Expert: Thurman C. Petty, Jr. - 1/24/2012

Question
I have read some of Ellen G Whites works and my mother and her side of my family were all Seventhday Adventists. I have listened to Seventhday Adventist ministers giving their messages in church also. When the mention of when the second coming of Christ is mentioned it usually has Ellen G Whites and Smiths date brought up as 1884. Then they will add that while the second coming did not occur at that time it was because the church was not perfect at that time. My question is 'Does the church have to be perfect before the second coming or does the church have the perfection of Christ already and theres more prophecy to be fulfilled?' Which in your opinion is true?

Answer
Dear Harry,

A lot depends on your definition of perfect. Let’s see how Jesus defined the word:

In Matt. 5:43-47, Jesus contrasts the philosophy of the world: Love your neighbor and hate your enemy, with the love of the Father who sends rain on the good people and on the bad people. Then, He summarizes His thoughts with these words, in vs. 48: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” In this context, Jesus is appealing to His disciples to be as loving towards all others—perfect in love—as the Father is loving toward even those who are His enemies.

Luke uses this same statement of Christ to come to the same conclusions, only using different words:
Luke 6:36  Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

So you can see that, in the days of Christ, the word “perfect” did not always mean “without any faults or sins” as it is perceived today. “Perfect” was a measure of the amount of love or mercy God’s children have for one another.

The “church” in the Scriptural sense, does not refer to a building, or a specific congregation or even to a particular denomination. The “church” refers to God’s faithful people, wherever they may be. The church is the people, not the building . So to say that the church has to be perfect before Jesus comes you would be saying that all of God’s people have to be loving and merciful towards all people.

We have to remember that the question of salvation is specifically one of each member accepting Jesus as his/her personal Savior. This is the criterion of preparation for entrance into Heaven. If a person has come to Christ and surrendered himself completely to Jesus, then he/she will be loving and merciful—and thus perfect in the sight of God.

When we look at your questions in this light, then both of them would be right. The church has to be perfect before the second coming. And if each member is in Jesus—meaning his/her relationship with Jesus by faith is on-going—then the church is perfect.
And yet, there are prophecies that need to be fulfilled, situations that must ripen for the harvest.

God said to Abraham that his descendants would have to wait for 400 years before the land of Canaan could be theirs because “the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete.” (Gen. 15:16, NKJV) We cannot tell when the iniquity of the world has become complete. The Bible presents clues of certain things that will take place just before the coming of Jesus—for example, the 7 last plagues, and the enforcement of the mark of the beast, to name only two.

I trust that you are in union with Jesus and have become “perfect” in your love and mercy. If so, you are ready to meet Jesus when He comes. Be sure that you maintain this relationship with Jesus through the time of trouble that will come upon the world.

It’s important to spend much time reading God’s Word—the Bible—and in prayer for salvation from sin. God’s Book will help you to perfect your relationship with Jesus and prepare you for His coming. I suggest that one of the Bible study guides I’ve listed below would be helpful in understanding the truths of God’s Word.

Stay close to Jesus.

Thurman C. Petty, Jr.
PettyPress@gmail.com
www.PettyPress.com (43 Bible lessons; 20 Books; more)

Sources of Bible study aids and answers for your questions.
Mail order Bible lessons: Amazing Facts Bible Lessons, PO Box 1058, Roseville, CA 95678
Telephone questions answered: 3ABN 1-800-752-3226 (pastoral dept., ext. 1)
On-line: Bibleinfo.com; Itiswritten.com (Bible studies/Discover Bible Guides)
Television networks: HOPE Channel (Direct TV #368); 3ABN (Dish Network #9710)