We’re going to read a story that occurred right after the great victory that Elijah had on Mount Carmel, after he had killed 850 of the prophets of the idolatrous religions.  And it says, in I Kings 19:1–18, “And Ahab declared to Jezebel all which Elijah had done, and all that he had killed, concerning the prophets, with the sword.  And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘Thus let them, the gods, do and more, if tomorrow about this time I do not make your soul as one of them.’  And he was afraid.  And he arose and he went for his life.  And he came to Beersheba, which was to Judah, and he left his servant there.  And he went into the wilderness a day’s journey.  He came and sat under a certain broom tree.  And he asked for his soul that he might die, and said, ‘It’s too much!  Now, Jehovah, take away my soul, because I am not better than my fathers.’  And he laid down and he slept under the broom tree.  And behold, an angel was touching him, and said to him, ‘Arise, eat.’  And he looked and behold, at his head there was a cake on hot stones and a jar of water.  And he ate and he drank, and he turned and he lay down.  And he, the angel of Jehovah, returned a second time, and touched him, and he said, ‘Arise, eat, because the journey is too much for you.’  And he arose, and he ate, and he drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights until he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.  And he came there to a cave, and he lodged there.  And behold, the word of Jehovah was to him, and He said to him, ‘what are you doing here Elijah?’  And he said, ‘I have been exceedingly jealous for Jehovah, the God of Hosts, because they [Israel] have forsaken Your covenant, and Your altars they have thrown down, and your prophets they have killed with the sword.  I alone am left, and they seek my soul to take it.’  And He said, ‘Go out, and stand in the mountain before Jehovah.’  And behold Jehovah passing by, and a great and strong wind tearing the mountains and breaking the rocks before Jehovah.  But not Jehovah was in the wind.  And afterward, after the wind an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake.  And after the earthquake a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire, and after the fire, a voice.  A small whisper.  And it was as Elijah heard it.  And he wrapped his face in his mantel and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  And behold, to him, a voice.  And He said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’  And he said, ‘I have been exceedingly jealous for Jehovah, the God of Hosts, because they have forsaken Your covenant, the sons of Israel.  And Your altars they have thrown down, and Your prophets they have killed with the sword.  And I myself alone am left, and they seek my soul to take it.’  And Jehovah said to him, ‘Go, return to your way by the way of the wilderness to Damascas, and you shall come and you shall anoint Hazeal to be king over Syria.  And Jehu, son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be king over Israel.  And Elisha, son of Shaphat, from Abel-Melehah, you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.  And it shall be, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazeal, Jehu will kill.  And the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.  But I have left in Israel seven thousand, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.’ ” 

Elijah was a human being with like passions and weaknesses as other human beings.  He had prayed to the Lord that it might not rain, and it had not rained for three and a half years.  He had the attention of the whole world.  He had achieved a marvelous victory over the false, idolatrous religions on Mount Carmel and had killed all their prophets.  God was going to give him an even bigger victory than he had had on Mount Carmel, but he got scared.  So instead of the great victory that the Lord was going to do for him, he missed his chance, and he ran away.  In his running away to the cave, he missed experiencing the great victory that the Lord had in mind for him—a victory over Jezebel that would have been even greater than anything that had happened up to that time.  But he got afraid, like we often do as human beings.  He lost his courage; he lost his confidence.  He became discouraged, and he began to run. 

Do you know anyone that’s run to the cave?  Because of the apostasy of the church, some people have said, “I have to go and flee.”  Now, for three and a half years, in Elijah’s day, home churches had started, and the work had gone largely underground.  But now, God was going to bring His work out into the open again.  He was, in a most public manner, going to vindicate His own honor and glory.  But, the Lord couldn’t do what He wanted to do, because Elijah got scared and ran to the cave.  We will never know until we get to the Kingdom of Heaven what could have happened, if Elijah had not lost his courage on this occasion.

Oh, friend, what victories, what wonderful experiences the Lord wants to give you that you are losing out on, because you have run away!  Because of fanaticism in home churches, people say, “I can’t go there anymore; I’m going to have to go and flee to the cave.”  They’re going to run away from the problem. 

If we are Christians, we will not seek to be praised or exalted of men, and we will not be drawn away from the work by bribes or any flattering inducements.  This Day With God, page 316, says: “Christians will not be driven from their post of duty by fear or by reproach, by accusation, hatred, or persecution.” 

How is it with you, friend?  Have you run away from your post of duty?  God has a special place for you to work in this world just as much as there is for you a mansion in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Just as much as there is for you a permanent dwelling up there, God has a special place in this world where you are to work for Him.  But, if you run away from your post of duty because you’re afraid or because you’ve been reproached or because you’ve been accused or because of hatred or because of persecution, then you’re going to miss out on what God wants to do for you.  Oh, friend, where are you right now?  Are you at your post of duty enduring the reproach, the accusation, the hatred, the persecution, whatever is happening?  Are you at your post of duty?  Are you a faithful, loyal, true soldier for the King of Heaven, or have you lost your courage?  Are you discouraged?  Have you run away?  Are you living in a cave somewhere?  Are you in the cave of discouragement? 

You see, the devil is always trying to destroy; he’s always trying to cast his hellish shadow between your soul and my soul and the light of Jesus, the Son of Righteousness.  If we talk doubts, if we distrust our Heavenly Father’s love, then Satan comes in and deepens the impression, and that which was only a shadow is made the blackness of despair.  Friend, your only hope is to cease talking darkness.  In dwelling on the dark side, you cast away your confidence in God, and this is just what Satan wants you to do.  Satan wants to sift you as wheat, but Jesus is making intercession for you. 

The love of Jesus is broad and deep.  Perhaps you wonder how you can know He loves you.  Look to the cross of Calvary.  The blood shed upon the cross cleanses from every sin.  When you are tempted to go into the dark cave of doubt and despair, you can say, “Arise, my soul, arise, shake off your guilt and fears; the bleeding Sacrifice in my behalf appears; before the throne my Surety stands, my name is written on His hands.”  Do not stay away from Jesus, because He loves you.  You may say, “He will not hear my prayers, I am a sinner.”  But Christ says, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” 

Salvation is a gift offered to you free.  On no other condition can we obtain it than as a free gift, but our cooperation is essential.  Philippians 2:12, 13 says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”  Every one of us is fitting ourselves day by day for weal or for woe.  We are daily working out our destiny.  We have a crown of eternal life to win; we have a hell to shun. 

Now, we certainly cannot save ourselves.  Christ came to give His life that He might pay the ransom for our souls.  But listen, when He has made this infinite sacrifice, will He regard us with indifference?  He is ready to help us wherever we are, whenever we feel our need of help and come to Him penitent and believing. 

If we have affliction or sickness in our home, we do not have to go about with a gloomy countenance, for this only increases our sorrow and that of others.  What we want is to encourage cheerfulness.  Do not go about in mortal sadness as if Jesus were in Joseph’s tomb and a great stone were rolled before the door, because Jesus has arisen from the tomb.  He lives!  Do not please Satan by carrying a sad, mournful countenance.

How careful the Lord Jesus is to give us no occasion to despair.  He writes to His apostle, “If any man sin we have an advocate with the father.”  Jesus fences about the soul from Satan’s fierce attacks.  He wants you to know that if through manifold temptations you have been surprised or deceived into sin, He does not turn from you; He will not leave you to perish.  No, our crucified Lord is pleading for each one of us in the presence of His Father at the Throne of Grace.  His atoning sacrifice we may plead for our pardon, our justification, and our sanctification.  This is our hope.  Our faith looks upon Him and grasps Him as the One Who can save to the uttermost and the fragrance of the all-sufficient offering is accepted of the Father.

Do you realize that, in Matthew 28:18, Jesus said that to Him was committed all power, all authority in heaven and earth?  “All things are possible to him that believes.”  Mark 9:23.  Christ’s glory is concerned with your success.  He has a common interest in all humanity and every human being.  He is your sympathizing Saviour.  Romans 5:10 says, “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”  We have One who is a helper in every time of need, as you can read in Hebrews 4:16, so we have no time for repining; we have no time for unbelief.  We have no time to stay away from Jesus.  If you’re going through a severe trial right now, press closer to Jesus, to His bleeding side. 

When the whole world was under condemnation, Christ came and took upon Himself our guilt, and He has ransomed the sinner.  If it had been God’s choice to destroy you as disobedient, He might in justice have swept the earth clean from all guilty transgressors.  But God says through the prophet, “As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”  Ezekiel 33:11. 

Oh, friend, the Heaven of Heavens is wondering; the earth— everyone who is a thinking person and who is studying this or has studied this—is astonished, because the Son of God has died on the shameful cross of Calvary.  He did it not because He had to, but because He did not want a world to perish.  He wants to bring life, everlasting life, to every person who would believe.  That includes you.  He wants to save you, and He will save you, if you will allow Him to.  Can you look to the cross of Calvary and then question the love of Jesus?  The stone is rolled away from the sepulcher; Christ has risen.  You can rejoice, because there is hope for you. 

You can pray to the Lord Jesus that a holy influence may be brought into your life.  What will that holy influence do for your life?  Oh, friend, when Jesus brings the Holy Spirit into your life, that will subdue every passion; it will hush every murmuring thought.  It will exalt your affections and purify your heart.  Read about it in Romans 8:1–14.  James says “Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, that is the crown of righteousness.” 

It’s time to look up.  Look up and come out of the cave of discouragement and unbelief and stand with God.  If you dwell upon your trials, you will have a hopeless life.  If you look beyond the shadow to Jesus, your only Hope, you will see the bright beams of the Son of righteousness.  We must realize how much He bore for us and then count it not a mark of God’s anger that we have some trials to bear for Jesus.  If you trust God, the trials will always prove a blessing, and your faith will come forth the brighter, the stronger, the purer. 

Satan is always trying to press the soul into distrust of God.  Don’t let him force you into the cave of discouragement and unbelief.  God says, “Come out of the cave and stand with Me.”  That’s what He said to Elijah, “Come out of the cave.”  Do not take your eyes off Jesus.  There will be times, and there are times for all of us, when there is despondency, as we realize our unlikeness to Christ.  Our lives might seem like a tangle, but if we commit ourselves completely to the wise Master Worker, He will bring out that pattern of life and character according to His plan, for our good and His own glory.  Do not take your eyes off Jesus. 

In the last conflict in this great controversy between good and evil, God has given to us the final warning to give to the world.  The Christian world today is honoring a false Sabbath, and we are to show them its true character and foundation.  We must make it plain to them that they are honoring a man-made institution in place of that which God Himself has sanctified.  Every rival to God must be made to appear as an idol.  The people of the world are going to try to induce us to soften down our message.  They will try to get us to suppress some of its distinctive features.  They will say, “Why don’t you make the seventh-day Sabbath less prominent in your teaching?”  They will give us the invitation to compromise, and some in the Seventh-day Adventist church today want to accept this policy.  They are bound by false modesty and caution and want to withhold the confession of our faith.  Some Adventists have discussed the feasibility of taking the word “seventh-day” off their name and conceding to these demands to make the Sabbath less prominent.  But let me ask you the question: Do you want to permit the world to shape the messages that God has given to His people to bear to them?  Are we going to entertain the proposals of Satan and thereby entangle our souls and the souls of others for the sake of policy?  Shall we betray sacred trust?  If the world is in error, if the world is in delusion, breaking the Law of God, is it not our duty to show them their sin and danger?  We must proclaim the third angel’s message.  Shall we run to the cave or shall we stand at our post of duty, even when we’re threatened by Jezebel?

We are not to cringe; we are not to beg pardon of the world for telling them the truth.  The Bible says, “Cry aloud and spare not.”  We should scorn concealment; we are to unfurl our true colors to the gaze of men and angels.  It must be understood that people who are part of the Second Advent movement can make no compromise.  In our opinions and faith there must not be the least appearance of wavering.  The world has a right to expect something of those who claim to be looking for the soon appearing of Christ in the clouds of Heaven.  Are they going to look upon us as dishonest, because we are hiding our real sentiments, because we have fled to the cave because of principles of policy, because we give a semblance of being uncommitted?  Oh, friend, the voice of God is calling us as it did Elijah.  God says, “Come out of the cave.”  Come out of the cave.  Stand with God, and hear what He will say to you.  Come unto divine guidance, and let the Comforter lead and guide you into all truth. 

Oh, friend, God said to Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?  What are you doing here?” 

Elijah said, “Oh, I’m the only one left.”

The Lord said, “No, you’re not the only one left.  I have 7,000 left.” 

The cave of discouragement and unbelief is not the only cave that people run to.  Some people run to the cave of darkness—the cave of the darkness of unconfessed sin.  Now, right now, it is not too late for wrongs to be righted.  Christ invites us to come and take the water of life freely.  (See Revelation 22:17.)  But don’t let anybody deceive you, friend, with the sophistry that excuses sin.  Do not let any man make light of the warnings and reproofs of the Spirit of God that we dare not tolerate sin, that we dare not remain with blinded eyes in the cave of darkness of unconfessed sin.  We must say that we will not be deceived and blinded any longer. 

In the Review and Herald, December 16, 1890, Ellen White wrote a long article on the necessity of confession of our sins.  Toward the end of this article she said: “Come out of the cave, and stand with God on the mount, and see what the Lord has to say to you.  Have implicit faith in God, and do not depend upon self.

“ ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. . . .  I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.  I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.’

“ ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.’ ” 

God wants to forgive your sins, but He has set down some rules in the Scriptures that you must follow if you want your sins forgiven. 

Suppose that one brother misjudges another.  Now he might have had opportunity to learn whether his suspicions were well-founded, but instead of waiting to do this, he repeats to others his evil surmising.  Thus, evil thoughts are stirred in them, and the evil becomes widespread.  And all the time, the one pronounced guilty is not told of the matter; there is no investigation; there is no inquiry made directly of him so that he might have an opportunity either to acknowledge his fault or to clear himself from unjust superstition.  A serious wrong has been done to this brother, because his brethren did not have the moral courage to go directly to him and talk with him freely in the spirit of Christian love.  Ellen White wrote, “From all who have thus neglected their duty, confession is due.”  Ibid. 

How can the prayer that Christ gave in John 17, for the unity of His people and His church, be answered by one who has wronged his brother and whose heart is not softened by the grace of Christ so that he will make confession?  How can his brethren, who know the facts, still have unshaken confidence in him while he seems to feel no conviction of the Spirit of God?  He is doing a wrong to the whole church, especially if he occupies a position of responsibility, for he is encouraging others to disregard the Word of God, to pass along with sins unconfessed.  Many a one will sing in heart, if not in words, “There is an elder of the church.  He does not make confession of his errors and yet he remains an honored member of the church.  If he does not confess, neither will I.  If he feels that it is perfectly safe for him not to show any contrition, I too, will risk it.”  Ellen White writes, “This reasoning is all wrong; nevertheless it is common.  The church is leavened with the spirit of self-justification, a disposition to confess nothing, to make no signs of humiliation.  Who is willing to bear the responsibility of this state of things?  Who has turned the lame out of the way.

“My brethren, if you have thus placed a stumbling-stone in the path of others, your first duty is to remove it, by doing justice to your brother.  You have thought evil of him, you have said things untrue, because you have gathered up hearsay; you worked in blindness of mind, and now, if you would cure the wound, confess your mistake, and seek to be in complete harmony with your brother.  This is the only way to correct your errors.  Confess to your brother, and bind him close to your heart, so that you can labor together in love and unity.”  Ibid.  

Ellen White went on to say that if we have misjudged our brother, if we have in the least degree weakened his influence so that the message that God has given him to bear has been made of little or no effect, if we have resisted the Spirit of God by our attitude and words, we need to remember that Jesus says “In as much as you have done it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it to me.”  Jesus identifies His interest with that of every human soul, whether a believer or unbeliever.   Remember Jesus said that God marks the fall of a sparrow.  That same God marks our deportment and mind.  He marks our feelings.  He marks our envy, our prejudice.  He marks our attempt to justify our actions in the least matter of injustice.  If we misconceive the words and acts of another and our feelings are stirred so that we make incorrect statements, when it is known that we have variance, we are to go to our brother, and we are to regard him as we would ourselves.  As the root of bitterness springs up, many are defiled.  When it becomes evident that our feelings are incorrect, we must try just as diligently to remove the erroneous impressions as we did to make them.

God requires this, friend.  If we have done the least injustice to someone else, we are to confess our fault, not only to the one we have injured but to those who, through our influence, have been led to regard our brother in a false light and to make of none effect the work God has given him to do.  If pride and stubbornness close our lips, then the sin will stand against us on the heavenly record.  It will still stand there in the Day of Judgment, and it will be our ruin at that time.  

None can say that he never makes a mistake; none of us can say that we have never sinned at all, but the important thing is what we are doing about the wrongs we have done or spoken.  Are we falling on the rock and being broken so that Jesus can give us a new heart and a new spirit?  That’s what David did; that’s why he was forgiven.  Even though he had committed heinous sins, he was forgiven, because he humbled himself; he confessed his sins; he confessed them to God, and he confessed them to man. 

So, whatever the character of our sins, we are to confess them.  If they are to God only, then we are to confess to Him.  But if we have wronged or offended others, we are to confess to them.  We must remember, whatever our position, that those men that are in the highest positions are just as dependent on God as the humblest of their brethren.

Do you, when you make a mistake, make any effort to correct the wrong?  If we go on, if we indulge stubbornness of heart and through pride and self-righteousness do not confess our faults, Mrs. White predicted that we will be left subject to Satan’s temptations.  “If when the Lord reveals your errors you do not repent or make confession, his providence will bring you over the ground again and again.  You will be left to make mistakes of a similar character; you will continue to lack wisdom, and will call sin righteousness, and righteousness sin.  The multitude of deceptions that will prevail in these last days will encircle you, and you will change leaders, and not know that you have done so.”  Ibid. 

If you or I die with our mistakes concealed, unconfessed, then we die in our sins.  That’s what Jesus told the Jews was going to happen to them.  He said, “If you don’t believe that I’m the One, you’re going to die in your sin.”  The permanent dwellings that Jesus has gone to prepare for all that love Him “will be peopled by those who are free from sin.  But sins that are not confessed will never be forgiven; the name of him who thus rejects the grace of God will be blotted out of the book of life.  The time is at hand when every secret thing shall be brought into judgment, and then there will be many confessions made that will astonish the world.”  Ibid.

Ellen White describes it like this: “The secrets of all hearts will be revealed.  The confession of sin will be most public.  The sad part of it is that confession then made will be too late to benefit the wrong-doer or to save others from deception.  It only testifies that his condemnation is just.  He gained nothing by his pride and self-sufficiency and stubbornness, for his own life was embittered.  He ruined his own character so that he was not a fit subject for Heaven, and by his influence he lured others to ruin.”  Ibid.  There you have it.  There’s the person who remains in the cave, the dark cave of sin that is unconfessed.

Some people have run away.  They have run away from their duty to proclaim God’s message, and they’re in the cave of discouragement and despair and unbelief.  But other people have run away from their duty of confessing their sins, and they are in the cave, the dark cave of unconfessed sin, and they will never be saved unless they come out of the cave so that they’re not concealed any more but are confessed and made right.  The Scripture says, “Whoever covers his sins will not prosper.  But the one who confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” 

There is the cave of discouragement.  There is the dark cave of sin unconfessed.  There is also the cave of bigotry.  There are many people that are in the cave of bigotry.

Ellen White wrote a long letter to one of the leading Adventist ministers of her time.  Toward the end of this letter she wrote: “Do not say, There are some things I do not understand.  Of course there are.  Your mind is clouded, but take one step that you do see, then you can see another.  O, kindle your taper from the divine altar before it is everlastingly too late!  Remove the stumbling blocks at once without any delay.  When God helps you you will be helped to see your own weakness and the inefficiency and the glory and majesty of Christ.  The voice of God calls you as it did Elijah, Come out of the cave and stand with God and hear what he will say unto you.  When you will come under the divine guidance, the comforter will lead you into all truth.  The office of the Holy Spirit is to take the things of Christ as they fall from his lips and infuse them as living principles into the hearts opened to receive them.  Then we will know both the Father and the Son.”  The Ellen G. White 1888 Material, 799, 800.

She told him that God was calling him as He did Elijah to come out of the cave and stand with God.  This minister was dwelling in the cave of bigotry and unbelief.  She continues writing to him, saying, “I have many things written for you, but I have said What good will it do.  My brethren have trifled and caviled and criticised and commented and demerited, and picked and chosen a little and refused much until the testimonies mean nothing to them.”  Ibid.  Oh, friends, these are people that have asked so many doubting questions that they have lost confidence; they have lost their belief; they have lost their faith.  They have lost their trust in the Spirit of Prophecy, in the prophetic ministry of Ellen White to the remnant church, to God’s last people in the last days. 

Somebody says, “Well, I can get along with the Bible alone.”  Wait a minute!  In Revelation 12:17, the two identifying marks of God’s last-day people are clearly identified.  These marks are [1] that they keep the commandments of God and [2] that they have the testimony of Jesus Christ.  The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy.  (See Revelation 19:10.)  So, one of the two identifying marks of God’s last-day people is that they will have the Spirit of Prophecy.

Now, if you lose confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy and you don’t believe it any more, then you can’t be part of God’s last-day people.  You might call yourself anything you want, but you’re not part of the people described in Revelation 12:17.  You’re in the cave of bigotry and unbelief. 

Somebody says, “Pastor John, how can I believe?  I’ve heard this; I’ve heard that. . . .”  They’ve heard this criticism, these comments, these demerits, these trifling comments, the doubts that have been expressed, the picking and choosing—choosing little and refusing much—until, Ellen White says, the testimonies mean nothing to them.  Friend, there is an abundance of evidence, if you’re willing to look at the weight of evidence.  But if you dwell on what you don’t understand about the Bible or what you don’t understand about Ellen White, you’re going to end up in the cave of bigotry and unbelief.  These people put whatever interpretation they want upon the Bible; they do the same thing with the Spirit of Prophecy.  They choose in their own finite judgement, and they are satisfied.  Ellen White was so beset by this that she had the same temptation that Elijah did—to run away to the cave.

To this minister she said, “‘I would, if I had dared given up this field of conflict long ago, but something has held me.  But I will not choose my way or my will.  In the life of Christ in the time of his greatest trial, one of his disciples betrayed and another thrice denied him, and all forsook him and fled.  If the Master who was without the taint of sin endured this, then shall I expect any better portion?  O, how many tried to find witness against Christ.  The most cruel, and the most incurable thing is bigotry and prejudice and it lives just as firmly in human hearts today as when Christ was upon the earth.”  Ibid., 800, 801. 

Oh, friend, there are multitudes of people who claim to be Christians; there are multitudes of people who claim to be Seventh-day Adventists who are in the cave of bigotry and unbelief.  She says it’s the most cruel, most incurable thing.  It’s incurable.  Your only chance is to come to Jesus, to walk out of the cave and say, “Lord, I choose to accept the weight of evidence You have given.  Please teach me; tell me what You want to say to me.  I choose to come out of the cave and stand with You, and I pray that You will teach me.  I pray that You will bring me under Your divine guidance, that Your Comforter will guide me and lead me into all truth, as Jesus has promised.” 

Quit talking doubt.  Jesus never complimented doubt.  He always rebuked it.  Ellen White said, “I leave all this in the hands of God.”  Ibid., 801.  People are still travailing; they’re still criticizing; they’re still trifling; they’re commenting on; they’re still demeriting; they’re still picking and choosing a little and refusing much, just like they were in her day—maybe worse.  She said, “I leave all this in the hands of God.  I feel cut loose from many of my brethren, they do not understand me or my mission or my work, for if they did they could never have pursued the course they have done.”  Ibid. 

So, some people are in the cave of discouragement and despair.  Some people are in the dark cave of sin that is unconfessed, that’s covered up.  Some people are in the cave of bigotry and unbelief.  They’re just as much a prisoner as the others.

Ellen White says this cave of bigotry and unbelief is the most cruel, most incurable thing.  And she says this bigotry and prejudice that is so cruel and so incurable lives just as firmly in human hearts today as when Christ was upon the earth.  Oh, friend, where are you?  Are you one of the cave dwellers?  Are you in the cave of discouragement and doubt?  Are you in the cave of sin that has never been confessed, but is covered up and concealed?  Are you in the cave of bigotry and unbelief?

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.”  How are you going to be the light of the world if you’re in the cave?  Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.”  How are you going to do that if you’re in the cave? 

There are some who will observe the example and feel the influence of a consistent Christian life.  Jesus does not bid the Christian to strive to shine.  He says, “Let your light shine.”  Let it shine in clear and distinct ways to the world.  Oh, friend, Jesus said men do not light a lamp and then put it under a basket!  They put it on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all that are in the house.  Don’t take your light and run to the cave.  If God has given you the light of the Three Angels’ Messages, if you understand the light of the Spirit of Prophecy that has been given to God’s remnant people to lead us back to all of Bible truth, don’t take your light and run to the cave and hide it.  Don’t put a blanket over your light.  Don’t sinfully withhold your light.  Don’t let the mist and the fog and malaria of the world put out your light.  Don’t hide it under a bed, under a bushel basket, but set it on the lamp stand, so it can give light to all that are in the house.  You don’t have to take pains to exalt yourself to shine.  Neither do you have to go into a cave as Elijah did in his discouragement.  The Lord said to Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?  Come out.  Come out and stand with God and shine.” 

God wants you to shine; He wants you to be used by Him as an instrument in His hand to penetrate the moral darkness of our world.  Oh yes, many in the world won’t like it.  Because they won’t like it, are you going to stand in a cave?  There are many people today who have the light of truth, who because of fear, because of persecution, because of hatred, because of accusation have run with the light.  They have taken their light to the cave; they have forsaken their post of duty in discouragement and doubt and fear; they have run to the cave.  They have run to the cave of discouragement.  But God is speaking to you saying, “What are you doing here?  Come out; let your light shine.” 

There are others who are in the cave, the dark cave of sin that is unconfessed.  They feel that because of their high position—as a minister, an elder, a deacon, a Sabbath-school teacher, Sabbath-school superintendent, somebody who is well-known, somebody who is looked up to, is respected—they cannot humble themselves to confess something wrong that they have said or done.  Oh, friend, that’s the way to guarantee your destruction and ruin at the end of the world.  The one who stays in the cave, the dark cave of sin unconfessed, will lose his own soul.  He that covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes his sin will have mercy.  The Scripture says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive to us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Oh, friend, don’t stay in the dark cave of unconfessed sin and then wonder why you don’t have the Holy Spirit, why you don’t have light, why you don’t have peace, and why you have all these negative and gloomy emotions.  You’re in the cave friend, if your sins are unconfessed, if you’ve covered them up. 

Then there are the people that are in the cave of bigotry and doubt and unbelief—the people who have picked a little, chosen a little, and refused much, trifled and caviled and criticized and demerited and commented and expressed their doubts so much that now their whole soul is filled with doubt and gloom and darkness.  They’re in the cave of bigotry and unbelief.  That cave is so terrible that Ellen White said it’s absolutely incurable.  Your only chance is to come out of the cave and ask the Lord to cure you.  He’s the only One that can cure you from the doubt, the bigotry and the unbelief.  But He’s saying to you too, just like He said to Elijah, “What are you doing here?”  What are you doing in the cave of discouragement?  What are you doing in the cave of bigotry and unbelief?  What are you doing in the dark cave of sin that is unconfessed?  What wonderful things the Lord wants to do for you are you missing out on, because instead of standing at your post of duty and seeing the Lord fight your battles and give you victory, you are in the cave, you have run away?  Oh, friend, there are multitudes of Adventists today who have forsaken their posts of duty, because of discouragement or because of bigotry or because of gloom and doubt or because of unbelief or because they’ve lost their courage because of all the sins that they are covering up.  They are in the cave.  God says, like He said to Elijah, “What are you doing here?  Come out of the cave and stand with God on the mountain and see Him work in your life.”  Let your light shine, and you will see the salvation of God. 

The troubles you have, the doubts you have, the discouragements you have—there is only One who has the solution to all these.  But if you want the solution, you must not stay in the cave.  You must not stay in the cave; you must not keep running away from your problem.  You must come out of the cave and stand with God on the mountain.  Let your light shine, and ask the Lord to give you the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to guide you into all truth, to sustain you in the battle. 

Oh, friend, very soon the Three Angels’ Messages are going to triumph.  When the Three Angels’ Messages triumph, everybody who has remained faithful at their post of duty will triumph with them.  But what’s going to happen to the people who stay in the cave?  Friend, I don’t want to talk about that.  You need to think it through.  What’s going to happen to the people that stay in the cave?  Elijah didn’t stay in the cave.  Elijah came out of the cave.  Elijah went back to his post of duty. 

Oh, friend, how is it with you?  Somebody has probably either been in the cave or on their way to the cave or in that cave right now.  What are you going to do, friend?  Are you going to stay in the cave and lose eternal life?  Or are you going to come out of the cave and stand with the Lord on the mountain and let your light shine and receive the Holy Spirit?  Go back to your post of duty and fight the battles of the Lord, asking Him to help you, and win a great victory though His power and might.  God wants to do great things for you, friend.  He wants to give you victories that you’ve never yet experienced.  He wanted to give Elijah a victory that he’d never experienced, even greater than he’d experienced on Mount Carmel.  But Elijah lost out because he ran away from his post of duty and ran to the cave.  He had to come out of the cave and go back to his post of duty.

How is it with you, friend?  Are you in the cave of discouragement?  Are you in the cave of despair, of unbelief?  Are you in the cave, the dark cave of unconfessed sin?  Are you in the cave of bigotry and unbelief, because you don’t believe in inspired writings any more?  Have you entertained so many doubts that they’ve taken over your mind and you’ve forgotten the weight of evidence, the overwhelming weight of evidence that God has given to support faith and belief?  Oh, friend, God’s calling you.  He says, “What are you doing here?  What are you doing here?  Come out of the cave and stand on the mountain with the Lord and let your light shine.”  And when Jesus comes, you will receive Him with joy; you won’t be coming out of the cave and then crying to the caves and the rocks and the mountains to fall on you.  You’ll be saying, “This is the Lord!  This is the Lord!  We have waited for Him, and He will save us!”

Oh, friend, may that be your happy experience.  May you not be one of those that’s running into the caves when Jesus comes.  May you be one of those that says, “This is the Lord; He will save us.”