The Church – Part I

I Timothy 3:15 speaks about the church of the living God: “… the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” I would like to look, with you, at some aspects of the church of God, which will confirm in our minds that this is “the pillar and ground of the truth.”

I am sure that none of you would argue with me, if I were to plead that Jesus is the Foundation of His Church, but I would like to present an aspect of Jesus, something about His very nature, that is everything to the true believer. It is everything that is required in reuniting sinners to the God from Whom they have become alienated by sin.

The Incarnation of Christ

If I were to ask the question, What is this aspect of Jesus that is so important? many would answer, It is His love. I would agree. It is His love that motivated Him to assume the one thing that is absolutely vital for our salvation. In Selected Messages, Book 1, 244, we find the following inspired statement: “The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us.” Now “everything” does not leave out very much, does it?

“The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden chain that binds our souls to Christ, and through Christ to God. This is to be our study. Christ was a real man; He gave proof of His humility in becoming a man. Yet He was God in the flesh. When we approach this subject, we would do well to heed the words spoken by Christ to Moses at the burning bush, ‘Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.’” Ibid.

When it comes to studying the incarnation of Christ, many have told us that these words, “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet” are an indication that perhaps we need to steer clear of the subject. I do not believe for one moment that is what God intended, as we shall see as we continue to read this quotation. You see, God wants His people to stand on holy ground and not on anything else. He does not want any shoe leather between our soles and holy ground.

How do we know that God wants us to study this subject? We read, “We should come to this study with the humility of a learner, with a contrite heart. And the study of the incarnation of Christ is a fruitful field, which will repay the searcher who digs deep for hidden truth.” Ibid. This is the admonition given by our Lord to His people—that we need to study this subject, and we need to study it in depth.

In Matthew 16:6 we read that Jesus was on a foot journey with His disciples, and He was speaking to them along the way, telling them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Scribes. Warning His disciples against the false doctrine promoted by these apostate spiritual leaders.

Who Am I?

And they arrived (verse 13) at Caesarea Philippi, and He said to them, “‘Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?’” Notice that He emphasized the title “the Son of man.” He did not say “. . .I the Son of God am; He said “. . .I the Son of man am,” emphasizing His humanity. Then we have the well-known reply of Peter, but before Peter’s reply, came the reply of the other disciples.

The other disciples said to Him, Well, some say that You are Elias; some say that You are Jeremias or some other prophet. Jesus brought the question a little closer to home for His disciples, because He was trying to separate their thinking from the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which He had warned them against earlier. “He saith unto them, ‘But whom say ye that I am?’” (Verse 15.)

Peter countered with that answer that we know so well: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Verse 16.) Do you know, we all take that reply for granted?

I want you to put yourselves in the disciples’ shoes on that day. Peter knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was a man. He knew it. He knew where His home was. He knew His mother, Mary. He saw the perspiration trickle down His forehead under the hot Palestinian sun. He saw the dust settle on His body. He saw Him get weary. He saw Him get hungry. He saw Him get thirsty. Peter knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus was a man. But Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter recognized that, in the Man that was questioning him, there was divinity; this Man was not “just from the earth.” He was heaven come down to men.

Now, brothers and sisters, this truth, that Peter had just uttered, was the very truth that the Jewish nation absolutely refused to accept, particularly the Jewish leaders. We read in John 10:33, about the instance where they wanted to stone Jesus because of Him ascribing to Himself kinship to His heavenly Father.

Jesus asked them, “For what good work do you stone Me?” And the Jews answered Him, “For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God.” That is a truth they would not accept, that Jesus was a union of their humanity with the divinity of God.

The Theology Satan Hates

It was on this very point of truth that those same leaders condemned Jesus to die on the day of His trial before Pilate. John 19:7 says, “The Jews answered him [Pilate], We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” Brothers and sisters, this truth, that Jesus accepted fallen humanity, took upon Himself the seed of Abraham, that He is a union of our humanity and Godhead divinity, is the truth against which Satan manifests his special hatred.

It is in opposition to this truth that Satan has raised up the citadel of sin, “Babylon,” in which a man, ununited to divinity, sits in the temple of God and attempts to show the world and himself that he is God. Satan’s counterfeit of this truth is the antichrist. It is because this truth is the foundation of the true believer’s faith, the very foundation of “salvation from sin,” that Satan has declared war on this truth and all who hold this teaching.

In Matthew 16:18, we find Jesus’ response to Peter’s tremendous declaration of faith. He says, “‘Thou art petros,’” (a rolling stone.) You see, the Greek word there is petros, and petros is a rolling stone. It is a stone that can be overturned. This is somebody who can be sifted like wheat, as was Peter’s experience.

“‘And upon this petra,’” upon this rock, this immovable, unshakable rock of truth that Peter has just uttered, that He (Jesus) was both human (like us) and divine (like His Father), a union of divinity with humanity, “‘I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’”

In verse 19, Jesus plainly declared that anyone having this truth has the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Now, brothers and sisters, right here, what we have just read, is the foundation of the true church. The corrupt understanding of what we have just read is the foundation of all false religion, because it is on these very texts that the so-called “apostolic succession” is established, by which an erring man claims to have received the keys of Peter.

The Foundation of Faith

Let us look at divinely inspired commentary on what we have just read. “The truth which Peter had confessed is the foundation of the believer’s faith. It is that which Christ Himself has declared to be eternal life.” The Desire of Ages, 412. Jesus is the mysterious combining of our fallen humanity and God’s sublime divinity. It is He who is the first born of the totally new line of beings. In Jesus we find, for the first time in the history of creation, a Being Who is a combination of both creature and Creator.

“Christ could have done nothing during His earthly ministry in saving fallen man if the divine had not been blended with the human. The limited capacity of man cannot define this wonderful mystery—the blending [of] the two natures, the divine and the human. It can never be explained… Man is privileged to be a partaker of the divine nature [because of what Jesus did for us], and in this way he can to some degree enter into the mystery.… Divinity took the nature of humanity, and for what purpose?—That through the righteousness of Christ humanity might partake of the divine nature.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 332.

“When He came to the world the first time, divinity and humanity were blended. This is our only hope. The Son of man is fully qualified to be the originator of a humanity that will blend with divinity by partaking of the divine nature.” The Signs of the Times, March 8, 1899.

The Second Adam

Looking through the Bible, some of the texts that come to mind are I Corinthians 15:45, 47. In them, we find Jesus being referred to as the second Adam. This is absolutely appropriate terminology. You see, Adam, when he was created, as he came forth from the hands of the Creator, was a unique creation; we are told by inspiration. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, we had a unique Being, begotten through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

It is Jesus, Who is called the “only begotten of the Father.” Although He existed with His Father from all eternity, it was part of the divine plan that He would be “born.” This new creature that had never existed before in the history of the universe was not created, He was born. Psalm 2:7 records these inspired words: “This day have I begotten Thee.” And you can read more about it in Hebrews 1:4–6.

Now we know that Jesus’ earthly progenirator was the Holy Spirit and that His human mother was Mary. In His discourse with Nicodemus, who came to Him by night, Jesus set out the requirements necessary for a man or for a woman to enter the kingdom of heaven. He said, “‘Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of [heaven] God.’” John 3:5.

Reunited with God

Just as He came into this world with the Holy Spirit as His progenirator, so lost and fallen human beings, who come to Him in faith, can, through the Holy Spirit, be “born again” and become a union of humanity with divinity. They can become “sons and daughters” of the living God. And Jesus is in no wise ashamed to call them brethren.

Scripture tells us that when a man or a woman is born again, he becomes a “new creature. Behold, all things are become new” (See II Corinthians 5:7–9), and I John 5:4 tells us that “whosoever is thus born of God overcometh the world.” This is the gospel. It is a firm foundational truth that Jesus is our divine-human Saviour, having accepted our fallen nature so as to reach us where we are, He is able to reunite us with the throne of His heavenly Father.

That is the gospel of salvation, and upon that gospel His church is founded. In the book Upward Look there is a cogent definition of the church. Remember that the church Jesus established is established upon the truth that He in Himself accepted man’s fallen humanity and united it with divinity. Now here is the definition of the church as it continues into the ages.

God’s Church is Not the Great Cathedral

“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments.” Upward Look, 315. Now the quote is a little longer than this, and we will consider the rest of that quote as we go further in our study. But I would like to stop here and look closely at the words in this quote.

“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral.” I have heard it said that these words, “It is not the great cathedral,” means it is not the great Church of Rome. Well, I would agree, but are we not also told through the pen of inspiration that many of God’s true children are still in that fold? And then I would also ask, are cathedrals the sole property of the Roman Church?

What about Saint Paul’s? What about Winchester Cathedral? They are Anglican. So I believe that when the pen of inspiration said, “It is not the great cathedral,” inspiration was simply telling God’s people (and using as an example the most prominent form of physical edifice used as a house of worship that we know), that the church is not the house or the building where men and women come together to worship.

God’s Church is Not the Official State Church

Now the next statement, “It is not the national establishment.” What could that possibly mean? A “state church” is a good example. In the country from which I come, the Dutch Reformed Church, which is a Calvinistic Church, was the official state church. That was the religion of the state, being endorsed or “established” by the state.

However, we have even more explicit examples. What about the religion that was established at the time of the French Revolution, where the state itself became the object of veneration? Today we have the example continued in Communism, where “the state” is the all-powerful object of veneration and God is excluded.

So those words cover a connotation of where there is either a union of church and state or where the state itself is the object of veneration. But Mrs. White says the church “is not the national establishment.”

God’s Church is Not the Various Denominations

Now the next statement gets a little trickier. It says, “Neither is it the various denominations.” We remember reading in the inspired writings that, among the congregations of the fallen churches, God’s children are still to be found. (See Early Writings, 261, 278.) So when we look at these words, “Neither is it the various denominations,” can we safely exclude ourselves?

God’s Church is the People Who Love and Obey God

I believe the very next word that follows gives us clarity on this issue, telling us what “the church” is. You see, up until this point the pen of inspiration has been delineating what “the church” is not. Now she begins to delineate what it is. The prophet says, “It [the church] is the people who love God and keep His commandments.” Brothers and sisters, this is the most difficult and the most sad question that I have to pose. Do all Seventh-day Adventists love God and keep His commandments?

You see, it is easy to say that we love God with our lips, but if we do not keep His commandments and if we teach that it is impossible to keep His commandments, then we have just nullified the Bible definition of love. I John 5:1–3 says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.”

To be continued …

Wake Up and Blow the Trumpet – An Appeal to Live the Truth and Share It

For weeks I have not been able to sleep after half past three o’clock. My mind is deeply exercised in regard to our condition as a people. We ought to be far in advance of any other people on the earth because we have greater light and greater knowledge of the truth, which lays us under increased accountability to advance that light and not only profess to believe the truth but to practice it. When we do practice the truth we are then following Jesus, who is the light of the world; and if we as a people are not constantly elevating, becoming more and more spiritually minded, we are becoming like the Pharisees—self-righteous—while we do not the will of God.

Less of Self

We must have a greater nearness to God. Much less of self and much more of Jesus Christ and His grace must be brought into our everyday life. We are living in an important period of this world’s history. The end of all things is at hand; the sands of time are fast running out; soon in heaven it will be said: “It is done.” “He that is holy, let him be holy still,” “he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.” [Revelation 21:6; 22:11].

Let our testimonies be sharpened up; let us have a firmer hold on God. I cannot refrain from prayer at one, two, and three o’clock in the morning for the Lord to work upon the hearts of the people. I think of all heaven being interested in the work that is going on upon the earth. Ministering angels are waiting about the throne to instantly obey the mandate of Jesus Christ to answer every prayer offered in earnest living faith. I think of how many who profess the truth are keeping it apart from their lives. They do not bring its sanctifying, refining, spiritualizing power into their hearts. I think how this grieves Jesus.

I think of His great sorrow as He wept over Jerusalem, exclaiming, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not.” [Luke 13:34]! God forbid that these words shall apply to those who have great light and blessings. In the rejecting of Jerusalem it was because great privileges were abused, which brought the denunciation upon all who lightly regarded the great opportunities and precious light that were entrusted to their keeping. Privileges do not commend us to God, but they commend God to us. No people are saved because they have great light and special advantages, for these high and heavenly favors only increase their responsibility.

Woe Unto Thee

The more and increased light God has given makes the receiver more responsible. It does not place the receiver in any safer position unless the privileges are wisely improved, prized, and used to advance God’s glory. Christ said, “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” [Matthew 11:21].

When Jerusalem was divorced from God it was because of her sins. She fell from an exalted height that Tyre and Sidon had never reached. And when an angel falls he becomes a fiend. The depth of our ruin is measured by the exalted light to which God has raised us in His great goodness and unspeakable mercy.

Oh, what privileges are granted to us as a people! And if God spared not His people that He loved, because they refused to walk in the light, how can He spare the people whom He has blessed with the light of heaven in having opened to them the most exalted truth ever entrusted to mortal man to give to the world?

We are far from being the people God would have us to be, because we do not elevate the soul and refine the character in harmony with the wonderful unfolding of God’s truth and His purposes. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” [Proverbs 14:34]. Sin is a disorganizer. Wherever it is cherished—in the individual heart, in the household, in the church—there is disorder, strife, variance, enmity, envy, jealousy, because the enemy of man and of God has the controlling power over the mind. But let the truth be loved and brought into the life, as well as advocated, and that man or woman will hate sin and will be a living representative of Jesus Christ to the world.

Needed—Real Bible Religion

The people claiming to believe the truth will not be condemned because they had not the light, but because they had great light and did not bring their hearts to the test of God’s great moral standard of righteousness. The people who claim to believe the truth must be elevated by living it out. Real Bible religion must leaven the life, refine and ennoble the character, making it more and more like the divine model. Then will the home be vocal with prayer, with thanksgiving and praise to God. Angels will minister in the home and accompany the worshiper to the house of prayer.

Let the churches who claim to believe the truth, who are advocating the law of God, keep that law and depart from all iniquity. Let the individual members of the church resist the temptations to practice evils and indulge in sin. Let the church commence the work of purification before God by repentance, humiliation, deep heart searching, for we are in the antitypical day of atonement—solemn hour fraught with eternal results.

Let those who teach the truth present it as it is in Jesus. Under the subduing, sanctifying, refining, influence of the truth of God they are as clean vessels. Let them be leavened with Bible religion, and what an influence would go forth from them to the world! Let the individual members of the church be pure, steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the love of Jesus, and they will then be a light to the world. Let the men standing as watchmen and as shepherds of the flock proclaim the solemn truth, sound the notes of warning to all people, nations and tongues. Let them be living representatives of the truth they advocate, and honor God’s law by strict and holy compliance with its requirements, walking before the Lord in purity, in holiness, and a power will attend the proclamation of the truth that will reflect light everywhere.

Internal Corruption Brings Denunciations of God

God never forsakes people or individuals until they forsake Him. Outward opposition will not cause the faith of God’s people, who are keeping His commandments, to become dim. The neglect to bring purity and truth into practice will grieve the Spirit of God and weaken them because God is not in their midst to bless. Internal corruption will bring the denunciations of God upon this people as it did upon Jerusalem. Oh, let pleading voices, let earnest prayer be heard, that those who preach to others shall not themselves be castaways. My brethren, we know not what is before us, and our only safety is in following the Light of the world. God will work with us and for us if the sins which brought His wrath upon the old world, upon Sodom and Gomorrah and upon ancient Jerusalem, do not become our crime.

The least transgression of God’s law brings guilt upon the transgressor, and without earnest repentance and forsaking of sin he will surely become an apostate. You inquire in regard to the course which should be pursued to secure the rights of our people to worship according to the dictates of our own conscience. This has been a burden on my soul for some time, whether it would be a denial of our faith and an evidence that out trust was not fully in God. But I call to mind many things God has shown me in the past in regard to things of a similar character, as the draft and other things. I can speak in the fear of God, it is right we should use every power we can to avert the pressure that is being brought to bear upon our people. I know that were our people spiritualized by the truth the greatest love would be maintained.

Policy Does Not Save

[We are] not to provoke those who have accepted this spurious sabbath, an institution of the Papacy, in the place of God’s holy Sabbath. Their not having the Bible arguments in their favor makes them all the more angry and determined to supply the place of arguments that are wanting in the Word of God, by the power of their might. The force of persecution follows the steps of the dragon. Therefore great care should be exercised to give no provocation. And again let us as a people, as far as possible, cleanse the camp of moral defilement and aggravating sins. When sin is making its march upon the people who claim to be elevating the moral standard of righteousness, how can we expect God to turn His power in our behalf and save us as a people that did righteousness?

All the policy in the world cannot save us from a terrible sifting, and all the efforts made with high authorities will not lift from us the scourging of God, just because sin is cherished. If as a people we do not keep ourselves in the faith and not only advocate with pen and voice the commandments of God, but keep them every one, not violating a single precept knowingly, then weakness and ruin will come upon us. It is a work that we must attend to in every one of our churches. Each man must be a Christian.

Let the sin of pride be put away, let all superfluities of dress be overcome, and repentance toward God be exercised for the highhanded robbery toward Him, which has withheld money that should flow into the treasury to sustain the work of God in its mission fields. Let the work of reformation, of true conversion, be set before and urged upon the people. Let our works, our deportment, correspond with the work for this time, that we may say, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Let us humble our souls before God by humiliation, fasting and prayer, repentance of sin, and putting it away.

The Trumpet Must Give a Certain Sound

The voice of the true watchman needs now to be heard all along the line, “the morning cometh, and also the night” [Isaiah 21:12]. The trumpet must give a certain sound, for we are in the great day of the Lord’s preparation. All the struggles to carry our appeals to the highest authorities in our land, however earnest and strong and eloquent may be the pleas in our favor, will not bring about that which we desire unless the Lord works by His Holy Spirit in the heart of those who claim to believe the truth. We may struggle as a mighty man in swimming against the current of Niagara, but we shall fail unless the Lord pleads in our behalf. God will be honored among His people. They must be pure, they must be divested of self, steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. The Lord will elevate the humblest soul that trusts in Him. He will unite His power with human effort if that man will honor Him as did Daniel. But as a people we need the beauty of righteousness, holiness, and truth. The most harmonious theory will not save us. The God that ruled in Babylon is the same God that rules now.

There are many doctrines current in our world. There is many a religion current that numbers its thousands and tens of thousands, but there is but one that bears the superscription and the stamp of God. There is a religion of man and a religion of God. We must have our souls riveted to the eternal Rock. Everything in God’s world, both men and doctrines and nature itself, is fulfilling God’s sure word of prophecy and accomplishing His grand and closing work in this world’s history.

We are to be ready and waiting for the orders of God. Nations will be stirred to their very center. Support will be withdrawn from those who proclaim God’s only standard of righteousness, the only sure test of character. And all who will not bow to the decrees of the national councils and obey the national laws to exalt the sabbath instituted by the man of sin to the disregard of God’s holy day, will feel, not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of the Protestant world, the image of the beast.

The Church—the Loyal and True

Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.

The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these, He says, “I have graven . . . upon the palms of My hands.” [Isaiah 49:16]. They are held in everlasting, imperishable remembrance. We want faith now, living faith. We want to have a living testimony that shall cut to the heart of the sinner. There is too much sermonizing and too little ministering. We want the holy unction. We need the spirit and fervor of the truth. Many of the ministers are half paralyzed by their own defects of character. They need the converting power of God.

Rendering to God

That which God required of Adam before his fall was perfect obedience to His law. God requires now what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw, without shortcoming in His sight. God help us to render to Him all His law requires. We cannot do this without that faith that brings Christ’s righteousness into daily practice.

Dear brethren, the Lord is coming. Lift up your thoughts and heads and rejoice. Oh, we would think that those who hear the joyful news, who claim to love Jesus, would be filled with joy unutterable and full of glory. This is the good, the joyful news which should electrify every soul, which should be repeated in our homes, and told to those whom we meet on the street. What more joyful news can be communicated! Caviling and contention with believers or unbelievers is not the work God has given us to do.

If Christ is my Saviour, my sacrifice, my atonement, then I shall never perish. Believing on Him, I have life forevermore. Oh, that all who believe the truth would believe in Jesus as their own Saviour. I do not mean that cheap faith unsupported by works, but that earnest, living, constant, abiding faith, that eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of God. I want not only to be pardoned for the transgression of God’s holy law, but I want to be lifted into the sunshine of God’s countenance. Not simply to be admitted to heaven, but to have an abundant entrance.

The Cause is One

Are we so insensible as a peculiar people, a holy nation, to the inexpressible love that God has manifested for us? Salvation is not to be baptized, not to have our names upon the church books, not to preach the truth. But it is a living union with Jesus Christ, to be renewed in heart, doing the works of Christ in faith and labor of love, in patience, meekness, and hope. Every soul united to Christ will be a living missionary to all around him. He will labor for those near and those afar off. He will have no sectional feeling, no interest merely to build up one branch of the work over which he presides and there let his zeal end. All will work with interest to make every branch strong. There will be no self-love, no selfish interest. The cause is one, the truth a great whole.

Well may the question be asked with earnest, anxious heart, “Is envy cherished, is jealousy permitted to find a place in my heart?” If so, Christ is not there. “Do I love the law of God, is the love of Jesus Christ in my heart?” If we love one another as Christ has loved us, then we are getting ready for the blessed heaven of peace and rest. There is no struggling there to be first, to have the supremacy; all will love their neighbor as themselves. Oh, that God would open the understanding and speak to the hearts of our churches by arousing the individual members.

The Lord appoints and sends forth ministers not only to preach, for this is a small part of His work, but to minister, to educate the people not to be fighters but to be examples of piety. There are workers in every department appointed to do their work. When Jesus ascended on high He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Some have entered the work with a human commission rather than the divine. They have educated themselves as debators, and the churches under their care show the character of their work. They were not ready; they were not fitted for the work. Their hearts are not right with God. In short, they have a theory but not true conversion and sanctification through the truth. The great issue so near at hand will weed out those whom God has not appointed, and He will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain.

Our prayer should ascend to the throne of grace with fervor for the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His vineyard. My heart aches as I look around upon the mission fields and see so feeble efforts to get the truth before the people. No censure can be attached to our leading men. I believe, brethren, you are one with me in heart, in sentiment, in regard to our great need, and in the earnest desire and earnest efforts to meet the mind of the Spirit of God in these things.

Wanted—Wide Awake Christians

Those who are at ease in Zion need to be aroused. Great is their accountability who bear the truth and yet feel no weight or burden for souls. Oh, for men and women professing the truth to arouse, to take on the yoke of Christ, to lift His burdens. There are wanted those who will not have merely a nominal interest but a Christlike interest, unselfish—an intense ardor that will not flag under difficulties or cool because iniquity abounds.

I want to speak to the ears of our people in America in every church. Awake from the dead, and Christ will give you life. Souls are perishing for the light of truth as it is in Jesus. We are standing upon the very borders of the eternal world. Fair-weather Christians will not be wanted for this work. The sentimental and tasteful religion is not needed for this time. There must be intensity brought into our faith and in the proclamation of truth. I tell you, a new life is proceeding from satanic agencies to work with a power we have not hitherto realized. And shall not a new power from above take possession of God’s people? The truth, sanctifying in its influence, must be urged upon the people. There must be earnest supplications offered to God, agonizing prayer to Him, that our hopes as a people may not be founded on suppositions, but on eternal realities. We must know for ourselves, by the evidence of God’s Word, whether we are in the faith, going to heaven or not. The moral standard of character is God’s law. Do we meet its requirements? Are the Lord’s people bringing their property, their time, their talents, and all their influence into the work for this time? Let us arouse. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” [Colossians 3:1].—Letter 55, 1886. (Written from Basel, Switzerland, to G. I. Butler and S. N. Haskell, December 8, 1886.)

[All emphasis supplied.]

Inspiration – Take Heed How Ye Hear

God desires us to give attention to the words of truth. We are to hear and practise them; for the truth is a message of Heaven to those who take heed. The oftrepeated charge of the Lord is, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Of the Israelites the apostle says, “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” This opens before us the reason why so little is accomplished by the many discourses given. The words may be indited by the Holy Spirit, but if those who hear do not hear with a desire to be benefited, the words spoken do not profit them.

It makes every difference whether the word spoken is received into good and honest hearts. The Israelites had the word spoken to them by Christ from the pillar of cloud, but like many who today hear the glad tidings of truth and righteousness, they did not hear with consecrated ears. They brought guilt upon themselves by failing to hear by faith, and practise the word spoken. Selfishness and pride, murmuring and unbelief, compassed them about as a garment.

It was faith that men lacked in the days of Noah, and it was this lack that brought destruction upon them. How different would have been the result had they heeded Noah’s appeals as the voice of God speaking through him. But they were unwilling to hear and receive the word which would have saved them.

The teacher of truth is to take heed how he presents the truth. He is to speak every word plainly and distinctly, with that earnest conviction which carries conviction to hearts. If the words spoken are crowded upon each other, the impression that should be made is lost. The talent of speech needs to be cultivated, that the truth shall not be spoken in an excited, spasmodic style, but slowly and distinctly, that not a syllable may be lost.

Rapidity of speech can and should be corrected. The teacher must learn daily in the school of Christ, that he may speak in such a way as to make the best and most lasting impression upon his hearers. The appointed guardian of truth, he must conscientiously guard the sacred treasures. He is not to gather only a limited number of surface truths, but is to purchase the field, that he may possess the treasure it contains. He is to seek to improve in methods of labour, and make the very best use of the organs of speech. If the words of truth are of sufficient importance to be spoken before an audience, they are of sufficient importance to be spoken distinctly. The guidance of the Spirit never leads to indistinctness of speech. The Spirit takes the things of God, and presents them through the human instrument to the people. Then let them come from our lips in the most perfect manner possible.

When the pure gospel of Christ is cherished and appreciated, the jewels of truth will be presented as precious pearls. Every teacher, . . . every minister, . . . is to make an earnest effort to obtain knowledge from the Source of all knowledge. All are to have a daily increasing appreciation of the wisdom which is eternal life to the receiver. The teacher of truth needs to learn daily of Christ. He is not to be satisfied with human acquirements; for they are narrow and insufficient. He is to hunger for a deeper knowledge of Christ. “This is life eternal,” the Saviour said, “that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.”

God would have us realize that, as His delegated messengers, we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, until we perfect a character that is in entire conformity to His will. His attributes have been presented to us that we may cherish them, and thus learn to use the treasures of truth in such a way as to draw souls to Him.

Christ says to us, “A new heart also will I give you.” You shall act on new, strong principles. By believing and obeying, we are brought into fellowship with Christ, and we partake of the glory revealed by Him. The willing, obedient soul will continue to advance, following the Lord Jesus step by step, until he is complete in Him. God loves those who are one in Christ, even as He loves His only begotten Son.

Earnest and sincere is the Author of our redemption. He humbled Himself that He might uplift the perishing and give them a knowledge of the true God. He desires His followers to represent Him by showing a faith that works by love and purifies the soul, by telling others of the love that has done so much for them. He has made the plan of redemption so definite and complete that the attention of all who are led to look to Him will be attracted.

The words of the true Christian are a power for good; for they are the living echo of the Scriptures. When the teachers of truth learn from Christ as they should, those who listen to their words will not say with indifference, “I have heard that discourse a number of times. It is only a repetition.” If the Lord’s ambassador is what he should be,—an earnest seeker for the hidden treasure,—he will have a daily filled treasure house, from which he can draw things new and old; and if his hearers take heed how they hear, they will go from the service fully prepared to testify, Did not our hearts burn within us, while He walked with us, and opened to us the Scriptures?

Many religious teachers have opposed the precious light sent them from heaven. They have refused to obey the words, “Take heed how ye hear.” They think that they complete their work and secure their conquests by a continual repetition of fables and traditions, and by shouting, “Victory.” But their efforts are the essence of feebleness, though put forth with an authority which misleads those who do not search the Scriptures for themselves.

Through His Holy Spirit the Lord is seeking to teach men humility. Those who are privileged to hear truth need to listen with receptive minds, appreciating the precious words spoken. Those who are trusted with the presentation of the sacred oracles need to feel the necessity of being taught by the great Teacher. They must remember that instruction is often sent through their fellow-labourers and through laymen, whom the Lord has set apart to teach the truth.

Let every teacher be a constant worker; then the Lord will educate and train the soul, moulding and fashioning it after the divine similitude. Teachers may learn in many ways. They are to gather every ray of light from those whom they have reason to know have a living experience in the things of God. They are to accept abundantly from the great Teacher, that they may give abundantly. They are not to depend on old discourses which they have had for years, but they are to go on progressing, digging for the precious jewels of truth, that they may present them to their hearers.

The teacher must be willing to surrender his will to the will of God. Preparation for the gospel ministry can be obtained only by searching the Scriptures, and seeking the Lord with full purpose of heart. At the altar of God, by self-renunciation, the soul is educated to believe and receive and impart. Those who receive this education realize their own insufficiency, and the wonderful power of God.

Bible Echo, August 14, 1899.

Bible Study Guides – Signs That Deceive

August 11–August 17, 2002

MEMORY VERSE: “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” Mark 13:22.

STUDY HELPS: The Great Controversy, 593–626; Testimonies, vol. 1, 290–302.

INTRODUCTION: As the end approaches, Satan’s deceptions will increase in subtlety. His supreme effort will be directed against the remnant church, if only to nullify the great work God has commissioned it to do in preparation for Christ’s second coming. Many will be deceived, “giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” They will “go out from us,” says Ellen G. White in Notebook Leaflets from the Elmshaven Library, vol. 1, 57. (See also Selected Messages, Book 2, 392.) It is therefore of the utmost importance that every member become familiar with Satan’s strategy and how to meet it, so as to be both forewarned and forearmed for the perils ahead. “Nothing disturbs Satan so much as our knowledge of his devices. If we feel our dangers we shall feel the need of prayer. . . .” Testimonies, vol. 3, 572.

1 What did Christ tell His disciples about last day deceptions? Mark 13:22, 23.

NOTE: “We shall all be severely tested. Persons who pretend to believe the truth will come to us and urge upon us erroneous doctrines, which will unsettle our faith in present truth if we pay heed to them. True religion alone will stand the test of the Judgment.” Review and Herald, December 2, 1884.

“Christ foretold that the going forth of deceivers would be accompanied with more danger to His disciples than would persecution.” Evangelism, 359.

2 How will the world be deceived in the last days? Revelation 12:9. Compare Revelation 19:20.

NOTE: “The enemy is preparing for his last campaign against the church. He has so concealed himself from view that many can hardly believe that he exists, much less can they be convinced of his amazing activity and power. They have to a great extent forgotten his past record; and when he makes another advance move, they will not recognize him as their enemy, that old serpent, but they will consider him a friend, one who is doing a good work. Boasting of their independence they will, under his specious, bewitching influence, obey the worst impulses of the human heart and yet believe that God is leading them. Could their eyes be opened to distinguish their captain, they would see that they are not serving God, but the enemy of all righteousness. They would see that their boasted independence is one of the heaviest fetters Satan can rivet on unbalanced minds.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 294.

3 What final delusion will Satan use? Matthew 24:5; Mark 13:21.

NOTE: “As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. . . . The shout of triumph rings out upon the air, ‘Christ has come! Christ has come!’ The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him. . . . In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. . . .

“Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures, and who have received the love of the truth, will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive.” The Faith I Live By, 346.

4 How successful will this deception be? 1 Timothy 4:1.

NOTE: “It is difficult to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end; and the difficulty increases when there are hidden influences constantly at work to bring in another spirit, a counterworking element, on Satan’s side of the question. In the absence of persecution, there have drifted into our ranks some who appear sound, and their Christianity unquestionable, but who, if persecution should arise, would go out from us. In the crisis, they would see force in specious reasoning that has had an influence on their minds. Satan has prepared various snares to meet varied minds. When the law of God is made void the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now anticipate, will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Instead of being strengthened when brought into strait places, many prove that they are not living branches of the True Vine; they bore no fruit, and the husbandman taketh them away.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 368.

“As we near the end of time, falsehood will be so mingled with truth, that only those who have the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be able to distinguish truth from error. We need to make every effort to keep the way of the Lord. We must in no case turn from His guidance to put our trust in man. The Lord’s angels are appointed to keep strict watch over those who put their faith in the Lord, and these angels are to be our special help in every time of need. Every day we are to come to the Lord with full assurance of faith, and to look to Him for wisdom. . . . Those who are guided by the Word of the Lord will discern with certainty between falsehood and truth, between sin and righteousness.” God’s Amazing Grace, 201.

5 How will we recognize the true church? Revelation 12:17.

NOTE: “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord’s second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world.” Maranatha, 33.

6 What will be the outward appearance of many false religions? Matthew 7:15.

NOTE: “Public opinion favors a profession of Christianity. Little self-denial or self-sacrifice is required in order to put on a form of godliness and to have one’s name enrolled upon the church book. Hence many join the church without first becoming united to Christ. In this Satan triumphs. Such converts are his most efficient agents. They serve as decoys to other souls. They are false lights, luring the unwary to perdition. It is in vain that men seek to make the Christian’s path broad and pleasant for worldlings. God has not smoothed or widened the rugged, narrow way. If we would enter into life, we must follow the same path which Jesus and His disciples trod,—the path of humility, self-denial, and sacrifice.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 172.

7 How are we to know what is true and what is counterfeit? 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1–3.

NOTE: “Faith in a lie will not have a sanctifying influence upon the life or character. No error is truth, or can be made truth by repetition, or by faith in it. Sincerity will never save a soul from the consequences of believing an error. Without sincerity there is no true religion, but sincerity in a false religion will never save a man. I may be perfectly sincere in following a wrong road, but that will not make it the right road, or bring me to the place I wished to reach. The Lord does not want us to have a blind credulity, and call that the faith that sanctifies. The truth is the principle that sanctifies, and therefore it becomes us to know what is truth. We must compare spiritual things with spiritual. We must prove all things, but hold fast only that which is good, that which bears the divine credentials, which lays before us the true motives and principles which should prompt us to action. —Letter 12, 1890.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 56.

8 What standard should God’s people use to test every message? Isaiah 8:20. See also Mark 4:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

NOTE: “While conflicting doctrines and theories abound, the law of God is the one unerring rule by which all opinions, doctrines, and theories are to be tested.” The Great Controversy, 452.

9 Should we accept a prophet because he performs miracles? Deuteronomy 13:1–4.

NOTE: “We shall encounter false claims; false prophets will arise; there will be false dreams and false visions; but preach the Word, be not drawn away from the voice of God in His Word. Let nothing divert the mind. The wonderful, the marvelous, will be represented and presented. Through satanic delusions, wonderful miracles, the claims of human agents will be urged. Beware of all this.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 49.

10 Since there will be so many counterfeit Christs, how will Christians know it is really Jesus when He comes the second time? 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Revelation 1:7.

NOTE: “Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent. . . . Those who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the testimony of the Scriptures they will detect the deceiver in his disguise.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 443.

11 How thoroughly should Christians understand the reasons for their beliefs? 1 Peter 3:15.

NOTE: “The Lord desires that every soul who claims to believe the truth shall have an intelligent knowledge of what is truth. False prophets will arise and will deceive many. Everything is to be shaken that can be shaken. Then does it not become everyone to understand the reasons for our faith?” Evangelism, 363, 364.

12 Why did Paul commend the Bereans? Acts 17:10, 11.

NOTE: “Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible and the Bible only? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way, entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden, that their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief.” The Great Controversy, 625, 626.

13 To whom does God promise protection in times of trial? Revelation 3:10.

NOTE: “He [Satan] can gain his object only as men voluntarily yield to his temptations. Those who are earnestly seeking a knowledge of the truth and are striving to purify their souls through obedience, thus doing what they can to prepare for the conflict, will find, in the God of truth, a sure defense. . . . He would sooner send every angel out of heaven to protect His people than leave one soul that trusts in Him to be overcome by Satan.” The Great Controversy, 560.

Bible Study Guides – Phases of Present Truth

November 17-23, 2002

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gospel of Liberty

We are told, in the book of Revelation, that someday soon, just before Jesus returns, religious intolerance will once again bear sway—not only in this country, but throughout the world. Liberty will be gone. The only liberty that will be left on the face of this earth is the liberty that God has put in the hearts of His people.

How does God liberate us? God wants to give us the liberty of the eagle. There is nothing more free than a bird flying, and God wants to help us experience that spiritually. Jeremiah 13:23 asks the question, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? [then] may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” The answer to that question is inferred—No! If the leopard cannot change his spots, nor the Ethiopian his skin, neither can we become good of ourselves. We see here the predicament of all humanity.

David illustrates the predicament that we see in Jeremiah 13. He illustrates it with a solution. Praise God, there is a solution! The Bible says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, [even] praise unto our God: many shall see [it], and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:1–3.

The predicament, in which we find ourselves, is sin. It is illustrated here as a horrible pit. There is no hope for us without some outside help. Does this illustration bring to view the solution to the predicament? Oh, yes. “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings.” In these verses, who is doing all of the work? God is! But before we are through with our study, we will see that a cooperation needs to take place before we are lifted out of the horrible pit.

Crying out for Help

The psalmist says that he “waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” He was seeking deliverance, and he took the first step—crying out for help.

The Bible gives us a true-life experience depicting the predicament that man is in and from which he cannot, in and of himself, help himself. This is an experience of Jesus: “And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let [us] alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine [is] this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.” Mark 1:21–27. This situation was taking place right in the church! Here was a man in the church, crying out to Jesus, saying, Let us alone! It was really an unclean spirit crying out.

What a predicament! This man could not help himself; he was demon possessed. There was no way he could help himself, but outside help from Jesus relieved him from the demon. Praise God!

Self-possession

“The demoniac partially comprehended that he was in the presence of One who could set him free [he wanted to be un-possessed, and he recognized in Jesus someone who was able to help him]; but when he tried to come within reach of that mighty hand, another’s will held him, another’s words found utterance through him.

“The conflict between the power of Satan and his own desire for freedom was terrible. It seemed that the tortured man must lose his life in the struggle with the foe that had been the ruin of his manhood. But the Saviour spoke with authority and set the captive free. The man who had been possessed stood before the wondering people in the freedom of self-possession.” The Ministry of Healing, 91, 92.

Self-possession is self-control. That is what God wants to give to all of us. Prophecy tells us what the Messiah would do when He came, and what we have just seen in Capernaum tells us that Jesus was doing everything that prophecy foretold He would do. Jesus is the Son of the living God. He fulfilled the prophecy: “The Spirit of the Lord God [is] upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison [to them that are] bound.” Isaiah 61:1. This same message is recorded in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor . . . .” It is only the meek, the poor, those who sense their need, that are going to receive the help of the gospel of Christ to set them free.

Greatest Obstacle

What is one of the greatest obstacles that Jesus had to meet here in this world, while seeking to save humanity from the predicament they were in regarding sin? “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” John 8:31–33. It is an amazing thing that humanity finds itself in this horrible, miry pit of sin, yet the majority of humanity does not sense their need. They do not recognize that they are in bondage. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:11. Why? Because they did not recognize that they had a need. The greatest obstacle is that humanity is not aware of the predicament which they are in and from which they cannot, of themselves, get out.

Jesus tells the people what causes the bondage from which He came to deliver them: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34. Sin brings us into bondage and keeps us from doing what God intends for us to do. It is as simple as that.

Awaken to Righteousness

God wants to awaken us to righteousness, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:34, that we might not sin. The apostle Peter says, “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 11 Peter 2:19. Being overcome by sin brings us into bondage and keeps us from doing God’s will.

Let us look at what Jesus wants to do for us and what He is able to do for us. “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:34–36. What a wonderful promise! There is a solution for the predicament, and it is found in One person by the name of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the creator of this world, has become the Saviour of this world for those who are willing to wake up to their needs and choose to be saved in the manner that He has devised. He wants to save us from sin. He says the servant does not abide in the house forever. That is a warning. If we are only servants, servants to sin, God is telling us that we will not abide forever, but the Son abides forever. That is why God wants to make us His sons and daughters. He wants us to live through eternal ages with Him. That is why He created us. He loves us that much! He loves us so much that He gave us His Son to stand in our place and pay the penalty for our sins. Marvelous love!

“None have fallen so low, none are so vile, but that they may find deliverance in Christ.” The Ministry of Healing, 93. That is a marvelous, wondrous promise. No matter what your case is, no matter how bad you perceive yourself, and no matter how bad you really are, God wants to lift you out of that horrible pit. He wants to establish your feet on a Rock—Himself. Is He able to do it? Yes! He says, If the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed! That word indeed means truly! You will truly be set free. God wants to help us fly spiritually; He wants us to be lifted up to His glory, honor, and praise.

Truth = Freedom

What is one of the means that Jesus uses to set His people free from sin? Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32. This is only one means by which Jesus sets us free, because truth needs a catalyst, if it is going to work in our heart. We can receive the truth of God in our mind, but that is not where God wants it to end. He wants the truth in our hearts. Jesus is talking more than theoretical truth, when He says we will know the truth, and that truth will make us free. God wants to set us free from sin so we will not be in bondage that keeps us from doing God’s will.

Our Choice

Upon what is our freedom from bondage ultimately dependent? The Bible says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16. Ultimately, friends, for us to be set free from the bondage of sin, it is by our choice. If we do not make the choice, it will not happen. It has to be a constant, determined choice—it cannot be an occasional choice—to allow God to do the work that will set us free.

“In the work of redemption there is no compulsion, no external force is employed. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man is left free to choose whom he will serve. In the change that takes place when the soul surrenders to Christ, there is the highest sense of freedom. The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan’s control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.” The Desire of Ages, 466.

Paul said it well, in Philippians 2:13: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.” It is up to us to submit to His will and His doing. When we submit, the expulsion of sin from our lives will take place. We will no longer be in bondage; we will be set free.

Law of Liberty

Being set free from sin is the same thing as being brought into obedience to God’s will. Obedience is what we see in Romans 6:16: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

We saw, in John 8:32, where Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” We noticed that if we choose to have sin expelled from us, it is only going to happen by way of obedience to God. Psalm 119:142 says, “Thy righteousness [is] an everlasting righteousness, and thy law [is] the truth.” So what is truth? It is the Law of God. When we refer to God’s Law, we are talking about the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20, upon which God runs His whole universe.

Jesus compressed the Ten Commandments into two commandments. (See Matthew 22:37–40.) Likewise, He can take the complexities of our lives and make them simple, if we are willing. If we allow Him to take the sin out of our lives, our lives will be much simpler than they are in the complexity of sin.

“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth [therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James 1:25. God calls His Law a law of liberty, but it is only a law of liberty to those who choose to obey it. To all who choose to dis-obey, it is a law of condemnation. It is the same with our civil laws. If we abide by the law, we have freedom, but if we break the law, then we are under the law of penalty and condemnation. It is no different with God’s Law.

Perfect Law

God calls His Law the law of liberty, but He also uses an adjective to describe it. It is a perfect law of liberty! There is nothing we can do to improve upon God’s Law. We cannot add; we cannot subtract; we cannot make it any better, because it is perfect. The psalmist says, “The law of the Lord [is] perfect, converting the soul.” Psalm 19:7.

God wants to change us by His Law. Liberty from sin is found only in obedience to God’s will. “When one surrenders to Christ, the mind is brought under the control of the law; but it is the royal law, which proclaims liberty to every captive. [Satan has the majority of the Christian world believing that the Law of God is a law of bondage.] By becoming one with Christ, man is made free. Subjection to the will of Christ means restoration to perfect manhood.

“Obedience to God is liberty from the thralldom of sin, deliverance from human passion and impulse. Man may stand conqueror of himself, conqueror of his own inclinations, conqueror of principalities and powers, and of ‘the rulers of the darkness of this world,’ and of ‘spiritual wickedness in high places.’ Ephesians 6:12.” The Ministry of Healing, 131. Do you have any trouble with your passions? Do you have any impulsive desires that are contrary to God’s will? We are all tempted in that direction, but God is able to deliver us.

God wants to deliver us from the power of sin in this world. He is able; He is willing; He is waiting for us to make the decision to cooperate with Him. Liberty is found only in obedience to God’s Law. Nowhere else will you find liberty.

Two Ways

What are the two great objects in the center of the way that leads to life and liberty? In Matthew 7:13, 14, Jesus talks about two ways that we can choose to go. One way is broad, and everything that we want to do we can do in that broad way. Then there is a narrow way. We are talking about the narrow way that leads to eternal life, and we are asking the question, What are the two great central objects in the way that lead to life and liberty? Jesus tells us, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jesus says He is truth, but we read, in Psalm 119:142, that God’s Law is the truth. God places the two great truths of Jesus and His Law in the way that leads to eternal life.

The Law of God is the center of the issue in the plan of salvation. In fact, it is the basis of the controversy between good and evil in which we are involved. Jesus died on Calvary to uphold the Law of God. If the Law of God could have been changed, Jesus need not have died on Calvary. But God’s Law is as changeless as is He, so Jesus came and died for us, making a way by which we can experience the truth that will set us free from the bondage of sin.

Law in our Hearts

It is not enough to have God’s Law in our minds; God wants to put it in our hearts. “For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts . . . .” Hebrews 8:10. The law must first be in our minds. We must have an intelligent knowledge of God’s Word and of His Law before they are written in our hearts. When that happens, He says, “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” Ibid. Friends, we will never be the people of God until we choose to allow Him to write His Law upon our hearts.

The Catalyst

We have all sensed ourselves, at one time or another, as being out of sorts with God, of being in that pit from which we cannot extricate ourselves. Jesus is the solution.

Truth is one of the great parts by which God will set us free, but there is a catalyst that is needed for truth to get from our minds to our hearts. We find it in the life of Jesus: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.

There is the catalyst—grace! God wants us to walk in the light that proceeds from His Word that has been there for centuries, waiting for us to make a choice. Grace is the catalyst that will send God’s truth to our hearts. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9. We can never merit or earn this grace that is so much needed.

Gifts of God

The gifts of God are two-fold. James 1:17 tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” God has good and perfect gifts that He bestows upon His children in this world. Those good gifts are the physical gifts, the blessings that all humanity receives.

Do we merit the sun that shines upon us today? Do we earn the right to breathe the breath of air? No, those are gifts of God. Have we earned the right to eat the food that gives us strength? No, we have not earned that. God gives the blessings and good gifts to us, not because we have earned them or that we merit them, but because of His goodness. Jesus said that our Father sends the rain upon the just and the unjust. (See Matthew 5:45.)

Is God any different with His spiritual gifts, His perfect gifts? Can we merit a spiritual gift? Can we merit God’s grace? Can we earn God’s favor and His Holy Spirit? No, we cannot. We access the spiritual gifts by faith, by trusting and believing what God says. It is not by works; it is by faith. Works will not produce grace, but grace will produce works. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Many in Christendom today are trying to manufacture something in their own experience to get out of their bondage state. But no amount of works that we can do will manufacture God’s grace or merit it. None! We must come to God as He has ordained for us to come. There is a way, but if we do not follow the sequential order that God has laid out for us in the plan of salvation—faith and works, not works and faith—we are stuck in the pit. When we follow God’s order, we are going to experience the blessing, and we will be able to fly like the eagles.

Bottom Line

What is the bottom line? God wants to save us from sin, but He is not going to give us His grace when we are trying to work out our own salvation. He will honor us with His grace only when we choose to access the plan of salvation in the order in which He has designed it. When we come into harmony with the two great center truths of the plan of salvation, Jesus and God’s Law, we will receive the gift of grace and experience true liberty.

Craig Meeker directs the Bible correspondence school for Steps to Life Ministry. 

Good Men — Good Church

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:14–17.

Self-Dependence

How could a people or a church ever become so blind that they are actually naked yet think they are clothed? It is because they have learned to depend upon their own works and their own righteousness rather than the righteousness of Christ. And, though they think they are clothed, their own righteousness cannot clothe them.

It is a situation similar to the one Jesus spoke of in Luke 18:10–13: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector [or publican]. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise [his] eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ”

Today, Pharisees are looked down upon; but back in Jesus’ day, they were respected. Publicans, on the other hand, were the worst of people in the eyes of the Jews. They did not respect God’s church, and the Jews considered them to be collaborating with the Romans. Yet Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Verse 14.

God Ordains and Removes

I have often studied with sadness the history of Saul. Here was a man who was chosen and ordained of God. He knew that he had been ordained by God to lead His church. When he went out to fight God’s battles, God fought for him. But when God told him to destroy the Amalekites, he failed to do as he was told. (See 1 Samuel 15.) He reasoned, “Let’s take these animals and show our appreciation and gratitude for God. Instead of just killing them and wasting them, we will sacrifice them to God.”

Look, however, at God’s assessment of what had taken place. “So Samuel said, ‘When you [were] little in your own eyes, [were] you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, ‘But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.’ So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, [And] to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from [being] king.’ ” 1 Samuel 15:17–23.

Saul thought he was so good, but he was blind. He thought he was clothed with righteousness, but he was absolutely naked. Verse 23 is a solemn reality that whom God ordains for service, He can remove, and what He has ordained for service, He can also remove. God ordained the children of Israel to be His people. Of them, He said, “Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, [Then] the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Jeremiah 31:35, 36. Even if the sun, moon, and stars should be removed, Israel would not be removed from being His people.

The children of Israel reasoned in Jesus’ day, “We are God’s people; nothing can change that. The tide is still coming in; there are still the sun, moon, and stars.” But somehow they forgot that what God establishes, He can also remove. Though God had established Saul, he also removed Him. As with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, though God appointed them, He also removed them. (See Numbers 16:27–32.) Thus it was with the leadership in Jesus’ day, and thus it is today. When men begin to think that they are good because of position or works, they are absolutely blind. There is not a position or work in which we can engage that can make any one of us good. If there is any goodness in it, it is the goodness of Jesus that comes by faith in Him. But men have come to the place where they believe that they can break the Sabbath and be held guiltless. They believe that they can lie and bear false charges as the scribes and Pharisees did against Jesus in His day in order to preserve the system, because it is for a good purpose, and somehow still be guiltless.

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were in the holy service of God. They had come out of Egypt and gone through the Red Sea; they had eaten manna and drunk the water from the rock. More than that, some of these leaders, possibly even Korah, Dathan, and Abiram themselves, had gone up on Mt. Sinai with Moses. God chose them, through Moses, to be representatives for Him. Moses, on the other hand, was not a representative of leadership; he was a prophet. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, since they were elected and had all of the evidence of God’s leading, came to the place where they became good in their own eyes. They thought that they were rich and had need of nothing and knew not that they were miserable, poor, blind, and naked. (Revelation 3:17.) They came to the place where they thought that they could do things that God had never given them permission to do.

By Church Authority

In 364 a.d., the Council of Nicea declared that the sanctity of the Sabbath had been changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week. They did not do this by God’s authority but by church authority and church decree. They did so because they were leaders of the church.

It has interested me how people study the Bible and seem to twist everything to their own wishes. That was taking place in Ellen White’s day in the 1890s. The leadership was likening themselves to Moses, and anyone who did not go along with them was like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. You see, in 1888, God had chosen Jones and Waggoner and others to give the message of Christ our righteousness, but the leaders said, “Listen, this message did not go through us. What right do these people have to preach? They are not ordained by us; they have not come through our authority. We are the leaders of God’s church.” Do you know what Ellen White says about that? “They were actuated by the same spirit that inspired Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 3, 1067. This is just one place where she says that the leaders were likened to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

I have been shocked by the way committees of the church today can somehow come to believe that they have been vested with authority to disregard God’s commandments and laws. When we suppose that we can overlook all of God’s counsels on competitive sports and introduce intercollegiate sports into our schools, are we not committing the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? Are we not coming to the place where we think that we can go against God’s counsels and make our own decisions? When we follow the practices and policies of the world instead of those laid down in the Word of God, are we not committing the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? “Korah would not have taken the course he did had he known that all the directions and reproofs communicated to Israel were from God. But he might have known this. God had given overwhelming evidence that He was leading Israel.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 404, 405. When the church fights the very ministries that God has called into existence, is it not committing the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? That is the sin of the papacy, and dear friend, it is becoming the sin of the church today. It is the sin of anyone who decides that they are so good that they do not need to follow God exactly; they can make their own decisions in life.

Greek Philosophy

In Jesus’ day, the church of God had been sending some of their promising young men to the universities of Greece, especially down to Alexandria, Egypt. Of course, they remained members of God’s professed church, but they learned and brought into it the Greek philosophy, which is the basis of higher education.

The Greeks had come to the place where they believed that the way to be truly educated was to reject everything until it has been proved. When you incorporate that philosophy with the Word of God, it is disastrous, because the Word of God must be studied by faith, not by doubt. I talked with an educator at one of the denomination’s colleges, an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister, teaching according to the principles of Greek philosophy. He was asking people how they could know that God had really created the world in seven days. I asked him, “How can you instill this doubt into students’ minds?”

He said, “I believe that the way we are educated is to doubt everything. That is the way we learn. This is true faith. Faith is when you doubt so much that you come to doubt your doubts and that is faith.”

When this system of doubt is applied to the Word of God, it destroys faith. You cannot study God’s Word except by faith.

In Jesus’ day, the Jew who was not educated was looked down upon as being a heathen, because everyone was supposed to have a Christian education; that was a duty of a Jewish parent. The educational system, however, had been taken over by a group of liberals called the Sadducees. They rejected much that was in the Old Testament, although they claimed to be true followers of God. What could not be proved, they reasoned away.

You know, it is interesting that there is not a record of a single Sadducee being converted or accepting Jesus as his Saviour. It is a deadly disease, this liberal philosophy that causes people to doubt the Word of God and put human reason and human logic above the Word. But in reaction to the Sadducees came a group of conservative people who said, “We do not believe in this liberal philosophy that puts logic above the Word. We believe the Word simply because God says it.” They were called the Pharisees, but sadly, they became so conservative that they began to look at themselves as good people, because they were doing everything the Bible said. As time went on, they began to confuse conservatism with structuralism and to place more and more faith in a structure and in a system rather than in God. They began to worship the church instead of God. In fact, the church was so sacred and so important that if anyone suggested that it would be destroyed or that the temple would be destroyed, as Jesus said it would be, that person was worthy of death, and they sought to kill him because he was blaspheming God. Any criticism of the structure became criticism of God in their minds, so they killed the person who said that the church would be destroyed.

Do you know what is interesting? The Pharisees were the ones who became the bitterest enemies of Jesus, much more so than the Sadducees. In their minds, anything that did not go through the structure was wrong and was not of God.

Truth will go Through

The Elijah message was the message that John the Baptist had to bring to the people in his day. (See Matthew 3:7–10). It is interesting that this same message that was to prepare a people before Jesus’ first coming is the same message that is to be brought back to the church today before Jesus’ second coming. Ellen White says, “In this fearful time, just before Christ is to come the second time, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne by John the Baptist. A responsible, important work is before them; and those who speak smooth things, God will not acknowledge as His shepherds. A fearful woe is upon them.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 321.

As Saul so sadly learned, what God ordains, He can also remove. John the Baptist told the people of his day that God could raise up children to make a church out of the stones, and God did it. He took the stony hearts of the Gentiles and fashioned them into the true church of Israel in the New Testament. Paul says, in Galatians 3, Ephesians 2, and Romans 2, that the Gentiles had now become the true church of Israel. The church survived, but it was made up of different people. John the Baptist said “Do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as [our] father.’ [We are the church!] . . . Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree [not just the trees in John the Baptist’s day but every tree from Saul’s day until Jesus’ second coming] which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:9, 10.

The truth will go through; the movement will go through; God’s true Seventh-day Adventist people, the movement that He has ordained for these last days, are going through. God promised it would go through. This is the last church, but the church is more than a structure. The structure is only an aspect of the church. God can raise up children to this church from the stones.

Independent Ministry

God says that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down. In Jesus’ day, the church had become so structuralized that God could not reach it through the system. God had to send John the Baptist as an independent minister, independent of the system. When Jesus came down, He also came as an independent minister. He was never sanctioned or ordained by the church. The church never laid their hands upon Him, and they did not recognize Him.

It is interesting to note that even among those who were in independent ministry, pride and self-sufficiency often came in. We find it in Peter and John. They, thankfully, eventually overcame. But this became the spirit of Judas, and he betrayed Jesus from the independent ministry, from the self-supporting work, even from His own group.

Jesus said that the prevailing problem with the church in the last days would be the problem that has been with the church in all ages—self-righteousness. That is what has brought in all of the errors of the Christian church. It is that righteousness that makes a person so righteous that they no longer need to obey God, and they can decide for themselves what is right or wrong. That was the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden. “God knows that in the day you eat this fruit, that you will be so wise and so good that you will know yourself what you should do and what you should not do.” Self-righteousness, the fig leaves of self-righteousness.

God has a message to the church today. It is called the Elijah message—the Laodicean message. It is a message of love. God says, “I love you too much to let you go. If you will accept Me as your Lord and Saviour, if you will simply come and follow Me, I will give you righteousness; you will not have to earn it. I will give it to you as a free gift, and then you can obey Me because you love Me. I will give you the power to obey every precept from a heart of love.” You will no longer try to find out how little you can do to get to heaven. No! You will have salvation because God has given it to you, and you will be doing everything you can do, because you love Him. None of it will earn you a place in heaven; that was earned on the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago. Praise the Lord! But it is a gift to the obedient.

Reprinted from LandMarks, June 1994.

Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life Ministry. In July 1991, Pastor Marshall and his family met with tragedy as they were returning home from a camp meeting in Washington state, when the airplane he was piloting went down killing all on board.

The Ship

In preparing for this Week of Prayer series, we believe it is important, in this first presentation, to discuss the subject of who and what is the church. Many of us have perhaps already studied this topic, but we are going to look at it from a little different perspective. I believe this study focuses on the concept of the theme for this week, “What Will it Take to Stand in the Last Days?”

Seventh-day Adventists have always had a great appreciation for the Bible books of Daniel and Revelation, because these are books about prophecy. Prophecy has established us as a people. It has given us meaning. It has given us understanding concerning end-time events.

When the end times do come, they will bring the world into a crisis and then into the end of the world, as we know it. We as Seventh-day Adventists have studied and restudied Daniel and Revelation, and we have interpreted and reinterpreted these books until it would seem that there is nothing new to uncover. But in our study of Daniel and Revelation, I believe we have neglected other books that have great prophetic significance as well.

One such book is the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts deals with end-time events, perhaps not in the same scope nor with the same focus as the books of Daniel and Revelation, but each has a special message for us.

Normally, we do not view the Book of Acts as a book of apocalypse; we only view it as a history of the early Christian church. We see it recording the acts of the elders, the deacons, and the apostles, and unfurling events of how the early church got its start and grew under the power of the Holy Spirit. But in this study, I want to take you on a journey through a passage of Scripture that I believe has real prophetic significance to us. It is the generally accepted understanding that, as we study books of prophecy and get closer to the ends of those books of prophecy, they seem to have more relevance to us as a people. The closer we come to the end of the Book of Revelation, the closer we come to the end of time and its importance to us as a people. The same thing is true of the Book of Acts. With this in mind, we will look at the next to the last chapter in Acts, chapter 27. But before we begin, there is needed a bit of background setting.

Background

The setting for this portion of Scripture centers on Paul’s arrest and his arraignment before Agrippa. It is here that we have Agrippa’s famous statement to Paul: “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Acts 26:28. Paul’s response to Agrippa was, “I would to God, that not only you, but everyone who has heard me today, would be like me, except for these chains,” with which he was bound. (Verse 29.)

The testimony was that nobody was interested. Life seemed to have too much to offer. Why should they restrict themselves by becoming Christians? No, they were satisfied to continue on as they had been doing before. The question facing them now, though, was what were they going to do with this man—Paul? He had not committed any offense worthy of death. He had not killed anyone. He had not violated any law of which they knew. “Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.” Verse 32.

I will have to confess that I do not understand everything that God does, but there is one thing I do understand: God is working to try to save as many souls as He possibly can. How God arrives at certain points where all things come together, I do not claim to understand, because I have finite vision. God is able to see, through infinite eyes, how all these things can work together for good, but in my humanity, this I cannot always see. The route that God takes, many times, is not a route that man would take to arrive at a certain point to accomplish the same thing.

Here is Paul, at one time a criminal, but now he is a converted man whose only desire is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of this service, he has been brought into a set of circumstances resulting in his arrest and has been charged with crimes that some deemed worthy of death. I do not understand this, but God works in mysterious ways.

Currently, there are individuals enrolled in Steps to Life’s ministerial training course who are behind prison bars. Their one desire is to learn as much as they can, so when they are set free, they will be able to carry the gospel message to whomever they can. When we go through experiences such as this, God has promised to be with us. Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5.)

Appeal Granted

This was not an easy time for Paul, but God was with him. You see, Paul was, in fact, a double prisoner. He was not only a prisoner of the state, but he was also a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. This event was allowed in Paul’s life so he could stand before the emperor and give testimony for his faith. God had a purpose. Paul appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar he would go.

Preparations for the trip were made. Paul, with over 200 other people, would make his way to Rome. “And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto [one] named Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band. And entering into a ship of Adramyt-tium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; [one] Aristar-chus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.” Acts 27:1, 2. So Paul begins his journey by ship, with the idea that he is going to stand before the emperor and bring to him the gospel message.

Words of Bondage

Now, we are going to look at words that have been used to hold Seventh-day Adventists in bondage. These words, rightly understood, will free us, so we will be able to accomplish what God has called us to do. Verse 31 says, “Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.”

This concept of the ship has been distorted; it has been twisted and made to say what is not in the teaching of this portion of Scripture. It has been used to scare people into submission, as they have been taught and repeatedly told that, except they abide in the ship, they cannot be saved. This has been used to frighten people from searching for the truth that would set them free.

The idea of the ship has been applied to the denomination, and this text has been interpreted to mean that unless we stay with denominational churches, we will never make it to heaven. I want to suggest to you that the ship is not the church. It never has been. We will see, as we study together, what the ship really is. It is imperative that we understand this, so we are not encumbered with haunting fear, and we can be free to move forward in God’s plan.

The Journey Begins

Now, we will return to the begin-ning of Acts 27 and analyze its message so we may better understand what is being said to us in these last days.

Verse 2 tells us that they boarded a ship of Adramyttium. This was a sturdy ship, known for its stability and its serviceability; plying the seas, it carried cargo safely to its destination. It was dependable. It had on board an experienced crew. The crew possessed wisdom, and when the weather and sea were threatening, they pulled into port so they and the ship were kept safe.

“And the next [day] we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave [him] liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, [a city] of Lycia.” Verses 3–5.

Contrary Winds

Any time you are in the service of the Lord, the winds will blow contrarily. At least three individuals on this boat had a mission for the Lord: Paul, Aristarchus, and Luke. Even though Luke does not mention himself by name, he speaks in the first person, so we know that he was there. The Bible says that the winds blew. You see, the devil did not want them to arrive safely at their destination. Remember, the ship was sound. This was a safe ship for them to be on—it was solid, it was seaworthy, and nothing is mentioned about it being leaky or having any problems that would cause difficulties.

Finally, they arrived at a city in Lycia. They could not go any further at that time, because contrary winds were blowing. But they were a long way from their destination.

Change Ships

Julius, the centurion, was in charge of the prisoners, and he had a decision to make. He could wait to complete his journey, staying on the same ship that they had originally taken, or he could make arrangements to secure another ship and continue on.

Verses 6–8 continue: “And there the centurion found a ship of Alex-andria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein. And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city [of] Lasea.”

This is where the story begins to take on meaning for us. They left the ship that was safe and sound and that would have carried them to their destination without any diffi-culty. We need to understand that fact! They left that ship, and they boarded another ship. Now consider this carefully. The centurion in charge of the trip was an agent of Rome. It was he that made the decision to put everyone on board another ship. It was a ship from Alexandria.

Alexandria

Alexandria was a city in the land of Egypt. The Bible has always used Egypt as a symbol for the land of sin, a place where the dragon dwells, a place known for idolatry and false doctrine. Alexandria was a metropolis of great learning. It had universities of higher education, and those with simpler educations could go there and be introduced to greater depths of philosophy, theories of knowledge, and critical study. That was what Alexandria was all about. It was a place where people could learn how to question their known truths. It was Alexandria and its universities that prepared the way for the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah at His first coming!

This came about as a result of the Babylonian captivity, where the Jewish nation had learned its lesson relative to the worshiping of false gods and idols. When they returned to their land, they determined never to be caught in that kind of situation again. They became so repulsed by the Gentiles and their worship of false gods that they would not even approach their neighbors to tell them about the soon-coming Messiah. It finally came to the place that if the shadow of someone who was unclean fell across them during the time of their special purification, they believed it made them unclean also. That is how much they were repulsed by the Gentile way of life.

Time Brings Change

But as time went on—and the progression of time is something we have to be cautious about, for time can change things—various groups developed within the nation of Israel. One group was very conservative—fundamental in its beliefs. They were known as Pharisees.

Whenever we discuss the Pharisees, there is a tendency for us to do so with disdain, because we do not like the Pharisees. They had their problems, to be sure, but it was the Pharisees who preserved what truth the church had in that day. They rejected all attempts to introduce new theology that was running rampant in those times. Do not think that the new theology is a new phenomenon. It has raged in every generation. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and he became a follower of Jesus. Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees, and he became a follower of Jesus. But, do you know that there is not one record of any kind or any historical documentation that a Sadducee ever became a follower of Jesus?

As time drew near to the birth of Jesus, a great persecution broke out upon the Pharisees. The persecution was so great that many of them were not only kicked out of their church offices and had their memberships taken away, but numerous ones paid the ultimate price with their lives, because they were standing for the truth that they understood and believed.

The Groups Differ

The other main party that formed in those days was the Sadducees. This group developed about the same time as the Pharisees. They were theologically similar, but there were some very major differences. The Sadducees came into being because those who were leading out in the Jewish denomination felt that the people, and those they were trying to win to the faith, could be better reached and served by an educated clergy. So certain ones were selected to go down to Alexandria in Egypt to receive the benefits of higher education. They went, and what they learned, they brought back to the nation of Judah and taught to others.

First, they learned liberal philosophies. Where the Pharisees were fundamental, the Sadducees were liberal. They learned what is today called “higher criticism,” and this led them to reject most of the Scripture. The only books that were acceptable, as far as they were concerned, were the five books of Moses.

The Pharisees were called “separatists”; they did not believe in being part of the world. They knew that they had to be in the world, but they did not get involved in all the trappings that came with it. They opted for traditions instead, and this is where they ran headlong into the teachings of Jesus.

Now, the Sadducees did not have any problem being a part of the world. They loved the world and all that it had to offer. They became involved with the politics of the day. They loved to rule. They had given up most of those characteristics that made them stand out from the other Jews. If you looked at a Pharisee, there was no question in your mind that here was a child of Israel. Not so with the Sadducees. The Sadducees wanted to look like everyone around them. They did not want to be peculiar.

Not being peculiar called for the Sadducees to give up certain fundamental doctrines for the new theology. This meant that they no longer believed in the resurrection of the dead. They did not believe in angels. They did not believe in devils. They did not believe in the punishment of those who were sinners. They were progressive. They were modernists in their thinking. The Sadducees were the ones in charge. They were holding offices in the church headquarters when Jesus began His ministry.

It was a Sadducee who, during a discussion, said, “It is better that one man die than the whole nation perish.” (John 11:50.) The Sadducees were thoroughly absorbed in their new theology, which they had learned in Alexandria, Egypt.

Prophetic Instruction

Returning to the journey of Paul and the prophetic instruction to us in these last days contained in the Book of Acts, the travelers changed ships under the direction of the leader of Rome. They boarded a ship from Alexandria, and after they were underway again, Luke records for us what was happening: “Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished [them], And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.” Acts 27:9, 10. This is very significant.

Paul respectfully goes to those in charge. Addressing them as “Sirs,” he told them that they were now on a ship that was going to cause damage to them; they were not going to come out of this trip without loss. Have you ever heard those kinds of voices before? Three things were going to be damaged—the cargo of the ship, the ship itself, and the lives of those on the ship.

Ship Defined

At this point, we need to define what is the ship. Many have tried to convince us that the ship is the denomination, and that if we will just stay with the denomination, we will sail right into the harbor with ease. Just stay with the ship. I would like to suggest to you, as I did earlier, that the ship is not the denomination at all. It is not the structure. It is not the General Conference. It is not the local conference. It has nothing to do with any structure of any kind. The ship is truth, pure and simple. Jesus is the Captain of the ship, and it is His truth that carries us along as a people.

Let me share with you some quotations from the Spirit of Prophecy, which should establish this more.

“God’s people must give to the world a representation of the character of God in Jesus Christ. The Christian churches are fast losing their knowledge of God. His character has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. But a message has come from God which must be proclaimed. The trumpet must give a certain sound. ‘I Jesus have sent mine angel to proclaim these things to the churches.’ [Revelation 22:16.] The truth, the revelation which Jesus gave to John, must be sounded forth everywhere. ‘Lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.’ [Isaiah 40:9–11.]” The Signs of the Times, December 23, 1897.

“The only way in which men will be able to stand firm in the conflict, is to be rooted and grounded in Christ.” General Conference Daily Bulletin, January 28, 1893. Who is Jesus? He is the truth. He is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6.) The only way men will be able to stand in the last-day conflict is to be rooted and grounded in Christ. “They must receive the truth as it is in Jesus. And it is only as the truth is presented thus that it can meet the wants of the soul. The preaching of Christ crucified, Christ our righteousness, is what satisfies the soul’s hunger.” Ibid.

It is the truth, as it is in Jesus, that will carry us along in our experience of life as we go through the world. This is the only thing that makes any sense at all. We are not to depend upon anything in this world to carry us through. We are not to depend upon any person—nothing other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One that is going to carry us through. He is the Truth. And the Truth will carry us through. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32.)

It is with this in mind that the next quotation, from the Review and Herald, September 20, 1892, makes any sense at all: “There is no need to doubt, to be fearful that the work will not succeed. God is at the head of the work, and he will set everything in order.” Who is at the head of the work? God is! He will take care and set things in order. “If matters need adjusting at the head of the work, God will attend to that, and work to right every wrong. Let us have faith.” Now, consider this very carefully! If you have only lightly read everything so far, concentrate on this: “Let us have faith that God is going to carry the noble ship which bears the people of God safely into port.”

The noble ship that bears the people of God is the truth. Nothing else can safely carry us into port. It is the truth, and when we begin to say that the ship is the denomination, we have missed the whole point of what inspiration is trying to teach us. I say that, because historically, we can look back and find that denominations fail. Truth never fails! Men can disappoint us and can take us into trouble, but truth never disappoints us.

Counsel of Man

“Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.” Acts 27:11. When God gives us the words of inspiration but we choose to take the counsels of men, we are headed for disaster. If this man from Rome had listened to Paul, they would not have had the problems that they encountered. “And because,” verses 12–15 say, “the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, [and there] to winter; [which is] an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained [their] purpose, loosing [thence], they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let [her] drive.”

The truth, distorted as it had become here, or as distorted as it may become in our own experience, is going to run into winds that are designed to totally destroy it. Any little remnant of truth—no matter where it is found—the devil will try to destroy, in any and every way that he can.

Theological Darkness

Do not ever forget that Paul was a prisoner on this journey. He was held captive. He was on board, but he was bound in chains, unable to counsel, unable to reason, unable to take any kind of command over what was going on, so the only thing that was left for him and the other two to do was to just let the ship sail. Did Paul know what was going to happen? Of course; he told them that they would experience damage.

“And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next [day] they lightened the ship; And the third [day] we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither the sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on [us], all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” Verses 16–20.

They had changed ships. They had changed from a sturdy ship to a weak vessel from Alexandria. They had taken the word of Rome over the counsel of the prophet, and as they began to run into opposition because of this, they started throwing the tackling of the ship overboard. They were frantic to try to find some way out of the mess in which they had found themselves. Verse 20 says that they were plunged into darkness. There was no light. They could not tell what was going on. Do not tell me that the Book of Acts is not prophetic!

Theological darkness is a terrible experience to go through. Right in the midst of this entire situation, it became so bad that they thought they were lost. All hope was taken away that they should be saved. Does that say anything to us? Will it be easy for us, when we get into the end of time? How are we going to be able to stand when, in the end of time, darkness is prevailing? Are we going to sail into the harbor standing on deck with clowns and balloons and the band playing? I do not think so!

The Bible tells me that the just shall live by faith! (Romans 1:17.) When everything around is nothing but darkness, it is our faith that will light our way, because our feet are firmly grounded on the truth.

Abandonment Brings Death

Verse 21 says, “But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.” Paul begins to give some counsel: “And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of [any man’s] life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” Verses 22–24. Nobody was going to die, but the ship—the truth—was going to be broken up.

“Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; And sounded, and found [it] twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found [it] fifteen fathoms. Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship . . . .” Verses 25–30.

Some of those on board saw that there was a change in the situation, and they wanted to abandon ship. They were not an offshoot, as such. They were part of Rome. They did not have any better wisdom than to take off. (These were not the ones in Paul’s party.) Paul told the centurion about this, and said, “Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” Verse 31.

God does not save heathen just because they follow the counsel of the prophet. We need to understand that. Every person must have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Truth, in and of itself, does not save anyone. The Holy Spirit blesses it, and it leads us into a born-again experience. When that happens, the truth becomes more blessed to us. Nicodemus had the truth. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, but Jesus told him that he had to be born again. Just staying with the ship was not enough.

Ellen White tells us that if these sailors had left the ship, it would have been certain death for them. They could not have survived the raging sea, and the rocks would have torn them to pieces. (See The Acts of the Apostles, 439–445.) And so Paul, wanting them to be saved from death, said what he did. Staying with the ship was important. It was designed by God to give them one last opportunity to see His wonderful grace. But seeing it still meant that they had to make their own decisions on an individual basis—not on a corporate basis.

Iceberg of Error

Do you remember the story that Ellen White told in 1904 about the raging Alpha of apostasy? One night she had a vision from God. In this vision, she said, “A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, ‘Iceberg just ahead!’ There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, ‘Meet it!’ There was not a moment’s hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 205.

Under normal circumstances, the ship would have collided with that iceberg, and it would have gone to the bottom of the sea. But she said that when the ship hit that iceberg with a tremendous crash, it split the iceberg right in half in such a way that ice thundered down on the deck of the ship. She said that the ship rebounded from the contact and trembled like a living creature. It was damaged, but there were no lives lost. And after they hit that iceberg, the ship went right on and kept on its course. Do you know what that iceberg represents? It represents error. Do you know what the ship represents? The ship represents truth. This message comes through in the story of Paul as well. The ship had to meet error. The truth came into collision with error. The ship suffered damage, but it survived.

Working Together

“Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.” Verse 32. Problems were not yet over. It would take everyone at this point in time working together. God makes it very plain through inspiration that the heathen will be used of God to further His cause, and here is an instance of it right here in Acts 27.

They had been fasting. They had not been eating anything. Now the time had come for them to take some nourishment to deal with what was ahead. Notice what it says in verses 33 and 34: “And while the day was coming on, Paul besought [them] all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take [some] meat: for this is for your health.” Ah! I could mention here that the health message is part of the last-day scenario for God’s people.

“For there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken [it], he began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took [some] meat. And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.” Verses 34–38. They started throwing all the cargo of the ship overboard. That tells us something about the purging of theological error.

“And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed [themselves] unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.” Verses 39, 40.

There is going to come a time for us when we will come under such trying circumstances that the only thing that will uphold us is the fact that we have committed ourselves wholly and completely to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will carry us through. That is what the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is about in these last days. We are to be sealed with the latter rain experience, and let that experience carry us on into the shore.

That is what the sailors did. “And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.” Verses 41, 42.

The Ship is Truth

Do you think it is going to be easy when we get into the last days? It is not going to be easy at all. Everything we know as the truth is going to go through some of the most wrenching, twisting, breaking-up experiences it can possibly experience. But notice verses 43 and 44: “But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from [their] purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast [themselves] first [into the sea], and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on [broken pieces] of the ship . . . escaped all safe to land.”

The ship was the truth, and even though the ship hit the rock and began to break apart, there were still preserved elements of truth there that would carry the survivors safely onto the shore.

If there is ever a message that we need to read, understand, and incorporate into our hearts, it is the fact that God’s truth will go through—regardless of what men do to it, regardless of what the winds blowing from the breath of Satan do to it. God is going to use, if necessary, just parts and pieces to carry His people on to safety.

If this ship were a denomination, it would have been scattered everywhere. Only the truth of God will carry us safely into port!

Bible Study Guides – God Requires Faithfulness, Part 1

June 25, 2006 – July 1, 2006

Key Text

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17.

Study Help: Testimonies, vol. 4, 463–476.

Introduction

“Oh, that every soul would prostrate himself before God, and yield self unreservedly, and solemnly vow that with Heaven’s help he would henceforth keep his lips from all guile, and sanctified; that he would keep the life and the course of action sanctified; that soul, body, and spirit should ever be sanctified unto the Lord. If thorough work were done, what a missionary company we should have with which to work these cities! Oh, what numbers we could have to send into places where the people have never heard the third angel’s message!” Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 370.

1 For what purpose did Christ sanctify himself? John 17:19.

note: “It [Bible sanctification] is not merely a show or outside work. It is sanctification received through the channel of truth. It is truth received in the heart, and practically carried out in the life.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 339.

“Jesus came to bring moral power to combine with human effort, and in no case are His followers to allow themselves to lose sight of Christ, who is their example in all things. He said, [John 17:19 quoted]. Jesus presents the truth before His children that they may look upon it, and by beholding it, may become changed, being transformed by His grace from transgression to obedience, from impurity to purity, from sin to heart-holiness and righteousness of life.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 262.

2 By what means are we to be sanctified? John 17:17.

note: “We must be sanctified through the truth, be wholly consecrated to God, and so live out our holy profession that the Lord can shed increasing light upon us, and that we may see light in His light, and be strengthened with His strength. Every moment that we are not on our watch we are liable to be beset by the enemy and are in great danger of being overcome by the powers of darkness. Satan commissions his angels to be vigilant and overthrow all they can; to find out the waywardness and besetting sins of those who profess the truth, and throw darkness around them, that they may cease to be watchful, take a course that will dishonor the cause they profess to love, and bring sorrow upon the church. The souls of these misguided, unwatchful ones grow darker, and the light of heaven fades from them. They cannot discover their besetting sins, and Satan weaves his net about them, and they are taken in his snare.” Early Writings, 105.

3 What is it to sanctify anything? Exodus 19:23, 12, 13.

note: “The oil so much needed by those who are represented as foolish virgins [Matthew 25:1–13], is not something to be put on the outside. They need to bring the truth into the sanctuary of the soul, that it may cleanse, refine, and sanctify. It is not theory that they need; it is the sacred teachings of the Bible, which are not uncertain, disconnected doctrines, but are living truths, that involve eternal interests that center in Christ. In Him is the complete system of divine truth. The salvation of the soul, through faith in Christ, is the ground and pillar of the truth.” Ye Shall Receive Power, 16.

“All our capabilities, all our powers, are the purchased possession of Christ. Our intellectual and moral powers are capable, when not misapplied, of honoring and glorifying God. The tongue is to be educated to speak right words, the eye to discern right things; the heart is to be surrendered to Christ, that he may purify, refine, and sanctify it through the truth, in order that from its treasures we may bring forth good things. We may, if we choose, abuse our faculties; for God will not compel any one to do righteousness. We are free moral agents; and yet let us bear in mind that we are the property of Christ both by creation and by redemption. The talents we have are his gifts, and whether we have few or many talents, we are to devote them to God.” The Youth’s Instructor, January 11, 1894.

4 When a person is thus sanctified, what work will be wrought in him? 11 Corinthians 10:5.

note: “The lower passions have their seat in the body and work through it. The words ‘flesh’ or ‘fleshly’ or ‘carnal lusts’ embrace the lower, corrupt nature; the flesh of itself cannot act contrary to the will of God. We are commanded to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts. How shall we do it? Shall we inflict pain on the body? No; but put to death the temptation to sin. The corrupt thought is to be expelled. Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ. All animal propensities are to be subjected to the higher powers of the soul. The love of God must reign supreme; Christ must occupy an undivided throne. Our bodies are to be regarded as His purchased possession. The members of the body are to become the instruments of righteousness.” The Adventist Home, 127.

5 Upon what will the sanctified person’s mind dwell? Philippians 4:8.

note: “You need to be sanctified through the truth. . . . Will you see the work to be done for you and take hold of it without delay, that your influence may be saving? Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. . . .

“There are enough profitable subjects upon which to meditate and converse. The conversation of the Christian should be in heaven, whence we look for the Saviour. Meditation upon heavenly things is profitable, and will ever be accompanied with the peace and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Our calling is holy, our profession exalted. God is purifying unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. He is sitting as a refiner and purifier of silver. When the dross and tin are removed, then His image will be perfectly reflected in us. . . . When the truth has a sanctifying influence upon our hearts and lives, we can render to God acceptable service and can glorify Him upon the earth, being partakers of the divine nature and having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 317.

6 What was the law respecting the sanctifying of a man’s substance to the Lord? If he chose to exchange that which he had sanctified, how much was he to add to it? Leviticus 27:14–19.

note: “According to the amount bestowed will be the amount required. The larger the capital entrusted, the more valuable is the gift which God requires to be returned to Him. If a Christian has ten or twenty thousand dollars, God’s claims are imperative upon him, not only to give his proportion according to the tithing system, but to present his sin offerings and thank offerings to God. The Levitical dispensation was distinguished in a remarkable manner by the sanctification of property. When we speak of the tithe as the standard of the Jewish contributions to religious purposes, we do not speak understandingly. The Lord kept His claims paramount, and in almost every article they were reminded of the Giver by being required to make returns to Him. They were required to pay a ransom for their firstborn son, for the first fruits of their flocks, and for the first gathering of the harvest. They were required to leave the corners of their harvest fields for the destitute. Whatever dropped from their hands in reaping was left for the poor, and once in every seven years their lands were allowed to produce spontaneously for the needy. Then there were the sacrificial offerings, the trespass offerings, the sin offerings, and the remission of all debts every seventh year. There were also numerous expenses for hospitalities and gifts to the poor, and there were assessments upon their property.

“At stated periods, in order to preserve the integrity of the law, the people were interviewed as to whether they had faithfully performed their vows or not. A conscientious few made returns to God of about one third of all their income for the benefit of religious interests and for the poor. These exactions were not from a particular class of the people, but from all, the requirement being proportioned according to the amount possessed. Besides all these systematic and regular donations there were special objects calling for freewill offerings, such as the tabernacle built in the wilderness and the temple erected at Jerusalem. These drafts were made by God upon the people for their own good, as well as to sustain His service.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 467, 468.

7 Could that which had been sanctified be taken back, and no equivalent given? Leviticus 27:28, 29.

note: “The Lord declared that he required his husbandmen to give him the returns of his vineyard. Men are not to use their possessions as their own, but only as intrusted to them. The Lord’s portion is to be faithfully returned to him. ‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.’ [Leviticus 27:30–33.]

“The statutes regarding the Lord’s portion were often repeated that the people might not forget them. They were to return to God his rental money. This he claimed as his portion. Their physical and mental powers as well as their money were to be used for him. His vineyard was to be faithfully cultivated, so that a large income could be returned to him in tithes and offerings. A portion was to be set apart for the sustenance of the ministry, and was to be used for no other purpose. Gifts and offerings were to be made to relieve the necessity of the church. Means was to be appropriated for the relief of the poor and suffering.” Review and Herald, July 17, 1900.

8 Does the Lord require men to devote their substance to His service, and make offerings to Him? Psalm 76:11.

note: “God has given man a part to act in accomplishing the salvation of his fellow men. He can work in connection with Christ by doing acts of mercy and beneficence. But he cannot redeem them, not being able to satisfy the claims of insulted justice. This the Son of God alone can do, by laying aside His honor and glory, clothing His divinity with humanity, and coming to earth to humiliate Himself and shed His blood in behalf of the human race.

“In commissioning His disciples to go ‘into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,’ [Mark 16:15.] Christ assigned to men the work of spreading the gospel. But while some go forth to preach, He calls upon others to answer to His claims upon them for tithes and offerings with which to support the ministry and to spread the printed truth all over the land. This is God’s means of exalting man. It is just the work which he needs, for it will stir the deepest sympathies of his heart and call into exercise the highest capabilities of the mind.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 472.

9 Under what circumstances do men usually make vows? Psalm 66:13, 14.

note: “Christ says, ‘Without Me ye can do nothing,’ and He has provided the Holy Spirit as a present help in every time of need. [John 15:5.] But many have a feeble religious experience because, instead of seeking the Lord for the efficiency of the Holy Spirit, they make flesh their arm. Let the people of God be educated to turn to God when in trouble and gain strength from the promises that are yea and amen to every trusting soul. . . .

“The promises of God are full and abundant, and there is no need for anyone to depend upon humanity for strength. To all that call upon Him, God is near to help and succor. And He is greatly dishonored when, after inviting our confidence, we turn from Him—the only One who will not misunderstand us, the only One who can give unerring counsel—to men who in their human weakness are liable to lead us astray.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 381, 382.

The Ten Commandments, Part XVI – Truth or Consequences

God has given the gift of language so that communication can take place between members of the same species. Many animals communicate out of instinct, but man communicates through the gift of speech that God has given to him. The language of communication is given so that cooperation can take place between human beings. Through the use of words, men can cooperate in the process of building up society and getting God’s plan and principles to the entire world.

Language is a bridge between man and man. It is the circulating medium of human exchange—the exchange of thoughts, sentiments, and plans. God has ordained it so. One of the greatest joys that can take place between human beings is communication. Communication plays a very essential part in man being able to get along within the world in which he lives.

The gift of language, like all other gifts that God has given to man, can be exercised for good or for evil. We all know that. So, true to His great purpose for the human family and all that is good, God has placed a guard around language. That guard is found in the ninth commandment.

As we have studied the commandments that deal with man’s relationship to man, we have noted that several of them, as recorded in Deuteronomy 5, begin with “neither” rather than “thou.” Deuteronomy 5:20 states, “Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

The entire Bible really is nothing more and nothing less than an amplification of the Ten Commandments and their application to the human life. In the Scriptures, we find many encounters that are recorded concerning the human experience as it pertains to language. I have not counted them all, but it seems there are more encounters of experience concerning the ninth commandment than any one of the other commandments.

Why would that be? Because the ninth commandment is a delineation between truth and error. Truth and error are outlined in this commandment. It becomes the focal point of the entire great controversy, the great controversy between truth and error. It really has its roots and its focal point in this commandment!

A Universal Sin

Perhaps the reason for this fact is that bearing false witness is such a universal sin. It is how the devil launched his career of rebellion against God. The Bible says that lying originated with the devil; he is the father of all lies. (See John 8:44.) The Greek word, diabolis, translates into the English word, devil. If we were to give it a more literal translation, we would perhaps use the words accuser or slanderer.

The Bible says so much about lies because they have such a deadly nature. To tell a lie is even more criminal, morally speaking, than to counterfeit money or to forge a check. It is more deadly than those things because, if you write a bogus check, you can usually reclaim that check into your possession, but if you tell a lie, the words cannot be recalled. The lie may circulate and circulate, repeated again and again. An excellent illustration of lies is feathers that are blown in the wind—they are impossible to catch.

Lies are a poison. Once administered, the poison is absorbed into the very fabric of social mentality, never again to be reclaimed. We are told that there are poisons that are so deadly that if they are administered directly into the blood stream, they can cause death within three seconds. I believe that the death of a reputation can take place as rapidly as the administering of a poison into the blood stream.

Broad Scope

The ninth commandment has an equally wide range as all of the other commandments. In past articles of this series, we have seen how the commandments presented so far have a spiritual application, a very broad perspective covering the issues of mankind. The ninth commandment is no exception to that.

Its scope forbids all slander, of whatever kind—not just perjury, of telling a falsehood in court. This is where many people have focused the application of the ninth commandment, and, perhaps, in its primary application, that is where this protection originated. God did not want man to swear falsely, to tell lies against someone, so that they could in turn benefit from some item of property or some circumstance of life. So He instructed to not take an oath, to not swear falsely against our neighbor.

This whole matter of telling the truth, in the economy of Israel, was quite a serious matter. This is one of the reasons the Bible says, “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” Deuteronomy 19:15. This takes us right to the trial of Jesus, does it not?

This commandment was designed from the very beginning to vindicate Jesus from death on Calvary’s cross. If God’s Ten Commandments, as they were given on Mount Sinai to the children of Israel, had prevailed all the way down through time, Jesus would never have had to die on Calvary’s cross. It was only because of false testimony that Jesus was convicted and went to the cross. His accusers could not find two witnesses to tell the same story. That is, they could not until they bribed them to do so. It was the violation of this commandment that led to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. If God’s people had allowed this law, which is holy, just, and good, to prevail in their spiritual and practical experiences, Jesus would never have had to die in that way. If Jesus had not died on the cross, He still would have had to die, because the Lamb was to be sacrificed.

Those who gave such false testimony are going to be raised to face the consequence of their sin. They not only lied in a legal proceeding, but they lied to God as well, and the Bible is very clear about how God feels about being lied to Himself. The story of Ananias and Sapphira tells us how God feels about those things. (See Acts 5:1–10.)

Character Assassination

When a false report is circulated concerning someone, it basically constitutes character assassination. Sometimes physical assassination with a gun would be much easier for a person to handle than to be assassinated by words. It is amazing how quickly false reports can circulate about someone.

Pastor John Grosboll shared with me a story about himself. Some people were trying to circulate false reports about him, so they took a photograph of a big, stone mansion, super-imposed pictures of him and his wife, Evelyn, onto it, and circulated the photo around, saying that this was their home, intimating that they were living quite extravagantly. There will be an answering for that false report in the Day of Judgment. It is those kinds of things that this ninth commandment is designed to guard against.

Character or Reputation

Human speech is such an important and precious gift that God has given to us. It is so important that He has given two commandments to help us deal with it.

The third commandment says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7. And then the ninth commandment deals with bearing false witness.

The third commandment safeguards the name of God, and the ninth commandment safeguards the reputation and the character of men. It has been said that character is what you are, and reputation is what others think about you.

False witness, in reality, can harm only a person’s reputation, but a person can damage his or her own character. Character can only be revealed and damaged when a person takes that into his or her own hands. Reputation is what others are saying about you, but your own character can only be damaged by your own self.

Brother’s Keeper

Every man can determine what his own character is going to be, but reputation is our neighbor’s opinion of us and is, therefore, wholly in his or her keeping. God has given this commandment to deal with safeguarding those who are our neighbors. In more ways than one, we are really our brother’s keeper.

This, we find, was the question that was asked in the beginning of time—“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9. Cain asked the Lord this when God asked where his brother was.

We are our brother’s keeper, and when we bear false witness, we betray a very sacred trust for which we will be called into account at the judgment.

Lawful Testimony

“I [Ellen White] was shown that when it is actually necessary, and they are called upon to testify in a lawful manner, it is no violation of God’s word for His children to solemnly take God to witness that what they say is the truth, and nothing but the truth.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 202.

In my years of ministry, I have, it seems, continuously run across people that have a problem with taking an oath to tell the truth. They have refused to go to court for they feel that taking an oath is a violation of the commandments. Yet we read here that Ellen White says that it is not a violation to take God as your witness as far as to tell the truth is concerned. It is the duty, really, of a witness to tell the truth, and if a person does not tell the truth, they bear a false witness or a false testimony.

Amplification

The divine instruction of the ninth commandment is further amplified in Zechariah 8:16, 17: “These [are] the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these [are things] that I hate, saith the Lord.”

In John 18:37, an example is given about the Lord Jesus in this regard, fulfilling this passage in Zechariah. Jesus, speaking to Pilate, says, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” Jesus never minimized nor did he exaggerate the truth in His witnessing. He never bore false testimony nor did he stoop to telling what we might call half-truths, which are sometimes more dangerous than telling a lie.

The track of error lies very close to the track of truth. A half-truth is when you are walking down the middle of the tracks. If you have ever walked along a railroad, you know that the easiest place to walk is between the tracks, but it is also the most dangerous place to walk. A half-truth can be just as dangerous or maybe even more so than an out and out falsehood, because quite often a falsehood can be identified, but if it is coupled with some truth, identifying the error becomes more difficult.

We are living in a world in which not too much is any longer a sacred trust. We in the United States have come through a lot of political experiences—such as the Nixon administration (1969–1974) and Watergate (1972–1975) and the Clinton administration (1993–2001)—in which lies were told. We have come to realize that those who are of greatest example are telling falsehoods, providing a powerful message that it is not important to tell the truth anymore.

God and Lying

There are other texts that indicate how God feels about lying. Read Proverbs 12:22: “Lying lips [are] abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly [are] his delight.”

“A false witness shall not be unpunished, and [he that] speaketh lies shall not escape.” Proverbs 19:5.

“These six [things] doth the Lord hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” Proverbs 6:16–19.

Black or White

It has been said that a lie does not have any legs but that it is carried along with other lies. There is no difference as to the quality of the lie. It still makes its way along.

Is there any difference between a white lie and a black lie? No, there is no difference between a white lie and a black lie. Some people think that it is all right to tell a white lie, but to God, it is all sin.

When I entered into the military service, the soldiers were checked very thoroughly for colorblindness. It was important that a soldier not be colorblind, because, on a battlefield, if somebody shot a flare into the air, he or she needed to know exactly what color the flare was. There were different colored flares for different kinds of situations. Good eyesight, and the ability to recognize different colors, was imperative.

It is said that serious automobile accidents result from people who are colorblind and cannot distinguish between green lights and red lights. The same thing can happen as far as spiritual eyesight is concerned as well. We can be blinded to such an extent that we cannot discern spiritual things very well. Then we have a tendency to skew the truth somewhat, because we are blind.

White lies and black lies are caused by spiritual blindness. Although there may be a tendency to excuse white lies because we think they are harmless, they are still an abomination in the eyes of God. There are people who will lie for their own convenience and for their own profit.

We must have the right estimation of sin, and when our hearts and minds are in accord with Jesus Christ, we will view all things as He does. We will be able to recognize sin and hate it the same way that Jesus does. We will be able to see it in its proper perspective, for, as far as Jesus is concerned, there is no such thing as a white lie or a little sin.

Hate the Sin

The Bible says that Jesus loved righteousness, and He who is the Truth hated iniquity. You know, the Bible says that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To Him that is the Truth, lying is especially hateful; it is in that list of things that He hates.

The Bible tells us, in the Book of Revelation, that all liars, and whoever loves and practices lying, is going to be excluded from the kingdom of heaven. (Revelation 21:8.)

Character Revealed

Words sometimes misrepresent character, and character can be revealed in ways other than words, but it still remains true that words are the chief revealer of character. If you want to know the character of a person, listen to him talk for a while. Character will usually be revealed in that way.

In Matthew 12:34, Jesus is talking to the Scribes and the Pharisees, and He says, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” From this text, we can see that words represent character; thus, words translate into a language that can be read by everyone.

Now, if we trace the word, character, back to its origin, we find that it means, “that which is marked, engraved, or lettered.” So, when we think about a person’s character, it is marked, engraved, and lettered. A man’s character is basically an inscription that is read concerning his habits and his lifestyle. His words characterize him; they give his characteristics. We are going to be judged by every word that we speak. Our speech is going to be a revelation of our character, and if our character is not in harmony with God’s Law, we are going to be closed out of the kingdom of heaven.

What About Your Speech?

Now, consider a few questions in the light of having to face the judgment. What is the character of your words, the tenor of your speech? Are you truthful in all things? Do your words always, and exactly, represent your opinions, your purposes, and your feelings? Do you avoid all lies—white or black? Do you avoid all false suggestions and double meanings?

Quite often we can be asked a question, and we can give an answer, thinking that we have not told a lie. But we have perhaps avoided answering the question, thinking that that is not telling a lie. However, if we are asked a question and we avoid giving a truthful answer, by giving another answer, that is telling a lie, and for that we come under the condemnation of God.

Control the Tongue

The tongue is a mighty, mighty power. It can be used for good, or it can be used for evil. Since it has these two barrels and two triggers, it needs to be kept under control. The Book of James has some tremendous things to say about this subject. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” James 1:19.

And then consider James 3:1–10: “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same [is] a perfect man, [and] able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though [they be] so great, and [are] driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whither-soever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”

The Bible says that the tongue is not able to be tamed, but it is talking about a natural man. It is talking about someone who is not under the control of God. God can tame anything that we submit to Him, whether it be our attitudes, our actions, or our tongues. He can deal with it. Our tongues are powerful things, and most of us struggle with it continuously. But if we get up each morning and submit ourselves to God, with His help we will be able to resist the devil, and our tongues will be controlled.

God’s People

We know that God is going to have a people, and those people are going to be purified. Zephaniah 3:13 says: “The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid.”

Who are the remnant of Israel?

Is this the same as the remnant church? Yes, it is. The remnant are going to be virgins. The Bible ties this all together. The remnant are going to be God’s chosen who are going to go through the final end of all things. How do I know that? Because the Book of Revelation tells us that.

Revelation 14 begins by telling the story of the 144,000. They are standing there with the Father’s name written in their foreheads, and verse 5 says: “And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”

Here are the qualifications for God’s people. God’s people are not only going to worship Him as their God, but they are going to be Sabbath keepers. They are going to be obedient to every aspect of God’s law, and that includes the ninth commandment, which, when properly addressed, allows the character to develop with no deceitfulness, no falsehoods, and no false witness. God’s people will have a lifestyle that is going to meet His high standard.

Of course, there is only one way that that can happen, and that is for us to submit ourselves to Him and allow Him to burn out the character defects in our lives, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why the Holy Spirit has been illustrated with fire. The fire is to turn to ashes those sinful traits in our lives, so we can rightly represent the character of Christ.

Of Great Importance

The ninth commandment is a very important commandment. It is a special commandment that applies in so many ways across the experience and spectrum of mankind. Regarding it, Ellen White has written:

“The ninth commandment requires of us an inviolable regard for exact truth in every declaration by which the character of our fellow men may be affected. The tongue, which is kept so little under the control of the human agent, is to be bridled by strong conscientious principles, by the law of love toward God and man.

“False-speaking in any matter, every attempt or purpose to deceive our neighbor, is here included. An intention to deceive is what constitutes falsehood. By a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, an expression of the countenance, a falsehood may be told as effectually as by words. All intentional overstatement, every hint or insinuation calculated to convey an erroneous or exaggerated impression, even the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead, is falsehood. This precept forbids every effort to injure our neighbor’s reputation by misrepresentation or evil surmising, by slander or tale-bearing. Even the intentional suppression of truth, by which injury may result to others, is a violation of the ninth commandment.

“He [Jesus] teaches that the exact truth should be the law of speech. ‘Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay.’ [Matthew 5:37.] . . . These words condemn all those meaningless phrases and expletives that border on profanity. They condemn the deceptive compliments, the evasion of truth, the flattering phrases, the exaggerations, the misrepresentations in trade, that are current in society and in the business world. They teach that no one who tries to appear what he is not, or whose words do not convey the real sentiment of his heart, can be called truthful. . . .

“Everything that Christians do should be as transparent as the sunlight. Truth is of God; deception, in every one of its myriad forms, is of Satan. . . . We can not speak the truth unless our minds are continually guided by Him who is truth.” Sons and Daughters of God, 64.

To be continued . . .

A retired minister of the gospel, Pastor Mike Baugher may be contacted by e-mail at: landmarks@stepstolife.org.