Joshua and the Angel

Matthew 25:1–13 records the parable of the ten virgins. From this parable, we learn that not everyone who believes they are saved will actually be saved. Nor will just claiming to be a Christian save you.

Our eternal destiny is a very personal and important, awesome and serious subject. It is difficult for you and I to comprehend just how important because we only live a few years in this world. The question we must ask ourselves is, “What must I do in order to have eternal life?”

There is a common belief throughout most Protestant denominations that we will all, ultimately, go to the same place. But the Bible is very clear that this is not true. In fact, there is no other truth so clearly taught in Scripture than this. In the parable of the ten virgins, did they all end up at the same place? They all expected to be at the bridegroom’s wedding, but only the five wise virgins were allowed entry.

So, let’s see what the Bible does say regarding where we will go and how we will get there.

“And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15

There will be people in this world, some living right now, who will be cast into the lake of fire.

“But there shall by no means enter it [heaven] anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21:27

Only those whose names are written in the book of life will be allowed to enter the holy city.

So we see that the Bible clearly states that there are two completely different places that the people of this world will go, depending on whether or not their names are recorded in the book of life. The tragedy is, in our modern world, that so many who expect to be saved will discover in the end that they are lost.

After studying all the texts in the Gospels that talk about wailing and gnashing of teeth, I found that Jesus wasn’t talking about atheists, infidels, or unbelievers. He was talking about Christians who thought they were going to be saved, but who had come right up to the end, and were not saved.

And so, I want to study with you about our eternal destiny. There are many Bible passages that we could use to introduce this subject, Matthew 25, speaking of the ten virgins, is one. But I want to start with a prophecy that concerns the spiritual condition of God’s people in the last days, just before Jesus comes. A startling prophecy that reveals our condition on the inside.

Zechariah 3 contains a prophecy concerning the spiritual condition of God’s people in the last days, just before Jesus returns. Here we read of those who do not have the wedding garment on and are not ready to be part of the wedding feast.

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.” Verse 1

The word Satan is one of the very few words in the English language that is a direct transliteration from a Hebrew word meaning the adversary. This name was given to Lucifer after he fell, because he is the adversary of God. He is also the adversary of all who chose to follow God.

“And the Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?’ ” Verse 2

Only God can have an argument with Satan. In fact, the Spirit of Prophecy tells us that Jesus Christ Himself refused to argue with Satan, referring him to His Father.

The brand that is plucked from the fire is you and me and those who, because of their sins, are about to be destroyed, but the Lord says, “No, I will save you.”

So, Joshua has been pulled out of the fire, but notice his condition. “Now Joshua was clothed in filthy garments.” Verse 3

“Joshua the high priest, ‘clothed with filthy garments,’ stand[s] before the Angel of the Lord, entreating the mercy of God in behalf of his people who are in deep affliction. Satan stands at his right hand to resist him. Because Israel had been chosen to preserve the knowledge of God in the earth, they had been … the special objects of Satan’s enmity, and he had determined to cause their destruction. He could do them no harm while they were obedient to God; therefore he had bent all his power and cunning to enticing them into sin. Ensnared by his temptations they had transgressed the law of God and thus separated from the Source of their strength, and had been left to become the prey of their heathen enemies. … Yet they were not forsaken of the Lord. …

“As Joshua humbly pleads for the fulfilment of God’s promises, Satan stands up boldly to resist him. He points to the transgressions of Israel as a reason why that people should not be restored to the favor of God. He claims them as his prey and demands that they be given into his hands to be destroyed.

“The high priest cannot defend himself or his people from Satan’s accusations. He does not claim that Israel are free from fault. In his filthy garments, symbolizing the sins of the people, which he bears as their representative, he stands before the Angel, confessing their guilt, yet pointing to their repentance and humiliation, relying upon the mercy of a sin-pardoning Redeemer and in faith claiming the promises of God.” Testimonies, Vol. 5, 468, 469

We know that we cannot be part of the wedding feast if we remain in our filthy garments, but because of our sins, that is our condition. Throughout the Bible, filthy rags represent an imperfect character. We can try to clothe ourselves with any manner of covering, but to no avail as God sees everything in our hearts.

Finding Joshua clothed in filthy garments, the Angel said, “Then He answered and said to those who stood before Him, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him.’ And to him He said, ‘See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.’ And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.” Zechariah 3:4, 5

The removal of the filthy garments represents the taking away of iniquity. The Lord says that it is He who provides the change of clothing, a royal robe, one that can be worn to a royal wedding.

“Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among those who stand here.

“ ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign … .’ ” Verses 6–8, first part

As a young preacher, I assumed that God’s people would know what causes them to be clothed in filthy garments, but I’ve learned lately the necessity of going over the basics so that we will understand exactly what is involved when we talk about a biblical subject. So, this is the question: “What is it that causes God’s people to be clothed in filthy garments?”

A filthy garment is a polluted and defiled garment, and if you find yourself still clothed in them when probation closes, you will be lost.

“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” Revelation 22:11, 12

The one who is filthy will remain filthy. But those who are saved will have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:14

Wearing filthy garments represents a sinful character. “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Revelation 19:8. This is one of the clearest verses in all the Bible showing that our garments represent our character.

The Bible tells us of many ways by which our characters can be defiled. Here are just a few:

  1. The way we eat. Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14

These chapters tell us how to distinguish between clean and unclean foods, and instructs us “to consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Leviticus 11:44

  1. Lewdness and immodesty. Leviticus 18

This includes pornography, dress, music, what we read, television, movies, videos, the internet, and social media. “Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.” Verse 24

In particular, the entertainment industry has had a profound effect upon man’s character. In a single movie or television program, you can experience nudity, lewd and coarse language, and the actors are being dishonest simply by virtue of pretending to be someone they are not. The clothing that is worn excites the sexual senses and does not modestly cover the body. The lyrics of the popular music styles today encourage violence, disobedience, immodesty, disrespect, and often, outright blasphemy. These entertainers are put before our children as role models, someone to emulate to prove that they are successful and well-liked.

If we want to have our character perfected, if we want to reflect Christ’s character, then we must remove these influences from our life. It is time to go to the Lord, and with deep contrition of heart, pray, “Lord help me.” This is why historic Adventist preachers spend so much time preaching about how to overcome sin. If these influences remain in our lives, then it would do no good for the Lord to give us new raiment for we would just get it dirty again.

  1. Sexual immorality/unrestrained passion. Exodus 32

“Your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.” Verse 7

The God-ordained restraint between a man and woman has been broken. There is an intended respect between the genders that should be maintained. In this world, there is a certain familiarity in touching and speaking between men and women that should be preserved only within the bonds of marriage between husband and wife. People today say, “Oh, that’s just the way I am. I don’t mean anything by it.” Or “That’s just the way it is in our culture. We’re friendly people.” But these activities can cause the minds of God’s people to be filled with lust, desire, and envy, resulting in filthy garments.

  1. Deuteronomy 25 and Leviticus 19

“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure.” Deuteronomy 25:13–15, first part

The Lord wants us to be strictly honest in all that we do.

“These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord [strife] among brethren.” Proverbs 6:16–19. All these things will make our garments filthy.

Remember, “But there shall by no means enter it [heaven] anything that defiles, or causes an abomination … .” Revelation 21:27, first part

  1. Evil surmising/stirring up strife/gossip. 1 Timothy 6:3–5

In 1 Timothy, Paul talks about people who engage in evil conjecturing or evil suspicioning. Gossiping and carrying tales, even if they are true, is not an activity that a child of God should be involved in. Reputations are ruined, particularly if the tale isn’t true, souls are scarred and driven from the church—both the subject of the gossip as well as the one carrying the gossip.

  1. The content of the heart and mind.

There are many scriptures that speak to this form of defilement. What is in our hearts directs our actions.

“ ‘You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.” But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.’ ” Matthew 5:21, 22

God is not suggesting that it is okay for you to be angry at your brother if you have a good reason. Anger begins in the heart and mind of a man. God is telling us that being angry is so bad that it can cause us to desire evil things and make us filthy with sin.

“ ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour, and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.’ ” Verses 43, 44

Hatred grows in the heart and mind. When we allow it a place there, it can take control of our lives.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Verses 27, 28

There are people who believe that the consequences of thinking about doing something are not the same as actually doing it. So, if I dream of having relations with someone other than my spouse, but I don’t really do it, then I am not guilty of committing adultery. This is one of the devil’s lies. The truth is, lust is found in the heart and mind, and if we look upon another person with evil desire, then we are guilty of making our garments filthy.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

Because evil lives in my heart and mind, if I want to wear clean garments, then I must have my heart and mind cleansed and purified; only then can I be delivered from my filthy garments.

Friends, we must now get serious about changing from our filthy garments and putting on Christ’s robe of righteousness. Our very nature requires a complete overhaul. First, we must recognize our true condition. Then, we must go to the Source of all power, the One who is mighty to save.

The Lord says that if we will walk in His ways and keep His commandments, then we will one day govern His house and keep His courts. We will be men and women at whom people will wonder. The unsaved, those without the wedding garment, will see God’s people dressed in the spotless, clean wedding garments, their characters perfected, ready to spend eternity with Jesus.

“To the marriage supper of the Lamb will come many who have not on the wedding garment—the robe [Christ] purchased for them with His lifeblood. From lips that never make a mistake come the words, ‘Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?’ (Matthew 22:12). Those [thus] addressed are speechless. They know that words would be useless. The truth, with its sanctifying power, has not been brought into the soul, and the tongue that once spoke so readily of the truth is now silent. The words are then spoken, ‘Take them out of My presence. They are not worthy to taste of My supper’ (cf. Luke 14:24).” The Upward Look, 301

As the sinner is separated from God’s loyal children, Christ looks upon them with deep sorrow. From His quivering lips come the mournful words of regret, “I loved them. I gave My life for them. But they persisted in rejecting My pleadings, and continued in sin.”

Do you want your filthy garments to be removed?

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Catholic & Protestant Confessions about the Sabbath

“The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. This fourth commandment begins with the word ‘remember’, showing that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote the law on the tables of stone at Sinai. How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding?”

D.L. Moody, Weighed and Wanting (Fleming H. Revell Co.: New York), 47, 48

 

“There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week. … Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament—absolutely not.

To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years’ intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question … never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated.

Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history … . But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!

Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers’ conference, November 13, 1893, reported in the New York Examiner, November 16, 1893

 

“But,’ say some, ‘it was changed from the seventh to the first day.’ Where? When? And by whom? No man can tell. No; it never was changed, nor could it be, unless creation was to be gone through again: for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance, or respect to the reason, can it be changed! It is all old wives’ fables to talk of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. If it be changed, it was that august personage changed it who changes times and laws ex officio—I think his name is Doctor Antichrist.

Alexander Campbell, The Christian Baptist, February 2, 1824, Vol. 1, No. 7, 164

 

“But, the moral law contained in the ten commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He (Christ) did not take away. It was not the design of His coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken. … Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other.

John Wesley, The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, AM., ed. (New York: Eaton & Mains), Sermon 25, Vol. 1, 221

 

“The Sabbath is a part of the Decalogue—the ten commandments. This alone forever settles the question as to the perpetuity of the institution. … Until, therefore, it can be shown that the whole moral law has been repealed, the Sabbath will stand. … The teaching of Christ confirms the perpetuity of the Sabbath.

T.C. Blake. D.D., Theology Condensed, 474, 475

 

“For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible.”

Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947, 9, article “To Tell You the Truth.”

 

“Q: Which is the Sabbath day?

A: Saturday is the Sabbath day?

Q: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

A: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”

The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957), 50

 

“The Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath.”

Timothy Dwight, Theology: Explained and Defended (1823), Sermon 107, Vol. 3, 258

 

“Reason and sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.”

John Cardinal Gibbons, The Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893

 

“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and… can be defended only on Catholic principles… From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.

Catholic Press, August 25, 1900

 

These quotations come from the pamphlet entitled Roman Catholic and Protestant Confessions about Sunday. This pamphlet and other materials regarding the Sabbath can be purchased from:

The Bible Sabbath Association
HC 60 Box 8
Fairview, OK 73737

Also available from the Steps to Life bookstore is the booklet Remember the Sabbath Day, written by Marshall Grosboll, which provides a thorough history of the Sabbath.

Angels in the Judgment

Of the final scene of the judgment the prophet Daniel, while an exile in Babylon, writes: “A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court [judgment] was seated, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:10

In this most important of all court scenes, the Judge is represented as having more than a million angels as His assistants, while more than a hundred million are court attendants. The books containing the records of the lives of men are opened, the court is convened, and the judgment is set.

John, in vision on the lonely Patmos, adds important features to this imposing scene: “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. … And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” Revelation 20:12

At the great judgment day the record books of heaven will be opened, and the future of all will be decided according to what has been written therein by the recording angels.

Of the righteous as they near the end of this world’s history, we read, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for them who feared the Lord and who meditate on His name.” Malachi 3:16

This book of remembrance was written by those heavenly messengers who ministered before Him. It has been shown from the Scriptures that angels are ever present with men; that they minister to the people of God, and deliver them from evil. They behold all the actions of men; they hear every idle word that is spoken. They take notice of everything that will come into judgment. The conclusion is natural, and seems almost unavoidable, that the angels make the record of these things; that the books of human action are written by them. This belief is so generally accepted that the term, “recording angel,” has become proverbial.

Not only do the angels act as guardians and protectors to the servants of God, but they also execute judgments upon the wicked and disobedient.

When Balaam, the sinning prophet, started on his journey to the land of Moab to curse Israel, God’s anger was kindled against him, and the angel of the Lord met him, “and took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. … Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand.” Numbers 22:22, 31

Yet so blinded by avarice was Balaam that he still went on his journey, and was finally among the slain in the overthrow of Moab when they fought against Israel. (See Joshua 13:22.)

When David sinned in numbering Israel, it is recorded that “God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. … Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between the earth and the heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem.” 1 Chronicles 21:15, 16

The eyes of David were opened, and he saw the messenger of destruction. By humility, confession of sin, and strong cries to God the plague was stayed, and the sword of the avenging angel was sheathed.

When Sodom became so wicked that its very presence could no longer be tolerated, two angels came to Lot with the message, “For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” Genesis 19:13

When Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came against Israel and Jerusalem with an immense army, Hezekiah, king of Judah, cried to the Lord, “Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor … .” 2 Chronicles 32:21. And that night the angel slew 185,000 of the blasphemous host. (See 2 Kings 19:35.)

Coming to our own time, we are led to believe, in the language of another, “that the sudden judgments which frequently overtake evildoers are executed upon them by the angels of God.” Jehovah has not withdrawn His hand from the affairs of the world. The earth today is “filled with violence,” and is far worse than in the days of the visitations of old. Is it not reasonable, therefore, to suppose that God’s methods have not changed, and that His mighty angels have a part to act in some of the punishments of individuals in this life, as well as in the reverses which overtake some of the wicked nations?

Of the great harvest of the world, our Saviour speaks in His parable recorded in Matthew 13:37–39: “ ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age [world], and the reapers are the angels.’ ”

By these angels the good seed is brought into the garner, but the wicked, represented as tares, will be cast into the furnace of the great burning day.

Just prior to the second coming of Christ seven awful plagues will be sent upon the wicked. (See Revelation 15:1.) These are to be poured out by seven angels selected for that purpose.

When the work of the gospel is finished, our Saviour will come again to this earth to take His faithful people to Himself. On this glorious mission He will be accompanied by all the holy angels. (See Matthew 25:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10.)

Of this glad day the apostle Paul writes, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. This gathering of the saints will be made by the angels. (See Matthew 24:30, 31.)

As the archangel in midheaven sounds the trump of God, the earth trembles, the graves are opened, and the sleeping saints arise, clothed with immortality. The same angel who has watched over that humble saint through life, and has marked his final resting place, now stands by his grave; and as the child of God comes up from his dusty bed, he clasps him in his arms, and bears him away in triumph to their coming Lord. O glorious scene! Victory to the saints! Joyful triumph to the Son of God! And the angels share in the glory and the joy. They have borne an important part in the work of redemption, and they rejoice in its final success.

Past, Present, and Future, James Edson White, Southern Publishing Association, ©1909, 84–92.

The Heavenly Trio

That doctrine that denies the absolute Godhead of Jesus Christ, denies also the Godhead of the Father.” Signs of the Times, June 27, 1895.

The Father and the Son

How long has Christ existed?

“If Christ made all things, He existed before all things. The words spoken in regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity. God over all, blessed forevermore.

“The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. This was no robbery of God. ‘The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way,’ He declares, ‘before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth; while as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there: when He set a compass upon the face of the depth.’ Proverbs 8:22–27.” Review and Herald, April 5, 1906.

Was Christ ever created or did He receive His divine power from any other source?

“In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. ‘He that hath the Son hath life.’ The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life.” Evangelism, 616.

“ ‘In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.’ It is not physical life that is here specified, but immortality, the life which is exclusively the property of God. The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life. Physical life is something which each individual receives. It is not eternal or immortal; for God, the Life-giver, takes it again. Man has no control over his life. But the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. ‘I lay it down of myself,’ He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived. This life is not inherent in man. He can possess it only through Christ.” Maranatha, 302.

Does Christ have a “lower position” in the Godhead than does God the Father?

“The Father can not be described by the things of earth. The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight. The Son is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested. The word of God declares Him to be ‘the express image of His person.’ Here is shown the personality of the Father.” Bible Training School, March 13, 1906.

Is Christ equal in power and authority with God the Father?

“Christ left His position in the heavenly courts, and came to this earth to live the life of human beings. This sacrifice He made in order to show that Satan’s charge against God is false—that it is possible for man to obey the laws of God’s kingdom. Equal with the Father, honored and adored by the angels, in our behalf Christ humbled Himself, and came to this earth to live a life of lowliness and poverty—to be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1129.

“In contemplating the incarnation of Christ in humanity, we stand baffled before an unfathomable mystery, that the human mind cannot comprehend. The more we reflect upon it, the more amazing does it appear. How wide is the contrast between the divinity of Christ and the helpless infant in Bethlehem’s manger! How can we span the distance between the mighty God and a helpless child? And yet the Creator of worlds, He in whom was the fullness of the Godhead bodily, was manifest in the helpless babe in the manger. Far higher than any of the angels, equal with the Father in dignity and glory, and yet wearing the garb of humanity! Divinity and humanity were mysteriously combined, and man and God became one. It is in this union that we find the hope of our fallen race. Looking upon Christ in humanity, we look upon God, and see in Him the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person.” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1130.

“Satan was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ. Yet when all the angels bowed to Jesus to acknowledge His supremacy and high authority and rightful rule, Satan bowed with them; but his heart was filled with envy and hatred. Christ had been taken into the special counsel of God in regard to His plans, while Satan was unacquainted with them. He did not understand, neither was he permitted to know, the purposes of God. But Christ was acknowledged sovereign of Heaven, His power and authority to be the same as that of God Himself.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, 18.

Did Christ cease to be God when He took on the form of humanity?

“But although Christ’s divine glory was for a time veiled and eclipsed by His assuming humanity, yet He did not cease to be God when He became man. The human did not take the place of the divine, nor the divine of the human. This is the mystery of godliness.” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1129.

“This wonderful problem—how God could be just, and yet the justifier of sinners—is beyond human ken. As we attempt to fathom it, it broadens and deepens beyond our comprehension. When we look with the eye of faith upon the cross of Calvary, and see our sins laid upon the victim hanging in weakness and ignominy there,—when we grasp the fact that this is God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,—we are led to exclaim, ‘Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us!’ Christ could at any moment have called legions of angels to His side; He could have swept every sinner from the face of the earth, and created new beings by His power; but God so loved the world, degraded as it was by sin, that ‘He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The Youth’s Instructor, February 11, 1897.

Is it possible for us to fully comprehend the mystery of the union of divinity and humanity in Christ?

“If we repent of our transgression, and receive Christ as the Life-giver, our personal Saviour, we become one with Him, and our will is brought into harmony with the divine will. We become partakers of the life of Christ, which is eternal. We derive immortality from God by receiving the life of Christ for in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. This life is the mystical union and cooperation of the divine with the human.” Signs of the Times, June 17, 1897.

“Science is too limited to comprehend the atonement; the mysterious and wonderful plan of redemption is so far-reaching that philosophy can not explain it; it will ever remain a mystery that the most profound reason can not fathom. If it could be explained by finite wisdom, it would lose its sacredness and dignity. It is a mystery that One equal with the eternal Father should so abase Himself as to suffer the cruel death of the cross to ransom man; and it is a mystery that God so loved the world as to permit His son to make this great sacrifice.” The Signs of the Times, October 24, 1906.

Is God the Father a person like the Son?

“I have often seen the lovely Jesus, that He is a person. I asked him if His Father was a person, and had a form like Himself. Said Jesus, ‘I am in the express image of My Father’s Person.’ I have often seen that the spiritual view took away the glory of heaven, and that in many minds the throne of David and the lovely person of Jesus had been burned up in the fire of spiritualism.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, 74.

“Our ministers must be very careful not to enter into controversy in regard to the personality of God. This is a subject that they are not to touch. It is a mystery, and the enemy will surely lead astray those who enter into it. We know that Christ came in person to reveal God to the world. God is a person and Christ is a person. Christ is spoken of in the Word as ‘the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His person.’ ” Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 343.

God The Holy Spirit

How many members are there in the Godhead?

“The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Savior. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ.” Evangelism, 615. [Emphasis Supplied]

Does the Holy Spirit also have the fullness of divine power?

“The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power.

It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer.” The Desire of Ages, 671.

Is the Holy Spirit God?

“The Holy Spirit indites all genuine prayer. I have learned to know that in all my intercessions the Spirit intercedes for me and for all saints; but His intercessions are according to the will of God, never contrary to His will. ‘The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities;’ and the Spirit, being God, knoweth the mind of God; therefore in every prayer of ours for the sick, or for other needs, the will of God is to be regarded. ‘For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.’” Signs of the Times, October 3, 1892. [All emphasis supplied.]

Is the Holy Spirit also a divine person?

“The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. ‘For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.’” Evangelism, 617.

“We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds.” Evangelism, 616.

“The Holy Spirit always leads to the written word. The Holy Spirit is a person; for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. At such times we believe and are sure that we are the children of God. What strong evidence of the power of truth we can give to believers and unbelievers when we can voice the words of John, ‘We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.’ ” Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, 68.

What is the work of the Holy Spirit?

“The Lord knows your desire; by faith keep close to Him, and expect to receive the Holy Spirit. The office of the Holy Spirit is to control all our spiritual exercises. The Father has given His Son for us that through the Son the Holy Spirit might come to us, and lead us unto the Father. Through divine agency, we have the spirit of intercession, whereby we may plead with God, as a man pleadeth with his friend.” Signs of the Times, October 3, 1892.

“Under the Holy Spirit’s working even the weakest, by exercising faith in God, learned to improve their entrusted powers and to become sanctified, refined, and ennobled. As in humility they submitted to the molding influence of the Holy Spirit, they received of the fullness of the Godhead and were fashioned in the likeness of the divine.” The Acts of the Apostles, 49.

“When God’s people search the Scriptures with a desire to know what is truth, Jesus is present in the person of His representative, the Holy Spirit, reviving the hearts of the humble and contrite ones.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, 145.

Does the Holy Spirit speak?

“The Holy Spirit must work the man; the man must not endeavor to work the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a servant, but a controlling power. The Holy Spirit causes the truth to shine in every mind, and speaks through every discourse where the minister surrenders himself to its working. The Holy Spirit walks with the soul by the way, and talks with the human agent. It is He who gives the atmosphere that surrounds the soul, and speaks to the impenitent through words of warning.” The Voice in Speech and Song, 285.

What part does the Holy Spirit act when we pray?

“We must not only pray in Christ’s name, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This explains what is meant when it is said that the Spirit ‘maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered.’ Romans 8:26. Such prayer God delights to answer. When with earnestness and intensity we breathe a prayer in the name of Christ, there is in that very intensity a pledge from God that He is about to answer our prayer ‘exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.’ Ephesians 3:20.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 147.

The “Star” of the New Evangelization of America

To begin, I would like to share a statement from the pen of inspiration that is most sobering and pertinent to the times in which we live: “Those who oppose the teachings of spiritualism are assailing, not men alone, but Satan and his angels. They have entered upon a contest against principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places. Satan will not yield one inch of ground except he is driven back by the power of heavenly messengers. The people of God should be able to meet him, as did our Savior, with the words: ‘It is written.’ Satan can quote Scripture now as in the days of Christ, and he will pervert its teachings to sustain his delusions. Those who would stand in this time of peril must understand for themselves the testimony of the Scriptures.” The Great Controversy, 559. [All emphasis throughout the article is supplied.]

“Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden: ‘Ye shall not surely die.’ ‘In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’ Genesis 3:4, 5. Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached in the last remnant of time. Says the prophet: ‘I saw three unclean spirits like frogs…they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God almighty.’ Revelation 16:13, 14. Except those who are kept by the power of God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept into the ranks of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled to a fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God.” Ibid., 561, 562.

The Two Great Errors

There are two doctrinal errors that nearly all Christendom has swallowed as part of the “wine of Babylon.” The first is the false teaching that Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord’s day; and the second, which is more deadly, is the hellish doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul and man’s consciousness in death.

Friends, do you realize that two of the pope’s last Apostolic letters deal with these two doctrinal errors? On July 7, 1998, the Vatican released the pope’s 104-page Apostolic letter entitled Dies Domini—On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy. Point 67 of Dies Domini actually states: “Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy….Sunday must be sanctified.” On the same day, The Denver Post quoted Rome as saying; “A violator should be punished as a heretic.” Has not prophecy warned us that “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state [“civil legislation”] to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image to the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters [heretics] will inevitably result.” The Great Controversy, 445.

Many Seventh-day Adventists are familiar with Dies Domini, but not many are aware of the pope’s Apostolic Exhortation that he gave to the Synod of Bishops, in Mexico City, prior to his historic visit to St. Louis, in January of 1999. It is called Ecclesia [Church] in America of the Holy Father John Paul II: The Way to Conversion, Communion and Solidarity in America. At the council of Bishops in Mexico, the theme of the event was to discuss new strategies for evangelism that the church in America must attain in the third Christian millennium (which begins with the year 2000). And will the Virgin Mary be a major player in the new evangelistic efforts of the Roman Catholic Church?

The Star of the New Evangelization

While in Mexico, the pope dedicated the Americas to the Virgin Mary. From the Exhortation, we read: “With the passage of time, pastors and faithful alike have grown increasingly conscious of the role of the Virgin Mary in the evangelization of America. In the prayer of the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops, Holy Mary of Guadalupe is invoked as ‘Patroness of all America and Star of the first and new evangelization. In view of this, I welcome with joy the proposal of the Synod Fathers that the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother and Evangelizer of America, be celebrated throughout the continent on December 12. It is my heartfelt hope that she…will by her maternal intercession guide the Church in America, obtaining the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as she once did for the early church (cf. Acts 1:14), so that the new evangelization may yield a splendid flowering of Christian life.”

Consequently, not only in Central and South America, but in North America as well, the Virgin of Guadalupe is venerated as Queen of all America. Furthermore, the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe near Mexico City draws 20 million visitors a year. It is regarded as the most sacred shrine outside of Europe. Mary, that is the spirit apparition of Mary, is the “Star” of the Roman Catholic Church’s new evangelization of the Americas.

Before I precede any further, I want you to know that the Catholic Church acknowledges the pagan origin of many of the shrines and statues of Mary. A Catholic publication stated the following: “Devotion to Mary began in the earliest years of Christianity, and she is revered in Christian literature as early as A.D. 150…Throughout the history of the world, sites associated with any one religion have often been re-used by its successor. To do so reinforces the new religion, but may also result in characteristics of deities of different faiths becoming intermingled. Statues of the Virgin…used to be paraded around the fields to ensure a good harvest. The moon and stars, symbols of Diana, Greco-Roman goddess of hunting were later associated with the Virgin, and Mary is frequently referred to as Stella Maria—Star of the Sea. Festivals, too, were assimilated [from paganism] into the new faith: the Festival of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin on 2 February was originally a Roman Festival of purification. And Christians often took over the pagan shrines of the ancient world’s goddesses and rededicated them to Mary. A good example is the shrine to Diana at Ephesus, which was re-established in the fourth century as a shrine to the Virgin.” Shrines of Our Lady, 6, 7.

Amazing! Rome blinds the eyes of ignorant souls worldwide, and once loyalty to their pagan statues is gained, they empty the pockets of their victims. In Acts 19:24, 25, we read: “For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.”

The Love of the Truth or Strong Delusion

Beloved, as a former Roman Catholic and Mary devotee, I am amazed and saddened by the lethargy of Seventh-day Adventists, who have been entrusted with the Three Angels’ Messages, and their silence on this issue! Who is sounding the trumpet? Who is warning our people that spiritualism will soon break upon us with a magnitude that may deceive the very elect! The Bible warns us that the day is near when “miracles” and “lying wonders” will deceive those that “love not the truth.” I believe the warning in 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12 is written for every professed Christian who has either not heeded or even has rejected the light sent from heaven, regardless of his church affiliation, and especially for Seventh-day Adventists.

Paul writes: “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie [including the devil’s first lie that “Ye shall not surely die” Genesis 3:4]: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8–12.

What denomination has been given the truth? And please notice, not only do many of the professed Christians whom Paul refers to “love not the truth,” but also they do not love it because they have “pleasure in unrighteousness.” Certainly, the majority of professed Seventh-day Adventists today are enjoying the pleasures of the world, and this is most evident by the celebration worship services they have adopted from Rome—a product of Vatican II!

And what will be the “strong delusions” that will deceive, if possible the very elect? In 1 Timothy 4:1 we read: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”

The Alpha and the Omega

Nearly 100 years ago, Ellen White gave the following warning: “Be not deceived; many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature.…I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people.” Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, 16, 53. At the time she wrote this statement, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, in his book The Living Temple, was promulgating the doctrine of [New Age] pantheism—that God is in everything in the material world—“the flower, the tree, the atmosphere, and even the sinner, and in each one of us, as virtually ‘doing away with God,’ and therefore seriously undercutting the sanctuary truth.” Manuscript Releases, 760, 1. This leaves you with an impersonal god, not one who is ministering in your behalf in the heavenly sanctuary, but one that is diffused through nature. Such teachings will lead to the worship of the creature, or to creation, rather than to the Creator. After all, is it not Satan’s ultimate goal to rob God of the homage due only Him by whatever medium he himself chooses!

Dear reader, let it be understood that pantheism, the alpha of apostasy, is a form of spiritualism! In fact, the prophet linked pantheism and spiritualism together on a number of occasions. On one occasion she wrote: “Let the world go into spiritualism, theosophy [mysticism], and pantheism, if they choose. We are to have nothing to do with this deceptive branch of Satan’s work.” Battle Creek Letters, 109. Webster’s College Dictionary gives several definitions for the word spiritualism, one of which is: “The belief that all reality is spiritual [pantheism].” Ellen White labeled Kellogg’s teachings as “fascinating, spiritualistic science of Satanic origin.” And she goes on to say: “That these beautiful representations are similar to the temptation that the enemy brought to Adam and Eve in Eden.” Ibid., 103; Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 341.

In Eden, Satan spoke through the medium of a serpent. Pantheism teaches that God is in everything, even animals. Have not even animated, talking animals, such as Disney characters, been used as a form of spiritualism to prepare millions of innocent children to drink of the devil’s future master delusions? In fact, I just learned that a Hollywood movie, called The Sixth Sense, has been the number-one moneymaker for seven weeks in a row! It is about a young boy who is communicating with the dead. Spiritualism, just like pantheism, is a spiritualistic science of Satanic origin! In the last days, in his grand efforts to deceive, Satan will again speak through mediums, but this time expanding “familiar spirits” to include, not only human-like agencies, but also well-known deceased Christians. The world, with the help of Hollywood, is quickly being primed to accept the demon Mary and other imposters that shall appear.

I believe Ellen White saw that spiritualism and its influence upon God’s people would not cease, but, to the contrary, would culminate in the omega of apostasy: “I am instructed to speak plainly. ‘Meet it,’ is the word spoken to me. ‘Meet it firmly, and without delay’.…In the book Living Temple, there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 200. No wonder she “trembled” for our people, for Satan is determined to sweep “all into the ranks of spiritualism”!!! The Great Controversy, 588.

Spiritualism Will Imitate Nominal Christianity

Revelation 13 warns us that the United States will experience “great wonders…on the earth in the sight of men. And which will deceive them that “dwell on the earth, by the means of those miracles, which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.” Revelation 13: 13, 14. “The time is coming when Satan will work miracles right in your sight, claiming that he is Christ; and if your feet are not firmly established upon the truth of God, then you will be led away from your foundation. The only safety for you is to search for truth as for hid treasures. Dig for the truth as you would for treasures in the earth, and present the word of God, the Bible, before your heavenly Father and say, ‘Enlighten me, teach me what is truth’.…You should store the mind with the Word of God; for you may be separated, and placed where you will not have the privilege of meeting with the children of God. ” Review and Herald, April 3, 1888.

Picture the day when supernatural events, such as Mother Teresa, the Virgin Mary, or the Apostles of Christ walking on this earth, strengthen the efforts of the religious teachers who are urging Americans to obey the altered ten commandments, which include the worship of the Sunday sabbath. “As Spiritualism assimilates more closely to the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things…Through the agency of Spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and express regard for Sunday, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 406. This will be a time when violators will be threatened with civil fines and imprisonment if they refuse to obey the laws of the land and the words of Satan’s “familiar spirits.” What will you do then, beloved? In the exhortation given at the Synod of Bishops in Mexico City, Pope John Paul II saved his best for the last. In Article 73, entitled The Challenge of the Sects, he states: “The proselytizing activity of the sects [historic SDAs?] and new religious groups in America is a grave hindrance to the work of evangelization….The success of proselytism by sects and new religious groups in America cannot be ignored.” Indeed, the end is upon us!

Celebration 2000—The Grand Jubilee

In case you are not aware, Rome is planning a great celebration or jubilee to welcome in the third millennium—the year 2000, a Marian year—and the holy doors will be opened Christmas, December 25, 1999—the starting date of the Grand Jubilee celebration. The Vatican plans a series of masses and other celebrations to mark Christianity’s third millennium, and 20 million people are expected to flock to Rome. John Paul II has declared 2000 a jubilee year—a time of pilgrimage and celebration.

Pope John Paul II, in his new book, Celebration 2000, tells us who in the spiritual realm is in charge of leading the church to Christ in the year 2000. He states: “I entrust this responsibility of the whole church to the maternal intercession of Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer: She, the Mother of fairest love, will be for the Christians on the way to the Great Jubilee of the third millennium the star which safely guides their steps to the Lord.” Celebration 2000, 268.

Malachi Martin, author of The Keys of This Blood, said that the pope is anxiously awaiting a potent worldwide Marian Vision—“an event that will fission human history….It will be an event on public view in the skies, in the oceans, and on the continental landmasses of this planet. It will particularly involve our human sun….But on the day of this event, it will not appear as the master star of our so-called solar system. Rather, it will be seen as the circumambient glory of the Woman whom the apostle describes as ‘clothed with the sun’ and giving birth to ‘a child who will rule the nations with a scepter of iron.’” The Keys of This Blood, 639.

If you doubt this could happen, research what occurred in Fatima, Portugal, on October 13, 1917. The “Miracle of the Sun” took place. “The sun seemed to flicker on and off, first one way and then another. It shot rays in different directions and painted everything in different colors, the trees, the people, the air and the ground. The sun did not hurt the eyes. Everything was still and quiet, everyone looking upwards. At a certain moment, the sun seemed to stop and then begin to move and to dance until it seemed that it was being detached from the sky and was falling on the people. Thousands of the people present saw this phenomenon and the newspapers wrote about it.” Our Lady of Fatima Web Site.

Interestingly, Malachi Martin, ex-Jesuit, died July 27, 1999, and reports are varied on the cause of his death. The Sunday Visitor, August 22, 1999, featured an article by Greg Erlandson, Editor in Chief, in which he labeled Malachi Martin as “half brilliant, half loon, given to incredible conspiracy theories.” Perhaps, he revealed too much!

The Vision

Will the pope’s expected vision be cataclysmic and bring the normal activity of the world to a standstill? Some are praying that Mary—“the Star of the new evangelization”—will walk through the holy doors of the Vatican on Christmas 1999, the inauguration of Jubilee 2000. If the vision occurs, I believe it could be what the pope needs to exalt him as the head of the New World Order. Would world chaos and calamities precede this expected vision? Could it validate the global reign of Pope John Paul II, a Marian pope, who credits Mary with saving his life, and establish him as the spiritual judge of the planet and the Roman Catholic Church as the only true church and this pope as God’s ordained leader? Compare this thought with E.G. White’s conclusion on page 588 of The Great Controversy: “Satan determines to unite them [professed Christians and the ungodly] into one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth [and who believe in the immortality of the soul], will also be deluded…and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.” The Great Controversy, 588, 589. It has been said that those who are involved in the New Age movement will also accept a worldwide Marian (goddess) vision preceding the appearance of the false Christ—the lord Maitreya.

The New Age, Mother Earth, and the Goddess

In his most blasphemous book, The Armageddon Script, The Power of Prophecy and the Secret Life of Jesus, New Ager Peter Lemesurier writes enthusiastically about the worship of the “Great Mother Earth.” He writes as if he is an astronaut in a spaceship in orbit around the earth. “As they rounded the barren lunar globe for the…last time, and the resplendent half-earth once again rose behind that now familiar curved and rocky horizon, what they saw coming up to meet them was strangely familiar….A god out of the world of the archetypes. It was none other than the rounded form of the Great Mother, earth herself, clad in the same flowering robes of shining blue and white that had been those of mother-goddess of earth and sky throughout history—and not least his most recent mother-goddess, the Virgin Mary herself.” The Armageddon Script, 245, 246.

Peter Lemesurier, as a pagan worshipper, has no difficulty recognizing the truth that the worship of the Virgin Mary is ancient pagan idolatry. Therefore, non-Christian Pagans the world over will have little difficulty accepting the worship of “the Virgin Mary,” which is actually an evil spirit impersonating Mary. (See 2 Corinthians 11:13–15.)

Spiritualism and the Unification of Churches

The prophet has warned us that spiritualism is the means by which Satan will “unite the churches,” and Rome will use spiritualism to “validate” that she is the true church! I believe the demon Mary will play a critical role in the accomplishment of this goal, and not only Protestants, but also New Agers, will fall for it, because they all believe Rome’s false doctrine of the devil’s first lie—the immortality of the soul. Remember, “The whole world will be swept into the ranks of this delusion.” The Great Controversy, 562.

The world is ready and ripe for this almost overpowering deception. In fact, the December, 1996, issue of Life magazine featured, on its front cover, a picture of a statue of Mary and the caption: “Two thousand years after the Nativity, the mother of Jesus is more beloved, powerful, and controversial than ever. The Mystery of Mary.” The ending of this article was especially of interest to me. It stated: “Mary…might lead to an ecumenical reunion of Christian churches [see The Great Controversy, 445.] It might lead to a closer understanding of the teenage girl who gave birth in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago….Can we ask this simple girl to guide what has become not a cult but a huge and passionate congregation, a movement requiring a hero, a world-wide flock that has long demanded more of her? That has demanded, in some instances, that she deliver her message herself? I wonder: If Mary became merely human—if people could truly touch Mary—would Mary be enough?” After all, Rome makes the assertion that not only is the pope the Spiritual father of all Christians, but Mary is their mother! A quote from A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, 27, states: “The Blessed Virgin is our Mother also because, being the brethren of Jesus, we are the children of Mary.”

Will She Deceive the Very Elect?

And will SDAs also be overcome by this wonder-working demon? Please, study the prophecies of Ezekiel 8 and 9. Ellen White alludes to Ezekiel 9 in Volume 5 of the Testimonies in the chapter called The Seal of God, 207–216. Here she likens the destruction of apostate SDAs to the destruction by the slaughtering angels of Ezekiel 9, which begins in the sanctuary, or the church. “Here we see that the church—the Lord’s sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interest of the people, had betrayed their trust….Thus, ‘Peace and safety’ is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 211. And for what reason will the Lord destroy the people called by His name? Because the “abominations” in Ezekiel 8 are being practiced in the Lord’s house—His church—one of which is the worship of the “image of jealousy.” “The faithful few… lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 210.

Historian Alexander Hislop tells us in his book, The Two Babylons, that the “image of jealousy” is that of the Babylonian Madonna, the “queen of heaven.” Therefore, what provokes the wrath of God today is that “the child she [Modern Babylon] holds forth to adoration is called by the name of Jesus, His son.” (The Two Babylons, 88). With “Satan himself” being “converted after the modern order of things (see The Great Controversy, 588),” the image would be that of “Babylon, The Great” [Roman Catholicism’s] Madonna, or the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus [who really would be Tammuz (see Ezekiel 8:14)], set up in the church that claims to worship the true God. The Lord commanded: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath….Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” Exodus 20:4, 5. Is it any wonder why the Catholic Church removed the second commandment from the moral law?

Furthermore, Jeremiah records that God’s people obeyed not “the voice of the Lord, nor walked in His law, nor in His statutes, nor in His testimonies,” for they were burning “incense to the queen of heaven.” Jeremiah 44:23, 25. Is this another example of “the sure word of prophecy?” 2 Peter 1:19. Ellen White was shown in vision many years ago that “Modern Israel are in greater danger of forgetting God and being led into idolatry than were His ancient people.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 609.

“It is to be remembered that the greater the light bestowed, the greater the delusion and darkness of those who reject the word of God and accept fables.” Signs of the Times, November 8, 1899. After all, was it not the leaders of the Jewish nation that had Christ murdered with the aid of the Roman power! Will history be repeated? “However high any minister may have stood in the favor of God, if he neglects to follow out the light given him of God, if he refuses to be taught as a little child, he will go into darkness and satanic delusions and will lead others in the same path.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 214.

The “Star” of the New Evangelization of America, Part II

In part one, we saw how the world is ready for Satan’s final great delusion—spiritualism. In part two we will learn how important it is for Adventists today to be prepared for these overmastering deceptions.

Will She Deceive the Very Elect?

And will Seventh-day Adventists also be overcome by this wonder-working demon? Please study the prophecies of Ezekiel 8 and 9. Ellen White alludes to Ezekiel 9 in Volume 5 of the Testimonies in the chapter called The Seal of God, 207–216. Here she likens the destruction of apostate Seventh-day Adventists to the destruction by the slaughtering angels of Ezekiel 9, which begins in the sanctuary, or the church. “Here we see that the church—the Lord’s sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interest of the people, had betrayed their trust….Thus, ‘Peace and safety’ is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 211. And for what reason will the Lord destroy the people called by His name? Because the “abominations” in Ezekiel 8 are being practiced in the Lord’s house—His church—one of which is the worship of the “image of jealousy.” “The faithful few… lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 210.

Historian Alexander Hislop tells us in his book, The Two Babylons, that the “image of jealousy” is that of the Babylonian Madonna, the “queen of heaven.” Therefore, what provokes the wrath of God today is that “the child she [modern Babylon] holds forth to adoration is called by the name of Jesus, His son.” The Two Babylons, 88. Modern Babylon’s image is the Virgin Mary (Madonna) and baby Jesus, and it is set up in the church and the faithful are called to worship it as the true God. The Lord commanded: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath.…Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” Exodus 20:4, 5. Is it any wonder that the Catholic Church remov ed the second commandment from the moral law?

Jeremiah recorded that God’s people obeyed not “the voice of the Lord, nor walked in His law, nor in His statutes, nor in His testimonies,” for they were burning “incense to the queen of heaven.” Jeremiah 44:23, 25. Is this another example of “the sure word of prophecy?” (2 Peter 1:19.) Ellen White was shown in vision many years ago that “Modern Israel are in greater danger of forgetting God and being led into idolatry than were His ancient people.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 609.

“It is to be remembered that the greater the light bestowed, the greater the delusion and darkness of those who reject the word of God and accept fables.” Signs of the Times, November 8, 1899. After all, was it not the leaders of the Jewish nation that had Christ murdered with the aid of the Roman power? Will history be repeated? “However high any minister may have stood in the favor of God, if he neglects to follow out the light given him of God, if he refuses to be taught as a little child, he will go into darkness and satanic delusions and will lead others in the same path.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 214.

The Betrayal

One may ask, “Will Seventh-day Adventists really accept spiritualism and the false Mary?” To this I ask, “Will the majority of Seventh-day Adventists worship on Sunday when it is enforced by law?” Here are some very sobering comments from inspiration bearing on this matter: “‘And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold’…Soon God’s people will be tested by fiery trials, and the great proportion of those who now appear as genuine and true will prove to be base metal….They will cowardly take the side of the opposers. The promise is: ‘They that honor Me I will honor’…To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test.” Testimonies, vol.5, 136. “I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved.” Testimonies, vol.1, 608.

The Spirit of Prophecy has also told us that ministers in the “open air will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week.” Review and Herald, March 18, 1884. (If you read the context of this statement, you will discover that she is referring to Seventh-day Adventist ministers.) She has also given this warning: “As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the Third Angel’s Message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.” The Great Controversy, 608.

Does this mean that apostate Seventh-day Adventists will turn in faithful Adventists to the Catholics? Ellen White was shown in vision that “the nominal church and nominal Adventists, like Judas, would betray us to the Catholics to obtain their influence to come against the truth. The saints 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; that is, that they keep the Sabbath and disregard Sunday.” Spalding and Magan Collection, 1.

If professed Seventh-day Adventists will accept one of the two great errors, namely, Sunday-keeping, why won’t they accept the other—the immortality of the soul. After all, the easy, popular side will already be worshipping the “demon Mary.” In fact, goddess worship today ties together approximately 75% of the world’s population:

  • Roman Catholicism, 974 million
  • Eastern Orthodox, 164 million
  • Buddhism/various sects, 1 billion 100 million
  • Hinduism, 690 million
  • Japanese Religions, 230 million
  • Tribal Religions, 100 million (approx.)
  • Mohammedism, 924 million
  • Protestants, 351 million

(Information taken from Almanac 1991)

A Terrifying Dream

Ellen White, the messenger of the Lord, once had a terrifying dream that she could not understand at the time. It occurred while on a journey with her husband to Battle Creek. “I dreamed that I was in Battle Creek looking out from the side glass at the door and saw a company marching up to the house, two and two. They looked stern and determined. I knew them well and turned to open the parlor door to receive them, but thought I would look again. The scene had changed. The company now presented the appearance of a Catholic procession. One bore in his hand a cross, and another a reed. And as they approached, the one carrying the reed made a circle around the house, saying three times: ‘This house is proscribed. [“In ancient Rome, to announce the name of a person as condemned to death and subject to confiscation of property.” Webster’s College Dictionary.] The goods must be confiscated. They have spoken against our holy order.’ Terror seized me, and I ran through the house, through the north door, and found myself in the midst of the company, some of whom I knew, but I dared not speak a word to them for fear of being betrayed. I tried to seek a retired spot where I might weep and pray without meeting eager, inquisitive eyes wherever I turned. I repeated frequently: ‘If I could only understand this! If they will tell me what I have said or what I have done!’” Testimonies, vol. 1, 578. Had she seen the omega!

The Betrayal Has Already Begun

Dear friends, has the betrayal already begun in light of the recent official compromises and associations between Seventh-day Adventists and Catholics? Such as the Week of Prayer at Pacific Union College that was led by an ex-priest, who had the students recite several times after him: “We are Easter men and Easter women, Alleluia, that’s our name.” I heard the cassette recordings with my own ears. Another example is PorterCare of Adventist Health Systems, which has lost its investment grade rating due to its involvement with financially struggling Centura Health—Colorado’s largest hospital system. Centura is a jointly managed company, formed in 1995 between PorterCare and the Sisters of Charity Health Services, now part of Catholic Health Initiatives. And what about Willow Creek Church, an inter-denominational, Pentecostal-style church near Chicago that focuses on church growth and celebration-style worship—an ecumenical ploy of Vatican II? Since at least 56 SDA churches have joined the Willow Creek Association, I wonder if we will soon see charismatic SDA churches as a result? Unsurprisingly, an SDA pastor just informed me that Adventists in Southern California are speaking in false tongues—another spiritualistic manifestation that will be used by Satan to unify the churches of all denominations!

And what about the tragedy at College View Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the Cardinal and Archbishop of Baltimore preached on baptism and sprinkled the heads of those present as a symbol of baptism!! And why, during communion, are some SDA ministers calling their congregations forward—a standard procedure of the Catholic mass—to receive the “Holy Eucharist”—a Roman Catholic term applied to the wafer, which according to Catholic doctrine, becomes the “literal body of Jesus Christ”? In the meantime, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has filed a trademark lawsuit against a brother who is placing ads in major newspapers, warning the world of Dies Domini and the coming Sunday Law—the mark of the beast—the mark of Rome! And, sad to say, they may be using tithe money to pay their legal fees. Undoubtedly, Rome has infiltrated the headquarters of the corporate church; and when the headquarters is infected, it affects the whole body of believers. “Satan’s chief work is at the headquarters of our faith. He spares no pains to corrupt men in responsible positions and to persuade them to be unfaithful to their several trusts.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 210.

The prophet has warned us that Satan’s threefold union will be formed when Protestantism and spiritualism “reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power” and trample “on the rights of conscience.” The Great Controversy, 588. You can, then, understand the shock I felt when I read the following in Sunday—a quarterly magazine published by The Lord’s Day Alliance of the United States. In a special tribute to Dr. James Wesberry, Executive Director-Editor and Administrative Assistant, for his loyal service from 1975 – 1992, it was noted: “He also made history for the alliance when he spoke at Andrews University and Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and led in exploration of ways The Lord’s Day Alliance and Seventh-day Adventists could work together. ‘In spite of differences of opinion in reference to the Sabbath question,’ Wesberry explained, ‘we had clasped hands across these differences and denominational lines and felt the warm, sincere grip and gracious friendship among brothers and sisters in Christ.’” Sunday, Vol. LXXIX, no. 3, 11. Why did the SDA Theological Seminary join hands with one of the most ardent promoters of the Sunday-Sabbath? Is the answer betrayal?

I would like to conclude my summary of events in this growing apostasy in Adventism with the most recent stab to my already aching heart. On January 26 and 27, 1999, Modern Manna went to St. Louis for the papal visit with 100,000 copies of Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? At the same time, The Eternal Gospel Church of Seventh-day Adventists had also run The Earth’s Final Warning in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Were we justified in feeling betrayed when we learned that Seventh-day Adventist men, in responsible positions, were already apologizing to the beast of Bible prophecy, “Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Church, for discrimination, hatred and persecution inspired by offshoot groups” in St. Louis. Adventist Today, January, 1999. E. G. White hit the nail on the head when she prophesied: “Instead of standing in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were, apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her, begging pardon for their bigotry.” The Great Controversy, 572. The Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters raised the white flag to Rome! (See Adventist News Network News Release: 27 January 1999).

But this is not the end of the story, friends, for I am sad to say there is more. During the ecumenical service held on January 27 at the Basilica of St. Louis, B.T. Rice, pastor of the Northside Seventh-day Adventist Church and president of the St. Louis Clergy Coalition, presented a document to the “man of sin” welcoming him to the community and acknowledging “his tireless example on behalf of interfaith understanding and community relations.” He also presented him with “a hand-made banner, bearing the logo Faith Beyond Walls.” (St. Louis Post Dispatch, Jan. 27, 1999, in the article entitled “Many faiths join to work for a better community.”)

How symbolic! The wall of separation between Catholicism and Seventh-day Adventism is certainly breaking apart. This is a clear example of pure ecumenicalism—a movement promoting cooperation and unity among religious groups—of which the Demon Mary will be the “Star!” Friends, certainly this is a time to be “sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in…the church!” Testimonies, vol. 5, 209, 210. I am trembling for our people, for they have drunk deeply from Rome’s intoxicating cup, and the omega is just around the corner!

The Very Last Deception

Did not E. G. White foresee, in the terrifying dream referred to earlier in this article, a future time when Seventh-day Adventists will betray their own people—including their prophet. Could this dream have its fulfillment when Seventh-day Adventists betray not only their brethren, but also the truths entrusted to them by God—by rejecting or “betraying” the Spirit of Prophecy, or Testimonies, written by the prophet herself? Remember, “In rejecting the truth, men reject its author.” The Great Controversy, 583. “Satan is…constantly pressing in the spurious—to lead away from the truth. The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ Proverbs 29:18. Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony.

“There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them, for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 48. This is my reason for writing these articles! Will we forget the lessons of the past? During the alpha of apostasy, the Spirit of Prophecy also came under attack.

Please remember, beloved, the Spirit of Prophecy is one of the two identifying marks of the remnant church of Bible prophecy. (See Revelation 12:17.) It is a gift from God! Why, then, must we continue to rebel against God’s Word when He has so clearly warned us of the following: “One thing it is certain is soon to be realized,—the great apostasy, which is developing and increasing and waxing stronger, will continue to do so until the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout. We are to hold fast the first principles of our denominated faith!” Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, 57.

Ellen White’s Most Solemn Warning

Ellen White, perhaps, issued her most solemn warning to Seventh-day Adventists when she penned what would happen if they disseminated the seductive, spiritualistic theories of the alpha of apostasy:

“I was shown a platform braced by solid timbers,—the truths of the Word of God. Someone high in responsibility in the medical work was directing this man and that man to loosen the timbers supporting the platform. I heard a voice saying, ‘Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Master Worker, and will stand storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God? The time has come to take decided action.’

“The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error [the sanctuary, the nature of Christ, sanctification, the beast, etc.]. A new organization would be established [who is setting up the new organization?] Books of a new order [new theology] would be written. A system of intellectual theology would be introduced [SDA ministers are receiving their advanced education and “philosophies” from the evangelical teachers of the world]. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath, of course, would be lightly regarded, and also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement [lawsuits against faithful Seventh-day Adventists for preaching the Three Angels’ Messages, ordering them to drop the name, etc.]. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice [loving apologies to Rome and peace and safety sermons], but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure.” Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, 54, 55. Oh, friends, the structure church is quickly heading down the primrose path! But, Praise God, not one faithful soul, not one true Israelite, will be lost!

What Will You Do?

Now, dear friends, ask yourself this question: “Are you seeing the inroads of any of the points listed above in your church?” Or, perhaps, is there just a dead silence from your ministers and church leaders? Should we be silent at this hour? How about your own heart? Even Ellen White delayed sending this letter out which the Spirit of the Lord had impelled her to write. But she realized, in the providence of God, that the errors that had been coming in must be met. She then alludes to a story about a ship, in the fog, meeting an iceberg. She was presented in the night the following scene: “A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, ‘Iceberg just ahead!’ There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg [pantheism-spiritualism]. An authoritative voice cried out, ‘Meet it!’ There was not a moment’s hesitation. It was time for instant action.…With a crash she struck the ice…and the iceberg broke in pieces.…The passengers were violently shaken…but no lives were lost.” Ibid., 56, 57. Oh, may the church repent and return to the first principles of the denominated faith—the “old paths” spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet! (Jeremiah 6:16.) For history is seeking to repeat itself, and, in fact, soon will!

Friends, not only is the great apostasy waxing stronger, but its climax, the omega—spiritualism under a Christian guise—as exemplified by the iceberg, is right before our eyes! Just as the spiritualistic science of pantheism was the alpha of “deadly heresies,” the “startling nature” of “modern spiritualism”—pantheism’s big sister—with Satan being “converted after the modern order of things” will be the omega. The startling nature of the omega is that spiritualism will closely imitate the nominal Christianity of the day.

What will you do, beloved? Will you meet it head on, even at the risk of being ostracized or disfellowshipped from the church which you love? As in the alpha of apostasy, evil angels took captive the mind of John Harvey Kellogg. So in the omega, Satan will be “using all his science in playing the game of life for human souls. His angels are mingling with and instructing them in the mysteries of evil. These fallen angels will draw away disciples after them, will talk with men, and will set forth principles that are as false as can be, leading souls into paths of deception. These angels are to be found all over the world, presenting the wonderful things that will soon appear in a more decided light.” Manuscript Releases, 760, 17. Says spiritualism, pantheism’s big sister, “I’m back!”

Warnings from God

Most Seventh-day Adventists have read Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” But how many of us have noticed in what context this verse was written? Isaiah 8:19 warns: “And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead?” The admonishment of Isaiah 8:20 is warning us of spiritualism—in conversing with our beloved dead, who are really demon imposters! Incidentally, this is why I refer to the Virgin Mary, universally beloved by Christians, as the “demon Mary.”

And what about the famous Letter 55, written in 1886, that says: “The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out.” What is it that threatens the elect to such a magnitude as this? The sentence that precedes the ones quoted above is rarely mentioned in conjunction with them. It reads: “Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme.” Thus, spiritualism—the omega—will be a great test of a most startling nature for the people of God!

—To be continued…

The Star of the New Evangelization of America, Part III

Editor’s Note: In the last two parts (Part I and Part II) of this series we have looked at the role spiritualism will play in the last days, especially as it relates to Adventism. This month we will examine, in detail, the Marian phenomena and how we should relate to it.

Thousands of Supernatural Apparitions

Satan has been preparing the world for a master deception for quite some time. Mary apparitions have been reported for centuries, and, more recently, the phenomena is steadily increasing. “Spiritualism is about to take the world captive. There are many who think that Spiritualism is upheld through trickery and imposture; but this is far from the truth. Superhuman power is working in a variety of ways, and few have any idea of what will be the manifestations of Spiritualism in the future.” Signs of the Times, May 28, 1894. Is it any wonder, then, that all over the world major Mary apparitions and pilgrimages are increasing each year? “Since the first recorded supernatural appearance of Mary to a third-century pagan lawyer turned Christian named Gregory Thaumaturgus.…thousands of apparitions of the Virgin…have been claimed.…Hundreds of visions have been reported in the twentieth century alone, although only a few have ever received official ‘approval’ by the Catholic Church.” Searching for Mary, 6.

The December 30, 1991, Time magazine reported that “the late 20th century has become the age of the Marian pilgrimage” to shrines established to commemorate the many sightings of the Virgin Mary in recent years. Perhaps the two most famous shrines are at Lourdes, France, and Fatima, Portugal. But, “there are thousands of shrines of Our Lady in every country of the world.” Shrines to our Lady, 5. Shrines are usually built at locations where an apparition has appeared. Especially in the twentieth century, Mary apparitions have been reported and shrines erected in Portugal, Ireland, Rwanda, Venezuela, Italy, Yugoslavia, Korea, Mexico, Japan, and many other countries, drawing millions of visitors every year.

A major U.S. newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, on December 25, 1998, featured the following headline: Virgin Mary Fervor Grows As More Sightings Reported. The Chronicle cited that the three major reasons for the added Marian fervor are the approach of the millennium, the strong devotion of Pope John Paul II to Mary, and the continuing influence of events at Medjugorje, a Bosnian village where the mother of Jesus supposedly appeared in 1981. In Carthage, Missouri, 50,000 were estimated for the 21st annual observance of Marian Days. (Scope, August 12, 1998.) Then, “in Conyers, Georgia, 100,000 people gathered on a farm to hear a middle-aged housewife named Nancy Fowler channel messages from the Virgin Mary.” Ibid.

On the feast of Guadalupe, about two dozen Mexican farm workers and their families gather around a large shade tree at a Yuba City housing project. They claim to see an image of Mary in a large knothole and have candles and poinsettias at the base of the tree. The Chronicle continues: “This rising devotion to Mary cuts across lines and denominational boundaries.” (See The Great Controversy, 445.)

Blood, Tears, and Roses

In Thornton, California, 50,000 devoted pilgrims from all over the country arrive, many in motor homes, in hopes of seeing a repeat performance of the “moving statue of Mary.” Many others have reported statues of the Virgin shedding tears of blood. “In the small town of Naju, located near the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula, Our Lady began giving urgent messages and signs to Julia Kim. On June 30, 1985, Our Lady’s statue, owned by Julia, began weeping tears, and on October 19, 1986, it began weeping tears of blood. Until January 14, 1992, the statue wept for a total of exactly 700 days. The tears of blood were tested and found to be human blood. Now the statue has been giving off odors of fragrant oil.…Julia is surrounded by the sweet fragrance of roses. Also, when she kisses a rosary or simply holds it in her hands for a few seconds, it becomes fragrant.” Our Lady of Naju Web Site. In Stockton, California, my hometown, two statues recently transported from the Philippines sporadically emitted a “palatable fragrance of sweet-scented oil.” The Record, May 5, 1999.

Outside California City, in the Mojave Desert, a Mexican-born mystic and visionary named Maria Paula, has drawn crowds numbering in the thousands since 1989. “The crowds come on the thirteenth of every month for prayer and to witness Maria Paula’s reception of an apparition and a message from the Virgin Mary. Pilgrims have reported sun miracles, visions, healings, and numerous other miraculous phenomena.” Searching for Mary, 169.

In Corpus Christi, Texas, a $12.00 statue of the Virgin “turned its head, opened its eyes, and took mincing steps.” The Star Tribune, June 6, 1998. About 50 people a minute visit the site where a subway worker’s child noticed a water stain on the floor of Mexico City’s Hidalgo Metro station, a likeness to the nation’s most powerful religious symbol—the beloved Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. (The Denver Post, June 14, 1997.)

The Great Chastisements

“Medjugorje (‘between the hills’) has become well known in Bosnia-Hercegovina, and the world, because of six young people who claim to have seen visions of the Madonna. Beginning on June 24, 1981, the Blessed Mother appeared to and later told the visionaries God had sent her to our world to help us convert our hearts and lives back to Him.” Medjugorje Web Site. Visions and apparitions at Medjugorje—sometimes called The New Fatima—are continually being reported.

In Fatima, Portugal, on July 13, 1917, the Virgin reportedly imparted three secrets to three shepherd children. The second secret included the Virgin’s desire that the pope consecrate Russia to her immaculate heart, thus securing the conversion of that nation. [Interesting how communism was defeated through the conspiracy of Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan! Beware, beloved, for while in Mexico, the same pope consecrated the Americas to Mary, calling for solidarity!] “Fatima’s third secret, still unrevealed, has been kept under lock and key at the Vatican since the late 1950s and has been the subject of much speculation since its existence was first made known. It is widely supposed that the secret concerns a coming worldwide cataclysm and the approach of the end-times.” Searching for Mary, 10, 11.

Garabandal, Spain—A Masterful Deception

From 1961 through 1965, in Garabandal, Spain, four young girls experienced more than two thousand apparitions of the Virgin Mary over a four-year period. These particular visions and apparitions are a perfect example of the devil’s ability to perform masterful delusions and lying wonders—a prelude of what is to come. On July 1, 1961, a shining, winged angel spoke to the children and told them that the following day they would see the Blessed Virgin. The next day the Virgin appeared with two angels and continued to appear throughout the month. “Each time the girls went into ecstasy, during which they exhibited extraordinary physical changes: they became insensitive to pinpricks, extreme noise and bright lights, and their slight bodies could hardly be lifted from the ground by two strong men.…The Virgin would pass the infant Jesus to one of the girls to cuddle, or remove her crown and let the girls try it on.…The girls received out-of-body experiences during which they claimed they were taken on spiritual journeys through the heavens by the Virgin. Many eyewitnesses declared on oath that they had observed the girls seeming to fly over the ground at great speed when Our Lady was calling them to her.” Shrines of Our Lady, 153.

According to Conchita Gonzales, one of the four children: “On an unspecified date in the future…the Great Miracle…will take place in a grove of pines near Garabandal. Everyone who is in the area will see it; the sick who are present will be cured, sinners will repent, and Russia will be converted. The second phase of the miracle is to establish a permanent, miraculous sign in the groves of pines. The sign will be capable of being photographed and touched, its divine origin will be beyond question, and it will last until the end of time. The final leg of the prophecy, the Chastisement, is a global catastrophe held in reserve by God in the event the Warning and Miracle don’t have their intended effects.” Searching for Mary, 11, 12.

Calamities Will Increase

In Bayside, N.Y., “The Lourdes of America,” Jesus and Mary are reported to speak to the world through a seer named Veronica Lueken. Warnings of impending doom are presented of a massive world monetary depression and Russian plans of attack. Mary warns of increasing natural disasters through the elements of nature, and that these judgments from God—His chastisements—are increasing because the world has violated His moral law—the Ten Commandments.

Again, compare the words of the “demon” Mary (a demon masquerading as Mary) with the words of E. G. White: “Satan works through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls. He has studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to control the elements as far as God allows.…While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power….These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous.The Great Controversy, 589, 590.

A category-five tornado in Salt Lake City, a first of its kind, causing millions of dollars in damage; the worst hurricane to hit Texas in over ten years; 72 tornadoes in one day in Kansas and in Oklahoma City; one of the ten most deadly earthquakes in history, killing forty thousand in Turkey—such calamities as these are becoming “more frequent and disastrous.”

So in the future, as these calamities increase and Sunday worship is urged upon us, we can expect nominal SDA ministers [whose testimonies will be seconded by the demon spirits (see The Great Controversy, 590, 591)] in “responsible positions taking a course directly opposite to that pursued by Nehemiah.…In churches and in large gatherings in the open air, ministers will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week. There are calamities on sea and land: and these calamities will increase, one disaster following close upon another; and the little band of conscientious Sabbath-keepers will be pointed out as the ones who are bringing the wrath of God upon the world by their disregard of Sunday.” And it will also be asserted “that this sin has brought calamities that will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity.” Review and Herald, March 18, 1884; The Great Controversy, 590. Obviously, these leaders are practitioners of the omega!

The Thunder of Justice

I remember the first time I read The Thunder of Justice, written by two Catholics who are very active in the Marian Movement, how alarmed I was by their frequent use of Adventist terms. The book, which focuses on prophetic, end-time events, appears to be the Catholic’s version of The Great Controversy. In fact, it uses the very language of Ellen G. White—the language with which SDAs are familiar. This book attempts to counterfeit the Three Angels’ Messages and to give all the glory to the Virgin Mary. Some terms used in this false Spirit of Prophecy are “the little flock,” “the remnant,” Mary’s message to “recite and keep the Ten Commandments,” and that she is “the prophetess of the last days.”

The Thunder of Justice tells us that the demon Mary prophesied that rockets will hit New York in the near future. (The Thunder of Justice, 344.) Interestingly, Ellen White has foretold of a time when New York will suffer a great fire: “I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven….The scene that next passes before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fireproof buildings and said: ‘They are perfectly safe.’ But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 12, 13.

I have often wondered why SDAs are not more alarmed by the inroads of spiritualism and Satan’s use of Mary in his efforts to deceive the world, and us also. The demon Mary claims to be the “Mother of the Second Advent,” and that she is preparing us for Christ’s Second Coming. Friends, that is the work of our church! For we are the true church that has been called to give the Elijah message to the world! But the “demon” Mary insists: “I am the Virgin of Revelation.” I am the “woman clothed with the sun who does battle with the dragon and his powerful army of evil.” The Thunder of Justice, 90, 99.

The audacity of the “demon” Mary to take the symbolic vision given to John in Revelation 12, which is a symbol of God’s true church, and incorrectly apply it to herself! The false Mary also elaborates on the Holy Spirit’s role in the last days: “On the feast of Pentecost, May 22, 1988, the message from Our Lady to the Marian Movement of Priests was clear: ‘The Holy Spirit will come to establish the glorious reign of Christ.…What will come to pass is something so very great that it will exceed anything that has taken place since the beginning of the world.’” Ibid., 309, 310. Friends, are we not waiting for the outpouring of the Spirit?—that “time when the events of the day of Pentecost shall be repeated with even greater power than on that occasion…and [a time] to maintain such a close connection with Him that they may be partakers of the latter rain when it shall be poured out.” Review and Herald, July 20, 1886.

The “demon” Mary also says that the apostles, “Saint Peter and Saint Paul, having come down from Heaven, shall preach in the whole world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and will settle upon a cardinal who is to be Pope. Christianity, then, will spread throughout the world. He is the holy Pontiff, chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end, he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth. Whole nations will come back to the church and the face of the earth will be renewed. Russia, England, and China will come into the church.” The Thunder of Justice, 353.

I do not know whether this scenario will happen or not, for Satan is the “father of lies.” But Ellen White has warned us that “the apostles, as personated by these lying spirits, are made to contradict what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spirit when on earth. They deny the divine origin of the Bible [the Roman Catholic Church denies that the Bible is the sole authority of God’s word and defends the founding fathers and their traditions], and thus tear away the foundation of the Christian’s hope.” The Great Controversy, 557.

The comparisons continue with Mary’s counterfeit message that she “will bring you to the full understanding of Sacred Scripture.…Above all, I will read to you the pages of its last book [Revelation], which you are living.” The Thunder of Justice, 90. Then, believe it or not, on page 100 of the same book, she quotes the Three Angels’ Messages from Revelation 14!!! Dearly beloved, “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Romans 13:11.

Demons Will Appear Before Our Eyes

“I saw that Satan has power to bring before us the appearance of forms purporting to be our relatives or friends who sleep in Jesus. It will be made to appear as if these friends were actually present, the words they uttered while here, with which we were familiar, will be spoken, and the same tone of voice that they had while living will fall upon the ear. All this is to deceive the world and ensnare them into the belief of this delusion.

“I saw that the saints must have a thorough understanding of present truth, which they will be obliged to maintain from the Scriptures. They must understand the state of the dead; for the spirits of devils will yet appear to them, professing to be beloved relatives or friends, who will declare to them unscriptural doctrines. They will do all in their power to excite sympathy and will work miracles before them to confirm what they declare. The people of God must be prepared to withstand these spirits with the Bible truth that the dead know not anything, and that they who thus appear are the spirits of devils [including the relative of Jesus—the Virgin Mary—his mother!]…This delusion will spread, and we will have to contend with it face to face; and unless we are prepared for it, we will be ensnared and overcome. But if we do what we can on our part to be ready for the conflict that is just before us, God will do His part, and His all-powerful arm will protect us. He would sooner send every angel out of glory to make a hedge about faithful souls, than have them deceived and led away by the lying wonders of Satan.” Early Writings, 262.

Please read the chapter in The Great Controversy entitled The Scriptures a Safeguard, 593–602! Seventh-day Adventists have been given the truth on the state of the dead. We have been entrusted with the most precious light ever given to mortals to save us from the masterful, spiritualistic deceptions of Satan in these last days. Scripture support is abundant in defense of this truth that unmasks the lie perpetrated by Satan in the beginning that “ye shall not surely die.” The only defense for Seventh-day Adventists during the omega—when deceased loved ones, the apostles, the demon Mary, etc. begin making their false appearances, is a “thus saith the Lord.”

The Scriptures a Safeguard

And will it be Mary who will introduce, through the almost overpowering delusion, her son, the false Christ, to the world—”the crowning act in the drama of deception”? “In his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth.” Our cry must be “it is written:” “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything;” “the dead praise not the Lord, neither any [including Mary] that go down into silence;” for “his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalms 115:17; 146:4.

The words of Job address this subject quite clearly: “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call and I will answer thee.” Job 14:14, 15. And John 5:28 and 29 tells us that it is the voice of Christ that wakes the sleeping saints on resurrection morn: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Mary, the beloved mother of Jesus, “is both dead and buried, and [her] sepulchre [no one knows its location] is with us unto this day.” Contrary to Roman Catholic teaching, Mary, like David, “is not ascended into the heavens.” Acts 2:29, 34. In fact, David himself wrote in Psalms 17:15 “As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness, when I awake, with Thy likeness.” Such words also apply to Mary!

Jesus spoke of death as sleep. In John 11:11 and 14, Christ stated: “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go to awake him out of sleep…Then Jesus said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” In sound sleep one is wholly lost to consciousness; time goes by unmeasured; and mental activity is suspended for the time being. “Blessed rest for the weary righteous! Time, be it long or short, is but a moment to them. They sleep; they are awakened by the trumpet of God to a glorious immortality.” Great Controversy, 550.

The Sound of the Trumpet

There are three portions of Scripture that specifically mention a trumpet blast just prior to the Second Coming of Christ. And when these Scriptures are compared, they clearly reveal the exact time a deceased person will regain consciousness. The first trumpet verses are in 1 Corinthians 15:51-55: “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Only God has immortality (see 1 Timothy 6:16), and no mortal will receive the gift of immortality until the last trumpet sounds at the Second Coming of Christ!

The second trumpet” verses say: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep. 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 the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessa-lonians 4:15-18. Here again the Scriptures confirm that no man receives his immortality until he is awakened by the trumpet of Christ at the Second Coming.

The third trumpet verses actually address the magnitude of spiritualism and Satan’s lying wonders before the Second Coming of Christ: “Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Immediately after the tribulation of those days…He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:26, 27, 29a, 31. Careful examination of the three paragraphs above place the trumpet sounds at the time of the Second Coming—when the resurrected saints will receive their eternal reward of immortality, and not before! Praise God, the Scriptures are our safeguard!

The Origin of Man’s Consciousness in Death

The doctrine of consciousness after death, of the spirits of the dead being in communion with the living, has no foundation in the Scriptures, and yet this theory is affirmed as truth. The doctrine of man’s consciousness in death, especially the belief that spirits of the dead return to minister to the living, has prepared the way for modern spiritualism. Nearly all forms of ancient sorcery and witchcraft were founded upon a belief in communion with the dead. Modern spiritualism is founded upon the first lie by which Satan beguiled Eve in Eden: “Ye shall not surely die.”

And it was the Roman Catholic Church that originated and perpetuated the teaching of the Assumption—that Mary was assumed into heaven before her body saw corruption in the grave. “At the end of her life on earth, the Church teaches, Mary was ‘assumed’ body and soul, into heaven. This teaching was first proclaimed by St. Gregory of Tours in the sixth century. An earlier tradition has it that all the Apostles witnessed her death, but that when her tomb was opened years later it was found to be empty. The doctrine of the Assumption was defended in the Middle Ages by St. Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas Aquinas. It has been adhered to by Christians from the earliest times, and eventually, on 1 November 1950, Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin to be an article of faith. It is celebrated annually on 15 August.” Shrines of Our Lady, 6.

“Through the false doctrine [of the immortality of the soul] the way has been opened for the spirits of devils to deceive the people in representing themselves as the dead. Satanic agencies personate the dead [even the mother of Jesus Christ], and thus bring souls into captivity. Satan has a religion, he has a synagogue and devout worshippers. To swell the ranks of his devotees he uses all manner of deception. The signs and wonders of Spiritualism will become more and more pronounced as the professed Christian world rejects the plainly revealed truth of the word of God and refuses to be guided by a plain ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ accepting instead the doctrines and the commandments of men.” Signs of the Times, May 28, 1894.

Two Astonishing Letters

While writing this article, I received two amazing letters that I want to share with you. The first letter came from a woman in Puerto Rico who informed me that a statue of the Virgin Mary or “La Virgen del Rosaria del Pozo” is going to be built in the town of Sabana Grande. The statue’s size will be greater than that of the Statue of Liberty in New York. Here is what she wrote:

“Dear brethren of Modern Manna:

“I talked to Pastor Vierra about reaching the town of Sabana here in Puerto Rico. In May, 1953, the ‘Virgin’ appeared near a well (always wearing a rosary), to three children, two girls and a boy—still living. Thousands of people visited the island, 24 hours a day. Many ‘miracles’ happened, most of them healings of all kinds (See Great Controversy, 588.) Since then, this town celebrates a ‘Virgin Marathon,’ when around 200,000 to 300,000 people come to adore the Virgin. They celebrate mass and everything else. Now they are planning the ‘Ciudad Mystica’ (Mystic City), in order to attract people from all over the world. Enclosed is the newspaper story about it. Maranatha!”

It is interesting to note that the artists rendition of the new statue in the newspaper I received from Puerto Rico had the Virgin Mary decked with the colors white and blue—the very colors of Mother Earth as previously mentioned by New Ager, Peter Lemesurier. Mary is often portrayed in pictures and statues as dressed in these colors.

The second letter I received was initially sent to Pastor Bill Hughes in Florida from an SDA minister from Ghana, West Africa. It reads:

“Dear Pastor:

“On the 12th of August, 1999, I decided to go to a certain village and share the word of God with them [and] more particularly what is bound to happen before Jesus comes. Before that, it appeared in our daily paper that the Virgin Mary has appeared bod`ily in Togo, a country which shares the common border with Ghana and millions of people went to Togo to see the Virgin Mary. I thank God and you for clearly opening my eyes because I read it in one of your books sent to me—Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 19 clearly talks about how Satan will manifest himself through the Virgin Mary, and this has really motivated me to carry the message across whether rain or shine.”

Demons Will Urge Sunday-keeping

Before I close, I want to make another vital point. We read and hear much about the Sabbath vs. Sunday issue. This one papal error is trumpeted ever so loud and clear. Ads are run and books written, small and large, that expound on this subject with clarity and precision. But what is usually overlooked is the fact that wonder-working demons, in the form of dead humans, even the Virgin Mary, are going to urge upon the world Sunday-keeping, and that the violation of God’s moral law is the cause of the chaos and calamities that are increasing.

Once again, quoting from The Great Controversy: “The miracle-working power manifested through spiritualism will exert its influence against those who choose to obey God rather than men. Communications from the spirits will declare that God has sent them to convince the rejecters of Sunday [Reader, that may be you!] of their error, affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the laws of God. They will lament the great wickedness in the world and second the testimony of religious teachers that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accept their testimony.” Great Controversy, 588, 589.

It would be worth your while to research the Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4 . On page 406 it contains an extremely vital point: “As the spirits will profess faith in the Bible and express regard for Sunday, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.” Later in The Great Controversy, in the chapter entitled The Time of Trouble, the prophet warns us that as the “crowning act in the drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ.” That he will heal the diseases of the people and claim “to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday,” and will command all to hallow the day which he has blessed. Great Controversy, 624.

But, have you ever considered that before he appears to give support to this claim, the demon Mary, along with other demons impersonating well-known deceased Christians and infidels, will have already been advocating Sunday-keeping? Has anyone ever warned you of this? Is it possible that a false Ellen White might appear and contradict her very own writings, as the false Apostles of Christ will theirs? Are you prepared, beloved? Spiritualism is the means the devil will use to persuade the world and the churches into accepting the false sabbath! That is exactly why God has expressly warned us that “through the two [not one] great papal errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions.” Great Controversy, 588. Spiritualism will put the teeth into the Sunday issue!

Remember the past, dear friends, the alpha of apostasy resulted, within one devastating year, in the destruction of two major SDA institutions—Battle Creek Sanitarium and the Review and Herald Publishing Company! Never forget the prophet’s words: “The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 200. A fearful woe is upon them! For if any form of spiritualism, like the warning given against pantheism, is accepted, it will result in the sweeping away of the structure! (See Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, 54, 55).

Friends, please take a close look at the Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4. You will find the chapter entitled “Spiritualism” immediately preceding the chapter entitled “The Aims of the Papacy.” I believe the Lord deliberately linked the two chapters together to clearly magnify the fact that through spiritualism and its imposters, such as the Virgin Mary, the aims of the papacy will be accomplished—the enforcement of Sunday worship!

Watch, Pray, and Warn

Please, watch and pray, beloved, for soon: “The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.” Great Controversy, 588.

Friends, the church and the world must be warned! Remember, Satan will not give one inch when we labor to expose his most powerful tool—spiritualism. Oh, how we have seen this prophecy fulfilled at Modern Manna since the publishing of Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? But, thank God for Jesus and the heavenly messengers that have been promised to guard us from evil. All of those who are looking for the soon coming of our Lord have been commanded by Almighty God to scatter earth’s final message to warn the world—the Three Angels’ Messages that unmask the threefold union. We must scatter the Mary book wherever possible while there is still a remnant of time.

In the very near future, legislation may be passed that will classify the little God-given book as hate literature. What we must do, we must do quickly! And, please, do not only watch, but pray for the courage to proclaim the message and to stand for the truth when champions are few, knowing that the final warning will enrage the wicked against us. Soon the loud cry will be given with the power of the latter rain: “‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’ The message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the churches since 1844.” Early Writings, 277. The omega is coming! Maranatha!

YHWH: How Did Jesus Say It?

Jesus spoke Greek.

Have you ever wondered why?

Was He not born to a Hebrew mother? Yes. Did He not grow up in a Hebrew home? Yes. Was He not a descendent of Abraham with Hebrew lineage through King David? Yes. Nevertheless, He spoke Greek, taught and preached in Greek, and inspired the entire New Testament to be written in Greek. Why?

The answer is in your history books. About three hundred years before Christ was born, King Philip of Macedonia, a country north of Greece, conquered Greece and added it to his empire. His son, Alexander, not content with this, conquered all the lands east of Greece as far as the Indus River in India, and south as far as and including Egypt. He strongly promoted Greek language and culture in the conquered countries. Those who came after him in power continued this promotion so effectively that even in our own country, Greek was once taught in our schools. It was considered a cultural necessity.

Thus, the people of Israel learned Greek, as did the people of all the other conquered lands. They learned it so well and used it so freely that Hebrew scholars became concerned that the knowledge of Hebrew would be lost, and the ability to read the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) would be lost with it. They therefore, in the third century before Christ, prepared a translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek for the benefit of the Greek speaking Jews. Their work was called the Septuagint, and is still available today.

How Did Jesus Pronounce the sacred name of God?

So, in Christ’s time, everyone understood Greek, regardless of what their mother tongue might have been, and Christ kindly spoke to them in the language that they all understood. Which brings us again to the question at the beginning of this article: when Jesus was speaking to the people in Greek, how did He pronounce the name of God, the sacred YHWH?

He always used either the Greek word Theos or the Greek word Kurios. He never used the Hebrew YHWH.

What are the Missing Vowels?

We pause to explain that the four letters in the term YHWH are an example of the way the Hebrews wrote all of their words. They did not write any vowels (such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.) They wrote only the consonants. They used the letter “Y” only as a consonant, never as a vowel. The reader was expected to know what vowels to use and when to use them. If he did not know, somebody had to tell him. This style of writing made word pronunciation rather uncertain.

Another fact makes the pronunciation of YHWH even more uncertain. At some time in the centuries before Christ, the Hebrew scholars decided that the name of God, the YHWH, was so sacred that it should never be spoken at all. This tradition has continued even to our time. Some Jewish people today will not speak the name of God. When they want to refer to the Deity, they say, “Ha Shem,” which means “The Name.” Some people today pronounce the name of God as YAHWEH, but this is only guesswork. Nobody knows for sure how it was pronounced in Bible times.

Examine the Scriptures

As we have seen, when Jesus was speaking to the people in Greek, He used the Greek words Theos and Kurios to refer to God, not the Hebrew YHWH. This can be seen by examining any Greek New Testament. And what is of much greater significance, He did the same thing even when He was quoting passages from the Old Testament, which contained the term YHWH. He translated the YHWH into the Greek, Theos or Kurios, even in His quotations. Please observe His translations in the verses in the box below:

The testimony of Jesus is clear and consistent. He did not use the Hebrew YHWH when referring to the Deity, even when He was quoting Old Testament passages that contained that term. He uniformly translated it into the more familiar Greek words, Theos and Kurios.

The testimony of the Apostle Paul is not less impressive than the testimony of Jesus. He quoted from the Old Testament like Jesus did, and he translated the YHWH into Greek words like Jesus did. I do not want this article to be tedious, but I do want it to contain all of the evidence, because I know that there are some people in our churches who need it. So here are Paul’s translations:

To this may be added the testimony of the Apostle Peter:

Perhaps you are wondering how to recognize the Hebrew YHWH in an English Bible. It is easy. In the King James Bible, when you see the word Lord or the word God spelled in all capital letters like this: LORD, or GOD, that tells you it was translated from the Hebrew word YHWH. Do not go by the size of the letters. Sometimes the first letter is larger than the other letters, but they are all capital letters. Then words would look like this: Lord. The capital letters are the key, regardless of their size.

Let us now summarize the evidence that we have seen:

Jesus Translated YHWH into Greek.

Jesus taught and preached in Greek. In His teaching and preaching He used the Greek words for God, Theos, Kurios. He did this even when He was quoting Old Testament verses which contained the Hebrew word YHWH. He translated the YHWH into the Greek words, Theos and Kurios. The Apostles Paul and Peter did the same thing. The inspired New Testament writers used the word Theos 816 times and the word Kurios 344 times in referring to the Deity. The inspired writers of the New Testament never used the word YHWH in referring to the Deity. That word is not found in the New Testament. Jesus did use an Old Testament word for God while He was on the cross, in His cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” But this word was not the Hebrew YHWH. It was El, another Hebrew word for God.

Man-made Tests of Faith

So how can it be argued, as is now being done by some people, that God wants us to refer to Him only by the name YHWH? Some are even insisting that we risk incurring His disfavor if we fail to do this. If this were true, surely Jesus, Paul, Peter, and all of the other New Testament writers would be equally disapproved by God. It would seem that we are being reigned up to a test which is altogether man-made. This is something about which the messenger of the Lord has issued extensive warnings.

“God will send us direct and practical tests to teach us, if we will be taught, the benefits of faith. He has no use for man-made tests. The tests that He has given are sufficient.” Pacific Union Recorder. October 20, 1904.

“The commandment of God that has been almost universally made void, is the testing truth for this time…The time is coming when all those who worship God will be distinguished by this sign. They will be known as the servants of God, by this mark of their allegiance to Heaven. But all man-made tests will divert the mind from the great and important doctrines that constitute the present truth.” Evangelism, 212.

“The devisings of men’s minds will invent tests that are no tests at all, that when the true test shall be made prominent, it shall be considered on a par with the man-made tests that have been of no value.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 14.

“But there will be brought in a vast amount of man-made tests that have not the least bearing upon the work given us of God to prepare a people to stand with the whole equipment of the heavenly armor on, without leaving off one piece.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 91.

“The Lord has said that the Sabbath was a sign between Him and His people forever. The time is coming when all those who worship God will be distinguished by this sign. They will be known as the servants of God, by this mark of their allegiance to Heaven. But all man-made tests will divert the mind from the great and important doctrines that constitute the present truth.” Review and Herald, May 29, 1888.

Time to Eliminate this Concept

Surely it is time to eliminate this “sacred name” concept from our list of concerns. If there are those who want to use the term YHWH (while guessing at its pronunciation) that is their privilege. But when they try to urge it upon others as a religious duty, they are going much too far. The Scriptural evidence cannot support any such endeavor.

The spreading of our marvelous message throughout the world calls for our time, our energies, and our dedication. Let us press resolutely forward in the fulfillment of our task, and firmly reject all man-made tests that will divide and weaken us. May the Lord bless us to this end.

When and How Was the Sabbath Changed from Saturday to Sunday?

This is a question which is in the minds of a great many people today. Everyone knows, of course, that the original Sabbath of the commandment, which Christ wrote with His own finger on the tables of stone, was the seventh day of the week, the day we call Saturday. Astronomers tell us that they have absolute knowledge that the weekly cycle has not been changed, so our Saturday is still the seventh day of the week.

But today most Christians worship on Sunday, the first day of the week. Why? How did this come about? Who made the change and for what reasons? These are the questions everyone is asking, and we will try to give you an answer.

A Beautiful Prophecy

First of all, let us look at Revelation 12 where we find a beautiful picture in prophecy. The apostle John was given a vision, and he tells us about it in Revelation 12:1–5.

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.”

Here in this vision we have three prophetic symbols presented to our wondering eyes: a woman, a child and a dragon. Each of these has a specific meaning in the prophecy. What are they, and what do they represent? First, whom does the dragon represent? We will find the answer to that in Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

So that is easy, is it not? The dragon represents the devil. But who is the woman? Fortunately, this is easy to understand too; so easy, that you find practically all students of the Bible agreeing on it. Just about any Protestant commentary that you pick up will tell you that the woman represents the true church of Christ, and if you have a Catholic Bible you will find that same information in the footnote under this chapter. We will show you some of the scriptures which make this point clear.

Revelation 19:7, 8: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

You see—in these Scriptures the true church is pictured as the bride of Christ. Is that not a beautiful thought? The same thought was in the mind of the apostle Paul when he wrote to the church in Corinth: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2.

The word espouse means to give in marriage, so Paul writes to the church, “I have given you in marriage to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” He carries this charming comparison still further in Ephesians 5:22–32: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.”

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

Notice his concluding words—”I speak concerning Christ and the church.” So, we all will agree with the Bible scholars of many faiths that this beautiful woman of Revelation 12 is a fitting picture of the true church of Christ, His bride, which He will take to Himself on that glorious day when He comes again.

The Coming King

But one more question—if the woman is the true church, and the dragon is the devil, who is the child? What have we been told about this child in Revelation 12:1–5? First, that it was a man-child; second, that the devil tried to destroy Him as soon as He was born; third, that He was caught up to God and to His throne; and fourth, that He is going to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Who could this be?

Of course, who could it be but Jesus? Remember the Christmas story? Remember how Herod, the king, had all the little boy babies in Bethlehem killed, in an attempt to destroy the baby Jesus soon after He was born? And what child does the Bible tell us about being caught up to God and His throne? Only Jesus. Read about it in Ephesians 1:20, 21: “Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.”

And what child, born upon this earth, is going to rule all nations with a rod of iron? Only Jesus. This was a familiar picture of the Messiah that everyone understood, for David had made this prophecy, “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Psalms 2:7–9.

Now compare this ancient prophecy with the similar one which John saw in his vision of future events and wrote down in Revelation 19:11–16: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

This could only be Jesus. One of His many names in the Scriptures is The Word of God, as we read in John 1:1, 14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God:… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.”

The Bible Interprets Itself

So now we understand what the prophecy is all about. Remember now, we have made no interpretation of these things ourselves; we have let the Bible make its own interpretation to us. We do not try to interpret the Scriptures; we accept the Bible’s own interpretation. So now we know that the beautiful woman is the true church, the child is Christ, and the dragon is the devil.

Now, what happened to the woman in John’s prophecy? “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” Revelation 12:6.

Persecution

The true church of God had to go into hiding, out in the wild places of the earth, the wilderness, for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, it says. (Threescore equals sixty.) Why? Because the dragon, the devil, was angry with her. He had failed to kill Christ, so now he turns his fury upon the church of Christ, in terrible persecution. How long was the persecution? It says one thousand two hundred and sixty days, but we have a rule in these symbolic prophecies of the Bible that one day in the prophecy stands for one year in actual time. So, the actual time of the persecution of the true church would be one thousand two hundred and sixty years. You will find this rule applied in the Bible in Numbers 14:34 and in Ezekiel 4:6, “I have appointed thee each day for a year.”

Not My Idea

Now let me make one thing clear. This is not a rule that I have invented, nor is it my interpretation. It is the Bible’s own rule of interpretation, and it was recognized and followed by students of Bible prophecy hundreds, yes, thousands of years before I was born. As a matter of fact, the Jews themselves understood and used it in that way, so do not get the idea that I am telling you something that I invented. This is a Bible interpretation that has been recognized and followed by Bible scholars for ages. One day in symbolic prophecy means one year in actual time, as the prophecy is being fulfilled.

So we see the sad picture that the beautiful woman, the true church of Christ, was to undergo terrible persecution for more than a thousand years. It sounds like the Dark Ages that we read about in our history books, does it not? The thought is repeated in verses 13 and 14 of Revelation 12: “And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”

Now let us read the conclusion of this marvelous prophecy about the true church—a verse that comes right down to the present time, where you and I are alive, and shows us that the true church was definitely going to survive the persecution and would not be entirely destroyed. It is the last verse of the chapter. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.

Let us bring this out of the symbols of the prophecy into modern language. It will be easy because we have learned from the Bible what each of these symbols mean. Who is the dragon? The devil. And who is the woman? The true church. Now it talks about the remnant of her seed, or children. What is a remnant? Have you ever heard of a remnant sale? What does the word remnant mean? It means the remainder—the part that is left, the last part. Is a remnant large or small? Small, of course.

In Modern Language

Therefore, putting this prophecy into our language, we would correctly read it like this: “And the devil was angry with the true church, and went to make war with the last part of her children, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.”

That tells us two wonderful facts, First, the true church would not be entirely destroyed by the persecution of the 1260 years, but there would be a small part, a remnant, which would survive; second, you will be able to recognize that small remnant, because they keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.

Well, you may say, “That is wonderful, that is thrilling, but what does that have to do with the change of the Sabbath?” Everything, dear friend, everything! May I remind you again that this remnant of the true church will be recognized by their keeping the commandments of God? As far as the Sabbath is concerned, that can mean one, and only one thing—that they keep the Sabbath of the commandment. That is obvious, is it not?

Can you keep the commandments of God without keeping the Sabbath of the commandment? No, you cannot.

One more question—what day is the Sabbath of the commandment? What did the commandment say? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord Thy God.” Exodus 20:8–10. This is the day we call Saturday, as you can see by your calendar. Astronomers tell us they can tell by the stars that it is still the same Sabbath day that used to be observed.

Just one more question: Is a remnant of cloth the same as the original cloth or different? What do you say? Can you get a black remnant from a white bolt? No, it must be the same; it cannot be different. So now, speaking of churches, can you get a commandment–keeping remnant from a church that does not keep the commandments? No, certainly not. The remnant must be the same. Can you get a Sabbath keeping remnant of a church that does not keep the Sabbath? No! Therefore, this Sabbath remnant will have to be the last part of an earlier Sabbath–keeping church—the church that kept the Sabbath through the ages.

History Fulfills Prophecy

John’s beautiful prophecy tells us that the commandment–keeping, Sabbath–keeping church of Christ would be persecuted terribly through the Dark Ages, and would have to hide in the mountains and in the wilderness, but that there would be a remnant left in the last days—still a commandment–keeping, Sabbath–keeping people.

We will show you how history tells the amazing story of how that prophecy was fulfilled to the very last detail. Jesus told John just how it would happen, and history proves that Jesus was right. It happened just the way He said it would.

Light of the World

We turn now to the story that we find in the pages of history. Envision a map of the world or, if you have an atlas, turn to a picture of the world, and envision it lying in darkness. John tells us how Jesus, the Light of the world, came to bring light into that darkness. (See John 1:9.) Locate the tiny land where Jesus lived, and envision that small land suddenly lightened with His presence. It may look very small in the dark world, but it is not. It is remarkable what that one little Light has done. Jesus never traveled over a hundred miles from the place of His birth during His ministry; He never wrote a book, never held an office, and never attended a university. He never did any of the things we so often think of when we think of a great man and what he should do, but Jesus did bring a light to this dark world, and how that light spread is a thrilling story.

Just before He left this earth, He told His disciples what He wanted them to do with the light—take it over all the earth. (See Acts 1:8.) It must have staggered them, when they heard Him say that. What an assignment for 12 men who were not rich or learned! In simple faith they went forth to do what Jesus said. Let us trace how the lights came on in the dark earth.

From the land where Jesus lived, they took the light to all the world. Thomas, the former doubter, became so full of faith that he spread the light through the east. We can follow his path through Antioch, across Arabia, Syria, Persia, to the far away Malibar coast of India, before his work was done. Some historians even believe that he reached China—and everywhere he went, churches sprang up.

The light went to Africa. We are not sure which disciple went that way, but evidence points to Andrew, and churches sprang up and lights came on in that darkened land.

Paul

To the north and west went the apostle Paul. We know more about his travels than about any of the others. Following his trail across Asia Minor, we can envision lights along the way for the churches that he started. Across the sea into Greece, over into Italy, Rome and beyond. Romans 15:24 and 28 tells us how he planned to journey into Spain. Some scholars even think Paul made it to the British Isles—others think it was one of his converts. But we do know that the light went there, for Tertullian, who wrote about the year 200, includes the British Isles in his list of places where the gospel had gone.

The light in Ireland, Scotland and England grew to the point where it became bright enough to reflect back upon the continent of Europe again. Under the leadership of great men of God like Patrick, Columba, Columbanus, Aidan and others, schools were started in these lands for training gospel workers. Rulers of the northern nations of Europe sent their sons to these schools to be educated. The Scriptures were copied by hand at these centers, and their graduates went back into Europe with the light.

So far the picture looks very bright. Lights were coming on all over that part of the world. But remember, the prophecy said persecution would come, and it did!

Sabbath Keeping Churches

There is one great fact that you should know about these churches that were started by the apostles themselves and their early followers. They were commandment-keeping churches who observed the seventh day, or Saturday, as their Sabbath, in harmony with the commandment Christ wrote into the tables of stone. So you do not think that I speak for myself, I will share the actual statements of the historians on this matter.

First, what about the churches in far off India where Thomas went? Let the historians speak:

Samuel Purchas, noted geographer and compiler says: “They kept Saturday holy.” Pilgrimmes, Part 2, Book 8, chapter 6, 1260, London, 1625.

Claudius Buchanan says: “They have preserved the Bible in its purity; and their doctrines are, as far as the author knows, the doctrines of the Bible. Besides, they maintained the solemn observance of Christian worship throughout the empire on the seventh day; and they have as many spires pointing to heaven among the Hindus as we ourselves.” Christian Researches in Asia, 143, Philadelphia, 1813.

Throughout the World—an Eye Witness:

Now hear the testimony of an eye witness who had traveled over the greater part of Christendom, Socrates, the Greek historian, who wrote in the year 391ad:

“For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the mysteries (The Lord’s Supper) on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this. The Egyptians in the neighborhood of Alexandria and the inhabitants of Thebais, hold their religious meetings on the Sabbath.” Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, chapter 22, 289, London, 1892. The footnote, which accompanies the foregoing quotation explains the use of the word “Sabbath.” It says: “That is, upon the Saturday. It should be observed, that Sunday is never called ‘the Sabbath’ (to sabbaton) by the ancient Fathers and historians.”

Two facts are apparent in this statement:

  1. Sunday observance began in Rome and Alexandria while the rest of the world observed Sabbath in harmony with the commandment of God.
  2. Sunday observance was based on tradition, not a commandment of God.

Italy

As late as the year 791, Christians still kept the true Sabbath in Italy. Canon 13 of the council of Friaul, states: “Further, when speaking of that Sabbath which the Jews observe—the last day of the week—and which also our peasants observe, He said only Sabbath…” Mansi 13, 851. Quoted in History of the Sabbath, Andrews, 539.

Northern Italy

“First therefore they called them Waldenses and because they observed no other day of rest but the Sabbath days, they called them insabbathas, as much as to say, as they observed no Sabbath.” John P. Perris, Luther’s Forerunners, 7–8, London, 1624.

“Robinson gives an account of some of the Waldenses of the Alps, who were called…Insabbatati. ‘One says they were so named from the Hebrew word Sabbath, because they kept the Saturday for the Lord’s day. Another says they were so called because they rejected all the festivals.’” General History of the Baptist Denomination, vol. 2, 413.

France

Louis XII, King of France, ordered an investigation of the lives of those Waldenses living in his country. It was reported to him that they “kept the Sabbath day, observed the ordinance of baptism; according to the primitive church, instructed their children in the articles of the Christian faith and the commandments of God.” William Jones, History of the Christian Church, vol. 2, 71–72.

How and When was the Sabbath Changed?

Spain

From a decree of King Alphonso (published about 1194): “I command you that …heretics, to wit, Waldenses, Insabbathi (sabbathkeepers) and those who call themselves the poor of Lyons and all other heretics should be expelled away from the face of God…and ordered to depart from our kingdom.” Marianae, Praefatio in Lucan Tudensem, vol. 25, 190.

England

In the 17th Century, several ministers were persecuted for defending the Bible Sabbath. John Trask was put in prison; his wife remained in prison 15 years. John James was hanged for defending the Sabbath, and his head placed on a pole near the meeting house as a warning to others. Dr. Thomas Banfield, a former speaker in one of Cromwell’s parliaments, wrote two books advocating the Sabbath truth, and likewise went to prison. Edward Stennet, a minister, wrote a book entitled, “The Seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord.” And from prison he wrote a long and pathetic letter to Sabbathkeepers in the Rhode Island colony (1688). See Christian Edwardson’s Facts of Faith, 144.

Scotland

“They held that Saturday was properly the Sabbath on which they abstained from work.” Skene, Celtic Scotland, vol. 2, 349.

“They worked on Sunday, but kept Saturday in a sabbatical manner…These things Margaret abolished.” A History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation, vol. 1, 96.

Ireland

“The Celts used a Latin Bible unlike the Vulgate, and kept Saturday as a day of rest, with special religious services on Sunday.” Flick, The Rise of the Medieval Church, 237.

“It seems to have been customary in the Celtic churches of early times, in Ireland as well as Scotland, to keep Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of rest from labor. They obeyed the fourth commandment literally upon the seventh day of the week.” Moffat, The Church in Scotland, 140.

Moravia-Bohemia

“I find from a passage in Erasmus that at the early period of the Reformation of which he wrote, there were Sabbatarians in Bohemia, who not only kept the seventh day, but were said to be …scrupulous in resting on it.” Cox Literature on the Sabbath Question, 201–202.

The great missionary leader, Count Zinzendorf, wrote in 1738: “I have employed the Sabbath for rest for many years already, and our Sunday for the proclamation of the gospel—that I have done without design and in simplicity of heart.” Dugingsche Sammlung, 224.

And we might add the testimony of more historians but surely this is enough to show you that wherever the apostles went—east, west, north, or south—commandment keeping churches sprang up, churches who observed the true Bible Sabbath.

How did a change come about? This is a sad story.

You will remember that the historian Socrates has already testified that as he traveled throughout the Christian world, he found that in the year 391 the churches of Christendom were observing the seventh–day Sabbath except in two places, Rome and Alexandria.

The change actually began in Rome. Rome was the center of a vast system of pagan religion in those days, which was worship of the sun. The sun worshippers had large temples, priests, and ceremonies and a vast system of religious rites and practices. They went to their temples to worship on the first day of each week, which was dedicated to the sun god and therefore called Sunday. You can get this information by looking up the word “Sunday” in any large dictionary.

A New Idea

It was here that the change began. A new system of thought had arisen in the Christian Church of Rome, based on a plan for combining the two religions into one. This plan was carried out, forming a new religion, half pagan and half Christian. It was formed by bringing into the Christian church the rites and ceremonies, the holy day, yes, even the philosophy of the pagans. But do not take my word for it. Hear the testimony of no less an authority than Cardinal Newman. Speaking of the Roman Church, he says, “Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the very instruments and appendages of demon-worship to an evangelical use…the rulers of the Church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace, as well as the philosophy of the educated class.

“The same reason, the need of holy days for the multitude, is assigned by Origen, St. Gregory’s master, to explain the establishment of the Lord’s day…

“We are told in various ways of Eusebius, that Constantine, in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen, transferred into it the outward ornaments to which they had been accustomed in their own…incense, lamps and candles, holy water, asylums, holy days and seasons…the ring in marriage, turning to the east, images…are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church.” Development of Christian Doctrine, 371-373, London, 1878.

A similar statement appeared in the Catholic World, March, 1894, 809, “The Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen…She took the pagan Sunday, and made it the Christian Sunday.”

Constantine

So now you can see where the change started and how it started. It was greatly helped by the attitude of the Emperor Constantine, who favored the combining of the two religions, and after professing Christianity himself, offered twenty pieces of gold and a white garment to all who would join the new church. Naturally, the pagans responded well to this most attractive offer, and joined the new religion by thousands. Constantine further helped the idea along by making the first Sunday law to appear in the pages of history in the year 321.

Spread by Force

Naturally, the other churches of the world were reluctant to accept this pagan custom into the Christian faith, but ways were found to force them to accept it. We won’t dwell at length on this sad story of the great religious persecutions of the Dark Ages but only state that some historians believe that 50 million Christian people were put to death because they would not accept these customs, and other historians put the estimate as high as 150 million.

The light of Sabbath-keeping Christianity was extinguished in Scotland in 1069; in Ireland in 1172; that of the ancient Albigenses in 1229; in India in 1560, and in the mountains of central Europe in 1686.

The lights on our map of the world were slowly going out. Would any be left?

Yes, prophecy said there would be a remnant. In 1668, Edward Stennet, a Sabbath-keeping minister of England wrote to some Sabbath-keeping Christians in Rhode Island as follows, “Here we are in England, about nine or ten churches that keep the Sabbath, besides many scattered disciples, who have been eminently preserved in this tottering day when many, once eminent churches, have been shattered in pieces.” Facts of Faith, Edward Stennet, 146.

Truly, just a remnant, but by the grace of God, this remnant was able to find refuge in the land of freedom (United States of America), and from here the light of the true Sabbath is spreading again all over the world.

Another Evidence

Now let me show you another striking evidence that this is true. Thoughtful and scholarly men of many faiths admit it. Their statements below show clearly that whatever reasons they had for Sunday observance, they were not a Scriptural command.

Toronto Clergymen

A story in the Toronto Daily Star, Wednesday, October 26, 1949, bears the following heading:

“Clergy say Tradition, not Bible ordinance, Declared Sunday Holy.” The first paragraph of the story says, ‘Sunday is kept holy by Christians, not because there is any Scriptural injunction but because there are religious traditions associated with that day among Christians,’ Protestant and Catholic spokesmen said today. They were commenting on a statement of the most Reverend Phillip Carrington, Anglican Archbishop of Quebec, that there is no commandment which states Sunday must be kept holy. ‘Tradition,’ he said, ‘had made it a day of worship.’”

Jewish Rabbi

The second paragraph of the above story says, “A Rabbi recalled that the first Christians were Jews and celebrated the Sabbath on the last day of the week and it was not until the reign of the Emperor Constantine that the day was changed by Christians.”

Church Historian

Wilhelm August Johann Neander, the great German theologian and historian of Heidelberg, whose History of the Christian Religion and Church is of such value and merit as to have gained for him the title, ‘Prince of church historians’ says, “The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday.” (Rose’s translation from the first German edition, 186.)

Phillip Schaff, another learned church historian, admits that there is no command in the New Testament for Sunday observance.

Presbyterian

“The observance of the seventh day Sabbath did not cease till it was abolished after the empire became Christian.” Tract No. 188, Presbyterian Board of Publication.

Episcopal

Canon Eyton of the Church of England, author of the book The Ten Commandments, says: “There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday. The observance of Ash Wednesday or of Lent stands on the same footing as the observance of Sunday. Into the rest of Sunday, no divine law enters.”

Morer Eyton, in his Dialogues on the Lord’s Day, 189, writes, “The primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Sabbath and spent the day in devotion and sermons. And it is not to be doubted but they derived this practice from the apostles themselves.”

Professor Edward Brerewood of Gresham College, London, in A Learned Treatise on the Sabbath, 77, says, “If the New Testament silence on any subject proves that the matter is unimportant, then the Christian emphasis on the observance of Sunday is really a mistake. Nowhere does the Book tell us to observe Sunday. Nowhere does it say that Saturday Sabbath-keeping is wrong.”

Baptist

At a New York Minister’s Conference, held November 13, 1893, Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of the Baptist Manual, read a paper on the transference of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. Mention of this paper was made in the November 16, 1893, issue of the New York Examiner, a Baptist paper, which describes the intense interest manifested by the ministers present and the discussion which followed. From a copy of this address, furnished by Dr. Hiscox himself, we call attention to these striking and earnest statements:

“There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, with all its duties, privileges and sanctions.

“Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I ask: ‘Where can the record of this transaction be found? Not in the New Testament—absolutely not. There is no scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week.

“I wish to say that this Sabbath question, in this aspect of it, is the gravest and most perplexing question connected with Christian institutions which at present claims attention from Christian people; and the only reason that it is not a more disturbing element in Christian thought and in religious discussions is because the Christian world has settled down content on the conviction that somehow a transference has taken place at the beginning of Christian history.

“To some it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years’ intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question, discussing it in some of its various aspects, freeing it from its false glosses, never alluded to a transference of the day. Also, that during 40 days of his resurrection life, no such thing was intimated. Nor, so far as we know, did the Spirit, which was given to bring to their remembrance all things whatsoever that He has said unto them, deal with this question. Nor yet did the inspired apostles, in preaching the gospel, founding churches, counseling and instructing those founded, discuss or approach this subject.

“Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use early in Christian history as a religious day; as we learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, when adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!”

Catholic

In his widely known book, Faith of Our Fathers, 89, Cardinal Gibbon writes:

“You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”

“Sunday is founded, not on Scripture, but on tradition, and is distinctly a Catholic institution. As there is no Scripture for the transfer of the day of rest from the last to the first day of the week, Protestants ought to keep their Sabbath on Saturday and thus leave Catholics in full possession of Sunday.”—Catholic Record, September 17, 1891.

“Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or another of these alternatives. Either Protestantism and the keeping of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.” Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893.

“Peter R. Tracer, in charge of the Question Box feature in Extension magazine, wrote in a letter of April 1, 1929: “Dear Sir: Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts: That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath.… We also say, that of all Protestants, the Seventh-day Adventists are the only group that reason correctly and are consistent with their teachings.”

Dr. R. W. Dale, in his Ten Commandments, 127-129, says: “It is quite clear that however rigidly or devoutly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath.…The Sabbath was founded on a specific; divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday.…There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday.”

Many more might be added, friends, but surely this is enough. Surely now it is clear to all that the observance of Sunday is not based on Scripture but on human tradition, the commandments of men.

What’s the Difference?

You say—”That is very interesting—I am glad to know that—but after all, what difference does it make? Does it really make any difference?”

I will let the Lord Jesus Christ answer that question for you. Did you notice, friend, the frequent reference to tradition, or human tradition, as we have examined this evidence? You did? Very well, please hold that in mind as we read the words of Jesus: “…Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” Matthew 15:3. “…Thus have ye made the commandments of God of none effect by your tradition.” Matthew 15:6. “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:9.

A Sobering Thought

Friend of mine, does the awful significance of that statement reach your heart? Think of these words: “They do worship me.”

Not pagans, not unbelievers, but people who worship—yes—who worship Jesus Christ! Yet He says it is in vain—useless—wasted—worthless—they might as well not do it. Why? Because they teach for doctrines the commandments of men.

It is hard to grasp the idea that a man could worship Jesus Christ in vain, is it not? When I see a man praying in the name of Christ, my heart goes out to him—I just cannot help it. But notice what Jesus said:

Even Miracle Workers

“Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them; I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22, 23.

Why does He say He never knew them? Return to Matthew 15:9: “…In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

A Brighter Picture

But let us not close with such an unpleasant thought. Let us remember that the prophecy said there would be a remnant left—the true worshippers of God would not be fully destroyed from the earth—there would be a small remnant left. And how shall we recognize this remnant? The Bible tells us how we can recognize them. They are those who “…keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.

What a thrill it is to be able to report to you that there is a commandment-keeping, Sabbath-keeping people left on the earth! They are a people with whom the devil is furiously angry, as the prophecy says, but they are marching forward just the same!

From America, the land of freedom, the light is spreading again all over the world, and people all over the world are recognizing and joining the commandment-keeping remnant church.

How much better to be among this divinely foretold people, who reject all traditions of men and obey the commandments of God, than to be among those who tremble at the words of Jesus; “In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:9. Contrast them with the triumphant picture found in Revelation 22:14: “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

Dear Friend, with which group do you stand?

Article taken from His Mighty Love by Ralph Larson

Life Only in Christ

“A wide-open door for spiritualism is afforded by the teaching that man has life in himself—immortality by nature; and that death is not really death, but another form of life.

“The Scriptures close this door of false hope, teaching us that man is mortal, that death is really death, and that immortality is the gift of God through Christ by the resurrection from the dead.

“Clearly and definitely the Bible teaches that God only has immortality, styling Him the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality. 1 Timothy 6:15, 16.

“This Scripture disposes of every idea that man is immortal by nature, and opens the way for a consideration of the Scripture teaching concerning man’s nature, his state in death, and the promise of life and immortality in Christ.

Man by Nature Mortal

“The word mortal, as used in that ancient question by Eliphaz, describes man’s nature:

“Shall mortal man be more just than God? Job 4:17.

“In the creation, life was conditional upon the creature’s relation to Christ the Creator, in whom all things consist:

“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life.” John 1:3, 4.

“He was, and is, as the psalmist says, ‘the fountain of life.’ Cut off from vital connection with Him, there could be no continuance of life. The Lord warned Adam that his life was conditional upon obedience. ‘In the day that thou eatest thereof,’ He said of the forbidden tree, ‘thou shalt surely die.’ Genesis 2:17. It was a declaration that man was not immortal, but was dependent upon God for life.

“When by unbelief and sin man rejected God, the sentence—death eternal—must have been executed had not the plan of salvation intervened. But as the stroke of divine justice was falling upon the sinner, the Son of God interposed Himself and received the blow. ‘He was bruised for our iniquities.’ In the divine plan, the great sacrifice for man was as sure then as when, later, it was actually made on Calvary. Christ was ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.’

“And there Adam, the sinner, now with a fallen human nature, which would be perpetuated in his descendants in all subsequent time, was granted an extension of life, every moment of which, whether for him or for his posterity, was the purchase of Christ by His own death, in order that in this time of probation man might find forgiveness of sin and assurance of life to come. Adam was not created immortal, but was placed on probation, and had he continued faithful, the gift of immortality must have been given him at some later time, after he had passed the test. As the original plan is carried out through Christ, “the second Adam.,” the gift of immortality is bestowed finally upon all who pass the test of the judgment and are found in Christ, in whom alone is life.

“Having fallen, Adam, now possessed of a sinful nature, must die. ‘The wages of sin is death.’ Romans 6:23. It was impossible that sin or sinners should be immortalized in God’s universe. So, inasmuch as the tree of life in Eden had been made the channel of continuance of life to man, the Lord said:

‘Now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden.’ Genesis 3:22, 23.

“This negatives the idea that there could ever be an immortal sinner, who should mar God’s creation forever. Sin works out nothing but death. ‘Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.’ James 1:15. Fallen himself, Adam could bequeath to his posterity only a fallen, mortal nature. So began the sad history summed up in the text:

“’Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.’” Romans 5:12.

Mortality Universal

“Mortality is written upon all creation. Ages ago the wise man wrote, ‘There is one event unto all:…they go to the dead.’ Ecclesiastes 9:3. Human hearts everywhere and in all time have cried out against the remorselessness of the great enemy. ‘Do people die with you?’ was the question met by Livingstone in the untraveled wilds of Africa. ‘Have you no charm against death?’ The Greek as well as the barbarian confessed to the helplessness of man before the great enemy. Centuries before Christ, Sophocles the Athenian wrote:

‘Wonders are many! and none is there greater than man, who
Steers his ship over the sea, driven on by the south wind,
Cleaving the threatening swell of the waters around him.
‘He captures the gay-hearted birds; he entangles adroitly
Creatures that live on the land and the brood of the ocean,
Spreading his well-woven nets. Man full of devices!
‘Speech and swift thought free as wind, the building of cities;
Shelters to ward off the arrows of rain, and to temper
Sharp-biting frost—all these hath he taught himself.
Surely stratagem hath he for all that comes! Never the future
Finds him resourceless! Deftly he combats grievous diseases,
Oft from their grip doth he free himself. Death alone vainly—
Vainly he seeks to escape; ‘gainst death he is helpless.”

—Chorus from Antigone

“What unspeakable pathos in the cry of humanity’s helplessness before death, the great enemy! But when Adam went out of Eden, it was with the assurance of life from the dead through the promised Seed, if faithful. It is the message of the one gospel for all time—everlasting life in Christ.

“’God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16.

“As there is none other name under heaven by which men can be saved, so there is no other way of everlasting life or immortality, save in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When Immortality is Bestowed

“Christ said, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.’ John 11:25.

“He has turned death, that would have been eternal, into a little time of sleep, from which He will awaken the believer. In the resurrection of the last day immortality is bestowed, ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.’ 1 Corinthians 15:52–54.…

“Not until the resurrection, ‘at the last trump,’ is immortality conferred upon the redeemed. Note that it is not something immortal putting on immortality; but this ‘mortal’ puts on immortality. Mark this: there is no life after death, save by the resurrection. ‘If there be no resurrection of the dead, …then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.’ 1 Corinthians 15:13–18.

“This resurrection, as stated by the apostle Paul, is not at death, but in the last day, when Christ shall come, and all His children that are in their graves shall hear His voice. Jesus says: ‘This is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.’ John 6:40.

“That is why the coming of Christ has been the ‘blessed hope’ of all the ages.

Man’s State in Death

“Between death and the resurrection, the dead sleep. Jesus declares that death is a sleep. Lazarus was dead, but Jesus said, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.’ John 11:11. It is the language of Inspiration throughout. The patriarch Job said:

“‘Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: so man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more [the heavens will be rolled back as a scroll at Christ’s coming], they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.’ Job 14:10–12.

“This hope of the resurrection at the last day was no indistinct hope to the believer in God’s promises. The patriarch continued:

“’If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands.’ Verses 14, 15.

“Job tells us of the place of his waiting for the Life-giver’s call: ‘If I wait, the grave is mine house.’ Job 17:13. It is thence that Christ will call His own when He comes. ‘The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.’ John 5:28, 29.

“Death is an unconscious sleep. It must of necessity be so; for death is the opposite of life. Therefore there is no consciousness of the passing of time to those who sleep in the grave. It is as if the eyes closed in death one instant, and the next instant, to the believer’s consciousness, he awakens to hear the animating voice of Jesus calling him to glad immortality, and to see the angels catching up his loved ones to meet Jesus in the air.

“These Scriptures, out of many, will suffice to show that man is not conscious in death:

“‘His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.’ Psalms 146:4.

“’The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything. …Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.’ Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6.

“Death is a sleep, which will continue until the resurrection. Then the Lord will bring forth from the dust the same person who was laid away in death.

“Some have said that this Bible doctrine of the sleep of the dead until the resurrection is a gloomy one. Popular tradition thinks of the blessed dead as going at once to heaven, which, say some, is a beautiful thought. But they forget that the same teaching consigns their unbelieving friends to immediate torment—and that, too, while awaiting the judgment of the last day.

“No, the Bible teaching is the cheering doctrine, the ‘blessed hope.’ All the faithful of all the ages are going into the kingdom together. This blessed truth appeals to the spirit that loves to wait and share joys and good things with loved ones. Of the faithful of past ages the apostle says:

“’These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.’ Hebrews 11:39, 40.

“They are waiting, that all together the saved may enter in. And the time of waiting is but an instant to those who ‘sleep in Jesus.’

“David was a man of God, but the apostle Peter, speaking by the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, declared to the people of the city of David: ‘He is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. …For David is not ascended into the heavens.’ Acts 2:29–34. They without us have not been made perfect. They are all awaiting that glad day toward which the apostle Paul turned the last look of his mortal vision:

“’I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.’ 2 Timothy 4:7, 8.

“What joy in that day to march in through the gates into the eternal city, with Adam, and Abel, and Noah, and Abraham, and Paul and all the faithful, and the loved ones of our own home circles, and dear comrades in service, every one clothed with immortality, the gift of God in Christ Jesus our Redeemer! Horatius Bonar’s hymn sings the joyful hope as the loved are laid away to ‘sleep in Jesus:’

‘Softly within that peaceful resting place
We lay their wearied limbs, and bid the clay
Press lightly on them till the night be past,
And the far east give note of coming day.
‘The shout is heard, the Archangel’s voice goes forth;
The trumpet sounds, the dead awake and sing;
The living put on glory; one glad band,
They hasten up to meet their coming King.’

“In a word, the Scripture teaches that God alone has immortality, that man is mortal, that death is a sleep, that life after death comes only by the resurrection of the last day, that the righteous are then given immortality. Further, the Scripture teaches that later there will be a resurrection of the unjust, not unto life, but unto death, the second death, from which there is no release.

“Every doctrine of Scripture and of the gospel is in accord with this Bible teaching as to man’s nature and his state in death. But the traditional view of the natural immortality of the soul and of life in death, nullifies the Bible doctrines of life only in Christ, and the resurrection, and the judgment, and the giving of rewards at Christ’s coming, and the final judgment upon the wicked and its execution.

A Few Questions Briefly Considered

“1. The “Living Soul”

“Says one; ‘Did not the Lord put into man an immortal soul?’

“No; the Scripture says: “’The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7.

“The soul was not put into the man, but when the life-giving breath was breathed into his nostrils, the man himself became a living soul, a living being. The ordinary version (King James) gives ‘a living soul’ in the margin of Genesis 1:30, showing that the same expression is used of all the animal creation in the Hebrew text. The famous Methodist commentator, Dr. Adam Clarke, says on this phrase, ‘living soul:’

‘A general term to express all creatures endued with animal life, in any of its infinitely varied gradations.’

“2. Are ‘Soul’ and ‘Spirit’ Deathless?

“’Are the soul and spirit said to be deathless?’ questions another.

“No. One writer says of the Scriptural use of the words ‘soul’ and ‘spirit:’

“’The Hebrew and Greek words from which they are translated, occur in the Bible, as we have seen, seventeen hundred times. Surely, once at least in that long list we shall be told that the soul is immortal, if this is its high prerogative. Seventeen hundred times we inquire if the soul is once said to be immortal, or the spirit deathless. And the invariable and overwhelming response we meet is, Not once!’—Here and Hereafter by U. Smith, p. 65.

“On the contrary, the Lord declares, ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ Ezekiel 18:20. It means that the person who sins shall die; for the words ‘soul,’ ‘mind,’ ‘heart,’ and ‘spirit’ are used to express life or the seat of the affections or of the intellect. One may commend his soul to God, or his spirit to God (really his life into the keeping of God), until the great day of the resurrection. The word ‘soul’ is used of all animal life in New Testament usage, as well as in the Old; as, ‘Every living soul died in the sea.’ Revelation 16:3.

“3. The Thief on the Cross

“’Did not Christ promise the thief on the cross that he would be with Him that day in Paradise?’

“No; for Paradise is where God’s throne is, and the tree of life, and the city of God, the capital of Christ’s kingdom; and three days later Christ had not yet ascended to the Father. ‘Touch me not,’ He said to Mary after His resurrection; ‘for I am not yet ascended to My Father.’ John 20:17. The dying thief, therefore, was not with Him in Paradise three days before.

“Nor did the thief’s question suggest such a thought. His faith grasped Christ’s resurrection, the resurrection of His children, and the coming kingdom; and that day on the cross, in the moment of the deepest humiliation of the Son of God, the repentant sinner cried, ‘Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.’ And the Saviour replied, ‘Verily I say unto thee today’—this day, when the world scoffs and the darkness presses upon Me, this day I say it—‘shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.’ Luke 23:42, 43.

“The punctuation that makes it read, ‘Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise,’ is not a part of the sacred text, and puts the Saviour’s promise in contradiction with the facts of the whole narrative and the teaching of the Scripture.

“4. The Rich Man and Lazarus

“’Then there is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus,’ one says, ‘where Lazarus and Dives are talking, though dead—Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom and the rich man in torment.’

“But that is a parable; and no one can set the figures of a parable against the facts of positive Scripture. In parables, lessons are often taught by figurative language and imaginary scenes which could never be real, though the lesson is emphasized the more forcefully.

“In the parable of Judges 9, the trees are represented as holding a council and talking with one another. No one mistakes the lesson of the parable, or supposes that the trees actually talked. So in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the lesson is taught that uprightness in this life, even though under deepest poverty, will be rewarded in the future life; while uncharitable selfishness will surely bring one to ruin and destruction.

“In the face of the Bible teaching, no one can turn this parable into actual narrative, representing that the saved in glory are now looking over the battlements of heaven and talking with the lost, writhing before their eyes in agony amid the flames of unending torment. This is not the picture that the Scriptures give us of heaven, nor of the state of the dead, nor of the time and circumstances of the final rewards or punishments.”

Our Day in the Light of Prophecy, 275–285