end times

God’s Special Gift for His Last Day Church, Part I

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If you are interested in evangelism, you need to be well acquainted with the writings and the speeches of the apostle Peter, because there are hundreds of millions of people in the world who have a special regard for the apostle Peter. They say that he was the first head of their church.

I love to talk to my Roman Catholic friends about the apostle Peter. I just love it! They are shocked when they find out what the apostle Peter said. Did you know that it is recorded in Acts 10 that a man by the name of Cornelius was so happy to see the apostle Peter that he knelt down to worship him?

The apostle Peter said, “Stand up, I am just a man.” Did you know that the first pope would not even allow anybody to get down on their knees in front of him? Something has changed, has it not? Well, the apostle Peter had something to say about the last days.

Where is the Promise?

“Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days [Some translations say “mockers.”], walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:3.

Now notice what the apostle Peter says is going to happen in the last days, the days in which you and I are living. He says there are going to be scoffers. What are they going to scoff at? They are going to scoff at the idea of creation. They are going to scoff at the idea that the world came into existence by the word of God.

The apostle Paul talked about this, too. Paul said in the last day perilous times will come. (See 2 Timothy 3.)

Spiritual Suicide

Let me list for you three things that have happened in the last 200 years, things which have brought the world into greater spiritual peril than at any previous time in world history.

  1. The Development of Higher Criticism.

I attended Andrews University. Do not let anybody think that I am recommending that you go there. That is one of the most dangerous places in the world that you could go for an education. My son is an engineer, and he went to a Seventh-day Adventist College in Washington State. When he went there, I talked to him. I said, “Son, it is all right with me if you go to this place and study engineering, but I do not want you to study theology there.”

Now that seems strange. I studied theology at that very place. I told my son, I do not want you to study Bible, and I do not want you to study theology there. Why? Because in our time, theology has become one of the most dangerous things to study in the universities and colleges.

Why? Well, there are a number of reasons, but one of the reasons has to do with the development of higher criticism. The net result of higher criticism is that after you have studied for several years under teachers who have imbibed these theories (and they have imbibed them from other universities where they got their doctoral degrees in theology) you have a completely different idea about the Bible. You do not have nearly as much confidence in the Bible anymore.

You no longer look at it as the infallible Word of God. Christian leaders need to know that we are up against a world of unbelief.

The Age of Unbelief

We are producing a series of programs for television on the age of unbelief—the time in which we are living. Higher criticism is a big part of this. It has destroyed faith in the Bible for the majority of Christian ministers and priests.

There are preachers all over the world who claim to be Protestant preachers and Catholic priests, and they do not believe what the Bible says about how the world came into existence. They do not believe that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. They do not believe in the virgin birth. They do not believe in the blood atonement, and they do not believe in the Second Coming of Christ.

Have you ever read, in the papers or magazines, about meetings where theologians get together and discuss the Second Coming of Christ? Most of them do not believe in it. Why? the outgrowth and development of higher criticism. Christian religious leaders all over the world do not believe the Bible the way Martin Luther, John Calvin and our spiritual forefathers did.

This has brought the world into the most perilous time since the creation of the world. But there are two other things that have happened in the last 200 years that have also brought the world into these perilous times.

  1. The Development of the Theory of Evolution and Uniformitarianism.

In 2 Peter 3, Peter specified that in the last days the theory of uniformitarianism would be taught. That is the theory that all things continue as they were from the beginning.

In 1979, during the Christmas season, my sister’s family, my parents and I were all visiting my brother, Marshall. He and his family were pastoring a church in Pennsylvania. We decided one day to take a trip to the Smithsonian Institute, one of the largest museums in the world. It has many, many different buildings; you cannot visit everything in one day. I decided I was going to go through the geology building.

I knew what I would find. They would say that the earth was millions of years old. By the way, you can figure out from the Bible, within fifty years, how old the world is. It is around 6000 years old right now.

Of course geologists say that the world is billions of years old; the common figure is four and one-half billion years. So I went into their geology building, because I wanted to know what their evidence is.

One Piece of Evidence

Do you know what evidence they have? They have only one piece of evidence for the whole thing. I went through the whole building. I looked at all the exhibits and the explanations and found they only have one piece of evidence—a theory. It is the theory of uniformitarianism. Do you know what the theory of uniformitarianism is? They look at the depth of the sediment at the bottom of a lake. Then they measure and they say that the sediment is gathering at the rate of 1/16 of an inch per year, so that means that this lake is x many years old.

Everything just continues the same. That is the theory of uniformitarianism. That, along with the theory of evolution, has worked to destroy the confidence of men in the Bible and the inspired writings of God.

I am glad that at least some evolutionists are candid, that they know what they believe. One of the leading educators, who is an evolutionist, has written “Now if the theory of evolution is really true, it has to mean the following. It has to mean that there is no God, or gods, there is no such thing as a moral law, and there is no such thing as a future. When you die, that is the end of everything. Also, there is no such thing as free choice.”

He just listed those four things. If evolution is true, then those four things have to be so. We are living in a time when, if you go to any university anywhere in the world—not just the United States—but Europe, Africa, South America, Australia, this theory has permeated all fields of learning.

Made in the Image of Whom?

Has that brought the world into a spiritual crisis? When you are bringing up a young child, does it make a difference in their behavior whether they think they are made in the image of God or they think that they descended from an ape? It makes all the difference in the world in their behavior. Do you want your children to act like animals, or like sons and daughters of God?

The first development has affected the entire religious world. The second development has involved the entire educational and scientific world, every field of human thought. The third development in the world has involved just about everybody except the people who believe in the Bible and know some things in the Bible.

  1. The Development of Modern Spiritualism

This development, which started in 1848, has affected the entire world, and it is affecting everybody It affects atheists, agnostics, evolutionists, scientists, government leaders and church leaders in both Catholic and Protestant faiths. It has permeated the whole world.

Those three things show us how dangerous the world has become and why we are living in an age and world of unbelief. Peter talked about it, Paul talked about it, and God knew about it.

What Would You Do?

Let me ask you this question, and I want you to think about it. If you were in God’s position thousands of years ago, and you foresaw what was going to happen in the world in the last days, and you knew what the devil was going to do to deceive the whole world, (God had His prophet record in Revelation 12:9 how the devil would deceive the whole world); and you wanted to save as many people as you could, what would you do?

Let us see what God said He was going to do about it. In the Old Testament, one of the greatest prophets. Elijah, came to the Children of Israel at a time when they were in a time like we are in today, when there was an apostasy and people did not believe in the God of heaven, and they were kneeling down to Baal and idols.

Elijah came with a message. It was a stern message, but it woke up a lot of people.There was a great that went throughout the land and throughout the Children of Israel.

Ever after that time whenever a prophet arose who brought a great reformation, they would call them an Elijah prophet. God talked about this through the prophet Malachi: “‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.’” Malachi 4:5, 6.

The Elijah Prophet for the End Times

Our heavenly Father, foreseeing the great crisis that the world would be brought into in the last days because of the theories of higher criticism, the theories of evolution, and because of the working of spiritualism which has inundated the world with deception, said, “Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, I know that you are going to go into perilous times. You are going to be in very deceptive times. The devil is going to deceive the whole world, but I am going to do something special for My people. I am going to send you Elijah the prophet.”

So the Jews began to look for the coming of Elijah the prophet. When Jesus came, the Jews were looking for the coming of Elijah the prophet. “Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ [That is the prophet Moses predicted in Deuteronomy 18:15.] And he answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?’ He said: ‘I am “The voice of one crying in the wilderness;’ Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said.’ Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him saying, ‘Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’ John answered them, saying, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.’” John 1:19–26.

Spiritual Blindness

Here is what the problem was with the Jews. It is a problem among many Christians today; I hope it is not your problem. You know the Bible says that spiritual things are spiritually discerned. (See 1 Corinthians 2:14.) You read that and if you cannot discern spiritual things and all you can see is literal things, you are going to be in trouble. You are not going to understand the Word of God.

The Jews knew that God had taken Elijah in a chariot up into heaven in the days of Ahab. Elijah was up there, and they said, “Before the Messiah comes (this is what they taught) God is going to send Elijah, the same one who spoke to Ahab and Jezebel. God is going to send him back down from heaven to us.” And so they asked John, “Are you Elijah? You know, the one that talked to Ahab and Jezebel,” and John said, “No, no I am not.”

Do you know what they said then? They said, “Well, then the Messiah cannot be coming yet, because before the Messiah comes Elijah has to come back down from heaven.” What was their problem? They did not discern spiritual things. Was John the Baptist the Elijah prophet who was promised? Yes, he was. Jesus said so.

In Matthew 11:11–14 it says, “‘Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he [that is greater in privilege]. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.’”

More than a Prophet

Was John the Baptist the Elijah prophet? Yes, he was. And notice what Jesus said about the Elijah prophet. He said, “This person is a prophet all right, but he is more than a prophet.”

Now let me tell you something. This is the very best news on the face of the earth right now. There have been three times since the beginning of the world that God has sent His children, because of the crisis they were in, not just a prophet, but somebody who was more than a prophet.

The first time God sent His children somebody who was more than a prophet was when He sent Moses. Miriam and Aaron were prophets, too. One time they got jealous of Moses, and they said, “Well, has God spoken through Moses and has He not also spoken through us?” (See Numbers 12:2.) Do you remember what the Lord said to them? He said, “Why were you not afraid to speak like this about My servant Moses?” And the Lord said to them, “If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make Myself known to him in a vision and dream, but My servant Moses is not so. I will speak to him face to face or mouth to mouth.” (See Numbers 12:6–8.) Moses was more than just a prophet.

The second time God sent His children somebody who was more than a prophet was when He sent John the Baptist. When Jesus came, that was the most important event of the ages. Before Jesus came God sent His children somebody who was a prophet all right, but somebody who was more than a prophet because that was a crisis period and they needed it.

The third time God sent His children somebody who was a prophet, who was more than a prophet, was in the last days. God said, “I am going to send you Elijah the prophet.” Now the Elijah prophet before the first coming was more than a prophet, and the Elijah prophet before the Second Coming is more than a prophet, too. We will see that soon. This is the best possible news I could tell you

Confidence Lost

You and I are living in the most spiritually dangerous time of all the ages, and we need special instruction from heaven to keep us focused in Bible truth. We are dealing with the world. Even the people who are the spiritual leaders of the world do not have confidence in the Scriptures anymore because of the theories of higher criticism.

The scientific community and the educated people do not have confidence in the Bible because of the theories of geology and evolution, which they have been taught since they were young. And nobody, believes, in what this Book teaches anymore, who has been involved in spiritualism because they have been taught opposite theories that are contrary to this Book.

God knew that this would happen, Jesus predicted it in Luke 18, and so He promised through Malachi the prophet. He said that before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, He was going to do something special for us. He knew we were going to be in trouble: we were going to be in perilous times. There were going to be scoffers; there were going to be mockers. It was going to be an age of unbelief.

So the Lord said, “I am going to send to you Elijah the prophet, somebody who is more than a prophet.” John the Baptist was more than a prophet. The Elijah prophet is to be more than a prophet. We know that from the words of Jesus in Matthew 11.

Jewish Tragedy

The great tragedy that happened to the Jews is that the Elijah prophet came. They asked him, “Are you Elijah? Are you the one that talked to Ahab and Jezebel?” He said, “No, I am not.” So they said, “That is not the Elijah prophet” and they left, and they missed out. Here they had had contact with the man whom Jesus said there had never been anybody born of a woman who was greater than this man. (See Matthew 11:11.) He was more than a prophet. He was a special messenger sent to prepare the people for the Messiah.

Do you know whom it was that became Jesus’ disciples? If you study the New Testament, you will find that when Jesus came it was the people who had been with John the Baptist. Was it important whether or not they knew whom the Elijah prophet was? Well, it made all the difference in the world whether or not they would be ready to meet the Messiah.

Now the Jews had the Bible, that is the Old Testament. That was all that had been written so far. Sometimes I meet people who say, “Pastor John, I do not need any more prophecy. I have the Bible.” I say, “Oh, bless your heart, I have the Bible, too, and I love every word of it.”

But do you realize, my dear friend, that those Jews in the time of Christ missed what God wanted them to know because they did not accept the gift of prophecy that God sent to them just before Jesus came? They missed it! The most wonderful thing that God sent to them and they missed it! That was part of the reason they rejected the Messiah.

To be continued……

Bible Study Guides – Phases of Present Truth

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November 17-23, 2002

MEMORY VERSE: “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know [them], and be established in the present truth.” 2 Peter 1:12

SUGGESTED READING: The Desire of Ages, 632–636; The Great Controversy, 355–374.

INTRODUCTION: “There was a present truth—a truth at that time of special importance—in the days of Christ, of Paul, of Luther; there is a present truth for the church today.” Signs of the Times, June 21, 1883.

1 How do the teachings of Christ harmonize with teachings of Old Testament scripture? Matthew 22:36–40; 5:17–19; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18.

NOTE: “The teaching of Christ in the gospel is in perfect harmony with the teaching of Christ through the prophets in the Old Testament. The prophets spoke through the messengers of Christ in the Old Testament as much as the apostles voiced His messages in the New Testament, and there is no contradiction between their teachings.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 345.

2 What clarification did Jesus give about his teachings? John 7:16.

NOTE: “[Jesus answered] My words are in perfect harmony with the Old Testament Scriptures, and with the law spoken from Sinai. I am not preaching a new doctrine. I am presenting old truths rescued from the framework of error, and placed in a new setting (Manuscript 33, 1911).” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1136.

3 What present truth was taught after Christ’s ascension? 1 John 1:1–3; 2 Peter 1:12, 15, 16.

NOTE: “When, after His ascension, the Holy Spirit brought His teachings to the remembrance of the disciples, their slumbering senses awoke. The meaning of these truths flashed upon their minds as a new revelation, and truth, pure and unadulterated, made a place for itself. Then the wonderful experience of His life became theirs. The Word bore testimony through them, the men of His appointment, and they proclaimed the mighty truth, ‘The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth.’ ‘And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.’ John 1:14, 16.” The Acts of the Apostles, 520.

4 In what way does that truth affect us today? John 17:17–20.

NOTE: “We are to be brought into a sacred nearness with the world’s Redeemer. We are to be one with Christ as He is one with the Father. What a wonderful change the people of God experience in coming into unity with the Son of God! We are to have our tastes, inclinations, ambitions, and passions all subdued, and brought into harmony with the mind and spirit of Christ. This is the very work that the Lord is willing to do for those who believe in Him. Our life and deportment are to have a molding power in the world. The spirit of Christ is to have a controlling influence over the life of His followers, so that they will speak and act like Jesus. Christ says, ‘The glory which thou gavest Me I have given them.’ . . .

“The grace of Christ is to work a wonderful transformation in the life and character of its receiver; and if we are truly the disciples of Christ, the world will see that divine power has done something for us; for while we are in the world, we shall not be of it.” My Life Today, 252.

5 What did Paul say about the plan of redemption which was more fully revealed in the gospel of Christ? Ephesians 3:3–6, 9; 1 Timothy 3:16; Romans 16:25, 26.

NOTE: “Jesus longed to unfold the deep mysteries of the truth which had been hid for ages, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs with the Jews, and ‘partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.’ Ephesians 3:6. This truth the disciples were slow to learn, and the divine Teacher gave them lesson upon lesson.” The Desire of Ages, 402.

“Give yourself to the Lord for purification and sanctification. A godly example will tell more for the truth than the greatest eloquence, unaccompanied by a well-ordered life. Trim the lamp of the soul, and replenish it with the oil of the Spirit. Seek from Christ that grace, that clearness of comprehension, which will enable you to do successful work. Learn from Him what it means to work for those for whom He gave His life.” Gospel Workers, 104, 105.

6 When the mystery of God (light given to the Gentiles) is completed, what will happen? Matthew 24:14.

NOTE: “Long has God waited for the spirit of service to take possession of the whole church so that everyone shall be working for Him according to his ability. When the members of the church of God do their appointed work in the needy fields at home and abroad, in fulfillment of the gospel commission, the whole world will soon be warned and the Lord Jesus will return to this earth with power and great glory.” The Acts of the Apostles, 111.

7 What final verdict will be declared at that time? Revelation 22:10, 11.

NOTE: “The gospel dispensation is the last period of probation that will ever be granted to men. Those who live under this dispensation of test and trial and yet are not led to repent and obey will perish with the disloyal. There is no second trial. The gospel that is to be preached to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples presents the truth in clear lines, showing that obedience is the condition of gaining eternal life. Christ imparts His righteousness to those who consent to let Him take away their sins. We are indebted to Christ for the grace which makes us complete in Him (Manuscript 40, 1900).” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 971, 972.

8 How can we know that Christ’s second coming is close? Matthew 24:32–39.

NOTE: “Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in the words of Christ. As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin, that they might make their escape; so He has warned the world of the day of final destruction and has given them tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to come.” The Great Controversy, 37.

9 In our day what notable religious revival marks the beginning of the present truth, and how is it described? Revelation 14:6.

NOTE: “A great religious awakening under the proclamation of Christ’s soon coming is foretold in the prophecy of the first angel’s message of Revelation 14. . . .

“The fact that an angel is said to be the herald of this warning is significant. By the purity, the glory, and the power of the heavenly messenger, divine wisdom has been pleased to represent the exalted character of the work to be accomplished by the message and the power and glory that were to attend it. And the angel’s flight ‘in the midst of heaven,’ the ‘loud voice’ with which the warning is uttered, and its promulgation to all ‘that dwell on the earth,’—‘to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,’—give evidence of the rapidity and world-wide extent of the movement.” The Great Controversy, 355.

10 In what way does the first angel’s message exalt God’s law and prepare a people for Christ’s return? 1 John 3:2, 3; Psalm 19:7.

NOTE: “The message proclaimed by the angel flying in the midst of heaven is the everlasting gospel, the same gospel that was declared in Eden when God said to the serpent, ‘I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel’ (Genesis 3:15). Here was the first promise of a Saviour who would stand on the field of battle to contest the power of Satan and prevail against him. Christ came to our world to represent the character of God as it is represented in His holy law; for His law is a transcript of His character. Christ was both the law and the gospel. The angel that proclaims the everlasting gospel proclaims the law of God; for the gospel of salvation brings men to obedience of the law, whereby their characters are formed after the divine similitude.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 106.

11 To whom is the commission given to teach the first angel’s message? Matthew 28:19, 20.

NOTE: “As His representatives among men, God does not choose angels who have never fallen, but human beings, men of like passions with those they seek to save. Christ took humanity that He might reach humanity. A divine-human Saviour was needed to bring salvation to the world. And to men and women has been committed the sacred trust of making known ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ.’ Ephesians 3:8.

“In His wisdom the Lord brings those who are seeking for truth into touch with fellow beings who know the truth. It is the plan of Heaven that those who have received light shall impart it to those in darkness. Humanity, drawing its efficiency from the great Source of wisdom, is made the instrumentality, the working agency, through which the gospel exercises its transforming power on mind and heart.” The Acts of the Apostles, 134.

12 What will be the experience of the end-day remnant? Matthew 24:9.

NOTE: “Whoever sees the repulsive character of sin, and in strength from above resists temptation, will assuredly arouse the wrath of Satan and his subjects. Hatred of the pure principles of truth, and reproach and persecution of its advocates, will exist as long as sin and sinners remain. The followers of Christ and the servants of Satan cannot harmonize.” The Great Controversy, 507.

13 How is the end-day remnant distinguished from the rest of the world? Revelation 12:17.

NOTE: “I [Ellen White] was shown in regard to the remnant people of God taking a name. Two classes were presented before me. One class embraced the great bodies of professed Christians. They were trampling upon God’s law and bowing to a papal institution. They were keeping the first day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord. The other class, who were but few in number, were bowing to the great Lawgiver. They were keeping the fourth commandment. The peculiar and prominent features of their faith were the observance of the seventh day, and waiting for the appearing of our Lord from heaven.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 223.

“Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will feel the ire of the dragon and his hosts. Satan numbers the world as his subjects, he has gained control of the apostate churches; but here is a little company that are resisting his supremacy. . . .

“Their only hope is in the mercy of God; their only defense will be prayer.” Ibid., vol. 5, 472.

Pen of Inspiration – Perilous Times

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The unbelieving world will soon have something to think of beside their dress and appearance; and as their minds are torn from these things by distress and perplexity, they have nothing to turn to. They are not prisoners of hope, and therefore do not turn to the Strong Hold. Their hearts will fail them for repining and fear. They have not made God their refuge, and He will not be their consolation then, but will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh. They have despised and trampled upon the truths of God’s word. They have indulged in extravagant dress, and have spent their lives in hilarity and glee. They have sown to the wind, they must reap the whirlwind.

In the time of distress and perplexity of nations there will be many who have not given themselves wholly to the corrupting influences of the world and the service of Satan, who will humble themselves before God, and turn to Him with their whole heart and find acceptance and pardon.

Those among Sabbath-keepers who have been unwilling to make any sacrifice, but have yielded to the influence of the world, are to be tested and proved. The perils of the last days are upon us, and a trial is before the young which they have not anticipated. They are to be brought into most distressing perplexity. The genuineness of their faith will be proved. They profess to be looking for the coming of the Son of man, yet some of them have been miserable examples to unbelievers. They have not been willing to give up the world, but have united with them, have attended picnics, and other gatherings of pleasure, flattering themselves that they were engaging in innocent amusement. Yet I was shown that it was just such indulgences that separate them from God, and make them children of the world. God owns not the pleasure, or amusement-seeker as His follower. He has given us no such example. Those only who are self-denying, and who live a life of sobriety, humility and holiness, are true followers of Jesus; and such cannot engage in, and enjoy the frivolous, empty conversation of the lovers of the world.

Isaiah 3, was presented before me. I was shown that this prophecy has its application to these last days; and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” I was shown that this scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be Christians, yet having no Christian experience, and having borne no burdens, and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust, and long for an experience in the things of God, which they failed to obtain.

Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4b, 62,63.

Peter’s Counsel to Parents, Part VIII: “Steadfast Unto the End”

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In the second letter addressed by Peter to those who had obtained “like precious faith” with himself, the apostle sets forth the divine plan for the development of Christian character. He writes:

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [11 Peter 1:2–8.]

Ladder of Christian Perfection

These words are full of instruction, and strike the key-note of victory. The apostle presents before the believers the ladder of Christian perfection, every step of which represents continual advancement in the knowledge of God, and in the climbing of which there is to be no standstill. Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity are the rounds of the ladder. We are saved by climbing round after round, mounting step after step, to the height of Christ’s ideal for us. Thus he is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

Virtue

God has called his people to glory and virtue, and these will be manifest in the lives of all who are truly connected with him. Having become partakers of the heavenly gift, they are to go on to perfection, being “kept by the power of God through faith.” [1 Peter 1:5.] It is the glory of God to give his virtue to his children. He desires to see men and women reaching the highest standard; and when by faith they lay hold of the power of Christ, when they plead his unfailing promises, and claim them as their own, when with an importunity that will not be denied they seek for the power of the Holy Spirit, they will be made complete in him.

Safeguard of Knowledge

Having received the faith of the gospel, the next work of the believer is to add to his character virtue, and thus cleanse the heart and prepare the mind for the reception of the knowledge of God. This knowledge is the foundation of all true education and of all true service. It is the only real safeguard against temptation; and it is this alone that can make one like God in character. Through the knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ, are given to the believer “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” [11 Peter 1:3.] No good gift is withheld from him who sincerely desires to obtain the righteousness of God.

“This is life eternal,” Christ said, “that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [John 17:3.] And the prophet Jeremiah declared: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” [Jeremiah 9:23, 24.] Scarcely can the human mind comprehend the breadth and depth and height of the spiritual attainments of him who gains this knowledge.

Character Perfection Possible

None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection, and places before us the example of Christ’s character. In his humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through cooperation with divinity human beings may in this life attain to perfection of a character. This is God’s assurance to us that we too may obtain complete victory.

Before the believer is held out the wonderful possibility of being like Christ, obedient to all the principles of the law. But of himself man is utterly unable to reach this condition. The holiness that God’s Word declares he must have before he can be saved, is the result of the working of divine grace, as he bows in submission to the discipline and restraining influences of the Spirit of truth. Man’s obedience can be made perfect only by the incense of Christ’s righteousness, which fills with divine fragrance every act of obedience. The part of the Christian is to persevere in overcoming every fault. Constantly he is to pray to the Saviour to heal the disorders of his sinsick soul. He has not the wisdom nor the strength to overcome; these belong to the Lord, and he bestows them on those who in humiliation and contrition seek him for help.

The work of transformation from unholiness to holiness is a continuous one. Day by day God labors for man’s sanctification, and man is to cooperate with him, putting forth persevering efforts in the cultivation of right habits. He is to add grace to grace; and as he thus works on the plan of addition, God works for him on the plan of multiplication. He is always ready to hear and answer the prayer of the contrite heart, and grace and peace are multiplied to his faithful ones. Gladly he grants them the blessings that they need in their struggle against the evils that beset them.

There are those who attempt to ascend the ladder of Christian progress; but as they advance, they begin to put their trust in the power of man, and soon lose sight of Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith. The result is failure—the loss of all that has been gained. Sad indeed is the condition of those who, becoming weary of the way, allow the enemy of souls to rob them of the Christian graces that have been developing in their hearts and lives. “He that lacketh these things,” declares the apostle, “is blind, and can not see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” [11 Peter 1:9.]

No Possibility of Failure

The apostle Peter had had a long experience in the things of God. His faith in God’s power to save had strengthened with the years, until he had proved beyond question that there is no possibility of failure before the one who, advancing by faith, ascends round by round, ever upward and onward, to the topmost round of the ladder that reaches even to the portals of heaven.

Privileges of Believers

For many years Peter had been urging the believers to grow in grace and in a knowledge of the truth; and now, knowing that soon he would be called upon to suffer martyrdom for his faith, he once more drew attention to the precious privileges within the reach of every believer. In the full assurance of his faith, the aged disciple exhorted his brethren to steadfastness of purpose in the Christian life. “Give diligence,” he pleaded, “to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” [11 Peter 1:10, 11.] Precious assurance! Glorious is the hope set before the believer as he advances by faith toward the heights of Christian perfection!

“I will not be negligent,” the apostle continues, “to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me. Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.” [Verses 12–15.]

The apostle was well qualified to speak of the purposes of God concerning the human race; for during the earthly ministry of Christ he had seen and heard much that pertained to the kingdom of God. “We have not followed cunningly devised fables,” he reminded the believers, “when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.” [Verses 16–18.]

Safe Guide of Prophecy

Convincing as was this evidence of the certainty of the believers’ hope, there was yet another still more convincing in the witness of prophecy, through which the faith of all might be confirmed and securely anchored. “We have also,” Peter declared, “a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” [Verses 19–21.]

While exalting the “sure word of prophecy” as a safe guide in times of peril, the apostle solemnly warned the church against the torch of false prophecy, which would be uplifted by “false teachers,” who would privily bring in “damnable heresies, even denying the Lord.” These false teachers arising in the church are accounted true by many of their brethren in the faith, but the apostle compared them to “wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever.” “The latter end is worse with them,” he declared, “than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” [11 Peter 2:1, 2, 17, 20, 21.]

End Time Conditions

Looking down through the ages to the close of time, Peter was inspired to outline conditions that would exist in the world just prior to the second coming of Christ. “There shall come in the last days scoffers,” he wrote, “walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” But “when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them.” [11 Peter 3:3, 4; 1 Thessalonians 5:3.] Not all, however, would be ensnared by the enemy’s devices. As the end of all things earthly approached, there would be faithful ones able to discern the signs of the times. While a larger number of professing believers would deny their faith by their works, there would be a remnant who would endure to the end.

Peter kept alive in his heart the hope of Christ’s return, and he assured the church of the certain fulfilment of the Saviour’s promise, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself.” [John 14:3.] To the tried and faithful ones the coming might seem long delayed, but the apostle assured them: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found to him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you. . . . Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” [11 Peter 3:9–15, 17, 18.]

Peter’s Imprisonment

In the providence of God, Peter was permitted to close his ministry in Rome, where his imprisonment was ordered by the emperor Nero about the time of Paul’s final arrest. Thus the two veteran apostles, who for many years had been widely separated in their labors, were called upon to bear their last witness for Christ in the world’s metropolis, and upon its soil to shed their blood as the seed of a vast harvest of saints and martyrs.

Since his reinstatement after his denial of Christ, Peter had unflinchingly braved danger, and had shown a noble courage and boldness in preaching a crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour. As he lay in his cell, he called to mind the words that Christ had spoken to him: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” [John 21:18.] Thus Jesus had made known to the disciple the very manner of his death, and even foretold the stretching of his hands upon the cross.

Peter’s Death

Peter, as a Jew and a foreigner, was condemned to be scourged and crucified. In prospect of this fearful death, the apostle remembered his great sin in denying Jesus in the hour of his trial. Once so unready to acknowledge the cross, he now counted it a joy to yield up his life for the gospel, feeling only that for him who had denied his Lord, to die in the same manner as his Master died was too great an honor. Peter had sincerely repented of that sin, and had been forgiven by Christ, as is shown by the high commission given him to feed the sheep and lambs of the flock. But he could never forgive himself. Not even the thought of the agonies of the last terrible scene could lessen the bitterness of his sorrow and repentance. As a last favor, he entreated his executioners that he might be nailed to the cross with his head downward. The request was granted, and in this manner died the great apostle Peter.

Review and Herald, September 19, 1912; September 26, 1912.

Ellen G. White (1827–1915) wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books during her lifetime. Today, including compilations from her 50,000 pages of manuscript, more than 100 titles are available in English. She is the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature, and the most translated American author of either gender. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Mrs. White was appointed by God as a special messenger to draw the world’s attention to the Holy Scriptures and help prepare people for Christ’s second advent.

Having No Root

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We can look around the world today, and we can see that Jesus is soon to come. The signs are fulfilling rapidly. Almost all of the signs that Jesus told His disciples, in Matthew 24, have already been fulfilled. We can see that Jesus is coming very, very soon, and that should fill us with hope. While we are in this world we have trials and troubles. We have to meet temptations. But it is all for our own good. We would not enjoy Heaven as much if God just took us there without trying us.

One reason we have trials is that God is going to make sure that Heaven is not going to be desecrated again. Before God can take us to Heaven, it must be demonstrated that we would not start this rebellion all over again.

What we must concentrate on now is being faithful, so that we can be there. When we are going through trials we need to think about the beauties and the glories of Heaven. If we could get just one glimpse of the New Jerusalem, we would not want anything on this earth again. Revelation tells us that the New Jerusalem has streets made of gold, walls of jasper, and twelve gates, each made of a single pearl. The beauty is unsurpassed!

Heaven is beyond our brightest conceptions. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9. We can try to picture the best thing possible to our imagination, and it is going to be much better than that.

We are told that we do not have one single tree on this earth which would compare to the trees in the garden of Eden. (See The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 1, 66.) We have some beautiful trees on this earth. Think of the lofty redwoods and the giant sequoias. These do not even compare to what was in the garden of Eden.

How many people do you think could sit under the canopy of the biggest tree in the world? In one of the descriptions of Heaven, Mrs. White tells us that all the righteous will sit down underneath the tree of life. (See Early Writings,16.) I cannot even begin to imagine a tree of that size.

We could continue to list all the amazing and beautiful things that are going to be in Heaven, but the best thing about Heaven is that we are going to get to meet our Savior there. Our Savior who left Heaven, and came here to redeem us. He did all that so that we might not receive our deserved reward—death, but instead go to Heaven to live eternally with Him.

It is sad, but the vast majority of the world is not going to accept His gift. Many will choose to follow their own sinful ways. But He loves us so much that died for just you, or for just me.

Revelation 13:3 tells about a time when it will look like very few are going to be saved. It says: “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed and all the world marveled and followed the beast.” All the world, except for the few that have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, are going to be united in worshipping and following the beast.

Why will so much of the world be deceived? Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 24:24: “For false christs and false prophets will arise, and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Almost the whole world is going to be taken captive by the delusion that you do not need to obey God’s law. If possible, even the very elect would be deceived. That should make us pray harder and study God’s Word more earnestly.

The devil is going to have many temptations that appear good. “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth, in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.” Revelation 13:13, 14.

Today people are all looking at signs and outward appearances. They are dazzled by miracles, or what they consider supernatural signs. The devil is well aware of this and he is going to show signs, and many miracles, so that, if possible, the very elect will be deceived.

How can we keep from being deceived? We must be rooted and grounded in the Word of God, and know what we believe and why we believe it.

Matthew 13:5, 6 tells us about a group of people who did not know why they believed what they did. “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had not depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.” This group of people readily accepted the truth. They appeared at first to be flourishing plants, but their roots were not deep.

What happens to them? “Yet, he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately, he stumbles.” Matthew 13:21. When the sun arose, when the persecution and tribulation came, they withered away.

Persecution and tribulation are represented here as the sun. Can a plant grow without the sun? It cannot. Neither can a Christian grow and be strong without trials. We need trials and persecution to prepare us for Heaven, so that we will be ready for it, and be able to enjoy it.

The law of Heaven is self-sacrifice. Jesus came and gave all for us. What if you had not given anything for Him? Far from being a curse, our trials and our persecutions are actually the greatest blessings of our lives, and God in His mercy today, is preparing us to stand when it really gets hard. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” If we are seeking God first in everything we do, He will take care of us when the difficult times come.

You do not need to be frightened by the things ahead of us. God has promised to give us the grace to go through whatever we need to go through. Dwight Moody said, “I don’t have the faith of a martyr. I haven’t needed it yet.” God gives us grace and faith proportionate to what we need. If God calls us to give up our lives as a witness for Him, He will give us all the grace we would need to be faithful to Him.

God’s power is not shortened. His hand is not held back. He will do His part if we are willing to do ours. Now is the time for us to send down roots, so that we are not like the stony ground hearers. Then when the trial comes, we will not wither away.

 

The Majority

 

“And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.” Matthew 10:19. During the time of trouble, you are going to be asked to prove what you believe. You will have to stand alone. How will you answer when they say, “All the world believes this. You cannot be right, because everybody believes this.”

Just because the majority believes it, is it the truth? In the 1600s, scientists believed a very interesting thing. They believed that if you put a piece of meat out in the open air, flies would just spring up from the meat. They called it spontaneous generation. Everyone believed that theory. They also thought that if you took an old sweaty shirt and threw it on some hay in a bucket, mice would automatically appear. Everybody believed that, but did that make it right? No. A man called Redi came along, and said, “No, this is not true.” He put the meat in a jar, and put a screen over it, and no flies were found on the meat. He did the same experiment with the sweaty shirt and the mice. His experiments completely disproved that theory. He also proved that the truth is still the truth no matter who does or does not believe it.

Galileo said that the earth goes around the sun. But the rest of the world believed that the sun goes around the earth. For hundreds of years it had been taught that the earth was the center of the universe. But did that make it right? No. It did not matter how many people believed it. It still was not true. If only one person believed it, in fact, if no one believed it, the truth would still be the truth.

Neither was the majority right in Christ’s day. At the beginning of His ministry many people flocked after Him to hear His teachings and benefit from His miracles. But how many actually stayed with Him till the end? Not many. Most of the people had such a distorted idea of what Christ’s kingdom was going to be that they were offended by His words. You can read about it in John 6:66 “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”

 

The Majority Are Shaken Out

 

In the 1840s there was a big movement called the great awakening. Hundreds of thousands of people accepted it, but when the great disappointment came, almost all lost faith. There were only a few hundred who held to God’s Word, and studied to find the truth. There was a shaking then, but God’s Word says that there is going to be an even stronger shaking in the last days. “See that you don’t refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.” Hebrews 12:25–28. Everyone is going to be shaken. Only those that are rooted and grounded, and know what they believe from God’s Word will remain.

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Hebrews 12:28. Paul tells us that the kingdom that God is going to establish will be unshakable. Why? Because anyone who is a part of that kingdom will have already gone through the shaking, and were immovable, because they were clinging to Christ.

Christ is the rock. When I think about this, I like to think of a barnacle. A barnacle is not very big, but it clings to the rock. When the storms come, and the waves beat against it, it clings securely to the rock. We must be like that. Only those that are clinging to the Rock, that are becoming a part of Him, that are engrafted into the olive tree, are going to stand through the shaking.

Isaiah 17 tells us something more about the shaking. ” ‘In that day it shall come to pass that the glory of Jacob will wane, and the fatness of his flesh grow lean. It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain, and reaps the heads with his arm; it shall be as he who gathers heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in its most fruitful branches,’ says the Lord God of Israel.” Isaiah 17:4, 6.

Isaiah compares the shaking to the harvest of the olive tree, when they shake the tree and almost all the olives fall on the ground. All the olives that fall on the ground he compares to the lost, but he says, a few will remain. Only a few faithful will remain.

Another example in nature is the evergreen tree. We have two kinds of trees. When cold winter weather comes, the deciduous trees loose all their leaves and are completely bare. The evergreen tree, in contrast, is green all through winter. That is how we need to be as Christians. When the cold winds blow, and the howling blizzards whirl around us, will we drop our leaves? Will we give up our faith? Or, instead, will we be like a palm tree in the desert? The sun beats upon it, and rain rarely comes, but if you dig down, the palm tree has connected to the water deep beneath the surface. It has roots that go down deep, where it reaches fresh water. We need to continually be sending our roots down deeper to that Living Water, our source of life, Christ Jesus.

 

Do You Know Why You Believe Me?

 

When Sabbath-keepers are brought before courts, to be tried for their faith, it is going to be all over the world. It is not going to be just an isolated instance. Just think, if all the cameras were on you, and they asked you, “Why are you going against the majority? Why do you refuse to be obedient to the laws of the land?” and you say, “I am not going to break the Sabbath and receive the mark of the beast—because my parents told me not to.” What kind of an impression do you think that would make? Or, “I am not going to obey you because, my minister told me I shouldn’t.”

Peter said: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” 1 Peter 3:15.

Do you want to be among the faithful when Jesus comes? If you do, you will be like the description that David gave in Psalms 92:12-15: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

“When the love of Jesus is abiding in the soul, many who are now but withered branches will become as the cedars of Lebanon, ‘whose root is by the great waters.’ The cedar is noted for the firmness of its roots. Not content to cling to the earth with a few weak fibers, it thrusts its rootlets, like a sturdy wedge, into the cloven rock, and reaches down deeper and deeper for strong holds to grasp. When the tempest grapples with its boughs, that firm-set tree cannot be uprooted. What a goodly cedar might not every follower of Christ become if he were but rooted and grounded in the truth, firmly united to the Eternal Rock.” Bible Commentary, vol. 3, 1151.

This should be our goal, and what we strive for each day. I want to be like one of those olives, that when the shaking comes, will cling to the branch. I want to be rooted and grounded in the Word of God. Now is the time for each of us to study God’s Word more fervently. We are not going to be rooted and grounded by spending 10 or 15 minutes here and there in God’s Word. It won’t work. We have to be studying it with a more intense earnestness than ever before. May the Lord help you to be rooted and grounded in Him—unshakable, no matter what comes.

 

Price of Peace

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I Thessalonians 5:2 says, “The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Now, what will the people be saying when they are surprised? “Peace and safety” [verse 3], or as we noted in other translations, “Peace and security.” Does God intend that His people shall be engulfed in this great disaster? No! We are to be saved from this overwhelming surprise.

In order to be saved we must be prepared. We must understand what is leading the world to these disasters and we must be kept, not merely from the end result, but from all the causes along the way. That is the purpose of these studies, to help us understand the basic causes that are leading the world to Armageddon.

We found in Isaiah 8 that because of the fear of war and the fear of want, men are being led to extensive combinations. God plainly states that His people are not to enter into those confederacies. While the people of this world are talking confederacies, where will God’s people be looking?—upward, to Him. That’s the answer. “When we look to man, trouble grows. When we look to God, trouble goes.” And we must learn that day by day in our own personal experience.

In The Review and Herald, November 4, 1965, there is a most interesting report of a statement made by a leading Roman Catholic Cardinal commenting on the Pope’s visit to the United Nations. He says, “It was a striking thing that no responsible voice has been raised in protest against the Pope’s visit. As recently as ten years ago a papal visit to the United Nations would have been considered an onslaught and an invasion, but today, people are simply thrilled at the invitation of the Pope to visit the UN and his willingness to do so. The reason for this is that people are so frightened of war that they’re willing to try anything in desperation.”

The Cardinal spoke more truth than he realized. He put his finger right on the point. It is not a sincere turning toward God or religion in the right sense that is motivating the world to welcome the leadership of the papacy. What is it? Fear! We read in Isaiah 8, verse 13, speaking to God’s people, “Neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.” Are we afraid of war? No. Our Father is the King of this universe.

Notice the awful price that the people of this world are paying and will continue to pay, driven by their fear of war and fear of want. They are selling their souls for a mess of pottage, and they won’t even get the mess of pottage. Esau got his lentils, but the people of this world are not even going to get that for which they sell their souls.

What are they selling to get peace? What are they going to lay down in order to accept the leadership of the Pope of Rome? “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.” “All the world wondered after the beast.” Revelation 13:8, 3. Verse twelve shows that the United States is the one that leads out in causing all the world to accept this leadership of the papacy. What is the price of all this?

Proverbs 23:23 is right on the point: “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” Can truth be bought and sold? Apparently. In Revelation 3:18, the True Witness says, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire … and white raiment … and eyesalve.” The eyesalve is the discernment to know what’s right and what’s wrong. “Buy the truth.” But once you have bought it don’t sell it! This is the terrible mistake the popular churches are making today. In Reformation days men like Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox, and Wesley bought the truth, and it led them to separation from Rome. Today the Protestant churches are selling that glorious heritage. They are selling the truth which their fathers sacrificed everything to buy. That’s the price they are paying to get back in favor with Rome in order that the Pope may save them from a third world war.

Do you know that some of the creeds of Christendom are being revised in order to say this—watch this little change—no longer “the Bible is the Word of God,” but the revised statement is, “The Bible contains the Word of God.” Which do you believe? John 17:17 says, “Thy word is truth.” The Bible is the Word of God. And there’s an infinite difference between those two things, my friends. The inroads of modernism, of higher criticism, are weakening the faith of Protestants in the Scriptures. These have prepared the way to accept a human court of appeal, in the person of the papacy, to interpret what is truth.

The servant of the Lord tells us that the reason the book, The Great Controversy, deals with the controversies of the past, the apostasy in the early ages, the rise of the papacy, the Dark Ages, and the reformation is simply this: What has been will be again. The last conflict into which we are even now entering is the climax of an age-long controversy. The issues are the same. The unseen forces are the same. And Rome that led the Christian world away from the Bible and set up the Pope as the representative of Christ; Rome which in the Dark Ages slew the saints of God, is the same Rome under whose leadership all the world will be united to war against God’s remnant.

On page 102 of The Great Controversy, we are told about the experience of John Huss, who was burned at the stake because he became a reformer. He had been a papist, but as he studied the Bible, he came to a certain conclusion, and this is the thing I want you to notice. “God speaking in the Bible, and not the church speaking through the priesthood, is the one infallible guide.” Here is the difference between Roman Catholicism on the one hand and true Protestantism on the other. And this is the truth which the Protestant world is selling that they may buy the favor of the papacy. And it is the fear of communism, the fear of atheism, the fear of war; yes, it is fear that is driving them to compromise.

Now notice the attitude of the true believers at the time the papacy was in process of formation. Here are the faithful few who would not go along with the Bishop of Rome and his hierarchy. “To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.” The Great Controversy, 45. This has been the position of Christ’s followers in all ages: not to make trouble unnecessarily, not to push minor points of difference; but when it comes to a vital principle, no ecumenical idea justifies the selling of truth.

In the seventeenth chapter of John, verse 17, we have the Saviour’s earnest prayer for unity among His believers, but in that same prayer is this text we have already noticed: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” So the great question before Protestantism today is this: Which is more important, truth or unity? And there are thousands, yes millions, who are willing to sell the truth in order to secure unity. May I read this again: “To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.”

Now, the next sentence is meaningful: “Well would it be for the church and the world if the principles that actuated those steadfast souls were revived in the hearts of God’s professed people.” The Great Controversy, 46. The only thing, dear ones, which will keep us from being engulfed in this world movement for security and peace, the ecumenical movement, is a love for truth, so that we would rather have any war than give up truth. Our desire for peace must never degenerate into a willingness to compromise. And this must be manifest in the details of our personal lives. If we get in the habit of sacrificing principle so that we will be well thought of, we are on the road to Rome. No question about it. The remnant will be those who overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and who love not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:11).

Speaking of this apostasy in the early ages, we read in The Great Controversy, 49, “Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church.” How did this compromise come about? “Almost imperceptibly,” that is, unnoticed, like the twilight falls. Well, this was the twilight, and as the darkness settled upon the Christian world, it came “almost imperceptibly.” That is the devil’s game, to make the advances toward the world so small that the person who resists one of those advances is looked upon as silly, odd, unreasonable, and stubborn.

And it isn’t always in direct defiance to what God says that this compromise begins. “Rome began by enjoining what God had not forbidden, and she ended by forbidding what He had explicitly enjoined.” The Great Controversy, 290. Rome began by telling people to do things that God had not plainly said they shouldn’t do. Let me illustrate. Here is Christmas for the birth of Christ; Easter for the resurrection. Is there a verse in the Bible that says, Don’t celebrate the birthday of Christ; don’t celebrate the day of His resurrection? No. So Rome began by introducing things that weren’t expressly forbidden in the Bible. She ended by forbidding what He had definitely told people to do, and the Sabbath is the great outstanding example. When men get in the habit of accepting as religious guides those who tell them to do more than the Bible says, they will inevitably end up following those guides to do what the Bible has forbidden. And this is the path that Protestantism, so-called, has been following for many years.

“As the Protestant churches have been seeking the favor of the world, false charity has blinded their eyes. They do not see but that it is right to believe good of all evil; and as the inevitable result they will finally believe evil of all good.” The Great Controversy, 571. This is what is responsible for their current attitude toward the papacy. The popular thing in the Protestant churches today is to pat everybody on the back, and for the moment even Seventh-day Adventists are riding on the tide of popular favor, the ecumenical spirit. Many in the popular churches are ready to welcome Seventh-day Adventists as a part of the great Christian world. But the same spirit that leads them to welcome us is leading them to welcome Rome. We need to look very carefully at the hand that’s stretched out to us, remembering that it is also offered to the Vatican. Let us not be flattered by the spirit of compromise. That hand which has been extended toward Rome will eventually be used, not to welcome us, but to smite us.

We need to look deep into our own hearts and see if there is anything in our souls that responds to this spirit of compromise. Are we weary of the war? Are we tired of the toil? Do we long for release from the conflict, and will we, in order to buy that release, sell the truth? That’s the question. Will we give up conscientious convictions; will we soft-pedal the Word of the Lord? God forbid!

Now, I mentioned that the world is not going to get the mess of pottage for which it sold out. Oh, my friends, this world that is selling the truth in order to buy peace from the Pope of Rome, see what it’s going to wake up and find! Revelation 19:19, “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war.” This power that has supposedly led the world to peace is going to lead it instead to war! This is the war against God. “I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.” And so while the nations of this world are following after the phantom of peace, they are led to the greatest war of the ages.

Again, Revelation 16:13, 14, “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For 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.” Notice this in Testimonies, vol. 7, 182, “The world is filled with storm and war and variance. Yet under one head—the papal power—the people will unite to oppose God in the person of His witnesses.”

For a short time this world is going to be united. The next sentence says, “This union is cemented by the great apostate.” “Under one head—the papal power”—all the nations will unite to oppose God in the person of His witnesses. Where will you and I be? On one side or the other. We’ll either be with Jesus and His remnant church conscientiously standing for what the Word of God says, all ten of His commandments, or else we’ll be with the great popular movement which has sold the truth in order to buy peace. They are going to sell the truth, but they are not going to get peace. “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them … and they shall not escape.” I Thessalonians 5:3. [Emphasis supplied.]

Oh, friends, when the voice of God ends the captivity of His people, when His law is seen in the sky, there will be a terrible awakening among all these churches that have combined together in compromise to buy peace. The union which the great apostate has cemented will fall to pieces. The great city will be divided into three parts and every man’s hand will rise up against the hand of his brother. Read the awful picture in Revelation 16, and Jeremiah 25, and in The Great Controversy in the chapter, “The Desolation of the Earth.” See the breakdown of civilization. See the churches in chaos and the members tearing the ministers and the priests limb from limb. The whole world is going to be plunged into the scenes of the French revolution. Peace? Oh, no. Not peace. Sacrifice of the truth can never lead to peace.

And so it means much to you and to me to answer the question, Do we love the truth enough to die for it, enough to live for it? Or are we willing to compromise?

Dear Lord, write upon our hearts Thy truth. Deep in our souls put a love for it so that we would rather die than sacrifice on principle. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Elder W.D. Frazee’s materials are reprinted with permission from Pioneers Memorial, a ministry he founded to promote the works of pioneer medical missionaries. Permission to reprint copyrighted material [in this publication, organization, or website] does not in any way imply affiliation with or endorsement by either the late W.D. Frazee or Pioneers Memorial. For more information, you may contact them at: Pioneers Memorial, PO Box 102, Wildwood, GA 30757, 706-820-9755.

One World Church

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Many Christians today desire to be part of the Apostolic church that Jesus formed at his ascension but are not willing to join or be part of any particular denomination. With so many different churches and denominations the question arises, Will there be another universal religious power and why are there so many denominations all separated from one another?

John the Revelator was given a most astonishing prophecy foretelling what would happen in Christendom and the future of the Christian church. This was seen in the prophecy of the seven seals and the four horsemen.

Revelation 6:1, 2 says, “I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”

In one generation the news that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and that sins could be forgiven simply by coming to Him in faith, was taken to the whole world. The apostle Paul wrote, “The gospel, which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven.” Colossians 1:23.

According to Christian tradition, Andrew went as a missionary to India and Nicodemus went as a missionary to the area which today is called the British Isles. The message was spread all over Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Philip shared with the Ethiopian eunuch who took the gospel back to Ethiopia and from that time there were Christians in Ethiopia. The news that Jesus had broken the bonds of death, and that through Him eternal life was available, electrified the world and believers were added to the church worldwide.

When confronted that this teaching was contrary to the prevailing ideas of society, the position of the early believers was that they “ought to obey God rather than man.” Acts 5:29. They had a “primitive godliness” or “Apostolic Christianity” that every Christian wants but few people have.

The white horse represents the church following the day of Pentecost that had a pure faith but God foresaw that things would change.

The apostle Paul said to the elders, bishops and overseers of the church, “Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” Acts 20:28–30.

Paul says that apostasy would come up from within the church. The greatest danger to the Christian church has never been from the outside, but the most dangerous enemies are those on the inside.

The second seal opened: “Another horse, fiery red, went out, and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another: and there was given to him a great sword.” Revelation 6:4.

This horse represents a bloodstained faith. The pagan Roman government saw that if Christianity was allowed to go on it would conquer the world so they decided to destroy the church. That resulted in bitter persecution for hundreds of years and millions of Christians were martyred for their faith. Some were fed to starving lions, leopards and other ferocious beasts. Others were crucified or burned to death.

The period of the red horse was from about A.D. 90 to about A.D. 313. when the edict of Milan was passed granting, for the first time, official toleration to the Christians.

The next change was represented by a black horse.

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Revelation 6:5, 6.

Black is the color of apostasy. The Christian faith was compromised.

Faith in Christ for salvation was replaced by trust in the church for salvation. During this period of time an attempt was made to supplant the commandments of God with the commandments of men. The Ten Commandments of God are unchangeable. Jesus said it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one of them to fail because they are eternal.

Part of the second commandment says, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them.” Exodus 20:4, 5.

Christians began to bow before images using them in their worship services, although this was forbidden in the second commandment. The pagan’s day of the sun replaced the Bible Sabbath. Christians did not want to be thought of as enemies of the Roman state so they compromised and said that they could celebrate on that day too, because that is the day that Jesus rose from the dead.

The Apostolic Creed, Book 7, Section 2 reads, “Oh Lord Almighty, thou hast created the world by Jesus Christ, and hath appointed the Sabbath in memory thereof.”

The apostles knew which day the Sabbath was and that it was given because God was the Creator of the heavens and the earth. All of the early Christians in the first century kept the Sabbath.

We are told by Eusibius 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 religion.

The retention of the old pagan name Sunday is in great measure owed to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his subjects, the venerable day of the sun.

It was during this time when Sunday keeping came into the Christian church. The Bible says, “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:3.

The prophet Ezekiel said that, “Her priests have violated my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and the unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.” Ezekiel 22:26.

Concerning this law, God said, “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my mouth.” Psalm 89:34. Jesus said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle [part of a letter] of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. It was during this time period after Constantine in the 4th century that men started tampering with God’s law, doing away with some and replacing it with something else. This is the period of time spoken of in the prophecy of the black horse, a compromised Christianity.

The worst was yet to come. Compromise leads to a total abandonment of the original principles, or in other words, apostasy.

What happened next?

“And when he had opened the fourth seal, … I looked, and beheld a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” Revelation 6:7, 8.

The Greek word translated pale actually means a pale yellowish green like the substance that someone has just vomited.

Because of the compromise, new Christians were, as far as thinking and habits went, the same old pagans. “Their surge into the churches did not wipe out paganism. On the contrary, hordes of baptized pagans meant that paganism had deluded the moral energies of organized Christianity to the point of impotence.” Centuries of Christianity, the Concise History, 58.

This resulted in a dead faith. The apostolic church had the power of the Holy Spirit but when the Christian church started imitating pagan customs, they lost the Spirit and power of God. They needed something to replace it to enforce its decrees. They went to the state to get power which resulted in a union of church and state. Religion then became a matter of following tradition instead of following the word of God. Christianity became an established religion in the Roman Empire and took the place of paganism. Christianity as it existed in the Dark Ages might be termed baptized Paganism.

The steps of compromise led to:

  • Human tradition being accepted over the Bible;
  • The teaching of faith and works, especially religious rituals, were necessary to be saved;
  • The church was exalted over the word of God; and,
  • The commandments of human leaders were taught instead of the commandments of God.

During this terrible period of time millions of Christians lost their lives for their faith. It was actually a crime for a common person to own a copy of the Scriptures. It had to be read in secret for fear of death. It looked like true religion had just about come to an end. But the Bible says, “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18.

Comparatively speaking, there were very few Christians in the world at that time. Because of persecution they fled to the mountains just as it was predicted in Revelation 12. However, the light of truth penetrated the darkness. Notice what Jude wrote to the Christians: “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Jude 3.

The true Christians, even when they were locked up in dungeons, prisons or exiled, maintained their faith in Jesus unto death. Bible believing Christians were scattered, many living in hidden homes in isolated places, especially in the alps of northern Italy and in the southeast of France. The Waldenses, the Bordeaux, the Huguenots or Albigenses or Paulicians were among these.

There were no printing presses in those days so the Waldenses copied the Scriptures by hand, all the time teaching them to their children. While very few in Europe had them, the Waldenses had the Scriptures in their own native language and taught that the Bible was the rule of faith and practice above the usages of the church.

Jesus said to the devil, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4.

James 1:18 says, “Of his own will he brought us [the church] forth by the word [the Bible], that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”

The Word of God, the Scriptures, produced the church and not the church producing the word of God. There are hundreds of people confused about this today. Simply said, the word is not the child of the church, but is the parent or the origin of the church.

During this period of the Dark Ages, millions of people went to prison and lost their lives because they would not consent to compromise the faith of the Bible. We are not to disobey the commandment of God in order to obey any human edict or any church or government. “We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29. This might be called the creed of the martyrs during the Dark Ages.

Only the final Day of Judgment will reveal the exact number, but estimates are that 50–70 million Christians were martyred during the Dark Ages. In 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. He discovered through his study that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, which is contrary to the doctrine that men were saved by both faith and works, which was then commonly believed.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9.

In the 16th century there were still many truths of the New Testament that had been lost, and it was impossible that even the best scholars could come to the full knowledge of all Bible truth in one generation.

Jesus understands that. He said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” John 16:12. You can’t take all the truth right now.

Martin Luther was an instrument of God to bring the entire Christian world back to the apostolic teaching that we are saved by grace alone. But that was not all that God’s children needed to learn. Other teachers were raised up by God to lead His people slowly back to apostolic Christianity. The Lord wanted His children to grow in the knowledge of the Christian lifestyle and come to Christian perfection. Christian perfection is not a popular doctrine today, but it is Biblical. Peter said, “Grow in grace.” II Peter 3:18. And Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48.

Those following the increasing light learned that infants were not baptized in the apostolic church, but only those who were old enough to manifest their faith. The idea of infant baptism commenced during the Dark Ages.

Jesus said, “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations … Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19, 20.

Martin Luther was not the only one to be persecuted but every reformer to which God revealed new truth from the Bible. The people, later called Anabaptists, who discovered the need to be old enough to reason, or come to the age of accountability before being baptized, were persecuted. At that time it was a capital crime not to believe in infant baptism. Once when I was in France, I was shown a bridge where at one time Anabaptists had been beheaded and their heads posted on both sides of the bridge.

Later, John Wesley and others studied and learned that God expected His followers to become holy people. Paul wrote, “Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14.

John Wesley, who was a member of the Church of England, wrote much on this subject of holiness. His followers later became known as the Methodist church.

When Jesus left this world it was with the promise that He would return. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, is going to come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11.

Toward the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, there was a great religious awakening. Bible students around the world began to see that they had reached the period of earth’s history that the Bible described as the last days or the time of the end.

For the first time in history, God began to move upon His servants all over the world and in many different churches to proclaim the news that the second coming of Christ was approaching. Within just a few years, earnest Bible students in many countries learned principal doctrines of the apostles that had been lost during the Dark Ages. Some of these included the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, health principles, how to live as Christ’s followers, and what happens after death.

There are really only two kinds of religion in the world, the true religion that the apostles had which comes from God and teaches, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29, or the other religion that Jesus described in Matthew 15:9, “And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

There are thousands of religions today, all with conflicting creeds, but they all have one thing in common—they teach the commandments of men. Most people who call themselves Christians have a religion that is a mixture of the word of God and the commandments of men. God predicted that in the last days there would be some people who would repair the breach made in God’s law which is the attempt to destroy the Sabbath.

Notice what Isaiah says: “You shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of streets to dwell in. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord, honourable.” Isaiah 58:12, 13.

God’s people, in the last days, will be a commandment keeping people. John describes the two identifying characteristics that His people will possess. “Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God.” Revelation 14:12.

There are eight issues in the last days to consider:

Authority

God’s truth—Religious authority comes from God’s word. His word is sufficient to bring the Christian to perfection. II Timothy 3:16, 17.

Satan’s counterfeit—Religious authority comes from man and groups of men, such as church councils or theologians. Church laws are decrees.

Prayer

God’s truth—Prayer is made to God the Father and is offered in the name of Jesus Christ alone.

Satan’s counterfeit—Prayers are made to the dead, to angels and saints with the use of images.

Salvation

God’s truth—Salvation can be received by grace alone, through faith alone. The good works of the Christian do not earn any merit; we are saved by the merits of Christ alone. See Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:3–7.

Satan’s counterfeit—Salvation comes partly by grace and partly earned—either by the works of the believer or by the good works of saints.

Intercession

God’s truth—The Christian goes to Christ alone as his intercessor and receives forgiveness for sins by the merits of Christ alone. The Bible says, “There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus.” I Timothy 2:5.

Satan’s counterfeit—The Christian goes to human intercessors to receive forgiveness for sins.

Worship

God’s truth—“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.” Exodus 20:8–10. Writing several decades after the cross Paul, speaking of the seventh day, says it remains. Hebrews 4:4–6.

Satan’s counterfeit— as  Many worship on Friday, and many worship on Sunday—the ancient pagan solar holiday.

Death

God’s truth—“The dead do not praise the Lord.” Psalm 115:17. “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19.

“Jesus spoke of His death: but they thought He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.” John 11:13.

“There will be a resurrection of the dead, both the just and the unjust.” Acts 24:15.

Satan’s counterfeit—When a person dies he goes to heaven or hell or some other undesirable place.

Baptism

God’s truth—Baptism by immersion and “He that believes, and is baptized, shall be saved.” Mark 16:16. You cannot be an infant; you must first believe.

Satan’s counterfeit—Infant baptism of sprinkling or pouring which is not taught in the Bible.

Health laws

God’s truth—The health laws of the Bible are eternal and we must keep them if we are to be God’s children. “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” I Corinthians 6:19, 20.

“If any man destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him.” I Corinthians 3:17.

Jesus said, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” John 10:16.

Satan’s counterfeit—The health laws of the Bible have been abolished and we can eat and drink as we please.

Who are the people who Jesus will recognize as belonging to Him when He comes? “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14. NKJV.

Those who are loyal to the laws of the heavenly government will have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

There will be some who will not enter the city. Revelation 22:15 says, “Outside are dogs,” then is listed specific ones, “the sexually immoral [the seventh commandment], the idolaters [the second commandment], those who are liars [the ninth commandment].”

Notice in verse 14 that the people who keep the commandments will be recognized by Jesus as belonging to Him. When Jesus comes, will you be one of those who are welcomed into the holy city, or will you be left on the outside?

“Now is the day of salvation.” II Corinthians 6:2.

“Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart.” Hebrews 3:7, 8.

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

Signs – Which Direction are You Turning?

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On November 1, 1755, an earthquake struck in the Atlantic Ocean. It is commonly known as The Great Lisbon Earthquake. The total duration of the shaking lasted ten minutes, comprising three distinct jolts. A devastating fire following the earthquake destroyed a large part of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, and a very strong tsunami caused heavy destruction along the coasts of Portugal, south Spain and western Morocco. Geologists today estimate that the earthquake approached magnitude 9. The effects from the earthquake were far reaching, with shaking felt in North Africa.

May 19, 1780, stands in history as The Dark Day. Since the time of Moses, no period of darkness of equal density, extent or duration has ever been recorded. “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.” Joel 2:31. The moon became as red as blood on the night of the Dark Day, May 19, 1780. Milo Bostick in Stone’s History of Massachusetts says, “The moon which was at its full, had the appearance of blood.”

On November 13, 1833, the skies over the eastern United States were lit up by thousands of shooting stars every minute. This display lasted for four hours preceding dawn that day.

These phenomena were the fulfillment of the signs given before the coming of Jesus. At first, the people were afraid and gathered themselves together to pray. However, when nothing happened they soon went back to their former lifestyles.

“We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.

“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” Lift Him Up, 356.

Then is described the condition of the world at that time. Ellen White says, “Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails.” Ibid.

“On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify the owners and builders. Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not asking themselves: ‘How can we best glorify God?’ The Lord was not in their thoughts.

“I thought: ‘Oh, that those who are thus investing their means could see their course as God sees it! They are piling up magnificent buildings, but how foolish in the sight of the Ruler of the universe is their planning and devising. They are not studying with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God. They have lost sight of this, the first duty of man.’

“As these lofty buildings went up, the owners rejoiced with ambitious pride that they had money to use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their neighbors. Much of the money that they thus invested had been obtained through exaction, through grinding down the poor. They forgot that in heaven an account of every business transaction is kept; every unjust deal, every fraudulent act, is there recorded. The time is coming when in their fraud and insolence men will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass, and they will learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah.

“The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fire-proof 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.

The day before 9/11 when the twin towers in New York came down, there was a special documentary aired on the television explaining how the buildings had been erected and how they had withstood the 1993 bombing attempt to bring them down. They were declared to have been built from the most costly material, were fireproof and that nothing could bring them down. Some, since the attack, claim that there had been bombs put inside, and that there was an explosion because of the way the building fell. No, the prophet of God said buildings would come down. Angels touched those buildings. That was our modern day sign, a wake up call. God said, “I am coming.” If you want to know how the people reacted in November of 1755 and how they responded in 1780 and again in 1833, just remember how the people responded after 9/11. All of a sudden, sports were no longer important and churches of all different denominations filled up.

In The Review and Herald, September 10, 1901, Ellen White says, “Satan has devised a multitude of ways in which to keep men from serving God. He has invented sports and games, into which men enter with such intensity that one would suppose a crown of life was to reward the winner.” The purpose of this is to take the minds of God’s people so that they will not think of God. But now, after a tragedy, everybody agrees, no baseball games, no football games; all of the evening talk shows and laugh shows were stopped. All of sudden, people who were not interested before, were interested in talking about God.

When I first moved into my neighborhood, my neighbors invited us over for little housewarming parties and would offer me beer, which I would refuse. I told them I am a minister and they would say, Well, my pastor is cool. My pastor and I are buddies and he knows that he can come to my house and have a beer and no one is going to know. I told him I don’t drink, but you can go ahead and drink. Because I refused to join them we were known as killjoys and are no longer invited to their parties. I would see neighbors run by my house to their parties thinking I did not see them with their wine bottles and beer, etc. When they got so far, often I would call out the door and ask them how they were doing.

But after 9/11, it was different. These same people who had shunned me now wanted me to come and pray in their homes. Everybody in our area would drive by and wave. Everybody was afraid. They became solemn and serious about God. This is the same way people responded in November of 1755 when the great Lisbon earthquake struck, and also how people responded in 1780 when the sun went black and the moon turned red. It is how people responded in 1833 when all the stars were falling. These were all events beyond their control and they were scared.

In the days of Noah, when the animals boarded that ark, directed by an unseen hand, everybody was interested and intrigued. These were intelligent people, some of whom lived to be 950 years old; they were not cave men. You can only imagine what inventions there were and what your computer skills would be like with 900 years of experience. When the people saw this, everybody was frightened, just like now. But, in those next seven days after the door of the ark had been shut, when nothing else happened, they went back to business as usual. Fear will never convict a person to be loyal to God. The prophet of God says that when that angel swirled around in the sky, dropped down and got hold of that massive door of the ark and shut it, everybody was afraid. There was quiet. If the rain had started right then the people would have said, “Lord, if you would only have given me a few more days, I was going to get on board.”

Instead, God allowed that emotion to wear off. The first day, everybody was praying; the second day everybody was praying. You can just imagine Wednesday night prayer meeting—all the churches were filled just like they were after 9/11. But when nothing happened, somebody cracked a little joke and before you knew it, by Thursday, they were all laughing and saying that Noah was a wild fanatic. All of the preachers were preaching on that next Sabbath and planning on doing whatever they do after sunset Saturday.

Out of nowhere on that eighth day, dark hellish clouds came together and with combustion that man had never experienced, from the top and from the bottom. Water came from everywhere but by then it was too late for help. Then, the people wanted God and cried to Noah but the door was shut and the opportunity to be saved was passed.

Some today are trapped in regard to their siblings, children and parents who do not want to know their God. It comes to a point when each needs to ask, Who is my brother; who is my sister; who is my mother—they that do the will of my Father. When Noah entered that ark he had many family members who remained outside. The Bible said his father had more children, so there must have been sisters and brothers and maybe his mother was still alive, screaming for help when the rain started falling. Noah had to keep trusting in God—his name means rest. Salvation is an individual decision and Noah rested in his confidence in God.

“There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 13.

Few understand the time in which we are living. Shortly after these disasters we are being told that the economy is coming back and everything is going to be good. This is not true; we are at the end of time. God did not leave us without a witness. In detail He tells us to listen. We must believe in the prophets. These testimonies were not written for one hundred years ago; they were written for our warning today.

Because nothing more happened right away after 9/11, people have become relaxed again. Now we see the economy is gone and is not coming back. Everybody is crying for the government to support them. Take care of us; take care of us; you are responsible for us! They are going to take care of us with their many schemes, but not without a cost. There is healthcare—at what cost? Save your home—at what cost?

This dear little lady prophetess is trying to tell us, through the Holy Spirit, that we should have our houses in order. There is no time to pretend that you have an experience that you don’t really have. Only you know what goes on when no one else is looking but God. Only you know how interested you really are in His Word. We need to ask God for help now for He will not cast us out, but some will not consistently ask. Are we too busy being occupied with the cares of this world to seek Him with all of our hearts? Do we leave the sanctuary after a seed of truth has dropped into our hearts and then not allow it to take root because of casual talking and neglecting to pray and praise God for what He has done for us? We should be able to go home and spend time in prayer, pleading with God for help, lest we perish. Ask Him for help and then linger to hear His voice. The prophet of God said that when she was 15 years old, she used to wait until her twin sister was asleep and then get out of bed and plead with God and agonize with Him and tell Him that she would not go to bed until He blessed her. She said that sometimes the sun would come up before she slept, but the Lord blessed her because she had prevailed in prayer. You have to search and ask God and the promise says that you will receive it. It is worth asking for.

The world in this condition cannot continue to go on indefinitely. Are you ready for Jesus to come? Have you really embraced eternal life? The Bible says that this is life eternal that you know Jesus (John 17:3). Do you really know Him? Jesus desires to have an intimate, personal relationship with you. The younger you are the easier it will be without having to fight through all of the different things you have conditioned yourself to believe. John the Baptist was a young man, preaching and doing ministry before Jesus came and commenced His ministry. When Jesus approached where he was baptizing, He said, “This is the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). God wants us to know Him, to recognize Him like John did. How angels must weep seeing so many unprepared and not interested in getting ready to go home.

Whatever the enemy of souls offers you, it is only temporary. Life in this world is so short. “Why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.” Ezekiel 18:31, 32. To those who reject the offer of eternal life God asks, Why will you die? Take a look at your life and ask, Are the pleasures of this world worth losing heaven over? The Lord says that He has no pleasure at all in your death, so why will you die?

Isaiah 5:4 says, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” What more could God have done for you? These are pertinent questions. When the world turns their back on you and when nobody else understands, the Lord says, Come; it is going to be alright. Choose life and spend eternity with Jesus, the One who loves you and shed His innocent blood that you might live. Though you have rejected Him and spat in His face in the past, when you are ready, He says, Come. He never mentions the spit. He says, I want to give you My victory. When we walk in the flesh, we crucify Him afresh. Jesus has a personal interest in seeing you in heaven. You were created for His pleasure and for His joy. He wants to save you.

“Why will ye die, O house of Israel?” “What could have been done more to my vineyard?” Make your choice today. Make a decision right now to give your heart to the Lord. He longs to create in you a new heart right now.

“A new heart also will I give you.” Ezekiel 36:26.

Pastor Stephen Lewis is an international speaker and director of The Present Truth. This article is from a sermon he preached at Steps to Life Camp Meeting, 2009. He can be contacted at www.thepresenttruth.org.

The Opportunity of a Lifetime

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We live in a day of technology such as was not even imagined just a few years ago. Years ago we never dreamed that we would have so much access to so much information that is available today. Study methods were so different; copies were made of things we wanted to remember. My grade school teacher had a whole box full of cards that she studied.

My parents copied important statements in notebooks, and in the last few months, while going through my mother’s things, I found a whole book of quotations about heaven that my father recorded from his devotional reading, many of them while a soldier in Burma and India during World War 11. We are just pilgrims and strangers in this world, and if you lose your vision of heaven, you are lost and will just start living for this world and whatever is down here.

There are some things, especially about future events, that are important enough that, even if they are studied out before, are beneficial to review. What is referred to as “the little time of trouble,” is bigger trouble than that of which you have ever seen or heard. It is called “the little time of trouble” because it is not nearly as bad as the big time of trouble that is coming right after it. We often study about the great time of trouble described in Daniel 12:1, which occurs after the close of probation. The progression of events and life do not go just from peace and safety to the great time of trouble in one great leap.

If you had just learned to swim and could swim across the pool, it would not mean you could swim the English Channel. Before that could be possible, there would have to be a period of training. Just so, the great time of trouble! To be equipped and able to endure this time, it would be necessary to first go through a little time of trouble.

In many places in the New Testament, it talks about the trouble that is coming upon this world. Jesus talked about it. Paul talked about it. Peter talked about it. James talked about it. John talked about it. Over and over again the Bible talks about the fact that in the last days there are going to be troublous times. Ellen White was shown in vision, in 1847, about this little time of trouble that was going to come. This is recorded in the book Early Writings, 32, 33.

It is a wonderful privilege we have as Seventh-day Adventists to have access to the Spirit of Prophecy. In the vision given to Ellen White in Topsham, Maine, while she was in a prayer meeting with a group of believers, she describes what she saw. In vision she was taken to heaven. This was the same experience as Ezekiel and John. Though their bodies remained on the earth, while in vision, their minds are taken to anywhere in the universe.

Mrs. White had been taken to heaven many times in vision, but this time she was taken to where God’s sanctuary is; the veil was lifted, and she was taken into the Holy Place. She describes what she saw there. She saw a table of showbread, seven golden candlesticks, and an altar of incense, but then she says the veil was lifted, and she was allowed to go into the Most Holy Place. This is very interesting, because in the Old Covenant, women were not even allowed in the sanctuary, and Ellen White was a woman and allowed to go into the Most Holy Place. She was a prophet.

In the Most Holy Place in the sanctuary in heaven she saw the ark. In the earthly sanctuary there were two cherubs made from pure gold placed above the mercy seat. However, in heaven real cherubs, real angels, stand at either end of the ark facing each other just like it was in the earthly sanctuary. While still in vision, the Lord lifted the lid on the ark, and she was allowed to look inside and see the Ten Commandments written on tables of stone. (See Early Writings, 32, 33.)

She was astonished when she saw the tables of commandments. On one table were the first four and on the second table were the last six. The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God, and the other six deal with our relationship to our fellow man. She noticed that the commandments on the first table were brighter than the last six, but then she was most astonished that the Sabbath commandment had a halo of light over it more than all of the rest. The Sabbath commandment is the most important commandment of the law. We are not depreciating any other commandment; breaking any commandment will keep a person out of heaven, but the Sabbath is the most important commandment of the law. The reason the devil wants to change the Sabbath is to cause men to forget God. The Sabbath causes men to remember Him. The very first word in the fourth commandment is “remember” [Exodus 20:8].

“Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.”

In the book Early Writings, 33, she says, “I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers; and that the Sabbath is the great question to unite the hearts of God’s dear, waiting saints.

“I saw that God had children who do not see and keep the Sabbath.” Ibid. How many children does God have who do not see and keep the Sabbath? There could easily be many millions. What is going to happen to these children of God who do not see and keep the Sabbath? When probation closes, there is no more a Mediator in the heavenly sanctuary. As long as Jesus is presenting Himself as our High Priest, our sins of ignorance are covered and forgiven. Sins of ignorance are those of which we are unaware. But what about those children He says are His who do not see and keep the Sabbath?

Some people have a very simplistic view of the Ten Commandments, but they cover the entire moral duty of man and involve the thoughts and the feelings and the affections of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). In the beginning of The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, it says that before probation closes, all of these things must be revealed to us, and then we must change so that our life is in perfect harmony with God’s law. But right now God has children out there in the world who are His children; they are breaking the Sabbath every week, and they don’t know about it.

Well, what is going to happen to them? Every command of God is a promise (see Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 76). It is fair to say then that when God commands something, you accept that command as a promise. The Holy Spirit will enable you to start keeping the Sabbath. So what is going to happen to those children that God has in the world who are not keeping the Sabbath now because of ignorance? Mrs. White says, “I saw that God had children who do not see and keep the Sabbath. They have not rejected the light upon it. And at the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.” Early Writings, 33. Before probation closes, those whom God claims as His will be made aware of the Sabbath, as it will be proclaimed more fully at the commencement of the time of trouble.

Now, when Ellen White wrote this statement, some Adventist people were confused, thinking that “the time of trouble” refers to when Michael stands up, the close of probation when the plagues begin to fall and there is no Mediator. So what good would it do to proclaim the Sabbath more fully after that?

What did the statement mean: “At the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully”? Ellen White had to write an explanation, and it is recorded in “An Explanation,” Early Writings, 85.

“This view was given in 1847 when there were but very few of the Advent brethren observing the Sabbath, and of these but few supposed that its observance was of sufficient importance to draw a line between the people of God and unbelievers. Now the fulfillment of that view is beginning to be seen. ‘The commencement of that time of trouble,’ here mentioned does not refer to the time when the plagues shall begin to be poured out, but to a short period just before they are poured out, while Christ is in the sanctuary. At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the ‘latter rain,’ or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out.” Ibid., 85, 86.

The time of trouble that she referred to is just before probation closes, when the latter rain and the loud cry of the third angel are given. During that period of time, everybody in the whole world will learn about the commandments of God, the law of God, and the Sabbath, and everybody in the world will make a decision and be on one side or the other.

What is going to happen during this little time of trouble that takes place just before probation closes and how do we get ready for it? Many people have made the whole focus of their life a physical preparation for a time like this. However, while physical preparation is all right, it is the spiritual preparation that is most important. If you have the spiritual preparation, the Lord can get you through whatever kind of situation in which you find yourself. But if you do not have the spiritual preparation, all the physical preparation in the world is not going to help you.

During the little time of trouble that is coming, God’s children are going to be scattered to many countries as a result of persecution. There are a lot of people who think the way to get ready for it is to get a place that is way out in the country where there is an independent water supply, independent electricity, and to be totally self-sufficient and able to grow your own garden. I am not saying that God has not sent somebody to do something like that. But what are you going to do in a situation like that if, after you have all this in place, you have to flee to Mexico, or Canada or South America or somewhere else because of persecution? It has been predicted that God’s children will be scattered into many countries.

It is most important to prepare spiritually for the times that are coming on this earth before Jesus comes. “When the reasoning of philosophy has banished the fear of God’s judgments; when religious teachers are pointing forward to long ages of peace and prosperity, and the world are absorbed in their rounds of business and pleasure, planting and building, feasting and merrymaking, rejecting God’s warnings and mocking His messengers—then it is that sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 104.

I remember so well in 1989 when the Iron Curtain fell. Articles appeared in the national magazines and people were just rejoicing and adoring Ronald Reagan [40th president of the United States] and Pope John Paul 11, giving them the credit for bringing the barrier down. The national magazines even claimed there was no longer need of a military; now there will be peace! Paul said, “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Only a few short years later, in 1991, we were in war again. The peace did not last very long, and we found out right away that we were still in need of the military, and it has been evident more and more since that time.

We have been warned that the people are not going to fear; they are going to believe that they have nothing to worry about with God’s judgments and that the religious teachers will be pointing forward to long ages of peace and prosperity. For this reason, the little time of trouble is going to take most of the world by surprise, except those who believe the prophecies and are aware of what is happening. They will think they are getting together for a millennium of peace. They will think they are going to get together for a great celebration, a great rejoicing. (See Maranatha, 317.) People will be urged to join the millennium of peace that has already started. All that is needed is to be in harmony with the Sunday Law and all will be harmonious.

“The people are dreaming of prosperity and peace. ‘Escape for thy life,’ is the warning from the angels of God; but other voices are heard saying, ‘Be not excited; there is no cause for alarm.’ The multitudes cry, ‘Peace and safety,’ while Heaven declares that swift destruction is about to come upon the transgressor. On the night prior to their destruction [the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah], the cities of the plain rioted in pleasure and derided the fears and warnings of the messenger of God; but those scoffers perished in the flames; that very night the door of mercy was forever closed to the wicked, careless inhabitants of Sodom. God will not always be mocked; He will not long be trifled with. ‘Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.’ Isaiah 13:9. The great mass of the world will reject God’s mercy, and will be overwhelmed in swift and irretrievable ruin. But those who heed the warning shall dwell ‘in the secret place of the most High,’ and ‘abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’ His truth shall be their shield and buckler [Psalm 91:1, 4].” Ibid., 167.

At the beginning of the time of trouble, God’s people will proclaim the Sabbath more fully, and it is going to everybody in the world in a very, very short time. We do not know exactly how long it will be. With our telecommunications today, very soon it will be possible to communicate to every person in the world in about 24 hours. God is making the necessary preparations, so it is going to close down very, very fast.

While God’s people are proclaiming the Sabbath more fully to the world, the religious teachers are going to be telling the people not to listen to the Adventists, because there will be a long period of peace and prosperity. The devil will make sure that happens for a period of time and the world will be convinced and will scoff at the warnings of God. You have to be willing to have some opposition if you are going to be on God’s side of the great controversy as we approach the end, because people will scoff.

At the end of the world, whole nations will be destroyed, but first, just cities or local regions will be affected. “Calamities will come—calamities most awful, most unexpected, and these destructions will follow one after another. If there will be a heeding of the warnings God has given, and if churches will repent, returning to their allegiance, then other cities may be spared for a time. But if men who have been deceived continue in the same way in which they have been walking, disregarding the law of God and presenting falsehoods before the people, God allows them to suffer calamity, that their senses may be awakened.

“The Lord will not suddenly cast off all transgressors or destroy entire nations; but He will punish cities and places where men have given themselves up to the possession of Satanic agencies.” Evangelism, 27. Recently, there have been many cities destroyed by floods and earthquakes. Daily you can read of disasters taking place all over the world.

“Strictly will the cities of the nations be dealt with, and yet they will not be visited in the extreme of God’s indignation, because some souls will yet break away from the delusions of the enemy, and will repent and be converted, while the mass will be treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.” Ibid.

So, there are going to be calamities or, what we call today, natural disasters. Tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, all manner of great fires, all manner of natural disasters are going to occur, and at the same time that there are these natural disasters, there’s going to be what we call “political trouble” that will be developing.

“The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecies of the eleventh of Daniel have almost reached their final fulfillment.

“Soon strife among the nations will break out with an intensity that we do not now anticipate.” Maranatha, 174.

There had already been a tremendous slaughter in Russia in 1905, but for several decades before World War I in 1914, leading statesmen in Europe were very concerned about a general war breaking out in the last part of the nineteenth century. When World War I broke out, the world was changed forever.

World War I was the most awful war the world had ever seen up until that time. As a result, the entire army was almost totally destroyed. Before the war, the Czar of Russia had an army of about two and a half million soldiers, but since his army was practically destroyed, the Czar was left almost powerless. A revolution erupted; the Czar and his family were all killed in cold blood, which led to a communist takeover of over half of the world and lasted until the 1970s. World War I destabilized the whole world and World War II destabilized it even further.

Ellen White said that, “Soon grievous troubles will arise among the nations—trouble that will not cease until Jesus comes. As never before we need to press together, serving Him who has prepared His throne in the heavens and whose kingdom ruleth over all. God has not forsaken His people, and our strength lies in not forsaking Him.” Maranatha, 25.

Concerning this period just before the war broke out, Ellen White wrote, “The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they realize that something great and decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.” Maranatha, 174. That stupendous crisis has started and will not cease until Jesus comes; it will never again be stable like it has been in the past. Now, during this period of time while there are grievous troubles among the nations, natural disasters and calamities, and strife among the nations, the Three Angels’ Messages and the Sabbath message must go to the whole world. It may be that this will not be fully understood until the time comes when the Lord gives us the message. We know from a number of statements that God is going to give His people special messages and truth that we have not understood before, right at this period of time, right at the end of time.

At the right time, if we are ready, she says, “… we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.” The Review and Herald, July 21, 1851. Being in a condition to receive the Holy Spirit is of paramount importance to us as we approach the end of time, for without it, it will be impossible to go out with power and spread the final message.

In The Great Controversy, 589, 590, it says that God is going to allow the devil to bring disasters upon the people of this world, because they are disobedient to this law. Tornadoes, earthquakes, fires and other terrible disasters will be blamed on Sabbath-keepers for refusing to reverence Sunday worship and honoring the resurrection of Christ. Those who stand true to God at that time will be brought before rulers and interrogated before courts.

Jesus said, “You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you shall speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” Matthew 10:18–20.

Being brought before a court today, with the technology now available, may give opportunity to bear witness to more people in one day than in a whole previous lifetime. At that time we are told that “when brought into trial the Holy spirit will bring to their remembrance the very truths that will reach the hearts of those who shall come to hear.” Maranatha, 45. In order for that to happen, there must have been some prior studying. “The servants of Christ are to prepare no set speech to present when brought to trial for their faith. Their preparation is to be made day by day, in treasuring up in their hearts the precious truths of God’s word, in feeding upon the teaching of Christ.” Ibid.

“The time will come, when we shall be brought before councils and before thousands for His name’s sake, and each one will have to give the reason of his faith.” Ibid., 252. Men and women will be standing alone to answer for their faith.

Are you ready to give an answer as to why you believe what you believe? “Every position of truth taken by our people will bear the criticism of the greatest minds; the highest of the world’s great men will be brought in contact with truth, and therefore every position we take should be critically examined and tested by the Scriptures.” Ibid.

The Scriptures are explicit. Our faith is not built on implicit evidence. It is built on explicit evidence. Explicit evidence is what the Bible actually says and not what you think it means. “Now we seem to be unnoticed, but this will not always be. Movements are at work to bring us to the front, and if our theories of truth can be picked to pieces by historians or the world’s greatest men, it will be done.” Ibid.

The most difficult speech to give is one that you have to give to a hostile audience, to those who do not like what you believe and would love to prove you wrong. Though the audience at that time will be hostile, it will be a marvelous opportunity for those who are ready to witness for Jesus. “The Lord Jesus will give the disciples a tongue and wisdom that their adversaries can neither gainsay nor resist. Those who could not by reasoning overcome satanic delusions, will bear an affirmative testimony that will baffle supposedly learned men. Words will come from the lips of the unlearned with such convincing power and wisdom that conversions will be made to the truth. Thousands will be converted under their testimony.” Ibid. Isn’t that exciting?

Thousands of people will hear the message for the first time, and though the majority will reject it, there will be someone listening who responds to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

“The time is not far off when the people of God will be called upon to give their testimony before the rulers of the earth. Not one in twenty has a realization of what rapid strides we are making toward the great crisis in our history. … There is no time for vanity, for trifling, for engaging the mind in unimportant matters.

“Kings, governors, and great men will hear of you through the reports of those who are at enmity with you, and your faith and character will be misrepresented before them. But those who are falsely accused will have an opportunity to appear in the presence of their accusers to answer for themselves.

“They will have the privilege of bringing the light before those who are called the great men of the earth, and if you have studied the Bible, if you are ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear, your enemies will not be able to gainsay your wisdom.

“You now have an opportunity to attain to the greatest intellectual power through the study of the word of God. But if you are indolent, and fail to dig deep in the mines of truth, you will not be ready for the crisis that is soon to come upon us. O that you would realize that each moment is golden. If you live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, you will not be found unprepared.

“You know not where you may be called upon to give your witness of truth. Many will have to stand in the legislative courts … .” Ibid., 253.

A legislative court is different than a judicial court. A judicial court is the court in which we usually stand. A legislative court is either a court in the capitol of the state or the country where the laws are made. A legislative court of the United States is its Congress, its House of Representatives, and its Senate. However, there are legislative courts in each state that make laws for that state. Mrs. White goes on to say, “Many will have to stand in the legislative courts; some will have to stand before kings and before the learned of the earth, to answer for their faith.

“Those who have only a superficial understanding of truth will not be able tclearly to expound the Scriptures, and give definite reasons for their faith. They will become confused, and will not be workmen that need not to be ashamed. Let no one imagine that he has no need to study, because he is not to preach in the sacred desk. You know not what God may require of you.” Ibid.

Are you getting ready? This is going to be the greatest opportunity of your life. If that promise is going to be fulfilled, you will need to know what the Bible says.

If your argument is established on the word of God, no matter how wise the opposition is, truth will still stand and if you have faith, if you have been a student of the Bible, it will be the greatest opportunity of your life.

[Bible texts quoted are NKJV translation.]

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

Preparing for the Future

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In the first chapter of 1 Chronicles is an account of the family tree of Adam right down to Abraham:
1. Adam, 2. Seth, 3. Enosh, 4. Cainan, 5. Mahalalel, 6. Jared, 7. Enoch. Enoch is the seventh generation from Adam, and although he is only mentioned in four places in the Bible, Ellen White has a lot to say about him.

She said, “[Enoch] represents God’s loyal people in the last days who will be separate from the world. Unrighteousness will prevail to a dreadful extent upon the earth. Men will give themselves up to follow every imagination of their corrupt hearts, and carry out their deceptive philosophy, and rebel against the authority of high heaven.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, 64. Enoch is actually one of the most famous men who has ever lived, although we don’t know a lot about him from the Bible. We do know that he was the first person who was translated. “Enoch lived sixty five-years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:21–24.

He is a representative of the people who will be living in the last days and translated when Jesus comes. Would you care to be one of those people?

Studying the life of Enoch is a lesson on how to be ready for that time. Let’s look at a few things about him.

Enoch walked with God and spent much time in prayer. “Enoch devoted time to prayer and communion with God, and this enabled him to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. It was his devotion to God that fitted him for translation.” The Review and Herald, April 15, 1909.

“When in trouble, when assailed by fierce temptations, they [we] have the privilege of prayer. What an exalted privilege! Finite beings, of dust and ashes, admitted through the mediation of Christ, into the audience-chamber of the Most High. In such exercises the soul is brought into a sacred nearness with God, and is renewed in knowledge, and true holiness, and fortified against the assaults of the enemy.” An Appeal to Mothers, 24. Daniel also prayed at three specific times each day in a certain place (Daniel 6:10).

God’s people everywhere, including people of all ages, are assailed by multiple temptations. It is only through having a consistent prayer life that you will be fortified to deal with each temptation.

“To him [Enoch] prayer was as the breath of the soul. He lived in the atmosphere of heaven.” Gospel Workers, 52. He prayed continually. Just as you have to breathe continually, so, if prayer is the breath of the soul, you need to be in constant communication with God. This does not mean he knelt down all the time, for he had work to do just like everybody else in this world. Enoch was a husband, a father and a citizen, and he had to make a living by the sweat of his face just as was pronounced on Adam (Genesis 3:19) and all of his posterity. He had responsibilities and duties, but in the midst of all these things he communed with God.

“The infinite, unfathomable love of God through Christ, became the subject of his meditations day and night.” Ibid., 51. He was trying to understand the love of God that had been manifested in the human family by the promise of sending His Son, the Saviour of the world. Then Mrs. White says, “In the midst of a life of active labor, Enoch steadfastly maintained his communion with God. The greater and more pressing his labors, the more constant and earnest were his prayers.” Ibid., 52. The more he had to do, the more constant, the more earnest were his prayers.

What happens if a person starts living like that? Notice what the apostle Paul says: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” II Corinthians 3:18.

When you look at the glory of the Lord, you will be changed to be like Him, or as Ellen White says,

“It is a law of the human mind that by beholding we become changed.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 91.

If you think about it and know what is going on in the world today, and even in the church, this could be a subject of terror. Many people who profess to be Christians spend much of their time looking at sin, watching it, listening to it. It is the natural progression of things that you will think about what you look at. What is the result? There is an interesting text in Isaiah that tells what the result will be. It says, “Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.” Isaiah 8:22.

You become what you look at and what you listen to, without exception, because it is a law of the mind. Because it is a law, we can take advantage of it. Enoch took advantage of that law and began to commune on the character of God and His love, and the result: “Communing thus with God, Enoch came more and more to reflect the divine image. His face was radiant with a holy light, even the light that shineth in the face of Jesus. As he came forth from these divine communings, even the ungodly beheld with awe the impress of heaven upon his countenance.” Gospel Workers, 52. Would you like to have an experience like that? There will be some people in the last days who will have the same experience as Enoch. “While still on earth, he dwelt by faith in the realms of light. …

“For three hundred years Enoch had been seeking purity of heart, that he might be in harmony with heaven. …

“To such communion God is calling us. As was Enoch’s, so must be their holiness of character who shall be redeemed from among men at the Lord’s second coming.” Ibid., 53, 54.

As human beings we make plans, have goals and objectives. I say this reverently, but God also makes plans, has goals, and has objectives. He has decided to demonstrate to the whole universe what He can do in human beings through the Holy Spirit if they will yield totally to Him. And He is going to do it in the last generation of people who are the weakest generation that there has ever been. That is a matter of prophecy. (Read Revelation 14:1–5.)

If we don’t have the experience, somebody else will take our place. There is a warning in the book of Revelation that says, “Don’t let somebody else take your crown” (Revelation 3:11).

How can we have the same experience as Enoch? “God must be ever in our thoughts. We must hold converse with Him while we walk by the way, and while our hands are engaged in labor. In all the purposes and pursuits of life, we must inquire, ‘What will the Lord have me to do?’ ” The Review and Herald, May 30, 1882.

In other words, Enoch had a lot to do. He had a lot of responsibilities, but in the midst of all his work, whatever he was doing, he talked to the Lord about it. We have already seen how it had an effect on his countenance. It also had an effect on the way he spoke. “The love of Jesus always leads to Christian courtesy, refinement of language, and purity of expression that testify the company we are with—that like Enoch we are walking with God. There is no storming, no harshness, but a sweet fragrance in speech and in spirit.” That I May Know Him, 198.

No one will enter heaven who does not overcome the disposition to speak harshly and unkindly. Heaven has already been ruined once, and the angels that ruined it were cast out. God is not going to have heaven ruined again.

In researching the life of Enoch in the Spirit of Prophecy, it was amazing to find all that was written about imagination. In Genesis 6:5, notice what it says: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

It says in verse 11 that the earth was corrupt and filled with violence, and this was a result of corrupt imaginations.

“A study on this subject will find that one of the principle ways the devil tempts men and women is through the imagination. Before a person engages in open sin of some kind, it has already been formulated in the imagination.

With regard to the imagination Mrs. White wrote, “They should not venture on forbidden ground, where Satan can claim control over them. If they in humility entreat God for purity of thought, and a refined and sanctified imagination, He will hear them, and grant their petitions. God has not left them to perish in their sins, but will help the weak and helpless, if they cast themselves in faith upon Him.” An Appeal to Mothers, 22, 23.

No one is going to enter heaven with a defiled, impure imagination. This appears to be one of the bigger problems many Christians have. “It is your duty to control your thoughts. You will have to war against a vain imagination. … You are responsible to God for the indulgence of vain thoughts.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 82. “In place of permitting the imagination to fill the mind with day-dreams and air-castles, let the soul cultivate the habit of contemplating the world’s Redeemer.” The Youth’s Instructor, June 7, 1894.

Those who do not have the prayer life and the meditations as Enoch did will never get control of their imagination. But once a prayer life has been developed, then the Lord will give you special help. People say, “I would like to be a Christian but I can’t. I can’t live up to what it says in the Bible.” That is very true. In fact, it is impossible, just as it was impossible for Peter to walk on water. But when the Holy Spirit takes control of your life, all things are possible. Then you can walk on water!

If the Holy Spirit is not holding you up, you are not going to stay up and will go down immediately. “We cannot keep ourselves from sin for one moment. Every moment we are dependent upon God.” The Ministry of Healing, 180. Enoch understood where to go for help and he communicated with the Lord at all times. The result was that he had power to control his carnal imagination and develop pure thoughts.

Enoch was not a hermit. He did not live in a cave somewhere separate from the rest of the world. But he did live separately from the concentrations of wickedness that were present in the world at that time. I am sure that we are all aware that there are some places that have concentrated wickedness. “A separation from the world is required of us, for we cannot remain free from its pollution unless we follow the example of the faithful Enoch.” God’s Amazing Grace, 304. Enoch chose to live away from the center of concentrated wickedness even though he was living in a depraved world. “God’s people will separate themselves from the unrighteous practices of those around them, and will seek for purity of thought, and holy conformity to His will, until His divine image will be reflected in them. Like Enoch, they will be fitting for translation to Heaven.” The Signs of the Times, February 20, 1879.

King David learned his lesson the hard way by falling into sin. But notice what he said: “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes … .” Why did he say that? Because he knew that if he looked at sin, he would become like that in character. “I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.” Psalm 101:3, 4.

Enoch separated himself from the wickedness around him. “Those who follow the Lord are to be firm and straightforward in obeying His directions. Any deviation to follow human devising or planning disqualifies them for being trustworthy. Even if they have to walk as did Enoch—with God alone—His children must separate from those who do not obey Him, who show that they are not in vital connection with Him.” The Youth’s Instructor, April 28, 1898. To follow this counsel, even if they have to walk alone, is one of the great trials that sometimes happen to people who are trying to live for Jesus and be ready for His second coming. These people are scattered all over the world. I often meet people who say to me things like, “My husband [or my wife] doesn’t believe what I believe.” They are alone at home. “My children [or my parents or both] don’t believe what I believe …” so they are completely isolated at home. Others say, “There’s no church anywhere near where I am that is teaching and preaching the Three Angels’ Messages, and I work in a secular workplace, and I am all alone.”

I cannot explain why God allows different people to go through different trials. I have learned from reading my Bible that God allows people to be in situations where they have to develop a character, often alone. This is not some new experience. Enoch had it; he had to walk alone, but he decided that even if there was nobody else in the world who believed as he did, he would still believe.

While the Lord has been bringing revival and reformation to the second-advent movement, there have been some interesting experiences over the past few years. We have met people in various parts of the world who have been cast out of Adventist churches because they stood up for what they believed was right. They thought they were the only ones in the whole world trying to do what’s right, and we have encouraged them by telling them there are people scattered all over the world in the same situation.

Remaining in a church that is in open sin, that will not turn around, will cause you to be spiritually anesthetized. In time, you won’t even know it or be bothered, leaving you in a much worse condition than you were to start with. Enoch refused to compromise and was willing to walk alone.

No human being enjoys being alone. Even Jesus didn’t enjoy being alone although He had to walk alone His whole life. His mother didn’t understand Him. His earthly father didn’t understand Him. Neither did His brothers who criticized Him understand Him, making His childhood hard. His disciples didn’t understand Him, and even John the Baptist didn’t understand. There was nobody on earth who understood Him.

Enoch walked alone. He was the first to be translated, but while on earth he had to walk alone. Was it worth it? I think so, for Enoch is the oldest human being. He is over 5,000 years old right now. It was worth it!

While in vision, Ellen White had a conversation with Enoch: “There I saw good old Enoch, who had been translated. On his right arm he bore a glorious palm, and on each leaf was written ‘Victory.’ Around his head was a dazzling white wreath, and leaves on the wreath, and in the middle of each leaf was written ‘Purity,’ and around the wreath were stones of various colors, that shone brighter than the stars, and cast a reflection upon the letters and magnified them. On the back part of his head was a bow that confined the wreath, and upon the bow was written ‘Holiness.’ Above the wreath was a lovely crown that shone brighter than the sun. I asked him if this was the place he was taken to from the earth. He said, ‘It is not; the city is my home, and I have come to visit this place.’ He moved about the place as if perfectly at home.” Early Writings, 40.

Enoch can go anywhere in the universe and visit places. Would you like to join him in some of those travels some day? Every time the devil tempts you because you have to stand alone, and it seems like nobody understands, it will not be forever. Enoch is not alone anymore. He has far more friends than any wicked man has ever had or will have.

In The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters, 179, is written:

“We want, every one of us, to have an amiable disposition, and unless you have a sanctified, amiable disposition, you will lose heaven entirely.”

An amiable disposition is a part of somebody with whom it is easy to get along. There will not be anybody in heaven with whom it is hard to get along. If I’m going to go to heaven, I must develop an amiable disposition. “We do not glorify our Redeemer when we complain of the difficulties of the way, and murmur at the providences of God.” The Signs of the Times, February 3, 1888.

Enoch was involved in evangelism. He did not have a lot of success as far as converts were concerned, but he was still involved in it. Wherever he could find two or three people willing to listen to the word of God, he would teach them. He had very small congregations. “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ ” Jude 14, 15.

Enoch gave warning to people who were living in sin. Some listened to the warning and renounced their sins, but the multitudes mocked and made fun of him. “The servants of God are to bear a similar message to the world in the last days, and it also will be received by the majority with unbelief and mockery. …

“Enoch, the witness of faith, held on his way, warning, pleading, and teaching, striving to turn back the tide of guilt and to stay the bolts of vengeance.” Gospel Workers, 53.

God revealed to Enoch that the wickedness on the earth was so great that a flood was coming. Because he knew what was coming, even though it was still several hundred years away, he tried to help the people get ready so they wouldn’t have to drown. His son, Methuselah, also warned the people of the coming judgment.

“By faith Enoch was taken away [translated] so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5. How could we have a testimony like that said about us?

“It is our privilege to carry with us the credentials of our faith—love, joy, and peace. When we do this, we shall be able to present the mighty arguments of the cross of Christ. When we learn to walk by faith and not by feeling, we shall have help from God just when we need it, and His peace will come into our hearts. It was this simple life of obedience and trust that Enoch lived. If we learn this lesson of simple trust, ours may be the testimony that he received, that he pleased God. Then instead of mourning and bitter repining, we shall make melody in our hearts to the Lord.” Historical Sketches, 133.

If we live a life of simple obedience and trust in the Lord, we can do the same.

“We are required to improve every day. Even in this world of sin and sorrow, we may, by earnest, persevering effort, rise to the highest spiritual efficiency. … We are to please God. This we may do; for Enoch pleased God, though living in a degenerate age.” Sons and Daughters of God, 314.

“Enoch walked with God and ‘had the testimony that his ways pleased God.’ This is the privilege of every believer today. It is man dwelling with God, and God taking up His abode with man. ‘I in them and you in Me’ [John 17:23].” The Upward Look, 228.

“In all the purposes and pursuits of life we must inquire, What will the Lord have me to do? How shall I please Him, Who has given His life a ransom for me? Thus may we walk with God, as did Enoch of old … .” Our High Calling, 61.

We can have that same experience today. In Ellen White’s day the world in general was optimistic. Because theologians and Christians are influenced by the world in which they live, they had theories of perfectionism and believed that you could just come to Christ and be perfect instantly. Perfectionism was a very popular teaching 150 years ago, but Ellen White said it was a fallacy.

Today, after two world wars, a big depression and all kinds of trouble worldwide that is increasing, everything has flipped. We are now living in a pessimistic age where people say nobody is perfect and they do not believe anybody can be. Christian perfection is a Biblical doctrine all through the New Testament, even though it is a very unpopular one in our time. Jesus mentioned it in Matthew 5:48 and Paul talks about it in almost every single epistle he wrote and also James and John make mention.

“We have fixed our minds upon the exceeding great and precious reward; and, in order to obtain it, we must have a perfect character. … Angels of God are weighing moral worth; and we are to obtain a fitness here to join the society of sinless angels. Do you expect that when Christ comes He will give you that fitness? Not at all. You must be found of Him without spot, without blemish, or wrinkle, or anything like it [Ephesians 5:25; 11 Peter 3:14]. Now is the watching and trying time. Now it is the time to obtain a preparation to abide the day of His coming, and to stand when He appeareth. Do you say that you cannot do it because around you are so much sin and iniquity and corruption? I refer you to Enoch.” The Review and Herald, April 19, 1870.

Enoch did it. If we follow the same principles and the same way of life that he followed, we will have the same results. Remember his prayer life, his meditations, his evangelistic efforts, his disposition, his imagination, and the fact that he separated himself from the wickedness in the world, walking with God by living a life of simple obedience and trust.

When Jesus comes there will be a people that have the experience of Enoch, and they will be translated. We have been given the Spirit of Prophecy so we can have explicit instruction and know how to order our lives and be ready for Jesus to come. The Holy Spirit earnestly waits to purify our imagination, and give us the power to live the Christian life. You can become Christ-like.

The apostle John says that when Jesus comes we will be like Him (I John 3:2). May the Lord help us to have that same experience of Enoch.

[Bible texts quoted are NKJV translation.]

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