is still being denied by some, there will be tests in the future that are more subtle with issues that are trickier to parse. And people will be deceived because of their blind loyalty to the leadership and the institutional public church.
Most people equate the church with the leadership and structure of the church. The statement that says the church will appear as about do fall but does not fall is often applied to the leadership and the structure. But let’s read it from 2 Selected Messages, page 380. But the leadership and the structure are not mentioned in the statement.
“Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. 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.”
This statement is not saying what form the church will be in. Can the public church maintain the structure when you can’t buy or sell? The church will necessarily have to change at least its form. It will become an underground church with organic leadership. There is a story of a vision that was related by Brother Will Ross in 1908. It goes as follows.
“Sister White told us as we three stood there on the depot platform, that a terrible storm of persecution was coming like a windstorm that blew down every standing object. There was not a Seventh-day Adventist to be seen. They, like the disciples, forsook Christ and fled. All who had sought positions were never seen again.
“After the storm there was a calm, then the Adventists arose like a great flock of sheep, but there were no shepherds. They all waited in earnest prayer for help and wisdom, and the Lord answered by helping them to choose leaders from among them who had never sought positions before. They prayed earnestly for the Holy Spirit which was poured out upon them making them fully ready for service. They then went forth ‘fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,’ to give this message to the world. ‘I was astonished, and asked if that applied to Loma Linda, as we were looking in that direction. Sister White replied to my question by stating that it applied to the entire denominational world. It so stunned me that I did not ask any more questions.’”
The unsanctified among the leaders and laymen who are not following Christ will be sifted out. They may be able to continue the public church by compromise with the government and society, while the underground church continues with the true and faithful.
To equate the church with leadership and structure is a misapplication on the scale of the institutional church in Jesus day that conflated the prophecies concerning the second coming with the prophecies concerning the Messiah’s first appearance. In other words, they applied the “power and glory statements,” to what they thought was going to characterize His first coming. But His first coming was as a suffering servant rather than a majestic king. And today, we similarly conflate the prophecies concerning the church with the structure and leadership. While there isn’t just one definition of the church, the most basic definition of the church is as follows. It is found in Upward Look, page 315.
“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Where Christ is even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church.’”
Certainly, something will make the Sabbath test difficult to see and understand the real issues and will skew people’s judgement. I think the Lord will authorize the progression of the difficulty. First, it will be money (or bribery), as in the pandemic (GC 592), or second, Satan will use position and influence (GC 607), and third, he will be allowed to use outright deadly hostility and hatred from society and/or the government (GC 604). But something is going to make the Sabbath, which is something we have been hyper-sensitized to, very difficult to navigate. And while it may be as obvious as the nose on your face to the faithful who love God supremely, everyone will be challenged to make a decision to either continue keeping the Sabbath and face a hostile society and the government, or compromise to survive. There will likely be no outward evidence that God is going to support His people. Only God’s promises will be out there for His people to trust, and this will put them to the test for the sake of the great controversy. Many who have preached or listened to preachers preaching about the Sabbath and the mark of the beast will have to make the decision knowingly, and many Adventists (as will some members of society), leaders and laymen alike, more commonly laymen, led by very compromised leaders, will make the wrong decision knowingly, thus receiving the mark in their hand.
If we are listening to the voice of God, we will see and recognize these false teachers based on the ways in which God reveals who they are. Many of them are going to look like the true gold, but God will reveal that they are base metal. We are currently in an educational process which will soon be over. God is revealing one by one who cannot be trusted to lead the church in the last days during the time of trouble. We have to learn the lessons designed for us that we will not fall when the final proving takes place. Let me read that statement again so that you can let it sink in.
“Before the great trouble shall come upon the world such as has never been since there was a nation, those who have faltered and who would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths will reveal this before the real vital test, the last proving, comes, so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the True Shepherd. The time of our educating will soon be over. We have no time to lose in walking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty because of uncertain voices.”
Now let’s think for a minute about what we have seen in recent times so we can get an idea how the test comes and how God reveals who cannot be trusted. When the mandates concerning the jab came along during the COVID pandemic, the public church sided with the government in promoting the mandates. And they didn’t offer support for their members that had conscientious objections to the mandates. All kinds of comments were made. Some are still being made. For example, “if you don’t get the jab, you will be killing some people.” This was an effort to get people to join with the mob and take the vaccine. It was also an effort to set people at variance with each other. It was coercive and did not support liberty of conscience, which is what Satan hates the most. Also, a statement was published by the public church, in fact, by many public churches, that there was no valid religious objections to the mandates and it was not a religious liberty issue at all.
The public relations arm of the public church was involved in this, the legal department of the public church was involved in this, the religious liberty department of the public church was involved in this, as was the health department of the public church was involved in this. Even the president of the public church made statements that were in support of these public pronouncements. That is really quite shocking coming from the one church that was given almost a monopoly on religious liberty concepts and champions. Now, it has a different tune, a different agenda.
Those who will not support religious liberty cannot be trusted when liberty of conscience and the Sabbath are on the line. God revealed it to us during the pandemic by showing us who is not standing for liberty of conscience. And He will continue to reveal it to us through additional tests. Some of them will be quite subtle.
These men and women have faltered, which is a nice way of saying they have been compromised. Many have compromised in order to maintain the money that is coming from the government to the institutions that are owned by the church. And there is plenty of evidence that they do not want to change. They will misapply this statement and many others.
What is the importance of the Spirit of Prophecy to the underground church? The Spirit of Prophecy is the inspired source for clarifying scripture and filling in the blanks. It gives vital spiritual and practical counsel to the underground church and to the members individually. But if it’s understood correctly it will pull the deceptions from your eyes. It was also designed to help the public church and its institutions to remain faithful to the word and to Christ. But they have “stoned” the prophet, criticized the writings, and offered their own wisdom in its place.
The Spirit of Prophecy is an amazing gift of heaven to the underground church. It not only keeps the focus on the word and on proper preaching, but it also gives a practical demonstration of its inspiration. That is vital for the underground church. The underground church needs to know and be convinced and convicted of what it has in this treasure. It will become vitally important to follow the Spirit of Prophecy council as well as Bible council when persecution comes upon God’s people.
What about tithe? The tithe is the sacred cow issue that often divides and separates us from each other. But we need to have a straightforward look at the issue and understand it for what it is. Church leaders tend to knee jerk react when somebody says something about the tithe. You may have heard of recent controversies and arguments over the tithe. And the church is split concerning the issue. Church leaders see that if the tithe is appropriated to any purpose or place other than the conference, it is an existential threat. They often take offence and cancel, deplatform or cut off those who would remonstrate with them concerning their disobedience and apostasies.
Politics has ruined church governance. There’s so much backroom politics and shenanigans that transparent and accountable governance is not possible at the present. And politics is stronger than ever. Church leaders are often involved in unsavory deals and partisan activity. Much of what goes on is not at all condoned by heaven, in fact, it is condemned. And people are wondering where they should return their tithe. Listen to this statement from Desire of Ages, page 738.
“The people of Israel had made their choice. Pointing to Jesus they had said, “Not this man, but Barabbas.” Barabbas, the robber and murderer, was the representative of Satan. Christ was the representative of God. Christ had been rejected; Barabbas had been chosen. Barabbas they were to have. In making this choice they accepted him who from the beginning was a liar and a murderer. Satan was their leader. As a nation they would act out his dictation. His works they would do. His rule they must endure. That people who chose Barabbas in the place of Christ were to feel the cruelty of Barabbas as long as time should last.”
This was the time just before Jesus raised up His underground church through His disciples. Loyalties including the tithe would be transferred to the new church. Tithe was originally meant for the support of the ministry. And while ever the conference tended to be truth-based, tithe flowed into the conference storehouse. But as the church gradually became doctrinally compromised the tithe began to wander to other legitimate storehouses. The Spirit of Prophecy tells us that there is only two storehouses, God’s storehouse and Satan’s storehouse. Let’s read it from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6, page 447.
“There are only two places in the world where we can deposit our treasures—in God’s storehouse or in Satan’s, and all that is not devoted to Christ’s service is counted on Satan’s side and goes to strengthen his cause.”
Ministries arose that worked alongside the church and were faithful to the message, did evangelism, or medical missionary work, or other things that the spirit of prophecy had advocated. People saw that they were more faithful to the truth and the message, so some understood that they could support those ministries with their tithe. While this has been a lightening rod for controversy, it is more of an issue today than ever.
But what happens to the tithe when persecution comes upon the people that love the truth and they have to go underground? The whole dynamic changes. The tithe will dry up under the no-buy no-sell law. Livelihoods of the faithful will be destroyed, and nothing will be left, no assets, no bank accounts, nothing. Are you ready for that? And when there isn’t much money floating around it removes the basis of controversy and infighting. People that have to go underground will not have money to taint their experience.
For the underground church tithe will become a non-issue. The no-buy, no-sell law will isolate them from the financial system of the world. There may be for a time, some produce that will yield increase to those who planted it. They can’t send that to the General Conference, or any of its subsidiaries. So, what tithe there is will have to be used for the support of the local ministry, or the gospel work of the underground church. It will be rather organic.
Eventually it will not be possible to have produce because of having to flee to the rocks and the mountains. Then the church will be totally dependent on God as will be the individuals that love Him supremely. But in essence, the bottom line is that there won’t be any tithe to worry about, to cause division or variance with one another.
Life in the underground church is hearing and doing the word of God. The members read the Bible, preach the Bible, listen to the Bible, and go out and do what the Bible tells them to do. Jesus said it in Matthew 7:24.
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock…”
Jesus was immediately referring to His sayings during the sermon on the mount. And these words apply to all time and to all Christians. The Bible possesses an indissoluble relationship to Christ and likewise Christ possesses an indissoluble relationship with the Bible. So, to say that the Christian life is the hearing and doing of the word is not to say that Christianity is a life of Bible study. The Bible may not be studied, searched, or mastered as if it could be forced to yield up anything. The Bible may only be revealed, and the only one who can reveal it is Christ. He reveals it only on His terms, for His purposes. The revelation of the Bible is a revelation of the true God, for there is no revelation of anything in the Bible that is other than this.
God reveals himself to all who diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
And Christ must reform us and transform us if we are going to receive Him and understand the Bible clearly. And our hearing and doing must be transformed also to make it effective in our lives. But just to be transformed in hearing the word is not sufficient. We have to be transformed in the doing of the word. Otherwise we’re like the foolish man in Matthew 7:25.
“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand…”
The apostle James puts it another way in James 1:23-25.
“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Jesus and James are saying that the hearing and the doing of the word are inseparable, God is revealed only through them joining together. And the more Christ blesses our practice of hearing and doing the word, the greater will be the likelihood that we will suffer in the flesh. So, if we hunger and thirst after righteousness and it truly changes our life as it should, it will lead to suffering. And that suffering will be voluntary, similar to the way Christ voluntarily suffered for us. If we truly understand what the Bible can do to us, when we take up the Bible and digest it properly we take it up as though we’re taking up the cross. That’s what the underground church is all about.
Remember early on, I said that the underground church is a suffering church. A suffering church is a collective of members who are each suffering with Christ as they read, hear and do the things that the Bible tells them to do.
In the underground church we take up the Bible as though it we are taking up the cross. Bible reading becomes an act of self-betrayal that saves us. God said so through the prophet Jeremiah 17:9.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
While we do not take up the Bible to cure our heart or comfort it, we take the Bible to betray our heart as though betraying a lover. We obey what the Bible says in order to become false to the fallen self to which we are most faithful. In taking up the Bible we undertake an act entirely unlike ourselves: crucifixion. When we take up the Bible we disown and repudiate self. Who is it that takes up the Bible? It is no longer I, but Christ Jesus who lives in me. He is the only one that can crucify self and come out the other end with a character like gold. If we let Christ live in us, He will crucify the flesh and give us an experience of victory.
And in these last days, Christ does more than intercede for us. He is in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven giving us a character that will stand against the enemy and every one of his temptations after the close of probation when there is no mediator. That is really the experience of suffering, because there will be international hostility to the truth of Jesus in the sanctuary and of His work in us to make our characters a true reflection of His. When we understand the sanctuary in heaven, we will understand the purpose of suffering as Jesus suffered. And when we suffer similarly as Jesus suffered, we will receive the sealing, and be ready to receive the crown of glory.
The words of the apostle John will have special meaning for the suffering underground church.
He wrote in 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
This means that Jesus followers in the underground church will fully reflect His character in their sphere because Jesus lives in them fully. The world hates them and it’s determined to stamp them out. Every country, every nation, state, province or county, will have enacted laws to eliminate them as the Nazis were determined to eliminate the Jews. They will have no place to escape the onslaught except that they will be hid in Christ. Listen to Daniel 12:1.
“At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book.”
At the close of probation God’s people will be delivered. Jesus stands up for them indicating that he is going to get involved in protecting them. And when He stands up, all heaven is engaged in their protection. Angels go between earth and heaven and actively work for their release.
Listen to this from Great Controversy, page 614-615.
“Those who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing judgments upon the world, and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful convulsions of nature and the strife and bloodshed among men that are filling the earth with woe. The power attending the last warning has enraged the wicked; their anger is kindled against all who have received the message, and Satan will excite to still greater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution.”
What happens to the public church at that time? Listen to Great Controversy, page 615. It is a horrific prediction of what will happen to the public church.
“When God’s presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, priests and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan, and swayed by the most horrible and malignant passions, they still regarded themselves as the chosen of God. The ministration in the temple continued; sacrifices were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the divine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God’s dear Son and seeking to slay His ministers and apostles. So when the irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced and the destiny of the world has been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth will know it not. The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God.”
Most people think this is referring to the worldly churches of fallen Babylon. And it certainly does include them. But does this statement have additional meaning? As difficult as it may be for many to accept, this statement refers more pointedly to the remnant public church. From everything I read in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, the Jewish church represents, or is a type of the remnant church of today. It is not Babylon. Unfortunately, it is worse. It is tracking parallel with the Jewish church in Jesus day. They had great light, and they were the object of God’s supreme regard. But they rejected the light and by persecuting those who love God supremely, they crucify the Son of God afresh. Likewise, the great light of the three angels messages will be rejected by the public church and tragically they will be just as dark as the other churches. And then they will incessantly pursue the faithful. The public church is on the track of this today. Here is another paragraph from Great Controversy, page 616.
“The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble. “Thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace…. All faces are turned into paleness. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:5-7.”
God does not leave his people without help. The underground church is under a lot of stress, but God is its defense. Remember, it is a suffering church. And by faith in Christ’s promises, the people have to endure weariness, delay and hunger. Here is the statement from Great Controversy, page 621.
“The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger—a faith that will not faint though severely tried.”
The focus of the underground church on the Bible and it’s personal and literal application to the lives of its members has trained them to be faithful to the Bible and Christ even when they are alone and isolated. Now the evidence begins to be seen that they are protected by heavenly beings. This statement is from Great Controversy, page 625.
“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.”
From Great Controversy, page 631 we read the following.
“The heavenly sentinels, faithful to their trust, continue their watch. Though a general decree has fixed the time when commandment keepers may be put to death, their enemies will in some cases anticipate the decree, and before the time specified, will endeavor to take their lives. But none can pass the mighty guardians stationed about every faithful soul. Some are assailed in their flight from the cities and villages; but the swords raised against them break and fall powerless as a straw. Others are defended by angels in the form of men of war.”
That will no doubt be very frustrating to the wicked. But the God of Israel that loves His people and has put them through the most difficult time to demonstrate their faithfulness to Him before the world and remove their earthliness, will step in at the last moment to deliver them. While many are in prisons and dungeons, while they are under severe distress, at their utmost extremity is when God chooses to deliver His people. Listen to it from Great Controversy, page 635.
“The people of God—some in prison cells, some hidden in solitary retreats in the forests and the mountains—still plead for divine protection, while in every quarter companies of armed men, urged on by hosts of evil angels, are preparing for the work of death. It is now, in the hour of utmost extremity, that the God of Israel will interpose for the deliverance of His chosen.”
God opens to His people who have been persecuted, who have been members of the underground church and gone through the time of trouble, — God opens to them a glorious new day, full of peace, absolute peace. Their troubles will be over and their difficulties are ended. They have been loyal to God through the most difficult period of time in earth’s history. Now He will reward them with eternal life, and they will be with Him forever.
I hope you have enjoyed this series on the underground church. No doubt, new thoughts have come into your mind as they did mine. It makes for a lot of contemplation. It also makes for a change in thinking and acting. We have to stop being blindly loyal to the leadership. True loyalty is not blindness. True loyalty is rooted in Christ. God’s remnant church will be exemplified in the underground church when persecution arises. And the circumstances in the world today indicate that it is coming very soon.
So, cement your relationship with Christ. Fully align yourself with Him. That is your only hope. Let us pray.
Dear Father in heaven, we have been living in a bubble. We haven’t been thinking in terms of persecution and what will happen when that arises. We have not been thinking in terms of what will be the underground church. Please help us we pray to begin to think about what we’re going to do when persecution arises. And prepare us we pray for that day. In Jesus name, amen.