David Gates recently recorded a sermon titled “Even at the Door”. While he preaches many good things about the need to get ready for the end-times, and to get closer to God, his comments about Rome that “By Spring of 2019, it will begin its final assault on God’s law and people”, that the Judgment of the Living for the leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church began on September 23, 2015, and that basically the Holy Spirit has already been withdrawn from SDA leaders because they are persecuting members they don’t like — are all egregious errors that I am pointing out publicly, and calling on Br. Gates to repent of.
I admit that Br. Gates does much good, and preaches the straight truth most of the time, and has helped a lot in waking up sleepy Laodicean Adventists to seek a closer walk with Jesus. I even volunteered at his headquarters in Tennessee for 3 months in 2010, until kicked out for pointing out some errors in his teaching.
In 2008, he was preaching about the 7 years of plenty and famine in Joseph’s time, applying it to 2001-2015. Well, shortly after I left, something happened, and he quit talking publicly about these time-setting things that he’d previously taught with vigor. Of course nothing happened, so time itself proved him wrong. And yes, just as the Holy Spirit has told us thru Ellen White, when every time-setting date passes, it leaves God’s people in a lower condition that before.
I praised God that Br. Gates seemed to have repented of his time-setting ways, and his sermons from 2011-2018 that I saw anyway, were more Christ-centered than before. Of course, they weren’t “exciting” so didn’t stir up the donors much either I guess.
But then on October 17, 2018, he uploaded this new sermon, doubling down on his time-setting, conspiracy theory ways. Again, while there are many good things in it, I will be focusing only on the errors, to warn others of the dangers involved in his straying from the holy, inspired words of God.
First, let’s hear what God has told us regarding preaching time after 1844:
“There were many proclaiming a new time after this (1844), but I was shown that we should not have another definite time to proclaim to the people. …
I have been shown that our disappointment in 1844 was not because of failure in the reckoning of prophetic periods, but in the events to take place. The earth was believed to be the sanctuary. But the sanctuary which was to be cleansed at the end of the prophetic periods was the heavenly sanctuary and not the earth as we all supposed. The Saviour did enter the most holy place in 1844 to cleanse the sanctuary, and the investigative judgment had commenced for the dead.
I have been repeatedly urged to accept the different periods of time proclaimed for the Lord to come, [but] I have ever had one testimony to bear: the Lord will not come at that period, and you are weakening the faith even of Adventists, and fastening the world in their unbelief.
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But their oft-repeated message of definite time was exactly what the enemy wanted, and it served his purpose well to unsettle the faith in the first proclamation of time, that was of heavenly origin.
The world placed all time proclamation on the same level and called it a delusion, fanaticism, and heresy. Ever since 1844 I have borne my testimony that we were now in a period of time in which we are to take heed to ourselves lest our hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon us unawares. Our position has been one of waiting and watching, with no time proclamation to intervene between the close of the prophetic periods in 1844 and the time of the Lord’s coming. We do not know the day nor the hour, or when the definite time is, and yet the prophetic reckoning shows us that Christ is at the door.
Manuscript Releases p 178-180
Let’s keep the above in mind as we go thru the video.
17:58 “Many many shipments of guillotines have been shipped into this country and other countries.”
Well that’s pure conspiracy theory stuff.
20:28 “Rome and the United States…. they’ve already joined.”
No they haven’t.
31:09 “They (Catholics) have been controlling the economy (of America) already for a long time.”
This is just blatantly false.
33:36 “The Spirit of Prophecy…. is not considered inspired anymore….as far as the official church position.”
I’ve checked the 1872 Statement of Beliefs, the 1931 Statement, and 1980 Fundamentals. None of them say anything about the Spirit of Prophecy (Ellen White) being inspired. I believe she was, but our official “Fundamentals” have never said anything about that.
35:02 “Sister White came to the conclusion quite a long time before she passed away that the church would take an official stand to remove their position and to move the testimonies”.
Actually, this 1875 quote is referring to the underhanded works of Uriah Smith and others to put her books down. She does write that in the end, a new organization would try to take control of the Church, come out with books of a new order, and go into the cities and do a marvelous work, but God and the Bible and the Sabbath would be lightly regarded.
40:38 “The Sunday Law is the beginning of the judgment of the living for the world”.
No it isn’t. Ellen White writes in Review and Herald, dated 1909/01/28: “When the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, and every man shall be judged according to the things written in the books, then the tables of stone, hidden by God until that day, will be presented before the world as the standard of righteousness. Then men and women will see that the prerequisite of their salvation is obedience to the perfect law of God.”
42:15 He tries to show a parallel between Rome’s attack on Jerusalem in the Fall of 66AD with Rome’s attack on the US in the Fall of 2015. Thus he gives us the basis for this entire video – that calculating time is somehow important to the Third Angel’s Message! Actually September 23, 2015 was NOT the correct Day of Atonement that year. That is the rabbi reckoning, which our SDA forefathers rightly rejected for the correct reckoning. The correct DOA for 2015 using calculations that our forefathers used, was actually on October 23.
42:15 On the screen it says that Rome is attacking the US in Spring 2019, and that the SDA Church is persecuting members in Spring 2019!!!
43:49 “Now it is my conviction that something is about to happen, and it will happen, in the Spring of 2019. The second attack of Rome will begin. And this time it’s in serious. And this time it’s going to involve legislation, it’s going to involve destruction, it’s going to involve the loss of life.
Your convictions on this are forbidden by God to be given public expression.
44:59 “The Sunday Law has been there ever since 2015 and after that. It’s disguised as a law of the environment.”
This is ridiculously wrong – conspiracy madness and teaching contrary to Ellen White’s writings all in one statement. Actually, the Sunday Law will be a bottom-up type thing, with the people clamoring for it, and the legislators bowing to their demands. The idea that this will be sprung upon the citizens of the land by a secret agreement or something is totally weird error.
46:13 “All the nations of the earth have already dealt with it (accepted the Sunday Law)…. The United Nations have all agreed how to enforce it.
Conspiracy nonsense.
52:29 “In a few days they will have the power to control, and threaten, and to disfellowship anybody in the world.”
Oh my! False.
54:36 “The threat of being disfellowshipped and disciplined is the last event that causes people to choose sides.”
False again. It is the Sunday Law that does this, as every SDA should know, including you, Br. Gates.
56:28 “Then God can pour out his Holy Spirit, and the Loud Cry can begin.”
But the Loud Cry will have to be given BEFORE the Sunday Laws are made, so that the people will know what the stakes are in the matter.
57:28 “In fact yesterday, markets began to collapse and to crash.”
You should know better than to wade into economic areas, Br. Gates. Don’t you remember stating that the US dollar was basically worthless in 2008, that the markets were crashing (they did, but came roaring back and are double what they were then), and that gas prices could “only go up”? Do you remember saying those things?
1:03:07 “That’s where we are now. There is no more delay.”
You aren’t sure of that, unless you are a prophet.
1:08:45 “On September 23, 2015, on that Day of Atonement, Jesus entered the second phase of the investigative judgment. He began with the leadership of the church and will finish with each church member 3.5 years later in Spring 2019.
On September 23, 2015, Rome began its takeover of each government branch of the United States; the Legislative, Executive and Judicial. It already controls the economy. The Sunday Law, in the form of the environmental law is already in place. By December it will be done with its plans. By Spring of 2019, it will begin its final assault on God’s law and people.”
No to both of these assertions, as noted earlier.
1:10:00 “From the Bible itself, you can prove that, that that will happen.”
No you can’t.
1:10:32 “Interestingly enough, the Bible also talks about a second 3 1/2 year period.”
YES! This is wonderful, amazing news that almost no SDA preacher will touch. What I’m sad to see, is that false teachers are mixing in much chaff with this truth, thus confusing honest seekers for truth about what the Bible clearly says regarding a future, 3 1/2 year period.
1:12:03 He basically says that the Holy Spirit has been withdrawn from SDA Church leaders. I don’t believe it, as Jesus still knocks at the door of the Laodicean church.
1:14:44 “With contrite hearts confess your sins, weaknesses and failings.”
Amen and amen!
Br. Gates, God says you are “weakening the faith even of Adventists” and “fastening the world in their unbelief”. Your message of definite time is “exactly what the enemy wanted… and is unsettling the faith in the first proclamation of time, that was of heavenly origin”. In other words, your time-setting teaching is hurting belief in the God-ordained time setting of October 22, 1844. You are helping the world call SDA’s foundations a “delusion”. Your time-setting is retarding the work of those who are calling the people to read Revelation and Daniel, believing what the words say – that there will definitely be time at the end – 1260, 1290, and 1335 literal days. This time is not something we prophesy to point to something, but will be waymarks for us to give us courage to stand fast to the end after these events start. Elijah worked for 3 1/2 years, Jesus for 3 1/2 years, and the 144,000 will work for 3 1/2 years too.
Our prophet has given us instruction that God’s punishments will start as fireballs etc. destroying cities, people will realize they’ve offended God, and they will turn to Sunday Laws as their human-devised method of trying to get right with God — when that goes directly contrary to his command to keep the 7th day Sabbath holy. That is because they love and make lies. I believe these punishments are called “The 7 Trumpets” in the Bible, as Ellen White writes that “trumpet after trumpet is yet to sound”. You can see a video on these fireballs on my youtube channel.
I call on you to repent, Brother, take down your video, stop hurling your darts at God’s remnant church, quit ridiculous conspiracy theories, and resolve to follow God’s holy words in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy — that there will be no more time setting approved of God.
our time-setting is retarding the work of those who are calling the people to read Revelation and Daniel, believing what the words say – that there will definitely be time at the end – 1260, 1290, and 1335 literal days.
Are you saying that these are literal days or not?
1260, 1290, and 1335 literal days. This time is not something we prophesy to point to something, but will be waymarks for us to give us courage to stand fast to the end after these events start.
Are you saying that these are literal years for how long some future events will last?
The 1260, 1290, and 1335 days are just that – days. They have had a historical application. That was in the leading of God that our Millerite forefathers understand that way. They had to have everything finished by 1843.
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But we see now that several things mentioned in the prophecies did NOT happen in the historical application. So we must look forward to a final fulfillment in the future – in literal time. However, we are NOT to predict when that time will start.
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Does that answer your questions? What do you believe, Jo Ann?