Earth’s Final Apostasy

An Epilogue

THE LAST DAY OF GRACE

Recently I finished my trilogy entitled “Earth’s Final Apostasy.” Following the

completion of the final essay, I thought about a period of grace granted me by the District
Court (after the May 27, 2009 decree), during which I was to certify to the Court my
compliance with the Judge’s permanent injunction. As the final day of this time-span
approached, the Spirit spoke to me of “The Last Day of Grace.” It was referring me to June
17, 2009, the due date for my certification of compliance with the following order:
“Defendant and his agents, servants and employees, and all those persons in active concert or
participation with them, are forever enjoined from using the mark SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTIST, including the use of the words SEVENTH-DAY or ADVENTIST, or the
acronym SDA, either together, apart, or as part of, or in combination with any other words,
phrases, acronyms or designs, or any mark similar thereto or likely to cause confusion
therewith, in the sale, offering for sale, distribution, promotion, provision or advertising of
any products and services, and including on the Internet, in any domain name, key words,
metatags, links, and any other use for the purpose of directing Internet traffic, at any locality
in the United States.” Of course, I could not in good conscience comply in the least, for this
injunction meant, “no one [including me, my agents, servants and employees, and all those
persons in active concert or participation with me] should be able to buy or to sell, except the
one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.” (Revelation
13:17; NASB, brackets supplied)
As I pondered this “last day of grace” prayerfully, I was shown a simple and
applicable principle taught by the Savior. This is what He said, “For with what judgment ye
judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
(Matt. 7:2) “When we are brought to account by the Lord, we shall receive the very same
measure we have meted to others, and eat the fruit of our own doings.” (Advent Review and
Sabbath Herald, August 16, 1892) I further remembered, “Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7) This law of
cause and effect is a terrible truth that none can rightly deny.
It suddenly struck me that, though the nation was effectively signing a “death
warrant” for the name Creation Seventh Day Adventist within the jurisdiction of the United
States, she was sealing “The Last Day of Grace” for herself. What a solemn thought! It was
then that the Spirit took me back through the ages of Bible history, reminding me of how
“history repeats itself.” (The Signs of the Times, November 8, 1899)
“Jerusalem [like the Seventh-day Adventist Church and American nation] had been
the child of His care, and as a tender father mourns over a wayward son, so Jesus wept over
the beloved city. How can I give thee up? How can I see thee devoted to destruction? Must
I let thee go to fill up the cup of thine iniquity? One soul is of such value that, in comparison
with it, worlds sink into insignificance; but here was a whole nation to be lost. When the fast
westering sun should pass from sight in the heavens, Jerusalem's day of grace would be
ended. While the procession was halting on the brow of Olivet, it was not yet too late for
Jerusalem to repent. The angel of mercy was then folding her wings to step down from the
golden throne to give place to justice and swift-coming judgment. But Christ's great heart of
love still pleaded for Jerusalem, that had scorned His mercies, despised His warnings, and
was about to imbrue her hands in His blood. If Jerusalem would but repent, it was not yet too
late. While the last rays of the setting sun were lingering on temple, tower, and pinnacle,
would not some good angel lead her to the Saviour's love, and avert her doom? Beautiful and
unholy city, that had stoned the prophets, that had rejected the Son of God, that was locking
herself by her impenitence in fetters of bondage – her day of mercy was almost spent!” (The
Desire of Ages, pages 577, 578)

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 “Christ came to clothe His people with his righteousness. But they would not receive
Him, and with pale and quivering lips and broken utterance He exclaimed, ‘If thou hadst
known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!’ Then came
a pause, for the Saviour was reluctant to pronounce the irrevocable sentence–‘but now they
are hid from thine eyes.’ It was with a burst of agony that Christ spoke these words. He was
bearing a great burden for the people of His care, but they knew not the time of their
visitation. The superhuman agony of the Son of God was keenly felt in the heavenly courts,
but those for whom He shed bitter tears knew not their day of grace.” (The Signs of the
Times, July 26, 1899)
Three and one half years ago, I received demands from the General Conference of
SDA trademark attorneys requiring us to “cease and desist” any use of the term SEVENTH-
DAY ADVENTIST. It was then that YAH said, “And I will give power unto my two
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth.” (Revelation 11:3) We were in deep contrition and obscurity during this period as
we continued to herald the “three angels’ messages” in the power of the “fourth angel” of
Revelation 18. The inspired pen comments on a past fulfillment of this prophecy, “During
the greater part of this period, God's witnesses remained in a state of obscurity. The papal
power sought to hide from the people the word of truth, and set before them false witnesses to
contradict its testimony.” (The Great Controversy, page 267) It is further noted that, “The
saints then will be an obscure people, little known to the Catholics; but the churches and
nominal Adventists who know of our faith and customs […] will betray the saints and report
them to the Catholics as those who disregard the institutions of the people.” (Spalding and
Magan Collection, page 1) Referring to the persecution of saints in the first centuries, the
prophetess writes, “It required a desperate struggle for those who would be faithful to stand
firm against the deceptions and abominations which were disguised in sacerdotal garments
and introduced into the church. The Bible was not accepted as the standard of faith. The
doctrine of religious freedom was termed heresy, and its upholders were hated and
proscribed.” (The Great Controversy, page 45) Because Creation Seventh Day Adventists
“disregard the [religious trademark laws] of the people” and regard “liberty of conscience” as
“a gift worth preserving,” they are “hated and proscribed” as heretics by an apostate church
and the sin-loving world.
The prophecy of Revelation 11 continues, “And when they shall have finished their
testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and
shall overcome them, and kill them.” (Revelation 11:7) “It had been Rome's policy, under a
profession of reverence for the Bible, to keep it locked up in an unknown tongue and hidden
away from the people. Under her rule the witnesses prophesied ‘clothed in sackcloth.’ But
another power – the beast from the bottomless pit – was to arise to make open, avowed war
upon the word of God. […] This [beast] is atheism, and the nation represented by Egypt
would give voice to a similar denial of the claims of the living God and would manifest a like
spirit of unbelief and defiance. ‘The great city’ is also compared, ‘spiritually,’ to Sodom. The
corruption of Sodom in breaking the law of God was especially manifested in licentiousness.
And this sin was also to be a pre-eminent characteristic of the nation that should fulfill the
specifications of this scripture.” The United States, manifesting a spirit of atheism and
maintaining a society of licentiousness, qualifies as a “beast from the bottomless pit.” The
laws of the land now follow a course in harmony with atheism and in defiance of the laws of
YAHWEH. Allow me to cite an example from my own trademark lawsuit.
Within the legal record we read, “This Court has previously recognized that Pastor
McGill chose the name of his church based on a divine revelation and that it was not his
intent to confuse the public into thinking he was affiliated with Plaintiffs’ church.” [See
Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part the Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment,
p. 22 (D.E. # 70).] The Court consistently refused to acknowledge any aspect of conscience
in this contest. One dictionary definition of conscience is “the inner sense of what is right or
wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action: to follow the dictates
of conscience.” In the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, Americans are afforded the
free exercise of religion, and that, according to the dictates of conscience. This Bill of
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Rights was based upon the express will of God and righteous principles suited for the
administration of a nation holding respect to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
The great reformer, Martin Luther, once wrote, “Liberty is the essence of faith.” More than
one hundred years ago, the servant of YAH penned, “The time has come when judgment is
fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself
a prey. But the Lord's arm is not shortened that it cannot save, and his ear is not heavy that
it cannot hear. The people of the United States have been a favored people; but when they
restrict religious liberty, surrender Protestantism, and give countenance to popery, the
measure of their guilt will be full, and ‘national apostasy’ will be registered in the books of
heaven. The result of this apostasy will be national ruin.” (Advent Review and Sabbath
Herald, May 2, 1893) “National ruin” is the state reached when the nation has become a
“beast from the bottomless pit.” “A time is coming when the law of God is, in a special
sense, to be made void in our land. […] When our nation, in its legislative councils, shall
enact laws to bind the consciences of men in regard to their religious privileges, […]
bringing oppressive power to bear against those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath, the law
of God will, to all intents and purposes, be made void in our land; and national apostasy will
be followed by national ruin. “ (Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, December 18, 1888)
In 1522, almost 490 years ago, Luther delivered an address opposing compulsion (as
quoted in The Great Controversy, page 190), “I will preach, discuss, and write; but I will
constrain none, for faith is a voluntary act. See what I have done. I stood up against the
pope, indulgences, and papists, but without violence or tumult. I put forward God's word; I
preached and wrote–this was all I did. And yet while I was asleep, . . . the word that I had
preached overthrew popery, so that neither prince nor emperor has done it so much harm.
And yet I did nothing; the word alone did all. If I had wished to appeal to force, the whole of
Germany would perhaps have been deluged with blood. But what would have been the
result? Ruin and desolation both to body and soul. I therefore kept quiet, and left the word to
run through the world alone.” So, from that time of spectacular reformation in the church of
Christ, it is as if “Seventy weeks [of years had been] determined upon [YAH’s] people and
upon [YAH’s] holy city [the church], to finish the transgression [of popery], and to make an
end of sins [through the victory resulting from righteousness by faith], and to make
reconciliation for iniquity [through the cleansing of the Heavenly sanctuary], and to bring in
everlasting righteousness [by the sealing of YAH’s servants, the close of human probation,
and the second advent of Messiah]; we find ourselves, as it were, in the midst of the final
week of years (all brackets supplied; review Daniel, chapter 9). It was in the middle of that
seventieth and final week that Messiah was “cut off, but not for Himself.” And in a similar
fashion, Creation Seventh Day Adventists are “cut off” from the world and the bearing of
their divine testimony via a “death warrant” contrived by their “former brethren,” “seeing
they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.” (Hebrews
6:6) The prophecy of Revelation 11 also applies, “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street
of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was
crucified.” (Revelation 11:8) At the time of Christ’s sacrifice, the Jewish nation was favored
with an extension of three and one half probationary years unto the stoning of Stephen, at
which time, “The kingdom of God [was] taken from [them], and given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits thereof.” (Matt. 21:43; brackets supplied) At the close of time, the world is
granted another brief period of grace designed for their repentance prior to the general
destruction and declaration of Daniel 7:27, “And the kingdom and dominion, and the
greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of
the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and
obey Him.” “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them,
and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they
heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to
heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” (Revelation 11:11, 12; italics supplied)
You may recall the Apostle’s words, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
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the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4:16,
17; italics supplied) Notice also the vision of John the beloved, “Behold, he cometh with
clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” (Revelation 1:7; italics supplied)
“The Last Day of Grace” has arrived for America. The “dead bodies” of the witnesses
may lie in the street [or “information highway”] of that “great city,” but the people “shall not
suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.” (Revelation 11:9b; brackets added) The
Creation Seventh Day Adventists cannot be set totally out of sight. And though many shall
“rejoice over them, and make merry” (Revelation 11:10), others will certainly seek
repentance and find a home in the ranks of the 144,000 who “keep the commandments of
YAH and the faith of YAHSHUA.” (Revelation 14:12) As the curtains of probationary time
fall quickly upon the world, YAH extends His mercy “three and a half days.” (Revelation
11:9; NASB)
“Are you ‘time-setting?,’” some may ask. You, reader, must become the judge.
“Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and
sword – nation rose against nation, and the whole world was in confusion. Then we cried to
God day and night for deliverance, until we began to hear the bells on Jesus' garment. And I
saw Jesus rise up in the Holiest, and as he came out we heard the tinkling of the bells and
knew that our High Priest was coming out. Then we heard the voice of God which shook the
heavens and the earth, and gave the 144,000 the day and hour of Jesus coming. Then the
saints were free, united, and full of the glory of God, for He has turned their captivity. And I
saw a flaming cloud come where Jesus' stood. Then Jesus laid off his priestly garment and
put on his Kingly robe, and took his place on the cloud which carried him to the East, where
it first appeared to the saints on earth – a small black cloud which was the sign of the Son of
Man. While the cloud was passing from the Holiest to the East, which took a number of
days, the synagogue of Satan worshipped at the saint's feet.” (To the Little Remnant Scattered
Abroad, April 6, 1846; italics added)
“The Last Day of Grace” has been prophesied and fulfilled. The “national apostasy”
ended in “national ruin.” Only a short space of time now separates the saints from glory.
“Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came
a glorious light which waved over the Advent band, and they shouted, Hallelujah! Others
rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far.
The light behind them went out which left their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled
and got their eyes off the mark and lost sight of Jesus, and fell off the path down in the dark
and wicked world below. It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again and go to
the City, as all the wicked world which God had rejected. They fell all the way along the path
one after another, until we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day
and hour of Jesus' coming. The living saints, 144,000, in number, knew and understood the
voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake.” (The Day-Star, January
24, 1846; italics supplied)
Dearly beloved, I am listening for “the tinkling of the bells.” The last moments of
Christ’s mediation in the Heavenly sanctuary continue, but no one knows exactly how much
longer His mercy will endure. If you keep your eyes upon “the information highway,” you
will notice our “dead bodies” “in the street of the great city.” What will you do? Will you
“rejoice over [us] and make merry?” Or, will you come to see “Christ in [us], the hope of
glory?” We are awaiting your final decision, for “The Last Day of Grace” has come, and
that, even for you. Let it not pass another moment before finding a place in the ranks of the
144,000 – the Creation Seventh Day (and) Adventist Church, keeping “the commandments of
God and the faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12; KJV)

Pastor “Chick” McGill

Writing from Africa
June 17, 2009