surrender

Keys to the Storehouse – Am I Willing or Willful?

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At the end of July 2020, my husband suddenly passed away. In a moment, everything in my life changed. No longer would I be able to physically or financially stay in our home. Things accumulated that had to be dealt with; debt to pay, where to live, packing, cleaning, moving – all alone. But then I discovered I wasn’t alone. Family and friends rallied to my side. I will never know how to thank them for their friendship and love during that time.

Best of all, God had not left me alone. He already had a plan for me and immediately began to take care of everything. The sale of the house. Funds to pay the debt, medical expenses and funeral costs were provided. I had longed to return home to Wichita, Kansas, and that had been our retirement intention. It must have also been God’s plan, for He provided work and sufficient income that made it possible for me to leave my job and move home. This briefly describes what God has done for me over the last five months.

In spite of God’s miraculous providence, there were still times I had the notion that I was totally alone accomplishing these things. Every step of the way God has provided for me. I am so unworthy of all He has done. I realize that He does not intervene in our lives because we are worthy, but because of our great need. We may be capable of doing many things, but still we often struggle to be willing to surrender our lives and let Jesus do the work that He has promised to do in us.

How easy it is to continue your own way while knowing it is contrary to God’s will. Yet, He still patiently nudges us to draw us back and fully trust Him.

“Says the true Witness, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock’ (Revelation 3:20). … With every knock unheeded, your determination to open becomes weaker and weaker. If the voice of Jesus is not heeded at once, it becomes confused in the mind with a multitude of other voices, the world’s care and business engross the attention, and conviction dies away. The heart becomes less impressible, and lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of time, and of the great eternity beyond.” The Review and Herald, November 2, 1886.

Talk about a painful reminder. Later in this same article Ellen White writes how those who profess His name fail to become what He designed them to be. “The Saviour says, ‘What more could I have done that I have not done?’ ” Ibid. Imagine, the God of heaven having to ask that question. Then it reminds us that we have no time to wait for convenience. Now is the time to repent. “Oh, it is peace that you need – Heaven’s forgiveness, peace and love in the soul. Money cannot buy it, intellect cannot procure it, wisdom cannot attain to it; but Jesus offers it as a gift. It is yours if you will but reach out your hand and grasp it.” Ibid.

Friends, the choice is ours to make. Will we be willing to become what God designed us to be or will we willfully hold on to self and the things of this world? Give it some thought.

Father: Thank You for Your love and patience toward this sinful world. Cleanse our hard hearts so that we can hear Your voice and be willing to follow You and become vessels of honor for Your sake. Amen.

Justification by Faith

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Numerous errors are being circulated today, among God’s people, regarding justification by faith, sanctification and other salvation doctrines. As a result, many are being misled and captivated by gross errors, most of which have originated in the churches of the world which we know as Babylon. Concerning justification, the servant of the Lord has told us, “The enemy of man and God is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken.” The Review and Herald, September 3, 1889. Is it any wonder then that Satan has infiltrated God’s true church with some of his ministers whom he has inspired to preach a false justification by faith?

Recently I found these alarming inspired passages concerning righteousness by faith. “There is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject that is so necessary to our present and eternal welfare.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 360. “Our churches are dying for the want of teaching on the subject of righteousness by faith in Christ.” This Day With God, 93.

These very disturbing facts have led me to prepare this series. First let us note that, strange as it may seem, the teaching and preaching of error to our people can, at times, result in a great blessing. How could this be possible? Let us take courage from the following counsel from the Lord. “Every time that error is advanced, it will work for good to those who sincerely love God; for when the truth is shadowed by error, those whom the Lord has made His sentinels will make the truth sharper and clearer. They will search the Scriptures for evidence of their faith. The advancement of error is the call for God’s servants to arouse, and place the truth in bold relief.” The Signs of the Times, January 6, 1898. This we shall endeavor to do.

The Basis of Justification by Faith

The Scriptures introduce the basis or the foundation upon which justification by faith rests by explaining what Christ wants to do for us. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17. “For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” John 6:33.

That which Christ has provided for us and wants to do for us is the basis or foundation of justification by faith. In the Bible, both Adam and Christ represent the human race. Therefore, what occurred with Adam and Christ has to do, in a spiritual sense, with everyone born into this world. For example, when Adam, the representative of our race, was tempted to rebel against God and in doing so, sinned, he brought death upon himself and all his descendents. When Christ became our representative by coming to earth in human flesh, He likewise was tempted by the devil to sin. But He did not rebel as Adam had done; He obeyed God. And because of His victory over Satan, He was able and willing to die for our sins so that the sentence of death could be reversed to eternal life—if we accept the gift.

Thus, the result of Adam’s sin was that all have likewise sinned and received the death penalty. But, praise God, the Son of God chose to take the place of Adam as head and representative of the human race and by His death on the cross, He paid the penalty of our death sentence, providing an offer of redemption to all who will believe in Him as we read in John 3:16, 17: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Throughout the entire word of God this basis for justification by faith is confirmed. For example, in Romans 5:12, 17–19 we read: “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men in condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.”

The Spirit of Prophecy, which is always in harmony with the Bible, likewise teaches that Jesus, in order to save us, took the place of Adam as our representative. “Jesus humbled Himself, clothing His divinity with humanity, in order that He might stand as the head and representative of the human family.” The Signs of the Times, January 16, 1896.

The Conditions

Now let us consider the conditions upon which justification by faith and sanctification are possible for individuals. You may be asking, are there really conditions for a man to be justified? Is not justification a free gift? In 1893, Ellen White wrote to A.T. Jones from New Zealand. Jones, of course, was one of the two men who had presented the truth of righteousness by faith in 1888. However, by 1893, he had begun to proclaim that there are no conditions for justification. The Lord showed his mistake to Ellen White in a vision. The following sentence is from the letter she wrote to him to deliver God’s message. “There are conditions to our receiving justification and sanctification, and the righteousness of Christ.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 377. Meeting the conditions does not mean that we make a payment for our salvation. Man’s works, either before or after justification, are valueless in themselves. They cannot purchase salvation. Salvation is a free gift to those who meet the conditions.

Adam chose to believe the lie of Satan. By sinning he accepted the conditions for believing the lie of Satan that he would become as the gods. He ignored God’s truth, that the wages of sin is death. But when we choose to believe what Christ says, this process is reversed. We reject Satan and accept the following conditions laid down by Christ in order that we might escape death and receive eternal life:

  1. We accept by faith Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on Calvary’s cross for us.
  2. We surrender completely, repent and confess our sins to God.
  3. We believe that God forgives our individual sins.
  4. We personally experience the gift of justification by being born again.
  5. We abide in Christ through a continual, loving relationship of trust and obedience.

Condition One – Accept and Believe

Condition one requires that we believe and personally accept Christ’s sacrifice. It is important that we realize that there is much more in the term “believe” than many have supposed. In fact, all five of the listed conditions are embodied in the words, “Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Belief entails more than a mere verbal or emotional assent. To understand the real depth of what belief means, we must first understand what took place as a result of Christ’s death on the cross.

In Romans 6:23 we read, “The wages of sin is death.” Is Paul here speaking about the first or the second death? God’s word gives us the answer in Revelation 20:6. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power.” And why does the second death have no power? Because Jesus died the second death for those who believe in Him and accept Him as their Substitute. Praise God!

Condition Two – Surrender

The process of surrender involves repentance, confession and death to self and sin. In Acts 2:38, Paul enjoined upon us the necessity of repentance. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” Now notice the importance that Ellen White gives to this condition. “Repent, repent, repent, was the message rung out by John the Baptist in the wilderness. Christ’s message to the people was, ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish,’ (Luke 13:5) and the apostles were commanded to preach everywhere that men should repent.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 19.

Can we repent in our own strength? We certainly cannot. Through His servant, the Lord says, “Who is desirous of becoming truly repentant? What must he do? —He must come to Jesus just as he is, without delay. He must believe that the word of Christ is true, and believing the promise, ask, that he may receive. When sincere men desire to pray, they will not pray in vain. The Lord will fulfill His word, and will give the Holy Spirit to lead to repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ibid., Book 1, 393.

How important are these conditions? God’s prophet wrote: “Those who have not humbled their souls before God in acknowledging their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first condition of acceptance. If we have not experienced that repentance which is not to be repented of, and have not with true humiliation of soul and brokenness of spirit confessed our sins, abhorring our iniquity, we have never truly sought for the forgiveness of sin; and if we have never sought, we have never found the peace of God. The only reason why we do not have remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing to humble our hearts and comply with the conditions of the word of truth.” Steps to Christ, 37, 38.

Condition Three – Believe that God Forgives

We must believe that God forgives our sins and before God can forgive our sins, we must take certain steps. “Man must be emptied of self before he can be, in the fullest sense, a believer in Jesus.” The Desire of Ages, 280. This is very important: for Jesus says to the unforgiven, “I never knew you.”

“You have not exercised genuine repentance toward God for the transgression of His holy law, and you cannot have genuine faith in Me, for it was My mission to exalt God’s law.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 239. “To believe in Jesus is to take Him as our Redeemer and our Pattern.” Historical Sketches, 188. After we have met these specified conditions so that we can truly believe in Christ, then we can believe that “the moment we ask for forgiveness in contrition and sincerity, God forgives. Oh, what a glorious truth! Preach it, pray it, sing it.” The Signs of the Times, September 4, 1893.

Condition Four – Experience the New Birth

Christ told Nicodemus that before a man can see the kingdom of God, he must be born again. When God forgives a man, He provides him with a new heart, a new birth. In Ezekiel 36:26 we read, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

Many do not realize that justification by faith includes the new birth, which involves gaining a new mind. However, inspiration clearly reveals this truth. “To be pardoned in the way that Christ pardons, is not only to be forgiven, but to be renewed in the spirit of our mind.” The Review and Herald, August 19, 1890.

The renewing of the mind takes place when we come to the Lord, just as David did after he had sinned with Bathsheba. Consider his prayer in Psalms 51, 2, 7, 10. “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

Ellen White wrote this in commenting upon David’s experience: “But forgiveness has a broader meaning than many suppose.…God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin. [I like that!] It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.’” Mount of Blessings, 114.

As Water to the Thirsty

Are you beginning to get a clearer picture of justification by faith? Ellen White wrote that when the doctrine of righteousness by faith is presented in all its purity it is “as water comes to the thirsty traveler.” In my younger days, I often hiked in the desert. I well remember once when I was completely out of water and desperate. I suddenly discovered a very small stream trickling into the sand. It was coming from a far off mountain, but still contained enough water to quench my thirst. How thankful to God I was for finding the water.

When we discover the marvelous truth of justification by faith, we, too, will exclaim with Ellen White, “The sweetest melody that comes from God through human lips—justification by faith, and the righteousness of Christ.” Testimonies, vol.6, 426.

At justification heavenly peace floods the soul. Paul tells us in Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” What a glorious truth, that when we are justified, we stand faultless before God because we are clothed in the beautiful garments of Christ’s righteousness.

“As the penitent sinner, contrite before God, discerns Christ’s atonement in his behalf, and accepts this atonement as his only hope in this life and the future life, his sins are pardoned. This is justification by faith.…[For] pardon and justification are one and the same thing. Through faith, the believer passes from the position of a rebel, a child of sin and Satan, to the position of a loyal subject of Christ Jesus, not because of an inherent goodness, but because Christ receives him as His child by adoption. . . . Thus man, pardoned and clothed with the beautiful garments of Christ’s righteousness, stands faultless before God.” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1070.

The more we understand about righteousness by faith, the more glorious it becomes. But remember that, “Without the transforming process which can come alone through divine power, the original propensities to sin are left in the heart in all their strength, to forge new chains, to impose a slavery that can never be broken by human power. But men can never enter heaven with their old tastes, inclinations, idols, ideas, and theories.” The Review and Herald, August 19, 1890.

But praise the Lord, through justification by faith the image of Christ is stamped upon the mind, heart and soul making it possible for man to have the mind of Christ as did the apostle Paul. Are you asking, But how can a man be holy? In Christ’s Object Lessons, 163, we find this amazing statement: “As the sinner, drawn by the power of Christ, approaches the uplifted cross and prostrates himself before it, there is a new creation. A new heart is given him. He becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. God Himself is ‘the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.’ Romans 3:26.”

The reception of a new heart and the righteousness of Christ is what makes a man holy. Can you imagine, of a born again man, it is said that holiness “finds that it has nothing more to require?” Ibid., 163. But do not forget, a man will not feel or say that he is holy. Yet this is the way God looks upon him, because of Christ whose righteousness is accounted to him.

“When the sinner is converted he receives the Holy Spirit, that makes him a child of God, and fits him for the society of the redeemed and the angelic host. He is made a joint heir with Christ.” The Southern Work, 12. “The grace of Christ purifies while it pardons, and fits man for a holy heaven.” That I May Know Him, 336.

It is Christ’s indwelling righteousness that both justifies and fits men for heaven. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27. When justification is completed, sanctification has just begun, for Jesus begins to live out His life within man, imparting His righteousness, making him fit and still more fit for heaven as he develops a character according to the pattern Christ Jesus.

The experience of the apostle Paul is to be our daily experience. He wrote in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Christ’s Righteousness Instead of Man’s Sinfulness

What wonderful news! In forgiving our past disobedience the obedience of Christ is placed to the account of the repentant sinner. “The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain to righteousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner’s account. Christ’s righteousness is accepted in place of man’s failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the repentant, believing soul, [and] treats him as though he were righteous, and loves him as He loved His Son.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 367.

God loves us as He loved His Son. How incomprehensible! But, beloved, it is true. Oh, what a salvation! The true Christian does not work to be saved. He works the works of Christ because he is saved. Such an experience fills the heart with unspeakable joy and peace. He is having a true and living relationship with his Savior, an experience that makes it possible for him to achieve victory over every temptation and sin.

Condition Five – Continual Obedience

It is through obedience that we maintain our sanctified state, and also, we have learned, continual obedience is the only way we can retain our justified state as well. In Selected Messages, Book 1, 366, we read: “While God can be just, and yet justify the sinner through the merits of Christ, no man can cover his soul with the garments of Christ’s righteousness while practicing known sins, or neglecting known duties. God requires the entire surrender of the heart, before justification can take place; and in order for man to retain justification, there must be continual obedience, through active, loving faith that works by love and purifies the soul.”

Now for one more grand truth. Did you know that as long as we maintain our justification and our sanctification that eternal life has already begun for us here and now? “It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of life eternal.” The Desire of Ages, 388.

This truth is further confirmed by the prophet John. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God: and that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:11–13.

No wonder Paul exclaimed in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18. “Rejoice evermore.…In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” No wonder Ellen White proclaims, “Preach it, pray it, sing it.”

Lawrence Nelson retired after thirteen years as General Conference Associate Youth Director, and is now speaker of Keep the Faith Audio Tape Ministry.

Facing the Crisis With a Surrendered Will

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Let me begin with a true story told by Pastor Kenneth Oster, the Seventh-day Adventist in charge of mission work in Ethiopia during the time when the Communists invaded and overthrew the government. They were determined to destroy Christianity. Elder Oster tells how the native pastor of the church in Addis Ababa was faced with tremendous problems as he tried to shepherd his flock.

Arrested for Christ

Little did he realize the hatred of the Communist invaders toward Christianity and their determination to crush every person’s belief in God. One day as the pastor prepared to visit his members, he heard a loud knock. As he opened the door he faced two Soviet police who commanded him to go with them to the KGB Headquarters. When they reached the building, he was locked in a room for some four hours.

Then a KGB officer, together with a medical doctor who carried a small bag and was leading a dog, entered the room. The doctor opened the bag and took out a Bible. Then he asked the pastor, “Do you believe this to be God’s Book?”

The pastor answered, “I surely do.”

Then he was commanded to read the sixteenth chapter of Mark out loud. When he got to verse 9, which reads, “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week…” the doctor said, “Stop!” He then asked the pastor, “Do you really believe that Jesus, who was crucified, who died and was buried, was resurrected and is alive today?”

The pastor answered, “Most assuredly, I do.”

Then he was commanded to read on. When he reached verses 17 and 18, which read, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.…”

“Stop,” cried the doctor. “Do you actually believe what you just read?”

“Yes, I do,” he replied.

Test of Faith

Then the doctor opened the bag again and took out a small vial. Calling the dog to him, he sprinkled several drops of the fluid from the bottle on the dog’s tongue. Then he opened the door and told the dog to get out, but before the dog reached the door, it fell over dead. Now the doctor turned to the pastor and continued: “Tell me, do you actually believe that your God can save you from this deadly poison that I just gave the dog?”

“Yes,” the pastor replied, “if God wills.”

Now the doctor took a teaspoon and filled it to the brim and commanded the pastor to open his mouth. He thrust the spoon filled with the deadly poison into the pastor’s mouth, and he and the KGB officer watched to see the pastor die immediately.

Victory in Jesus

Five seconds passed. Ten seconds, and then the doctor took out his watch. One minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. In amazement the doctor turned to the KGB officer, took out his Communist membership card, tore it to bits and said, “I no longer believe in Communism. I now believe in Jesus Christ.” Oh, what a victory in the power of Christ! What a God we serve!

I have been reading a new book entitled, Seven Conditions for Receiving the Latter Rain. The author, has graciously granted me permission to share some of the information with you.

Let us begin with a most important question. What is God’s will for us? Both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy teach that it is possible, by God’s grace, to be totally committed, spirit-filled Christians, so we may overcome sin completely in this life.

What a glorious design! God’s will for us is that we sin not. Reading in 1 John 2:1 we are told, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Only those Christians who receive wholeheartedly the straight testimony of Jesus contained in Revelation 3:14-22 and overcome every besetting sin, reflecting the image of Jesus fully, will receive the Latter Rain.

The Counsel of the True Witness

“Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True Witness, and they will receive the Latter Rain, and thus be fitted for translation.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 187. Did you notice the counsel of the True Witness? First: Come up to every point. Second: Stand every test. Third: Overcome every sin, be the price what it may.

Of course, this is not all the straight testimony and the counsel of the True Witness. We need to remember there is also the gold of faith and love, the white raiment, or the robe of Christ’s righteous character, and the eye salve, which is the spiritual discernment of the Holy Spirit. The straight testimony calls sin by its right name and appeals to God’s people to repent and to forsake all sin and to come up to the standard.

As we strive to attain such an achievement, let us ever keep in mind that victory over sin is to come first. Then the gifts of the Spirit and the outpouring of the Latter Rain come after. This matter has been made very plain in Inspiration.

“I was shown that if God’s people make no efforts on their part, but wait for the refreshing to come upon them and remove their wrongs and correct their errors; if they depend upon that to cleanse them from filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and fit them to engage in the Loud Cry of the Third Angel, they will be found wanting. The refreshing or power of God comes only on those who have prepared themselves for it by doing the work which God bids them, namely, cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Ibid., vol. 1, 619.

The Secret to Attaining Holiness

Did you catch the meaning that we are to perfect holiness? Please do not be alarmed. You may be surprised to discover there is a secret to attaining holiness. Such a victory comes by the continual surrender of the will to Christ. Such surrender of the will is a continual deepening of self-denying; a surrender today is not adequate for tomorrow. The surrender of the soul to God must go deeper and deeper until we come to the point that, like Christ, we will say, “Not my will, but Thine, be done,” (See Luke 22:42.) even to the point of death.

Often we will have to fall upon our knees in despair saying, “Father, help my unbelief and make me willing.” Christ, our Example, knew the meaning of total surrender. Many of God’s children, who love the Lord, have not learned the lesson of continual deepening surrender. It is to be renewed day by day. They will discover that they do not know victory.

“Some who come to God by repentance and confession, and even believe that their sins are forgiven, still fail of claiming, as they should, the promises of God. They do not see that Jesus is an ever-present Saviour; and they are not ready to commit the keeping of their souls to Him, relying upon Him to perfect the work of grace begun in their hearts. While they think they are committing themselves to God, there is a great deal of self-dependence. There are conscientious souls that trust partly to God, and partly to themselves. They do not look to God, to be kept by His power, but depend upon watchfulness against temptation, and the performance of certain duties for acceptance with Him. There are no victories in this kind of faith. Such persons toil to no purpose; their souls are in continual bondage, and they find no rest until their burdens are laid at the feet of Jesus.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 353. [Emphasis added.]

Believing Satan’s Lie

Today God is raising up a remnant that keeps the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (See Revelation 14:12.) But have we succumbed to the deceptions of the adversary? Do we, like the great majority of the professed Christians today, believe Satan’s lie that we cannot overcome? Beware, beware, it is being preached from some of our pulpits today. It is the father of lies who says that we cannot overcome.

For, beloved, we can overcome, and we can overcome entirely through the merits of Him “…who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21. God has the power to give us victory. “Exact obedience is required, and those who say that it is not possible to live a perfect life throw upon God the imputation of injustice and untruth.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 369.

If we believe that we cannot overcome, we are then echoing the voice of the adversary. Christianity is to be a life of overcoming. To many the thought of victory is as a rope of sand, intellectually accepted but never experienced. If we do not believe in victory and have never seen a clear demonstration of God’s power to save, then, I am sorry to say, we will not be able to receive the Latter Rain.

False Theology

Some of God’s people believe that at Christ’s Second Coming He will miraculously give us the victory over sin. As I prepared this article, a pastor of one of our large nearby churches preached that God would change our characters when He comes so that we would never sin again. Beloved, this is a false belief! This is a lie! The miracle of victory over sin is for today, and every day, that we might be a spectacle both to men and to angels.

“Satan is also watching his chances to lead astray. He will present attractions that will lead our minds from God. But shall we not watch his devices, and be constantly seeking the aid of God to keep us from Satan’s allurements? … We must not lay off the armor for one moment. You will hear the cry, ‘Only believe.’ Satan believed and trembled. We must have a faith that works by love and purifies the heart. The idea prevails that Christ has done all for us, and that we can go on transgressing the commandments and will not be held accountable for it. This is the greatest deception that the enemy ever devised. We must take our position that we will not violate the commandments at any cost, and be in that spiritual condition that we can educate others in spiritual things.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, 97.

Restored to Eden’s Perfection in This Lifetime

Such counsel helps us to see our tremendous need. “The work of overcoming is to be the study of every soul who enters the kingdom of God.” Review and Herald, August 1, 1893. God will never be satisfied with anything short of perfection. Man was created perfect in the beginning, and God’s plan of redemption is designed to restore His children to that original perfection where they will once again reflect His image.

This restoration, which begins with the new birth, is a purifying, refining process that God can accomplish only when He has the confidence and the cooperation of the individual. It is possible to stop sinning, but not without suffering and dying to self, which is the sinful nature. If we really long to be rid of every trace of sin, we should welcome suffering if it is the necessary discipline God must use to set us free and make us perfect in Christ.

“Let the recording angels write the history of the holy struggles and conflicts of the people of God; let them record their prayers and tears; but let not God be dishonored by the declaration from human lips, ‘I am sinless; I am holy.’ Sanctified lips will never give utterance to such presumptuous words.” Acts of the Apostles, 561, 562.

Growing in Grace Through Trial

So, beloved, never should we forget that God’s way is the best. The trusting Christian does not look upon suffering and sorrow with an attitude of self-pity or resentment. He faces life’s conflicts as God-given opportunities to grow in grace. I am not suggesting here that the Christian perfection may be attained merely through sorrow and suffering, but because we came into the world with the fallen sinful nature, the process by which we are restored to an intimate fellowship with God requires the death of our very nature.

We must never forget that a sinful nature cannot cease sinning; consequently, God’s provision for victory over sin is a transformation of our nature. In order to possess the divine nature, we are required to crucify the flesh, and believe me, this is a more serious and painful process than many of us realize. We need to recognize that trials are one of God’s means in the perfection of our characters.

These trials are also for God’s glory, that He may show to others the power of the gospel as we respond to these trials with the same meekness and strength of Jesus. Remember the Ethiopian pastor who had such a faith experience with Christ that he believed in witnessing for God even when forced to drink deadly poison? He remembered that God promised: It will not hurt you.

“Conflicts and trials are the very means ordained or suffered of God to perfect the Christian character unto eternal life.” 1888 Materials, vol. 2, 489. If we would be ready for any test that God may send our way, we must prepare for victory by shutting every door of temptation.

By Beholding, We Become

“It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will constantly sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has power to exalt man. Left to himself, his course must inevitably be downward.” The Great Controversy, 555. [Emphasis added.]

So you can see, it is an impossibility to live the life of an overcomer while we participate in watching, reading or listening to that which is contrary to the Word and to the principles of God. Far too many Christians have a double standard and are considered by God to be double minded. For complete victory, we must rise up to a newness of life. Once we have done this, then a work for us is as follows.

We are to seek after God, setting our minds upon themes of heavenly origin and not only our thoughts, but also our lives, are to be taken up with God and with the work that He has for us to do. The admonition for God’s people is that we are to experience victory over sin. How? By beholding “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29.

Continued Effort with Christ’s Power Brings Victory

Here are the facts: Continued effort, combined with Christ’s power, is the means of our victory. Let me try to make this clear. Inspiration declares that he who truly and fully abides in Christ does not sin. “‘Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.” 1 John 3:6. Again, “‘Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not.’ Here is the true test.” Steps to Christ, 61.

Keep in mind that the words “sinneth not” have to do with a complete victory over sin. “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” 1 John 5:18.

Now notice carefully, “The Son of God came to our world in human form to show man that divinity and humanity combined can obtain the victory over sin…. ‘Whosoever abideth in Him, sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him.’… God calls for complete consecration, and anything short of this He will not accept.” Signs of the Times, February 1, 1899.

Such an experience will make us perfect in Christ. The word perfect means complete, whole, accomplished, finished, sound, upright or undefiled. “…that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” Colossians 4:12. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:17.

“The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God and being clothed with humility, possessing that love that is pure, peaceable, and easy to be entreated, full of gentleness and good fruits, is not an easy attainment. And yet it is his privilege and his duty to be a perfect overcomer here.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 106, 107.

This means that we are to form characters free from sin. Note, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin…. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Romans 6:6, 12.

“Brothers and sisters, we need the reformation that all who are redeemed must have, through the cleansing of mind and heart from every taint of sin…. We are to form characters free from sin—characters made righteous in and by the grace of Christ…. Our hearts are to be cleansed from all impurity in the blood shed to take away sin.” Counsels on Health, 633, 634.

It is Better to Die than to Sin

This requires a personal decision. “It is better to die than to sin.…” Testimonies, vol. 4, 495. We must grow spiritually until we continually have the determination to cease to sin. Does not God’s Word declare, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 6:1, 2.

“As we behold Christ, pierced for our sins, we shall see that we cannot break the law of God and remain in His favor; we shall feel that as sinners we must lay hold of the merits of Christ and cease to sin.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 312.

Why No Latter Rain?

Now let me ask you a question, beloved. Why has the Latter Rain not fallen yet? The reason is because we, the remnant people, are not ready. We have not totally surrendered ourselves and forsaken all sin. “When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 69.

When will we, as a people, come to the place where we will believe the clear, explicit Bible and Spirit of Prophecy teaching concerning perfection and overcoming? When will we put aside our unbelief and lack of faith? When will we lay aside our half-hearted dedication and go all the way with God? How much longer is God going to wait for His people to become the victorious people so that He can pour out the Latter Rain?

We need to pray about this; for such a glorious day for God’s people will happen very, very soon and then, and only then, will we receive the Latter Rain and arise to give the Loud Cry and finish the work. We must not take these things lightly but repent with all of our hearts and seek most earnestly for the complete unbroken victory over sin, which it is our privilege to have.

True Christian Love

Soon, very soon, there will be a victorious people spreading the Loud Cry to every country of the world. Are you going to be one of them? I hope so. The Latter Rain will be poured out only upon a victorious people. Now I trust that you have made the decision to be victorious over sin by surrendering your will to divinity. The next step to be reached is to become a loving person, for God is love.

The English word “love” is altogether inadequate to express the depth and meaning expressed by the Greek word agape. Agape is true Christian love, which is not merely an emotional experience that comes to us unbidden and unsought; it is a deliberate principle of the mind and a conquest and achievement of the will. It may be described as a love bringing into play the higher powers of the mind and intelligence.

It is this kind of love that the Christian is to exercise, even toward his enemies. That is, the Christian is to treat his enemies with proper respect. We are therefore bidden to love our enemies, and why? So that we should be like God. And what is the typical action of God that is cited? God sends His rain on the just and the unjust and on the evil and on the good.

That is to say, no matter what a man is like, God seeks nothing but his highest good. Agape is the spirit that says, “No matter what any man does to me, I will never seek to harm him. I will never set out for revenge. I will always seek nothing but his highest good.” Now to make such a commitment it will take man’s all to achieve such Christian love. It takes not only his heart, it takes his mind and his will as well.

Today we are living in an age when the real meaning of love is no longer understood. The type of love that much of the human race displays is an emotional love based on selfishness. But true love is seen in good works. “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21.

True Love is a Living, Working Power

This is the only true test of character in doing the will of God, that we give the best evidence that we love God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. The oft-repeated words of love for God are of no value unless that love is made manifest in the life practice. Love for God is not a mere sentiment. It is a living, working power.

“The man who does the will of his Father who is in heaven shows to the world that he loves God. The fruit of his love is seen in good works.” Signs of the Times, May 19, 1898. So the real meaning of love is a faith that works and is seen in the fruits of a Christian life. God demonstrates such love for us. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

God’s great love for the world is beyond our comprehension. His love for us is so great that He gave His only Son for our redemption. Such a love is unsurpassed. Love unexampled, unfathomable, immeasurable. The beloved disciple John tells us not to love the world. (See 1 John 2:15.) But he does tell us, in this same chapter, to “walk, even as He walked.” Verse 6.

If we follow closely His example, we, too, must love the people of this present evil world love them to such an extent and in such a way as to give ourselves for them as He did. It was an unlovable people whom Christ loved so much. They are no more lovable today than they were when Christ gave Himself for them.

Who has not walked down skid row of any major city and witnessed the drunkard and the derelict? Who has not seen these wrecks of humanity, degraded by drugs and drinking to a level below the brute, with a complete loss of all moral and physical control? These wretched souls sit or lie in their own filth. The stench of alcohol and excrement poison the atmosphere about them.

Loving the Unlovely?

Love them? Did you say, love them? We naturally feel repelled by them and want to turn from them in disgust. Yet, we thank God mainly that we are not like other men, while at the same time we are void of the love that gives a helping hand. The unlovely and the unlovable qualities of the world show up in many ways. It is found in religious belief, denominational affiliation, cultural differences, family background and national disparity. We join the national tendency to dislike those who are separate from us.

Christ was not unaware of the unlovely characteristics of the world into which He sent His disciples. He expressly had these conditions in mind when He commanded His followers, “Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.” Luke 10:3. Our mission, then, is to love with agape love. As God loves us, we must love mankind.

To love the unlovable, though, will take a miracle, and only God can work that miracle in us. There must be an entire renunciation of self. Only Christ can accomplish this work for us with our consent.

“Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 159.

We must understand that God uses love to expel sin from the heart. According to the Scriptures, faith works by love to purify the soul. It is the love of Christ that constrains and moves the Christian to a life of self-denial, righteousness and obedience to God’s law.

Ellen White explains this so beautifully. “Love is power. Intellectual and moral strength are involved in this principle, and cannot be separated from it…. Love cannot live without action, and every act increases, strengthens, and extends it. Love will gain the victory….” Testimonies, vol. 2, 135.

“There can be no perfection of Christian character without that faith that works by love, and purifies the soul.” Review and Herald, October 18, 1898. Now this faith helps us to walk in love, for it is love and love alone, finding satisfaction in God, that satisfies the heart’s hunger and prevents all coveting. Love is really not a rule but a motive. Love does not tell the Christian what to do but how to do it.

Love must go to the Law of God to learn the divine will. Love is a principle. We are to become imitators of God as beloved children. That is to say, we are to walk in love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us. The source of Christian love is the Holy Spirit. As His control and transforming action increases in the life, the more clearly is the fruit of love discerned. The implanting of a loving attitude toward God and man, by the indwelling of the spirit, is related to the believer’s hungering and thirsting to know God.

Ingredients Within the Spectrum of Love

“Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him.…” The Desire of Ages, 22. The spectrum of love has many ingredients. As we look at the Bible, you will see this demonstrated.

Patience. “…let patience have her perfect work.” James 1:4.

Kindness to godliness, brotherly kindness, generosity: “…It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35.

Humility, “…charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.” 1 Corinthians 13:4.

Courtesy: “doth not behave itself unseemingly.…” 1 Corinthians 13:5.

Unselfishness: “…love thy neighbor as thyself.…” Leviticus 19:18.

Good temper: “…is not easily provoked.…” 1 Corinthians 13:5.

Guilelessness: “…thinketh no evil.” 1 Corinthians 13:5.

Sincerity: “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:6.

“The divine love emanating from Christ never destroys human love, but includes it. By it human love is refined and purified, elevated and ennobled. Human love can never bear its precious fruit until it is united with the divine nature and trained to grow heavenward.” The Adventist Home, 99. How beautiful! The power of the gospel is the cross and the power of the cross is love. Herein is found another key to victory as it is written, “…love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10. So you can see that God is ready to test our love for Him by the way we treat one another.

Take notice. “When the Latter Rain is poured out, the church will be clothed with power for its work; but the church as a whole will never receive this until its members shall put away from them, envy, evil-surmisings, and evil-speaking. Those who cherish these sins know not the blessed experience of love; they are not awake to the fact that the Lord is testing and proving their love for him by the attitude they assume toward one another. Christ says to us, ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another….’ When this commandment is obeyed, envy, evil–speaking, evil–surmising, and evil– thinking will not be indulged; they will have no part in the formation of character.” Review and Herald, October 6, 1896.

Such an experience will make the remnant people a loving people filled with brotherly love and in full unity and harmony. “The Spirit can never be poured out while variance and bitterness toward one another are cherished by the members of the church. Envy, jealousy, evil surmising,[sic] and evilspeaking [sic] are of Satan, and they effectually bar the way against the Holy Spirit’s working.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 42. (Emphasis added.)

Let us praise God that His remnant will be a surrendered and a loving people. To love with Christ’s love means to manifest unselfishness at all times and in all places by kind words and pleasant looks. These cost those who give them absolutely nothing, but they leave behind a fragrance that surrounds the soul. Their effect can never be estimated. Not only are they a blessing to the receiver but to the giver, for they react upon him. Genuine love is a precious attribute of heavenly origin which increases in fragrance in proportion as it is dispensed to others.

Surrender, Part II

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When we are only committed to the cause, we are still in charge, for the most part, but we can still rebel. When we are surrendered, we cannot be rebels. When we surrender, we give up our authority, and we come under the authority of Another.

So, why do we not surrender? Fear could be one reason, but another reason is that we just plain do not know how. Commitment without surrender is what most people have been trying to do for the last 6,000 years, and this is why we are still here. It does not work any better now than it did the first time it was tried. It is insane to keep trying it, but we do just the same, perhaps because we do not know anything else to do. God, however, wants us to know another way—the only way that works.

The only way that works is so simple that we often miss the real meaning. It just does not sink in, but we cannot afford to miss it. Before we study it, though, we need to first consider how the mind works in the area of temptation.

The Bible presents, a number of times, the battle between the flesh and the spirit. Through the Spirit of Prophecy, we are told a lot about the higher powers and the lower powers of the mind. Think of your brain as being divided into sections.

Higher Powers

The higher powers are located where science calls the frontal lobe of the brain. That is where the Holy Spirit speaks to us. Romans 8:16 talks about how the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirits: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” This is referring to the frontal lobe of the brain where, Ellen White states, rests the higher powers. The Bible would call it the spirit. The higher powers contain the intellect, the reason, and the conscience.

The higher powers take in information and store it in the intellect. Then the reason takes that information and cogitates from cause to effect, based on your intellect or what you know. If you do such and such, what will or will not happen; if you do not do such and such, what will or will not happen?

You know what the conscience does. If you do not think or act according to reason and intellect, your conscience makes you feel bad. It is a warning signal. It makes you feel guilty. It pricks you.

Lower Powers

The lower powers would originate in the lower part of the brain, in what could be called the animal instinct part of the brain. It tells your heart to beat and your lungs to breathe without your thinking about those things. The lower powers are what the Bible calls the flesh.

The flesh contains the appetite, the passions, and the desires. God placed these things in you. In and of themselves they are not bad, but they are to be kept under the control of the higher powers. When Adam and Eve fell, the lower powers began to reign over the higher powers, and they have been in control ever since.

The appetite says, If it tastes good, eat it. The passions say, If it feels good, do it. Desire says, If you want it, get it. Satan knows how to work this system. Every temptation he sends to you enters through that channel—either through appetite, passion, or desire.

Galatians 5:16, 17 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” It does not say that you will not have the lust of the flesh; it says that you will not fulfil the lust of the flesh. It is not a sin to be tempted, but it is a sin to yield to the temptation. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

The Will

These two things are contrary to each other, so when temptation enters, the flesh votes one way and the spirit votes the other. They never agree, because they are contrary one to another. In order for temptation to pass, then, we need to have a third representative—the will. The will is the governing power in the nature of man.

I heard Stephen Vincent Wallace, several years ago, explain it this way: “This is the land of Me, and in the land of Me, the capital city is Mind. In the capital city of Mind is the House of Representatives, and there are three that sit in that House of Representatives. There is a representative from the kingdom of darkness (that would be the flesh). There is a representative from the Kingdom of Light (that would be the Spirit). Then there is our representative, the will.” For anything to pass, you must have a two-thirds majority, so the will decides if you are going to listen to the higher powers or whether you are going to listen to the lower powers. That is what makes the final decision.

This is why God gave us the health message and why the health message is so important. It is not just so we can be healthy, but it is to keep the frontal lobe of the brain clear. Things like drugs, alcohol, rock music, television, caffeine, and nicotine tend to numb the frontal lobe. When the frontal lobe is numb and it is supposed to be putting out an argument for righteousness, what kind of argument is it going to give? Not a very good one! The will may then listen to the lower powers.

The Will’s Authority

There are other verses in the Bible that speak of this, such as Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Romans 13:14 says, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof].”

We are not to make any provision for it, so unless your will is surrendered to Christ and is under the authority of God, it is not going to have authority over the lower powers. This is why it is so important to surrender the will.

You need to understand that this is not talking about willpower. That is what the world uses, and most of God’s people have tried using their willpower for the last 6,000 years, and it has not worked. It might work with sins that are not that appealing to you, but if you encounter sins that really appeal to you, ones known as besetting sins, then you really do not have any willpower. Willpower is not what is meant, but the right exercise of the will. We need to surrender our wills to God.

In Luke 17:20, 21, some people talked to Christ about the location of the kingdom of God. He told them, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” In Part I of this study, the word kingdom was identified as coming from two words, king and dominion. Dominion is where one king has complete and total control and authority. Your heart is to be that place, that dominion, on this earth for God. Your heart is to be like a branch office of the kingdom in heaven. In the kingdom of heaven, one King has complete and total control and authority, and He is to have that same dominion in our hearts.

When you pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6) and repeat the words, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” do you ever stop and think about what you are asking? You are asking that God’s kingdom come; His will be done here, on earth, in you, as it is in heaven.

It is of the utmost importance that you learn to surrender your will to God. You need to stop using the old willpower, grit your teeth, struggle and strain method, and start using the surrender method. When you do this, you will find that exercising your will with the higher powers of your brain will not be nearly as difficult. This does not mean you will have smooth sailing, but it will be a whole lot easier than the other willpower method.

You can read about the willpower method and how it works in Romans 7. That is the method of which Paul is speaking in this passage. You can just feel the frustration as he is describing it, because it does not work.

Born to Win

Christ had to deal with this problem too. He had a fallen nature with which to contend. (See The Desire of Ages, 112.) I personally believe that He was born with the equivalent of a born-again nature, and that is how He could win. This is the same nature we can have, and this is why we can win too.

When you are born again, you are born to win. “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.” 1 John 5:4. Like Christ, you can have victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil, but to have it, it is essential that you learn to surrender everything to God, just as Christ did. You must learn to yield your will. If you do not, you are either going to get discouraged and give up or you are going to stay committed but not submitted and end up in the foolish virgin camp (Matthew 25:1–13) or the Matthew 7:21–23 camp: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Or you may end up in the 1 Corinthians 13:3 camp: “And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

Reprobate

If you are not careful, you will learn to ignore the Holy Spirit’s promptings and pleadings. Romans 1:28 tells us that God gives such people over to a reprobate mind. “And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.”

The dictionary definition of a reprobate is “a thoroughly bad person.” I made up my own definition of a reprobate mind. You most likely will not find this in one of the more scholarly, theological resources, but it works for me, and I hope it helps you. To me, a reprobate mind means, “to have the brain in your head upside down.” In other words, letting the lower powers control the higher powers. So when God gives you up to a reprobate mind, He leaves you to being controlled by those lower powers. They will never be under the control of the higher powers. Your will will never be surrendered.

The best example of surrender and dependence, of course, is Christ. Just in the Book of John there are at least 30 verses where He says that everything He had and everything He did was totally surrendered to His Father. His will, His work, His words, His doctrine, His mission, and His decisions all came from the Father. They were all surrendered. Christ did nothing of Himself. “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” John 5:30. How could He do that? Was it because He was committed only? It was because He was totally dependent and surrendered to the Father. When you are willing to be to Jesus what Jesus was to the Father, then Jesus will be to you what the Father was to Him.

Like Jesus

Philippians 2:5–11 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth; And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

In other words, have the same attitude Jesus had. He made Himself of no reputation; He emptied Himself; He laid down His privileges; He took the form of a servant; He humbled Himself. You and I are to have the same attitude.

Verses 10 and 11 tell us that everyone in the whole universe, fallen and unfallen, will bow down and “confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” They will confess Jesus’ lordship and His right to reign, His sovereign authority, and His right to have sovereign authority. The whole universe, fallen and unfallen, is going to acknowledge this.

Prayer Life

How did Jesus keep His will surrendered to the Father? Oh, the secret seems to be in His prayer life. He spent time every day, before He did anything else, surrendering His will to the Father. Sometimes He spent all night in prayer. The best example of this is the night He spent in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42.) Three times He had to yield His will to the Father. It was a struggle, even to the point of sweating blood. Nevertheless, He was able to do it, and you can follow His example.

Impossible on Your Own

The following statements are some of the clearest on the surrender of the will and of the heart. I hope they will be helpful to you.

“It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them. ‘Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.’ ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’ Job 14:4; Romans 8:7.” Steps to Christ, 18.

What an interesting statement! This is the part where I think a lot of people get confused and why they use that old method of willpower, which has been tried for 6,000 years. The next statement explains it. It says, “Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot purify the springs of life. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.” Ibid.

“The Saviour said, ‘Except a man be born from above,’ unless he shall receive a new heart, new desires, purposes, and motives, leading to a new life, ‘he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ John 3:3, margin.” Ibid.

The word see means to “perceive with understanding experientially.” You know, when you have your own little kingdom going where you call your own shots and do your own thing, where you are in total and complete control and authority, you not only cannot see the kingdom of God, but you do not even want to know about it.

Ellen White continues, “The idea that it is necessary only to develop the good that exists in man by nature, is a fatal deception. . . .

“It is not enough to perceive the loving-kindness of God, to see the benevolence, the fatherly tenderness, of His character. It is not enough to discern the wisdom and justice of His law, to see that it is founded upon the eternal principle of love. Paul the apostle saw all this when he exclaimed, ‘I consent unto the law that it is good.’ ‘The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.’ But he added, in the bitterness of his soul-anguish and despair, ‘I am carnal, sold under sin.’ Romans 7:16, 12, 14. He [Paul] longed for the purity, the righteousness, to which in himself he was powerless to attain, and cried out, ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?’ Romans 7:24, margin. Such is the cry that has gone up from burdened hearts in all lands and in all ages.” Ibid., 18, 19.

Have you ever longed for that for which Paul longed—that purity and righteousness? Have you figured out yet, as he did, that you are powerless to obtain it? The only way to receive it is to surrender your will to God. The quicker you figure it out, the better off you will be. “To all, there is but one answer, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29.” Ibid., 19.

To be continued . . .

Steve Currey is a Bible worker for Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: stevecurrey@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Surrender, Part III

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From Steps to Christ, 47, we read: “Many are inquiring, ‘How am I to make the surrender of myself to God?’ You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin.” This is the condition we are in! Mrs. White continues, “Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections. . . . What you need to understand is the true force of the will. [Now, again, this is not talking about willpower.] . . . Everything depends on the right action of the will.”

What is the right action of the will? This is what we want to know. We do know it is not willpower.

“The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. . . .

“Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go; but if you stop here, they will avail nothing. Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians. They do not come to the point of yielding the will to God. They do not now choose to be Christians.” Ibid., 47, 48.

We keep seeing that we need to yield the will, but we have not found out how. We are going to find out how shortly. Continuing on with this quote, it says,

“Through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, you ally yourself with the power that is above all principalities and powers. You will have strength from above to hold you steadfast, and thus through constant surrender to God you will be enabled to live the new life, even the life of faith.” Ibid., 48.

This is a good promise, but we still do not know how to do it.

Take My Heart

The next Spirit of Prophecy quote is based on the story of two worshippers, as recorded in Luke 18:9–14. You remember that the Pharisee said, “Well, I am glad I am not like that character,” referring to the publican. But the publican beat on his chest and said, “Lord be merciful to me a sinner.” Mrs. White says, “The prayer of the publican was heard because it showed dependence reaching forth to lay hold upon Omnipotence. Self to the publican appeared nothing but shame. Thus it must be seen by all who seek God. By faith—faith that renounces all self-trust—the needy suppliant is to lay hold upon infinite power.

“No outward observances can take the place of simple faith and entire renunciation of self. But no man can empty himself of self.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 159.

How to Surrender

Is this not a real problem? You have to be emptied of self, but it says that no man can do it. Now we are going to find out how to surrender.

“We can only consent for Christ to accomplish the work.” Ibid. What does consent mean? It means, “to give permission.” If you go into the hospital for surgery, you give the doctor permission to cut your body. You sign a consent form.

Then, she tells us exactly how to give that permission; she even gives us the words to say: “Then the language of the soul will be, Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.” Ibid.

In other words, you need to tell the Lord, “I want You to take my heart, my will. I cannot give you my heart, but I am giving You permission to come in and take it. Take my heart and purify it. Bring it into harmony with Your will. Then, after You clean it up for me, do not just give it back to me, because I will just mess it up again. You will have to keep it for me too.”

First Thing

When you decide to surrender your heart, your will, to God, you need to do so verbally, first thing in the morning. Now, you can do it all day long. You can send up silent prayers every time you run into a temptation or a problem or see anything that needs correcting. You can just tell Him, “Take my will, right now.” You can do that silently, but at least once a day, in the morning, you need to say it verbally, out loud, so the whole on-looking universe can hear you give God that permission. There are rules to the great controversy, and one of the rules is that supernatural powers cannot intervene in human affairs without being given permission. You need to give permission. This prayer is a legal contract between you and God, and the whole universe needs to hear and see it happen.

Step by Step

“It is not only at the beginning of the Christian life that this renunciation of self is to be made. At every advance step heavenward it is to be renewed. All our good works are dependent on a power outside of ourselves. Therefore there needs to be a continual reaching out of the heart after God, a continual, earnest, heartbreaking confession of sin and humbling of the soul before Him. Only by constant renunciation of self and dependence on Christ can we walk safely.” Ibid., 159, 160.

“All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. . . . Sin will become hateful to us.” The Desire of Ages, 668.

Is this not what you want?

Satan’s Control Broken

“There were many in Christ’s day, as there are today, over whom the control of Satan for the time seemed broken; through the grace of God they were set free from the evil spirits that had held dominion over the soul. They rejoiced in the love of God; but, like the stony-ground hearers of the parable, they did not abide in His love. They did not surrender themselves to God daily. . . .

“When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world.” Ibid., 323, 324.

Job is a good example of this. The representatives from the different worlds came together for a council meeting. When God called the roll and said, “Earth,” Satan answered, “Here.” He had taken dominion of the world when Adam and Eve sinned. “And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” Job 1:7, 8.

“Have you considered My servant Job?” God asked. “He is down there walking around in your kingdom, in your territory, but he is not one of your subjects. He is one of Mine. You do not have any authority in his heart; he is surrendered to Me.” This is the way you and I are to be. Job was a branch office of the kingdom of heaven.

Working Together

When God shows you something in your life that needs to be corrected, do not argue with Him. Do not rebel against Him. Do not ignore Him. Do not start using your willpower or using your human strength. Give Him your will. Surrender it to Him, so He can change it. After you have surrendered, then use it. That is when you make an effort, and God supplies His power, and right where the two come together is a point of victory—His power and your effort combined. You need to surrender your will and learn to cooperate with Him. You need to learn how to work with Him.

Matthew 24:14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” The good news is that you can be loyal and faithful to God, just as was Job. The good news of the kingdom is the kingdom of God within you, where Christ has complete and total control and authority. This needs to be preached in all the world, so people can decide in which kingdom they want to be.

If it is your desire to be part of God’s kingdom and quit trying to stand with one foot in Satan’s kingdom and the other foot in God’s kingdom, ask Him to help you to surrender your will totally and completely to Him today.

Bible Study Guides – Victory Through Surrender

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April 29, 2007 – May 5, 2007

Key Text

“Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9.

Study Help: Sons and Daughters of God, 279.

Introduction

“Unless we . . . yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end.” The Desire of Ages, 324.

1 Whose children are we by nature? Ephesians 2:1–3. Who is responsible for this sad condition? Isaiah 52:3.

note: “[Ephesians 2:1−3 quoted.] Spiritual death is here spoken of. How many there are who are unwarned, and in consequence unconvicted. They are passing on, in harmony with the world and with the desires of their own undisciplined, unsubdued hearts. They live in pleasure and worldliness, and should sickness come, and death overtake them, they would be found unready. They are not interested in the race for eternal life. They do not look upon the conflict against sin, the warfare with principalities and powers, as essential. They are in need of light. Satan holds them in his power, and they see not their danger. They know nothing of the crucifixion that cuts away from the life all that separates the soul from Christ. They are subject to the power of the spirit that works in the children of disobedience.

“This spirit is Satan, the fallen angel, the ruler of the power of darkness. He has control of the spirits of evil, and through them he seeks to gain control of human beings.” Review and Herald, March 31, 1904.

2 Who redeemed us? What price was paid for our redemption? 1 Peter 1:18–20; Acts 20:28. To whom then do we belong? 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; Romans 14:8.

note: “We are not our own. . . .

“All men have been bought with this infinite price. By pouring the whole treasury of heaven into this world, by giving us in Christ all heaven, God has purchased the will, the affections, the mind, the soul, of every human being. Whether believers or unbelievers, all men are the Lord’s property. All are called to do service for Him, and for the manner in which they have met this claim, all will be required to render an account at the great judgment day.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 326.

3 What did Jesus do for the lost? Ephesians 5:2; John 3:16.

note: “Christ offered up His broken body to purchase back God’s heritage, to give man another trial. [Hebrews 7:25 quoted.] By His spotless life, His obedience, His death on the cross of Calvary, Christ interceded for the lost race. And now, not as a mere petitioner does the Captain of our salvation intercede for us, but as a Conqueror claiming His victory. His offering is complete, and as our Intercessor He executes His self-appointed work, holding before God the censer containing His own spotless merits and the prayers, confessions, and thanksgiving of His people. Perfumed with the fragrance of His righteousness, these ascend to God as a sweet savor. The offering is wholly acceptable, and pardon covers all transgression.

“Christ has pledged Himself to be our substitute and surety, and He neglects no one. He who could not see human beings exposed to eternal ruin without pouring out His soul unto death in their behalf, will look with pity and compassion upon every soul who realizes that he cannot save himself.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 156, 157.

4 How do we become children of God? Galatians 3:26.

note: “It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal Saviour; which appropriates His merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering power.” The Desire of Ages, 347.

5 What is our reasonable service? Romans 12:1. What surrender does the Lord ask us to make? Proverbs 23:26.

note: “Specific directions were given to ancient Israel that no defective or diseased animal should be presented as an offering to God. Only the most perfect were to be selected for this purpose. . . .

“When the apostle appeals to his brethren to present their bodies ‘a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,’ he sets forth the principles of true sanctification. It is not merely a theory, an emotion, or a form of words, but a living, active principle, entering into the everyday life. It requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing be such as to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health, that we may present to the Lord our bodies, not an offering corrupted by wrong habits, but ‘a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.’ [Romans 12:1.]” The Sanctified Life, 27, 28.

6 To whom are we to yield ourselves? Romans 6:13. What assurance of victory is given to those who thus yield themselves? Verse 14.

note: “When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms the life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced; love, humility, and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the light of heaven. No one sees the hand that lifts the burden, or beholds the light descend from the courts above. The blessing comes when by faith the soul surrenders itself to God. Then that power which no human eye can see creates a new being in the image of God.” The Desire of Ages, 173.

7 What power is promised to the believer? Jude 24; 1 Peter 1:3–5; Isaiah 26:3.

note: “When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan.” The Desire of Ages, 324.

8 What example of a surrendered life is left us by the church of Macedonia? 11 Corinthians 8:5.

note: “Nearly all the Macedonian believers were poor in this world’s goods, but their hearts were overflowing with love for God and His truth, and they gladly gave for the support of the gospel. When general collections were taken up in the Gentile churches for the relief of the Jewish believers, the liberality of the converts in Macedonia was held up as an example to other churches. . . .

“The willingness to sacrifice on the part of the Macedonian believers came as a result of wholehearted consecration. Moved by the Spirit of God, they ‘first gave their own selves to the Lord’ (11 Corinthians 8:5), then they were willing to give freely of their means for the support of the gospel.” The Acts of the Apostles, 343.

9 How fully did all Judah once seek the Lord? With what result? 11 Chronicles 15:12, 15.

note: “We do not see ourselves as God sees us; therefore we do not see the necessity of repentance, of humility, and of continual reliance upon him. There are efforts made in our own strength, but there is not a dying to self; the soul is not surrendered to God. Many are making a mistake here. They are hoping to overcome through their own efforts, and by their goodness gain the assurance of the love of God. They do not exercise faith; they do not believe that Jesus accepts their repentance and contrition, and so they toil on day after day without finding rest or peace. When the heart is fully surrendered to God, love springs up in the soul, and the yoke of Christ is easy, and his burden light. The will is swallowed up in God’s will, and that which was a cross, becomes a pleasure.” Gospel Workers (1892), 440.

10 How fully does the Lord search the heart? 1 Chronicles 28:9.

note: “The righteousness of Christ will not cover one cherished sin. A man may be a law-breaker in heart; yet if he commits no outward act of transgression, he may be regarded by the world as possessing great integrity. But God’s law looks into the secrets of the heart. Every act is judged by the motives that prompt it. Only that which is in accord with the principles of God’s law will stand in the judgment.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 316.

11 What solemn exhortation applies to the church at this time? Zephaniah 2:1–3.

note: “Many do not realize what they must be in order to live in the sight of the Lord without a high priest in the sanctuary through the time of trouble. Those who receive the seal of the living God and are protected in the time of trouble must reflect the image of Jesus fully.

“I [Ellen White] saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful and were looking to the time of ‘refreshing’ and the ‘latter rain’ to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord and to live in His sight. Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. . . . I saw that none could share the ‘refreshing’ unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in His presence.” Early Writings, 71.

12 What encouraging promise is given to those who seek the Lord with all their heart? 11 Chronicles 7:14. How is this surrender to God made?

note: “Many are inquiring, ‘How am I to make the surrender of myself to God?’ You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of your broken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you; but you need not despair. What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him.” Steps to Christ, 47.

Adapted from “The Victorious Life,” Sabbath School Lesson Quarterly, Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View, California, 1924.

Victory in Jesus, Part IV

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In the September 2007 and October 2007 issues of LandMarks, we reviewed keys that will help us to overcome temptation and sin. In summary:

1) We must not place ourselves in the way of temptation. The Bible tells us: “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” Psalm 34:14. “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” Job 31:1.

2) If we are placed in the way of temptation because of circumstances, God will be with us as He was with Daniel and Joseph. (1 Corinthians 10:13.)

3) We should notice situations that bring temptation and try to stay away from such situations as much as possible. For instance, if you are impatient, perhaps it is because you are intemperate. “It is impossible for intemperate persons to be patient. They must first reform bad habits, learn to live healthfully, and then it will not be difficult for them to be patient.” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, 393.

4) Temptation to sin starts in the mind. We must be ready to fight when the thought enters. Temptation is not a sin. Just because we are tempted with bad thoughts and sin does not mean that we are not Christians. Temptation is a problem when we yield to it. (II Corinthians 10:5, 6.)

5) A key to overcoming is to stay busy, so you do not have time to be looking for temptation. Idleness is not sanctioned in the Bible. (See II Thessalonians 3:10; Proverbs 6:6–11; 24:30–34; Matthew 25:26; Hebrews 6:12; Genesis 3:19.) We are given the blessing of work to keep us from idleness.

6) Do not become discouraged if it takes a long time to overcome. (See Mark 16:9; Luke 18:1–8.)

7) We must keep our focus in the right direction instead of looking at the hopelessness of a situation. (See Matthew 19:29.) Look at the big picture! Is there anything to which we want to cling and for which we would give up heaven? Is there any experience too hard to pass through to make it to heaven?

8) Memorize the promises in God’s Word and start to repeat them when tempted. (See Matthew 4:4; Psalm 119:11–16.)

9) In the Bible it says that if your hand offends you to cut it off. (Matthew 5:29-30.) For example, the right kind of music can be helpful and the wrong kind a hindrance. If the music to which you are listening is not helping in your spiritual experience, then perhaps it should be cut off and cast away.

We continue with this important counsel.

Constant Prayer

10) Pray when the temptation first comes. (See Mark 14:38; Matthew 26:41.)

I have found that if I parlay with the devil, I am no match, but if I pray when the temptation first comes, God gives the power to resist. Usually, if I do not pray, then I am sunk, so to speak, as far as falling for temptation.

“In the daily life you will meet with sudden surprises, disappointments, and temptations. What saith the word? ‘Resist the devil,’ by firm reliance upon God, ‘and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.’ ‘Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.’ [James 4:7; Isaiah 27:5.] Look unto Jesus at all times and in all places, offering a silent prayer from a sincere heart that you may know how to do His will. Then when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard for you against the enemy.” The Adventist Home, 214.

“If you will only watch, continually watch unto prayer, if you will do everything as if you were in the immediate presence of God, you will be saved from yielding to temptation and may hope to be kept pure, spotless, and undefiled till the last.” Ibid., 338.

“There is no danger that the Lord will neglect the prayers of His people. The danger is that in temptation and trial they will become discouraged, and fail to persevere in prayer.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 175.

“If the Saviour of men, with His divine strength, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of prayer—fervent, constant prayer! When Christ was the most fiercely beset by temptation, He ate nothing. He committed Himself to God, and through earnest prayer, and perfect submission to the will of His Father, came off conqueror. Those who profess the truth for these last days, above every other class of professed Christians, should imitate the great Exemplar in prayer.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 52, 53.

“None will be placed beyond the reach of temptation; for in every character there are weak points that are in danger when assailed… In earnest prayer and living faith is their only safety.” Counsels on Health, 411.

“If we look at the picture of the days that were before the flood, and then turn our attention to the habits and practices of society today, we shall see that our earth is fast ripening for the plagues of the last days. Men have corrupted the earth by their sinful course of action. Satan is playing the game of life for the souls of men. Those who are doers of the words of Christ will find that they will have to watch and pray continually in order that they may not be led into temptation.” Counsels on Stewardship, 135.

“Daily beset by temptation, constantly opposed by the leaders of the people, Christ knew that He must strengthen His humanity by prayer. In order to be a blessing to men, He must commune with God, pleading for energy, perseverance, and steadfastness. Thus He showed His disciples where His strength lay. Without this daily communion with God, no human being can gain power for service.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 323.

“While you pray, dear youth, that you may not be led into temptation, remember that your work does not end with the prayer. You must then answer your own prayer as far as possible by resisting temptation, and leave that which you cannot do for yourselves for Jesus to do for you.” God’s Amazing Grace, 166.

Replace and Praise

11) When overcoming a bad habit, we must replace it with something good. (See Romans 12:21; Luke 11:21–26.)

12) Praise the Lord for what He has done for you. (See Psalms 103:1–3; 107:13–15.) An attitude of gratitude will lift your spirits even when you do not feel like it and things are not going the best.

Choose Associates Carefully

13) We must choose those with whom we associate wisely, because those are the ones who have an influence on us for good or for evil. There is danger in worldly associations. “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.” Proverbs 12:26.

“There is danger in departing in the least from the Lord’s instruction. When we deviate from the plain path of duty, a train of circumstances will arise that seems irresistibly to draw us farther and farther from the right. Needless intimacies with those who have no respect for God will seduce us ere we are aware. The fear of offending worldly friends will deter us from expressing our gratitude to God, or acknowledging our dependence upon him.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 115.

“Wrench yourself away from hurtful associations. Count the cost of following Jesus, and make it, with a determined purpose to cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Eternal life is worth your all, and Jesus has said, ‘Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.’ [Luke 14:33.] He who does nothing, but waits to be compelled by some supernatural agency, will wait on in lethargy and darkness. God has given his word. God speaks in unmistakable language to your soul. Is not the word of his mouth sufficient to show you your duty, and to urge its fulfillment?” Christian Education, 117.

“Great care should be taken by Christian youth in the formation of friendships and in the choice of companions. Take heed, lest what you now think to be pure gold turns out to be base metal. Worldly associations tend to place obstructions in the way of your service to God, and many souls are ruined by unhappy unions, either business or matrimonial, with those who can never elevate or ennoble. Never should God’s people venture upon forbidden ground. Marriage between believers and unbelievers is forbidden by God. But too often the unconverted heart follows its own desires, and marriages unsanctioned by God are formed. Because of this, many men and women are without hope and without God in the world. Their noble aspirations are dead; by a chain of circumstances they are held in Satan’s net.” Review and Herald, February 1, 1906.

“The association of the God-fearing with the unbelieving in these societies does not make saints of sinners. When God’s people voluntarily unite with the worldly and the unconsecrated, and give them the pre-eminence, they will be led away from Him by the unsanctified influence under which they have placed themselves. For a short time there may be nothing seriously objectionable; but minds that have not been brought under the control of the Spirit of God will not take readily to those things which savor of truth and righteousness. If they had had heretofore any relish for spiritual things they would have placed themselves in the ranks of Jesus Christ. The two classes are controlled by different masters and are opposites in their purposes, hopes, tastes, and desires. The followers of Jesus enjoy sober, sensible, ennobling themes, while those who have no love for sacred things cannot take pleasure in these gatherings, unless the superficial and unreal constitute a prominent feature of the exercises. Little by little the spiritual element is ruled out by the irreligious, and the effort to harmonize principles which are antagonistic in their nature proves a decided failure.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 542.

“Association with worldly-minded men and women dims the spiritual perception; for it is in direct disobedience to the plain injunctions of the word of God. In worldly society an earthly influence is at work, an atmosphere of poisonous miasma is there which is disastrous to personal piety. Those who truly love God will not cultivate the society of those who do not love Jesus. They will have some realization of their own individual weakness, and they will study prayerfully the word of God, that they may feed upon the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God, and they will find that Christian society and conversation is food to the soul, that in the society of those who love God, they breathe in the atmosphere of heaven. Christians will exercise love and sympathy one for another. The encouragement given one to another, the esteem manifested one for another, the helps, the instruction, the reproofs, warnings, the Christian counsel that should be found among the followers of Christ, will further them in the spiritual life; for Christian fellowship is according to God’s plan. Christians are to cultivate self-restraint, love, forbearance, and unity one to another by the cords of brotherly love. Thus they will together exercise faith, hope, and love toward God; they will have tender consideration for all of like precious faith, and will draw toward those who love God. There will be fellowship such as the world knows not of.” Review and Herald, November 27, 1894.

Surrender to God

14) Surrender to God when you first wake up, before you jump out of bed, before the devil has time to start sending you temptations. Ask God for help throughout the day. “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct [it] to You, And I will look up.” Psalm 5:3.

“Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, ‘Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.’ This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ.” The Faith I Live By, 125.

“The Christian life is one of daily surrender, submission, and continual overcoming. Every day fresh victories will be gained. Self must be lost sight of, and the love of God must be constantly cultivated. Thus we grow up into Christ. Thus the life is fashioned according to the divine model.” Lift Him Up, 65.

Study Christ’s Life

15) We must spend time studying the life of Christ. As we study His life, we become like Him and are changed. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13.

“The power of evil is so identified with human nature that no man can overcome except by union with Christ. Through this union we receive moral and spiritual power. If we have the spirit of Christ we shall bring forth the fruit of righteousness, fruit that will honor and bless men, and glorify God.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 230.

“It is the will of God that each professing Christian shall perfect a character after the divine similitude. By studying the character of Christ revealed in the Bible, by practicing His virtues, the believer will be changed into the same likeness of goodness and mercy. Christ’s work of self-denial and sacrifice brought into the daily life will develop the faith that works by love and purifies the soul.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 249.

“It is only by acquaintance and association with Christ that we can become like him, the one faultless example.” The Signs of the Times, September 10, 1885.

Take Care

16) Work for others. Get your mind off yourself and your situation. Jesus our example went about doing good, helping others. (Acts 10:38.)

17) Take care of your body so you can have the best possible health. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” III John 2.

“One of the greatest aids in the perfecting of pure and noble characters in the young, and strengthening their capacity to resist temptations to do evil, to indulge appetite or to fall into any debasing excesses, is the possession of sound physical health. The mind and body are intimately connected. If the former is to be firm and well-balanced, the latter should be in the best possible condition. Conscience and right principles of life should be sustained by firm, quiet nerves, a healthful circulation, and the activity and strength of general health.” The Health Reformer, November 1, 1877.

Favorite Promise

My personal favorite promise for help in fighting temptation and overcoming the devil is I Corinthians 10:11–13:

“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God [is] faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear [it].”

“With the consecrated worker for God, in whatever place he may be, the Holy Spirit abides. The words spoken to the disciples are spoken also to us. The Comforter is ours as well as theirs. The Spirit furnishes the strength that sustains striving, wrestling souls in every emergency, amidst the hatred of the world, and the realization of their own failures and mistakes. In sorrow and affliction, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone,—these are the times when, in answer to the prayer of faith, the Holy Spirit brings comfort to the heart.

“It is not a conclusive evidence that a man is a Christian because he manifests spiritual ecstasy under extraordinary circumstances. Holiness is not rapture: it is an entire surrender of the will to God; it is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father; it is trusting God in trial, in darkness as well as in the light; it is walking by faith and not by sight; it is relying on God with unquestioning confidence, and resting in His love.” The Acts of the Apostles, 51.

“All are accountable for their actions while in this world upon probation. All have power to control their actions, if they will. If they are weak in virtue and purity of thoughts, and acts, they can obtain help from the Friend of the helpless. Jesus is acquainted with all the weaknesses of human nature, and if entreated, will give strength to overcome the most powerful temptations. All can obtain this strength if they seek for it in humility. Jesus gives all a blessed invitation who are burdened, and laden with sin, to come to him, the sinner’s friend.” An Appeal to Mothers, 31, 32.

“You may see that you are sinful and undone; but it is just on this account that you need a Saviour. If you have sins to confess, lose no time. These moments are golden. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (I John 1:9). Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled; for Jesus has promised it. Precious Saviour! His arms are open to receive us, and His great heart of love is waiting to bless us.” God’s Amazing Grace, 139.

“Abundant grace has been provided that the believing soul may be kept free from sin; for all heaven, with its limitless resources, has been placed at our command. We are to draw from the well of salvation.…

“We are living in the day of preparation. We must obtain a full supply of grace from the divine storehouse. The Lord has made provision for every day’s demand.” Ibid., 181.

“He who repents of his sin and accepts the gift of the life of the Son of God, cannot be overcome. Laying hold by faith of the divine nature, he becomes a child of God. He prays, he believes. When tempted and tried, he claims the power that Christ died to give, and overcomes through His grace. This every sinner needs to understand. He must repent of his sin, he must believe in the power of Christ, and accept that power to save and to keep him from sin. How thankful ought we to be for the gift of Christ’s example!” A New Life, 40.

“He who through His own atonement provided for man an infinite fund of moral power, will not fail to employ this power in our behalf…. In the whole Satanic force there is not power to overcome one soul who in simple trust casts himself on Christ.” Ibid., 41.

Results

Weak points can become strong ones. From the heroes of faith chapter, Hebrews 11, we read, “… quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Verse 34. “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” II Corinthians 12:9.

It is like exercising. If you want strong muscles, you must exercise them, or they will be weak. As your muscles become strong when you exercise them, so also does the Christian experience become strong as it is exercised.

“Before honor is humility. The Lord can use most effectually those who are most sensible of their own unworthiness and inefficiency. He will teach them to exercise the courage of faith. He will make them strong by uniting their weakness to His might, wise by connecting their ignorance with His wisdom.” Conflict and Courage, 126.

“The Lord sees and understands, and He will use you, despite your weakness, if you offer your talent as a consecrated gift to His service; for in active, disinterested service the weak become strong and enjoy His precious commendation. The joy of the Lord is an element of strength. If you are faithful, the peace that passeth all understanding will be your reward in this life, and in the future life you will enter into the joy of your Lord.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 34.

“There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly consecrated to God. All who consecrate body, soul, and spirit to His service will be constantly receiving a new endowment of physical, mental, and spiritual power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own Spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in mind and heart. Through the grace given us we may achieve victories that because of our own erroneous and preconceived opinions, our defects of character, our smallness of faith, have seemed impossible.

“To everyone who offers himself to the Lord for service, withholding nothing, is given power for the attainment of measureless results.” God’s Amazing Grace, 208.

“He who is fully consecrated to the service of God will be made strong for the battle. He will be strengthened with ‘all might.’ He who feels his weakness, and wrestles with God as did Jacob, saying, ‘I will not let thee go, except thou bless me’ (Genesis 32:26), will go forth with the fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. The atmosphere of heaven will surround him. He will go about doing good. His influence will be a positive force in favor of the religion of Christ.” In Heavenly Places, 314.

“Men’s weakness shall find supernatural strength and help in every stern conflict to do the deeds of Omnipotence, and perseverance in faith and perfect trust in God will ensure success. While the past confederacy of evil is arrayed against them He bids them to be brave and strong and fight valiantly for they have a heaven to win, and they have more than an angel in their ranks, the mighty General of armies leads on the armies of heaven. As on the occasion of the taking of Jericho, not one of the armies of Israel could boast of exercising their finite strength to overthrow the walls of the city, but the Captain of the Lord’s host planned that battle in the greatest simplicity, that the Lord alone should receive the glory and man should not be exalted. God has promised us all power; for the promise is unto you and your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Conflict and Courage, 118.

“The Redeemer of the world came from heaven to help man in his weakness, that, in the power which Jesus came to bring him, he might become strong to overcome appetite and passion and might be victor on every point.” Counsels on Health, 125.

“If the Christian feels his weakness, his inability, by putting his trust in God, he will find the grace of Christ sufficient for every emergency….

“Man has little power, and can accomplish but a small work at his very best… God is omnipotent, and at every point where we need divine help and seek for it in sincerity, it will be given. God has pledged His word that His grace will be sufficient for you in your greatest necessity, in your sorest distress. Christ will be to you a present help if you will appropriate His grace.” God’s Amazing Grace, 260.

Summary

Why is overcoming important? It is the key, if we are going to go to heaven. Through our overcoming experiences, we can help others by sharing with them what God has done for us.

There are three things we must fight against as we become overcomers: the world, the flesh, and the devil.

We must acknowledge that our condition is that of hopeless sinners in need of help. Christ and His merits is the solution. We must cooperate with Him.

“Never give up your faith and hope in God. Cling to the promises. Do not trust in your feelings, but in the naked word of God. Believe the assurances of the Lord. Take your stand upon the plain thus saith the Lord, and rest there.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, 410.

[All emphasis added.]

Jana Grosboll serves Steps to Life as its Network Administrator. She may be contacted by e-mail at: janagrosboll@stepstolife.org.

Pen of Inspiration – Giving All to God

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What does the Lord require? He requires the whole heart. He says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself. (Mark 12: 30,31.) What chance does this give you to love and serve self? What allowance for the affections to be diverted from God, to have your interest upon the world and worldly things? No; it is an entire surrender that is required. Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and I will receive you.

It is the strength of the entire being that God requires. He requires of you a separation from the world and the things of the world. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15.) It is separation from the love of the world that is required; and what is given you in its place? “I will be a father unto you.” Do you have to separate in your affections from friends? Does the truth require you to stand alone in your position to serve God, because others around you are not willing to yield to the claims that Christ has upon them? Does it require a separation in feeling from them? Yes; and this is the cross which you must bear, which leads many to say, I cannot yield to the claims of the truth. But says Christ, If any man love father, or mother, or brother, or sister, more than me, he is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:37.) Whosoever will come after me, and will be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34.) Here is the cross of self-denial and sacrifice; to separate in your affections here from those who will not yield to the claims of truth. Is this too great a sacrifice to make for him who sacrificed all for you? Here are the conditions specified by God. If we comply, he says to us, I will be a father unto you, and will receive you, and ye shall be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, and heirs of an immortal inheritance that is incorruptible, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you. What a relationship is this? Do you call this degrading? Do you call this a position that shall lower you or detract from your dignity and bring you down to a low level in life? Do you call this humiliation? Do you call this a great sacrifice, to become members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King, elevated by the truths of God, fitted up for the society of heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory? What is this, in truth? It is true exaltation. It is that which will ennoble every time. The truth of God is ennobling, it is elevating, it is refining, it is sanctifying. Tell me not of any exaltation out of Jesus Christ.

When man was plunged in hopeless misery, when death was his portion, Christ left the majesty, splendor, and glory, of the heavenly kingdom, and humbled himself to a life of unexampled suffering and humiliation, and an ignominious death, that he might become a stepping-stone for man, that he might climb up upon his merits, and by virtue of his blood become enabled so to serve God, that he could accept his efforts to keep his broken law, and through obedience, man could thus be brought back again and reinstated in Eden, and share again in the glory that was at first given to the holy pair as they stood in the perfection of beauty, and in their holy innocence, in the garden of Eden. This was to be given back to Adam and his faithful children, who through the merits of the blood of Christ should be washed and sanctified and made worthy to be brought back to eat of the immortal fruit of the tree of life that Adam and Eve forfeited all right to by disobedience. If we then refuse to accept of Christ as our Saviour, are we in an exalted position? No, indeed; we are just where Adam and Eve were after their transgression, degraded, fallen, and without a Saviour; just where they would have remained had they not accepted Jesus Christ as their Redeemer.

Sinners, without God you are in this helpless condition, without hope in the world, in sin, in the bonds of iniquity and vileness and corruption; and yet your words imply that you consider it a great condescension to grasp the chain of truth that is let down from Heaven to earth, that you may take hold upon it and be brought nearer to Heaven and Jesus Christ. Do you call this condescension? Do you call this a humiliation? There are no other means of true exaltation. There is no provision made for man only through Jesus Christ whereby he may be exalted. You may talk of the honors of this world. But look at Moses. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Here he had the privilege of living in kings’ houses. He was a mighty warrior, and went forth with the armies of the Egyptians to battle; and when they returned from their successful conquest, they everywhere sung of his praise and his victories. The highest honors of the world were within his grasp; but he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy these honors and the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of reward. He could look right through the cloud of affliction, persecution, and trials, and see the ransomed people of God, by faith, crowned with glory, honor, and everlasting life. He chose in this present life to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He esteemed the riches of the coming kingdom of glory greater than the riches of Egypt. (See Exodus.)

In like manner we have fixed our minds upon the exceeding great and precious reward; and, in order to obtain it, we must have a perfect character. The angels of God are watching the development of 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. 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. He lived just previous to the world’s being washed from its moral pollution, by a flood. He was on the earth at the time when corruption was teeming on every hand; and yet he bore the impress of the divine. He walked with God three hundred years; and he was not, for God took him, that is, translated him to Heaven. The flaming chariots of God were sent for this holy man, and he was borne to Heaven. Enoch had the witness that he pleased God. And this witness we can have. (See Genesis 6:22-24; Hebrews 11:5.)

Enoch represents those who shall remain upon the earth and be translated to Heaven without seeing death. He represents that company that are to live amid the perils of the last days, and withstand all the corruption, vileness, sin, and iniquity, and yet be unsullied by it all. We can stand as did Enoch. There has been provision made for us. Help has been laid upon One that is mighty; and we all can take hold upon his mighty strength. Angels of God, that excel in strength, are sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. These angels, when they see that we are doing the very utmost on our part to be overcomers, will do their part, and their light will shine around about us, and sway back the influence of the evil angels that are around us, and will make a fortification around us as a wall of fire. Ample provisions have been made for us when we are burdened, and weary, and cast down, and in distress.

Help has been laid upon One who is mighty. The great burden-bearer, who took our nature that he might understand how to sympathize with our frailty, and with our temptations, knows how to succor those that are tempted. And does he say, Carry your burdens yourself? No; but, Come unto me ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30.) But you say, It is this yoke that I have dreaded to wear, and this burden I have endeavored to shun. But Christ says the yoke he has prepared for you to wear is easy if you submit your neck to it, and the burden is light if you cheerfully and resolutely lift it. “Come unto me,” says Christ, “and I will give you rest.” How much lighter than the burden of sin and iniquity that you take along. How much lighter than the conscience which is constantly stinging and reproaching you. A violated conscience is hard to be endured. How much easier is the yoke of Christ than all this!

The Review and Herald, April 19, 1870.

Surrender

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Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1.

God asks us to give our whole being to Him. Furthermore, He desires a holy being; one not defiled by sin. Of course, as people born into transgression we have no hope of accomplishing this on our own. God gave us Christ to be our example and the Holy Spirit to be our guide. Complete surrender, though, is required; surrender of body, mind, and soul.

Surrender is defined as yielding to the possession or power of another, or to give oneself to an influence, course, or emotion. It is curious that the term surrender does not simply apply to the physical but also to the intellectual and emotional. So God does not want only our bodies, but our minds and souls. It may seem that He is asking a lot of us, but His is a very simple request from One who gave His life for every sinful soul, including those individuals who despised Him. We are giving ourselves to a loving Christ, One whom we can trust implicitly.

We are God’s creation and, by right of ownership, He could induce surrender; however, “It is not part of Christ’s mission to compel man to receive Him… Christ is ever showing mercy, ever seeking to win by the revealing of His love. He can admit no rival in the soul, nor accept of partial service; but He desires only voluntary service, the willing surrender of the heart under the constraint of love.” The Acts of the Apostles, 541.

What, though, does God call us to surrender? Anything that comes between us and Him. It is the infinite love of our Heavenly Father which prompts Him to ask for the removal of any barrier between Himself and His beloved creation. If we love God whole-heartedly this would not be a question or challenge in our minds. Far too often, though, we choose to love and serve something else above God. If God cannot participate in every thought, action, and emotion we are in defiance of His request, and we are asked to surrender it to Him in order that He might replace these things in our hearts. Ellen White provides a beautiful illustration of this.

“About this time Ellen passed by a tent on the campground and saw a little girl who seemed much distressed about something. She held in her arms a little parasol. Her face was pale as she tightly clung to her treasure. Several times she started to lay it down and then she held it closer to her again. After a few minutes the child cried, ‘Dear Jesus, I want to love you and go to heaven! Take away my sins! I give myself to you, parasol and all!’ Then crying, she threw herself into her mother’s arms. ‘Mother,’ she said, ‘I am so happy, for Jesus loves me, and I love Him better than my parasol or anything else.’

“Her face was shining with happiness as she smiled at those around her. Then her mother explained that her little daughter had received the parasol as a present not long before. She loved it very much. She carried it with her everywhere, even taking it with her when she slept at night. But during the meetings the little girl has heard that we must give all to Jesus. What a struggle she had gone through before she was willing to give up her treasure! But now that it was over, and she had given all she had, her face was bright with her new joy.

“Then it was explained to the little girl that since she had given up everything for her Savior, and allowed nothing to stand between her and her love for Him it was right for her to keep her parasol and use it.

“As Ellen walked on across the campground she said to herself, ‘How hard it is to give up the parasol! Yet Jesus gave up heaven for our sake, and became poor, that we, through His poverty and suffering, might have heavenly riches.’ ” Life Sketches of James and Ellen G. White, 142.

Just as this little girl in Ellen White’s illustration gave up her most prized possession, we are called to do the same. Every thought, word, action and feeling we are to give to God and let Him mold and perfect. Our bodies (see Romans 12:1), our wills (see Matthew 26:39), and our souls (see Deuteronomy 6:5) are to be given unreservedly to our loving Father.

It is not because of an arbitrary desire for control or possession that God wishes our submission to Him. Quite the contrary, God knows that only through total surrender can we gain. Our finite minds cling so tightly to what we have here because we cannot fathom the immeasurable wealth that God has in store for us if we choose to follow Him. Freedom from the confines of sin and pain, and freedom from our earthly endeavors, is what He offers us so that we are free to partake of His riches. “When you give up your own will, your own wisdom, and learn of Christ, you will find admittance into the kingdom of God.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 110. But let us consider also what Jesus surrendered for our sakes. “Do we talk about self-denial? What did Christ give for us? When you think it hard that Christ requires all, go up to mount Calvary and weep there over such a thought. Behold the hands and feet of your Deliverer torn by the cruel nails, that you may be washed from sin by his own blood.” Truly what God requires of us is a pittance in contrast to what we have already received. And still God does not ask this of us for His sake, but for ours.

“Many are inquiring, ‘How am I to make the surrender of myself to God?’ You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of your broken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you; but you need not despair. What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him.” Steps to Christ, 47.

We are fallible humans, incapable of perfection on our own accord. Hence, it would stand to reason that the only way we could partake of the immense riches God has waiting for us is to be guided by Him to accept His gift of the Holy Spirit to cleanse us and allow ourselves to be hidden in Him. There is no way to do this aside from being in accordance with God spiritually, intellectually, and physically; thus, to surrender our whole beings. “The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy and shall do his bidding in the end.” The Desire of Ages, 324. [Emphasis supplied] We must be willing to sacrifice everything if we are to gain freedom. We all have sin that keeps us separated from Heaven and true freedom. Our duty is to be willing to separate from ourselves and cling to Jesus. Leave self behind and put on Christ. Christ was able to carry out His Father’s will through God’s strength. We also are able to carry out God’s will through the strength Jesus imparts to us.

How much is Christ’s sacrifice and eternal life worth to us? In Matthew 13:44, we see a man plowing a field, anxious to begin sowing the field when his plow hits something hard. He goes to see what he has bumped into and finds a vast treasure that has been buried there. When he sees the wealth that has been concealed in the field, he decides then and there that he must buy it, for it is worth more than all his assets. Where would he obtain the money to make the purchase? He is not independently wealthy; there is no savings account set aside. The only option is to sell all he currently owns to acquire the field. But what a simple choice to make, given the untold wealth he has just unearthed. “This parable illustrated the value of the heavenly treasure, and the effort that should be made to obtain it. The finder of the treasure in the field was ready to part with all that he had, ready to put forth untiring labor, in order to secure the hidden riches. So the finder of heavenly treasure will count no labor too great and no sacrifice too dear, in order to gain the treasures of truth.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 103. This man was willing to give his all for the treasure he found. Are we willing to give our all for the treasure God has promised us? “Those who feel the constraining love of God ask not how little may be given, in order to obtain the heavenly reward; they ask not for the lowest standard, but aim at a perfect conformity to the will of their Redeemer. With ardent desire they will yield all, and manifest zeal proportionate to the value of the object they are in pursuit of. What is the object? Immortality, eternal life.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, 260.

The brief life of Betty Scott Stam is a powerful example of utter surrender to Christ. And though she and her husband met with a terrible end, they, like we, are called to carry the cross of Christ. And where did the cross lead but to Calvary?

They were young missionaries serving with the China Inland Missions in the early 1930s. Scarcely one year after their marriage in China, they found themselves caught up in the advance of the Communists into the town where they were living. They were captured, held for an exorbitant ransom, marched through the streets of the village, and they were beheaded.

Betty Scott had been raised in China. She was the daughter of a Presbyterian missionary couple. Perhaps her childhood of faith, her utter dependence on God, and her preparation for giving her life for the gospel can be best witnessed in the words of her own poetry.

At age ten she wrote:

I cannot live like Jesus
Example though He be
For He was strong and selfless
And I am tied to me.
I cannot live like Jesus
My soul is never free
My will is strong and stubborn
My love is weak and wee.
But I have asked my Jesus
To live His life in me.
I cannot look like Jesus
More beautiful is He
In soul and eye and stature
Than sunrise on the sea.
Behold His warm, His tangible
His dear humanity.
Behold His white perfection
Of purest deity.
Yet Jesus Christ has promised
That we like Him shall be.

As a young woman of eighteen, she wrote this:

Lord, I give up all my own plans
and purposes
All my own desires and hopes
And accept Thy will for my life.
I give myself, my life, my all
Utterly to Thee to be Thine
forever.
Fill me and seal me with
Thy Holy Spirit
Use me as Thou wilt, send me
where Thou wilt
And work out Thy will in my life
at any cost now and forever.

This young woman was ready to worship her Lord in life or death, to give her whole soul; and eventually she gave her life for His divine service.

Sometimes when we surrender ourselves to God we are subjected to experiences that make us question God’s purpose. What is God doing? How is this going to work for good? “God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him.” The Desire of Ages, 224. What an amazing promise. In this life we may not understand why some things are taking place, however, if we knew all things, we would not choose anything different. It is a great comfort to know that, even when Satan throws ugly hurdles in our path, God is still in command and works all things for His glory and our eternal benefit.

In The Great Controversy Ellen White speaks extensively of the religious reformers Huss and Jerome. In their lives we see the courage to surrender everything to God and the intense anguish suffered as a result of doing so. However, God did not allow their sacrifice on His behalf to be without good purpose, without reward. “His [Huss’] persecutors vainly imagined that they had rooted out the truths he preached. Little did they dream that the ashes that day borne away to the sea were to be as seed scattered in all the countries of the earth; that in lands yet unknown it would yield abundant fruit in witness to the truth. The voices which had spoken in the council hall of Constance had wakened echoes that would be heard through all coming ages. Huss was no more, but the truths for which he died could never perish. His example of faith and constancy would encourage multitudes to stand firm for the truth, in the face of torture and death. His execution had exhibited to the whole world the perfidious cruelty of Rome. The enemies of the truth, though they knew it not, had been furthering the cause which they so vainly sought to destroy.” The Great Controversy, 110. And the same was true of Jerome’s execution. “So perish God’s faithful light bearers. But the light of truth which they proclaimed—the light of their heroic example—could not be extinguished. … But those [the writings of Wycliffe] that had escaped destruction were now brought out from their hiding places and studied in connection with the Bible, … and many were thus led to accept the reformed faith.” Ibid., 115. Had they known the end from the beginning, had they been able to see the good resulting from the forfeit of their lives, through God’s strength, neither man would have chosen a different path. However, not knowing, they still chose to surrender themselves to a higher purpose through trust and confidence in the character and promises of Jesus Christ.

Every new day requires us to surrender anew to the will of our Heavenly Father. A commitment to trust that no matter what we may forfeit, whatever we put into His hands, will be used to shape our characters such that we may put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Through our unconditional surrender, God will also work for the betterment of others and for their eternal life. There is nothing so great that we would give to God that would equal His reward for those faithful to Him.

A network engineer, Jana Grosboll lives in Derby, Kansas. She may be e-mailed at: janawwjd@yahoo.com.

All for Jesus

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My heart is very heavy for humanity. The whole earth has been in turmoil and struggle for so long. Satan is in a life and death struggle for each soul. Many people feel the effects of this spiritual conflict and are caught between attraction for this world and a deep need for the love that only God can give. What a battle! It is the age-old war that has been going on since Eve first picked the fruit. This is not just a battle for this earth as a whole, but a fierce war within each individual who feels the call of the Holy Spirit in their lives. That war will persist until one of two things happen; either a person surrenders completely to God, or sin is dallied with for so long that the Holy Spirit quits striving with them and Satan then has sway to degrade as he wishes.

Surrendering is a terrible inward conflict. It means not having any agenda for ourselves, but being willing to be placed wherever God wants us to be, and being happy and finding blessings in that place. “God’s promise is, ‘Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.’ Jeremiah 29:13.” Steps to Christ, 43. It takes that complete surrender. Notice the words “with all your heart.” I do not find any reference in the Bible which indicates that any portion can be withheld, no matter how small. “The whole heart must be yielded to God, or the change can never be wrought in us by which we are to be restored to His likeness. By nature we are alienated from God. The Holy Spirit describes our condition in such words as these: ‘Dead in trespasses and sins;’ ‘the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;’ ‘no soundness in it.’ We are held fast in the snare of Satan, ‘taken captive by him at his will.’ Ephesians 2:1; Isaiah 1:5, 6; 11 Timothy 2:26. God desires to heal us, to set us free. But since this requires an entire transformation, a renewing of our whole nature, we must yield ourselves wholly to Him.” Steps to Christ, 43.

What a dichotomy from the teaching of the world! Even the “church” has bought into the mindset of making our own lives. But what else was Paul saying when he says in Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content”? This whole chapter is such a promise, such a gift that presents what we can have in God. I recommend not only reading it, but soaking it into your heart so the daily life is affected. The following is an excerpt from Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary that sheds some additional light on this verse: “I leave it to others if they will, to be discontented. I, for my part, have learned, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and the dealings of Providence (Heb 5:8), to be content in every state.” The Commentary goes on to expound on contentedness: “Content—The Greek, literally expresses ‘independent of others, and having sufficiency in one’s self.’ But Christianity has raised the term above the haughty self-sufficiency of the heathen Stoic to the contentment of the Christian, whose sufficiency is not in self, but in God.” The key here is the phrase, “whose sufficiency is not in self, but in God.” Nothing comes from our own independence! John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” Paul says, in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” You see, in and of ourselves we have nothing we can call good. In Isaiah 64:6 we read, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” That is unmistakably clear.

I look at the ongoing misery and see the unhealthy ways in which people seek for fulfillment. I long for each person’s happiness. What most do not understand is that happiness in life comes from a true, complete surrender to God. One of the ways we look for fulfillment is by looking to another human. It is inevitable that they will disappoint us. There is not a single human in life who will not eventually disappoint or hurt. I have learned and am still learning to be okay with that. I am learning that this sad fact is part and parcel of a sinful world. God allows difficulties into our lives so we will learn that lesson. Without complete surrender, and dependence on Him, one can never find the peace or love that God offers. “In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him. Hence the Saviour says: ‘Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.’ Luke 14:33.” Ellen White further expounds on this saying, “Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. The love of money, the desire for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. But these slavish bands must be broken. We cannot be half the Lord’s and half the world’s. We are not God’s children unless we are such entirely.” Steps to Christ, 44.

“This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.” If we truly have this in the core of our heart, things will not matter so much here. Our own agenda will disappear and we can focus our eyes on the promises and glory to come. How truly, how deeply, how fervently God loves each one. Yet, I can truly say, the decision is yours, and yours alone. He has not a hair of feeling of coercion or force in Him; only a deep longing and love for you and your happiness, not only for heaven, but even here and now. Refer once again to Steps to Christ, 43. “The government of God is not, as Satan would make it appear, founded upon a blind submission, an unreasoning control. It appeals to the intellect and the conscience. ‘Come now, and let us reason together’ is the Creator’s invitation to the beings He has made. Isaiah 1:18. God does not force the will of His creatures. He cannot accept an homage that is not willingly and intelligently given.”

Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the difficulties of life, when I feel intense pain from a particular situation, I go to the life of Jesus. I think of the solitude that Jesus chose above all else when He left the perfect oneness with His Father; not like the broken connections we so cherish here. It is a connection not one of us here on earth has known or will ever know. Yet God the Father and Jesus chose the separation to achieve our salvation, only to have 100% of the people of earth desert Jesus in His darkest hour. This scene, this amazing character, this abounding love is ever open for our contemplation. The thought overwhelms me as I only just begin to grasp the immense love that must have been in their hearts to make the decision to go through that terrible separation. You know, when Jesus died, it was not from physical causes, and it was, medically speaking, from a broken heart. The separation from His Father, literally, broke His heart and it killed Him. “But it was not the spear thrust, it was not the pain of the cross, that caused the death of Jesus. That cry, uttered ‘with a loud voice’ (Matt. 27:50; Luke 23:46), at the moment of death, the stream of blood and water that flowed from His side, declared that He died of a broken heart. His heart was broken by mental anguish. He was slain by the sin of the world.” The Desire of Ages, 772. I only pray that God will subdue my own heart that I will choose to dwell on that and let His love so shape me that I can then share that love and peace with others.

There is another thought that is incomprehensible to me. God the Father loves Jesus even more because He gave His life to save whoever would accept His salvation on this sinful planet. Think about that. The Creator of an entire universe of perfection and beauty beyond compare allowed His Son to come to a planet filled with misery and hatred. He endured the separation of a perfect relationship, and to crown all, loves His Son more dearly for that sacrifice! What wondrous love.

Each and every one of us has pain in this life. That has been the lot of humanity since sin entered. Even Jesus had pain in His life. The crux of the matter comes in what we choose to do with that pain. What Jesus did with His pain is a study in and of itself. It is easy when we feel that pain to cherish it, to feel it and let it influence our decisions, to reason with ourselves that we are “entitled” to feel it. What a struggle. It brings us back again to surrender. Will we surrender it to God or let it rule our lives? I struggle with that decision on a regular basis, though I notice that the more I make conscious choice to live above it through the grace of God, the easier it becomes, which is what God promises. Praise Him.

“It is a mistake to entertain the thought that God is pleased to see His children suffer. All heaven is interested in the happiness of man.” Steps to Christ, 46. There is nothing to lose, and only happiness to gain here as well as in heaven. Will you surrender today?

Brenda Douay works as a part of the LandMarks team. She can be reached by e-mail at: landmarks@stepstolife.org.