Incredibly there is a mind set these days that seems to be antagonistic to the doctrines of the Church. At first thought, I might say I can't understand it. But I am afraid I do understand and, as we go along, I believe you will, too.

You are aware that the Seventh-day Adventist Church has formally organized its distinctive beliefs into twenty-seven doctrines. Some people these days would say that we have overdone it on our preaching of the doctrines, and what we need to do is to emphasize the preaching of the gospel instead.

Perhaps it should be pointed out that the word "gospel" means good news, and the word "doctrine" means teaching. It would be fair to say that the gospel is the whole and the doctrines are an explanation of what the gospel is about. If this is true, which it is, I can't think of why a person would have difficulty with doctrines inasmuch as the more we understand about the doctrine the more meaningful the gospel becomes to us.

I can appreciate how some might think that too much doctrine could be confusing to some people. I can also understand how it would be possible for a person to emphasize one part of the gospel to the exclusion of other parts, or even a part of the gospel could be made to appear more important than the whole. You see how that could be, don't you?

There are some texts that appear to say that the gospel is actually simple. Let me read a few:

Mark 16:16: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

John 10:9: "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

Acts 2:21: "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

In the story of Paul and Silas in prison, we read in Acts 16 that the jailer asks, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house."

There is another story that seems to make our six-week evangelistic campaigns an over-kill, and that is the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. It is recorded in Acts 6:

"And as they went on [their] way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, [here is] water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him" (verses 36-38).

At first reading it appears we may have 25 doctrines too many. This story seems to indicate that if a person believes in Jesus with all his heart, he can be baptized and go on his way rejoicing.

Do we really have too many doctrines? Are we making the gospel too complicated? I decided to check the doctrines out for myself to see if some of them could be eliminated. So I found a copy of the book, Seventh-day Adventists Believe. This is one place you can find the 27 doctrinal beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I decided to look them over and see if I could summarize each one.

If you have never done that, I would urge you do consider doing it. After all, if some are saying we have too many doctrines or that some doctrines are not important, before you let them convince you they are right, you ought to check them out for yourself just to make sure we don't end up throwing out something important.

Let's take a little time and look at the 27 fundamental beliefs and see what they look like. We will not try to prove each one; rather we will take it for granted that there are texts for each doctrine. What we want to try to do is see if there are too many, and if so, which ones we don't need.

The first five doctrines are about who we believe God is. They state that we believe in the Holy Scripture and in the Trinity. Here is what they say:

• We believe that the Holy Scripture is the infallible revelation of the will of God; the standard of character, the test of experience, the revealer of doctrine, and the record of God's acts in history.
• We believe in the Trinity, God in three persons; that is, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
• We believe in the Father, just, holy, merciful, gracious, slow to anger and abundant in steadfast love and faithfulness.
• We believe that Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God. We believe that He suffered and died voluntarily on the cross for our sins and in our place, and that He was raised from the dead and ascended to the Father to minister on our behalf. We believe that He will come again the second time.
• We believe in the Holy Spirit and that He inspired the Bible writers; He draws us to Christ, and transforms us into His likeness. We believe that He gives spiritual gifts to the church and that He leads us into all truth. He gives us power to witness for Christ.

What about these doctrines? I believe we must keep them, don't you?

Let's look at more. Doctrines 6-9 are about where we came from and how we got into the condition we are presently in.

• We believe that God created the world and all living things in six days and rested on the seventh day. We believe that He created man and woman perfect and gave them responsibility to care for the earth.
• We believe that man and woman were made in the image of God with the power and freedom to think and do. We believe that they disobeyed God and so the image of God was marred and they became subject to death. We believe that the human race has a fallen physical and moral nature. We believe that God in Christ has reconciled fallen man and restores those who repent to the image of their Maker.
• We believe that there is now a great conflict between good and evil. We believe that a rebellion began in heaven led by an archangel. We believe that the rebellion came to this earth and so sin came. We believe that there is now a controversy between good and evil and that the way of God will triumph.

I surely believe we must keep these three. These doctrines take care of the problem of evolution and also explain where sin and suffering came from. Yet at the same time they are encouraging because they tell us that, after all is done and said, evil will be defeated.

The majority of Christian denominations are in agreement with what our church teaches in Doctrines 1-8.The only problem is the part about Creation. I am sure you must be aware that more and more Christians are tilting toward what is called Theistic Evolution. That means they believe God started with lesser life forms and that the story of Adam and Eve may have happened a few million years after God created the first life here on this planet.

The belief in Theistic Evolution is a result of what happens when a person tries to use science to prove the Bible. You might ask what is wrong with that. It means basically that if I can't see it I won't believe it. To use science to prove the Bible means we are putting our five senses above the Word of God. Another problem is that once you have decided to let science confirm the Bible, you may be surprised to find out that it may appear to do just the opposite.

I am thankful for Doctrines 6 through 8.We are going to find ourselves having to hold on to these doctrines more than ever from here on out. Let's continue. The next two doctrines seem to be almost connected.

• We believe that in Christ's life of perfect obedience to God's will, His suffering, death, and resurrection, God provided the only means of atonement of human sin so that those who by faith accept this atonement may have eternal life.
• We believe that through the Holy Spirit we are led to repent of our sins, and so in Christ we are justified and set free from the bondage of sin. Through the Holy Spirit we are born again and are given power to live a holy life, having the assurance thereby of our salvation now and in the judgment.

Doctrines 9 and 10 are how God saves us. I am sure that we don't want to throw either of these out. You would think that all Christians would believe in these just as we do, but sadly that is not the case. The big issue tucked away in these doctrines is whether we are saved from our sins or in our sins. Sadly, there are quite a few of our own members who seem to have gone fuzzy in this area. By that I mean they are hoping they can enjoy the pleasures of this world and also the pleasures of the next world. This thinking can lead to real trouble as far as what the gospel is all about. The Scriptures tell us clearly that a person who loves the world will sooner or later become an enemy of God.

Let's continue...

• We believe that the church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We believe that the church is the body of Christ of which He Himself is the Head.

I hope no one has any problem with this doctrine. The key words are "community of believers." Being a Christian is not about being a hermit or The Lone Ranger. This doctrine reminds me of the text that says if we can't love the people we see, how in the world can we claim we love God who we can't see?

Doctrine 12 is a heavy one. Here is where the fat meets the fire. This is the doctrine that brought the Seventh-day Adventist Church into existence. Let's see what it says:

• We believe that the church of God in the last days is called the remnant and that it is commissioned by God to announce the arrival of the judgment and the message that prepares a living people to meet a living God. The message is found in Revelation 14. We believe that the remnant will be made up of people who, no matter their background, will answer the call to make a heart and life preparation for the coming of Jesus.

Why would a person who knows how God has worked in history have any trouble with this doctrine? God has always had a special message at critical times in this earth's history, beginning with the message of Noah who was sent to prepare the people for the coming flood. Jesus Himself said to the woman at the well that salvation was of the Jews. That didn't mean God loved the Jews more than others or that they were the perfect crowd to be around. It simply meant that if you wanted to know how God was dealing with the fallen human race on this planet you would have to go to the Jewish writings to find out.

And so there is nothing wrong with the concept. We have a historical precedent. It is not out of character that at the end of time God would give a special message to the human race that would prepare them for the Second Coming of Jesus and that He would entrust this message to what is called the Seventh-day Adventist Church. That is not arrogant. It has historical precedent.

Continuing now...

• We believe that those who are members of the church are of different races; cultures, languages, genders, education, economic status and position, and that they are all equal in Christ and are to serve and be served without partiality or reservation.

This doctrine needs no argument. It keeps us from falling into the traps represented by the philosophies of the white supremacists or black Muslims, to say nothing of all other kinds of discrimination. However we must be careful that neither do we begin to favor people according to their birth certificate. Also, there is a very real danger of gender discrimination now. Am I right?

The next two doctrines have to do with baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both of these doctrines are commands of Christ Himself, so I don't think we want to do away with them. Remember, Jesus told us to preach the gospel everywhere and baptize those who would accept it. There may be some who wonder why they need to be baptized to join the church. My question is, "Why not?"

Remember, the church is not about "me," it is about Jesus and the rest of "us." To stand in the presence of others and be baptized is to publicly acknowledge that we are in Christ and that we want to be accountable to Him and to the body of believers. The person who would have trouble with that could have the same mindset as the man who wants to live with a woman without getting married.

Let's read on:

• We believe that those who are instructed in the teachings of Scripture and accept the same confess their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior by being baptized by immersion as a symbol of death to sin and resurrection to a new life in the Holy Spirit.

The next doctrine is about the Lord's Supper. The doctrine of the Lord's Supper is a wonderful one. If we would take it more seriously, it would greatly encourage us and facilitate the process that is what growing in grace is all about.

We practice the Lord's Supper including the footwashing. We believe that the Lord's Supper commemorates the death of Jesus. It is a time for self-examination, repentance and confession. We believe communion is open to all believing Christians.

So far we have read 15 doctrines. I can't think of one of them that is not a real blessing for the Christian. The next doctrine is where we get our understanding of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are "in" these days. Here is what it basically says, (remember, I have done a Readers' Digest editorial job on these doctrines--when you read them in the book they are in their complete form):

• We believe in the gifts of the Spirit, which are for the edification of the church and for service to humanity. We believe the Spirit gives the gifts according to His divine wisdom to those He chooses.

We should say something here about spiritual gifts. It must be understood that spiritual gifts are not for everybody. What do we mean by that? Spiritual gifts are for people who have been born again. It would make no sense at all for the Holy Spirit to give gifts to people who were still living in sin. A former pastor of a Pentecostal church told me it used to bother him that people who were living together without being married seemed to have the gift of tongues.

It is important that we know and understand the meaning of spiritual gifts in the church, but we must first know and understand the meaning of the fruit of the Spirit. A person whose life is not manifesting the fruit of the Spirit can get gifts that are not from the Holy Spirit at all.

The next doctrine is the one that could be said separates the men from the boys and the women from the girls. It would be probably more accurate to say that it separates those who are Seventh-day Adventists from those who are generic evangelical Christians.

• We believe that the gift of prophecy is one of the spiritual gifts and is a mark of the remnant church. We believe Mrs. Ellen White manifested this gift and her writings are a testimony to it. We test her writings by the Holy Scriptures.

No matter what you accept as true about this doctrine, this church was established believing that Mrs. Ellen G. White had the gift of prophecy.

One day a well-known evangelical TV personality asked me what the current position of the church was concerning Mrs. White. I answered his question by asking him one. I asked him if he believed that the gift of prophecy would be manifested in the New Testament church. He said, yes, but he said he didn't believe that Mrs. White had the gift.

The point is that the Bible teaches there will be the gift of prophecy in the remnant church. These days there are all kinds of preachers in other evangelical faiths who claim to have the gift of prophecy. One of these people is Bill McCartney's pastor. Bill McCartney is the founder of Promise Keepers. Bill often has his pastor speak at the big men's rallies.

This church was guided into existence by the Spirit of Prophecy and it is the Spirit of Prophecy that has held it together. Do away with the Spirit of Prophecy and the Seventh-day Adventist Church as we know it will cease to exist. You may think I am wrong or hysterical or both, but it is true. The devil is trying to emasculate the message and the mission of this church. If he can succeed in gutting the Spirit of Prophecy, he will ultimately succeed. By God's grace he will fail!

Next:

• We believe that the Ten Commandments are an expression of the will of God and are binding on people in every age. Those who are born again manifest a desire to obey the will of God.
• We believe that the Seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment being instituted at Creation is the will of God for all His people. We believe that it is to be commemorated from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.

Doctrines 18 and 19 are linked. The modern churches both mainline and evangelical are preaching the Ten Commandments in a big way these days, but they are still giving a ten-percent discount.

I am convinced that the present moral decay in this nation must be laid squarely at the feet of the pastors of the Sunday churches who have during my lifetime been preaching that Christians didn't have to keep the Ten Commandments. They did that to do away with the fourth commandment, and what we have gotten as a result is moral anarchy.

The problem in this country is not that children don't pray in school anymore, but that the religious leaders have been saying that people who are saved have an option as to whether or not they will obey the Ten Commandments. Things are changing, however. The religious radio and TV programs are now saying more and more often that we need to keep the Ten Commandments. Mark my word--the Sabbath will again become a bone in the throats of those who refuse to acknowledge it, and prophecy is clear as to what will happen then.

Sadly, there is increasing evidence in certain quarters that the Sabbath is being disregarded by more and more people who call themselves Seventh-day Adventist. It is a spreading phenomenon.

I would like to give you a word of warning here so that you will recognize what it happening. You will not hear anyone say that we should break the Sabbath; rather you will likely hear that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. That may sound all right until you notice what is meant by doing good. For instance, it may mean working on a house for Habitat for Humanity or mowing the lawn or painting a shed for a little old lady.

I would have to ask why a person can't do good on the other six days of the week and keep the Sabbath sacred, as has been clearly stipulated in the Old Testament. One does not have to be a prophet; in this case being a student of history will suffice. But if this trend continues it will not be long before many people who consider themselves Sabbathkeepers will be keeping it the same way the majority of Sundaykeepers currently keep Sunday.

Now we have arrived at Doctrines 20 and 21. Here is what they are about.

• We believe that God is the giver of all that we are and all that we have. In recognition of this fact, we believe that the believer will return tithes and offerings, which will be used for the building up of His church on this earth and the extension of the kingdom of heaven.
• We believe that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost and we should abstain from all of that which is to the detriment to our health. Our diet is based on the guidance given in Scripture as to clean and unclean foods. Our dress is to be simple, modest and neat with the emphasis on true beauty, which is that of the character. Our amusements and entertainment will be those which are to the honor and glory of God.

These doctrines are right on target and very practical. They, in essence, are saying that all we are and all we have belong to God. You have heard the expression, "Put your money where your mouth is." This is a truism because we spend our money where are priorities are. A person who doesn't have Jesus and His kingdom on the top line of the budget doesn't have Jesus on the top line of his heart either.

The matter of health is one of the most wonderful doctrines God brought to this church. The health message is not just for Adventists, it is for the entire human race. That is why we have made a major contribution through the years in teaching the principles of health and establishing institutions with the purpose of making sick people well.

God has given to this church doctrines that, when properly understood and practiced, will prepare a living people to meet a living God. This is why the devil is going crazy trying to de-fang our message. Our message will not only get people ready for the coming of Jesus; it will protect them from the huge deception that will carry away everything that is not nailed down just before Jesus comes. Unfortunately, in some places there seems to be more interest in health among New-Agers than among people who ought to know better.

A person who is being saved by the power of the Holy Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ will seek to glorify God in all that they do. Remember the text that says whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, do all to the glory of God.

The next doctrine is so practical it hurts.

• We believe that marriage was established in Eden and is affirmed by Christ. We believe that the marriage commitment is for life except as Jesus said in cases of fornication. He taught that to divorce outside the context of fornication is to commit adultery. We believe that parents are to bring up their children to love and obey the Lord and that they are to provide the example for their children in their own lives. One doesn't have to have studied Greek to understand what the ground rules for marriage are. The words of Jesus Himself have stated the rules so clearly.

In view of the explicit words of Jesus in this regard, it is amazing that divorce has become almost the accepted norm among those who profess to be followers of Jesus. This is mind-boggling. One would expect divorce and adultery among unbelievers, but that it has become commonplace in the church is untenable.

Without doubt, our homes are falling apart because we are not allowing the gospel to do its work in our lives. The two words which are the active ingredients of the Christian life are "repentance" and "forgiveness." When we practice repentance and forgiveness on a daily basis, our marriages will be secure. We are not hearing much about repentance these days. What we are hearing about is acceptance, which calls for no change.

Until we call ourselves to repent before God and each other, and until we ask God for the gift to forgive those who wrong us, our homes will continue to take a beating and our children will be the casualties.

It is easier to expand the definition of adultery than it is to repent and forgive. May God have mercy on us.

• We believe that since 1844 Jesus is identifying those who will be resurrected in the first resurrection and also those who from among the living will be taken to heaven at His Second Coming. This process is called the Investigative Judgment. We believe that this judgment vindicates the justice of God before the universe in saving those who believe in Jesus.

It seems this is the doctrine more and more people love to hate. Most Christians think that a person has right up to the coming of Jesus to get ready. They don't understand the concept of what we understand as the Close of Probation. Bear in mind that there have been critical times in history in which, if you weren't in the know about a certain fact, it was fatal.

We are coming fast to the time in which God is preparing that generation of living people who will be alive and translated without seeing death. This is something that has never happened before. God is not like us. He doesn't do something without any warning or without giving people time to get ready for it.

Since 1844 Jesus has, among other things, begun preparing that group from among all nations who will be ready for the Close of Probation and will be given strength to stand during the Time of Trouble that will proceed His coming. Our God is a God of history. He works in history and He makes history. Why would a person have trouble with the concept of the Investigative Judgment? For us who are alive it is a work that we submit to, yet it is His work. It is a Holy Spirit work. It is the work of the crucified and risen Savior Who lives ever to make intercession for us. The promise is that He who has begun a good work in us will finish it, and so He is and so He will. Like it or not, one day He will stand up and say, "It is finished." That is really what the Investigative Judgment is all about.

• We believe in the literal, personal, visible and worldwide second coming of Jesus, when the saved dead and living will be glorified and taken to heaven. We do not know the day or the hour of His coming, but according to the signs that Jesus said would proceed the event, we believe it is near.

When I was a boy the majority of Christians believed in the literal, personal, visible and worldwide coming of Jesus. Since the book, "The Late Great Planet Earth," the great majority now believe in the Secret Rapture. You have perhaps seen the bumper stickers that proclaim, "If no one is driving, I've been raptured." One of the problems with the rapture theory is that it teaches that the lost will have a second chance to be saved. Those who believe in this theory stand the chance of being 100% deceived when the Anti-Christ appears, because they believe they will be in heaven during the Tribulation. I am glad we have this truth in Doctrine 24. It will keep us from being deceived.

• We believe that God alone is immortal. We believe that death is an unconscious state for all people. We believe that the saved will be resurrected at the Second Coming and that the lost will be resurrected a thousand years later to receive their reward.

Not much needs to be said about this doctrine. God has graciously revealed the truth about the condition of the dead. And it makes more sense than all the other options. Those who don't understand the state of the dead correctly before the end will be taken in. You have no doubt noticed that Mary is already supposedly appearing in different places around the world. You know what might soon happen in this respect.

• We believe that the millennium will be a time in which the earth is uninhabited. At the end of the 1,000 years we believe that the Lord will return to the earth with the saints. At that time, the lost, together with Satan and his angels, will then be subjected to fire from God which will completely consume them and purify the earth and then burn out.
• We believe that after the earth has been purified by fire, God will create all things new, and those who have been redeemed through Jesus will then live and reign with Him forever, world without end.

Doctrines 26, and 27 wrap it up. They clear the mind of the nightmare of eternal torment. Of all the supposed Christian doctrines that have horribly misrepresented God, the doctrine that hell burns forever is one of the worst. Huge numbers of persons have become atheistic over this one.

Perhaps we don't realize how fortunate we are to hold to these 27 doctrinal beliefs. I can't think of one of the 27 doctrines that could be called information overload. Our doctrines are true, practical and relevant. The doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church tell us the truth about God and take us from Creation to the time in which our tears will be wiped away and God will make all things new.

There is no need to be embarrassed or even intimidated by those among us, whether inside or outside the church, who seem to be trying to belittle or depreciate the great truths that our heavenly Father has so graciously revealed to those who are preparing to be alive when He appears the second time.

We ought not try to minimize how much we know about the gospel; rather we should want to know even more. I personally don't believe that 27 doctrines are too many. Inasmuch as the doctrines help us to understand the gospel more clearly, I could wish we had many more. Here is where the promise of the Spirit comes in. Jesus said He would send the Spirit, and He would lead us into all truth.

If you have not taken the doctrines seriously in the past, I would invite you to rethink the matter, and recommit yourself to knowing the truth and Him Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.