want to study a very encouraging Bible text with you about the church that will triumph. We will see a picture of this church in Revelation 15:24.

It says, "And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb; saying, 'Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested."

This is a picture of the church triumphant. The time is coming, and it is coming very soon, friends, when God's church, His people, His truth are going to triumph. Ellen White wrote something very interesting about the triumph of the church. In writing about the experience of John the Beloved on the Isle of Patmos she says, "The angel from heaven came to John in majesty. His countenance beamed with the excellent glory of heaven. He revealed to John scenes of deep and thrilling interest concerning the church of God, and brought before him the perilous conflicts they were to endure. John saw them pass through fiery trials, and made white and tried, and finally, victorious overcomers, gloriously saved in the kingdom of God. The countenance of the angel grew radiant with joy, and was exceeding glorious, as he showed to John the final triumph of the church of God. John was enraptured as he beheld the final deliverance of the church." Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, 130, 131.

So this is the scene of the final deliverance, the triumph of the church. What we want to know is, what church is this that will triumph? Well, somebody says, it is the true church, the church that Jesus said He established on this Rock, and it would not be overcome by the gates of the grave. (See Matthew 16:18.)

It seems that just about everybody, at some time or other, claims, 'We are that church and therefore we are going to triumph.' The Roman Catholic Church claims this. They say, 'We are the church described in Matthew 16.' Many Protestant churches say something similar to this. They say, 'We are the true church and we will triumph in the end.'

The Seventh-day Adventist Church organization has said, 'No, you are not the true church, you are all wrong. We are the true church that will triumph. Our church organization is the true church and it will triumph. Oh, yes, there are tares among the wheat, but God is going to purge this all out and we will triumph,' and it is loudly proclaimed that those who are not associated with the Conference or the General Conference are offshoots, they are not really Seventh-day Adventists. In fact, right now the General Conference is suing Elder Raphael Perez in Florida. Their claim is going all over Central and South America that these individuals who are distributing The Earth's Final Warning and trying to get the Three Angels' Messages out to all the world, that they are not really Seventh-day Adventists.

The same is happening in Wichita. A person was talking to a pastor of a Conference Church and this pastor said to this lady, who is a good friend of mine, 'You are not really a Seventh-day Adventist.' She said, 'Yes, I am.' In fact, she was baptized before this pastor was born. He said, 'No, you are not a Seventh-day Adventist.' She said, 'Well, yes I am. How can you say that I am not a Seventh-day Adventist and not part of the church?' He said, 'You are not part of our organization.'

Well, let us investigate this. Who is the church that will triumph? Let us look first of all in the Bible. The Bible tells us whom the church is that will triumph, Let us look at the last part of the Third Angel's Message. It describes the church that is going to triumph.

"Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12. Those are the people that are going to triumph that we read about in Revelation 15. "And the dragon was enraged with the woman [the woman is the church] and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17.

So there is a church, according to Bible prophecy, that is going to triumph and it is the church, the remnant church that will take the Three Angels' Messages to all the world. Bible prophecy predicts that the Three Angels' Messages will go to all the world in Revelation 14:6, 7. The remnant church, the church that will triumph, is the church that takes these messages to all the world.

This is what Ellen White wrote about when she said, "Mysteries into which angels desire to look, which prophets and kings and righteous men desire to understand, the remnant church will carry in messages from God to the world. The prophets prophesied of these things, and they longed to understand that which they foretold; but to them this privilege was not given. They longed to see what we see, and to hear what we hear; but they could not. They will know all when Christ shall come the second time. When surrounded by a multitude which no man could number, He explains the deliverance wrought out by the great sacrifice He made." Testimonies, vol. 6, 19, 20.

So the church that triumphs, first of all, will be a church that will take the Three Angels' Messages to all of the world. It will not be a church that is fighting those who are trying to take the Three Angels' Messages to all of the world. Right now, as I mentioned, the General Conference is trying to legally wage war against Raphael Perez, because he is advertising the Three Angels' Messages in newspapers around the world.

What is the reason for this? So that people who do not know the truth can have a chance to learn the truth and be saved. The remnant church is, first of all, those who take the Three Angels' Messages to all the world. They are those who keep God's commandments as we read in Revelation 12:17 and Revelation 14:12.

When was writing about the remnant church, Ellen White wrote this in The Signs of the Times February 2, 1888. "In holy vision, John saw the remnant church on the earth in an age of lawlessness, and he points them out in unmistakable language. 'Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.' They are in harmony with that law that rests in the Ark in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly Sanctuary."

So who is it? It is, first of all, those who take the Three Angels' Messages to all of the world, and it is those who are in harmony with God's law. Now the problem is, there are many people who profess to be in this group. They profess to be the remnant church. They profess to be those who are taking the Three Angels' Messages to all of the world, but their character and actions betray their profession as being false.

This is why we must make a distinction between those who profess to be the remnant church and those that, not only make a profession, but also live out their faith. Let us look at a clear statement about this situation. This is a most revealing statement. In The Review and Herald, August 28, 1883, Ellen White made this prediction: "Our greatest trials will come from those who profess godliness. It was so with the world's Redeemer; it will be so with His followers. I should doubt whether I were a child of God, if the world, or even all professed Christians spoke well of me. Those who are in earnest to win the crown of eternal life need not be surprised or disheartened because at every step toward the heavenly Canaan, they meet with obstacles and encounter trials. The opposition which Christ received came from His own nation, who would have been greatly blessed had they accepted Him."

Now notice this prophecy in the next sentence. "In like manner the remnant church receive opposition from those who profess to be their brethren." Ibid. The remnant church is going to receive opposition from whom? From those who say, 'We are the remnant church;' from those who profess to be their brethren. That is where the opposition is going to come from.

Is that happening today? That is exactly what is happening today. The opposition is coming from those that profess to be the remnant church. They say, 'We are the church that is going to triumph,' yet, they are fighting the church that is taking the Three Angels' Messages to all of the world. They are fighting the remnant church while they are claiming to be the remnant church.

Who is the true church? Ellen White wrote in 1881, "God draws a &line." Signs of the Times, October 21, 1880. Where does God draw the line? There is a group of people today who are professing to be the remnant church. 'We are the true church. We are the church described in Revelation 12:17 and Revelation 14:12,' they say. But God draws a line right there in the middle of this great big group of people. And where does He draw the line? He draws the line between those who profess to be His children, the remnant church, and those whose characters show that they actually are. They are actually obedient. They do not just make a profession, but they actually obey.

Oh, friend, when you think about this, it causes a person to think very seriously because every one of us are on one side of that line, or the other. God draws a line. He says, 'Here are the people that just make the profession and here are the people who not only make the profession, but also their actions, their lives, their characters show that they are actually living out what they profess.'

Oh, friend, what side of that line are you on? What side am I on? Do you realize that Ellen White wrote that the great mass, the great body, the great majority of those that make the profession will turn out to be false at the end and they will not actually triumph? It is not enough to be part of the professed church of God. Is my character, my life in harmony with what I profess? That is the question.

God draws a line. What side of the line are you on? You know, as I mentioned, the Roman Catholic Church professes that they are the true church. They say to all Protestants, 'You are in heresy. You have willfully separated from the true church.' You see, the Roman Catholic Church believes that their organization is the church.

Here is what Ellen White wrote about this. This is The Great Controversy, 51. She says, "Romanists have persisted in bringing against Protestants the charge of heresy and willful separation from the true church. But these accusations apply rather to themselves." Is that not interesting? Who is it that willfully separated from the true church? It was the Papacy.

When they did it, they were in the great majority. You cannot tell by numbers. They kept the church organization. They had control of it. They kept the money. They kept the buildings. They kept almost all of the pastors and yet, they are the ones that willfully separated from the true church.

How did they do that? You need to know how they did it so you can tell when somebody does it again, even if they are in the majority. Here is how they did it. "But these accusations apply rather to themselves. [That is the accusation that Protestants willfully separated from the true church.]

Here is why they are the ones that separated from the true church. "They are the ones who (1) laid down the banner of Christ." Ibid. What is the banner of Christ? The banner of Christ is the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Christ and all the apostles taught Christians to keep the commandments of God through the faith of Jesus, by the power that Jesus will give you. That is what the Apostolic Church was all about.

But the Romanists laid down that banner. They have taught that you cannot keep the commandments, it has gone all over the world, and most Christians believe it today. Do the best you can, but you are going to have to go on in sin. Then you have to go to confession every day, or every week, or however often, confess, and get your sins forgiven.

If you just keep your sins confessed, then you will be saved. Have you ever met anybody who believes that? Why, people all over believe it. You just have to keep your sins confessed; then you will be saved. Now, where in the Bible is that message? That is the gospel according to antichrist. The Bible teaches that, not only must I confess my sins to receive pardon, but I must also overcome.

That is why, in the book of Revelation, over and over again it is stated that the person that inherits eternal life will be the person that overcomes. You read Revelation 2 and Revelation 3, the messages to the seven churches. In every case it is the one that overcomes who inherits eternal life. It is very plain.

Look at Revelation 21:5-7. It says, "Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son."

It is he who overcomes that is going to inherit eternal life. Revelation 3:21, "He who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame [Jesus said] and sat down with My Father on His throne." It is not enough to confess your sins. Confession is important; if I have sinned, I am to confess. But you cannot be saved just because you have confessed your sins. That is the gospel according to antichrist.

Do you realize, friends, that there are people today that are professional killers? They kill people to make a living. And they make a very good living, by the way. They would tell you that they believe they are going to go to heaven. Do you know why they think that they are going to go to heaven? Because they go to confession. It is very interesting if you study some of these people in the Mafia, after they die, notice how they get buried. They get buried with a lot of fanfare in the church.

These people think they are going to heaven, and they have been killers their whole lives. That is not the gospel according to the New Testament. The New Testament does not teach that you can be saved in sin. You can be saved from sin but you cannot be saved in sin. There is no text in the New Testament that says you can be saved in sin. In fact, it says just the opposite. It says you cannot be saved unless you forsake your sins.

In Matthew 1:21 the angel says, "You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from &"--It does not say He will save His people in, that is very specific in the Greek language. They had a highly developed grammatical system in the Greek language just like we do in English, and it does not say they will be saved in sin, it says He will save His people from sin.

The word from means what? It means "out of." Jesus was going to take me out of my sinful life and give me power to overcome, to live a new kind of life. The church that is going to triumph is the church of people that will have overcome sin. It says, "These accusations [the accusations that the Protestants have separated from the true church] apply rather to themselves [to the Roman Catholics.] They are the ones who laid down the banner of Christ and departed from 'the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.' Jude 3." The Great Controversy, 51.

They did two things. They separated from the church in two ways. Number one, they laid down the banner of Christ, that is the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and the belief that you can overcome. Number two, they departed from the faith once delivered to the saints. What is the faith that was once delivered to the saints? Well, friends, before Jesus left He gave a charge to His apostles.

He told them to go into all the world and to "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19, 20. Have you ever studied carefully through that text? Teaching them what? To observe all things whatever I have commanded you. Do you notice in verse 20, that human teaching is shut out of the church of God?

I have no permission to come here to your church and to tell you my opinion about anything, really. Now if we are visiting out in the hall, I can tell you what I think about this or that, there is nothing wrong with that. But if I come to teach or preach in your church, I am forbidden by the Lord Himself to preach human teaching, human commandments, human philosophy--any of that. That is shut out. Jesus said, You are to teach whatever I command you.

That is the faith that was delivered to the saints. What Jesus taught, the apostles taught the church. And so, when you start to teach something that is different than what you have in the New Testament, what is that? That is departing from the faith that was once delivered to the saints. That is why, by the way, we often call ourselves "historic" Seventh-day Adventists; because we believe in teaching what the pioneers taught.

The people said, 'We are going to do whatever, and teach and preach whatever, the Bible says; and that is all. We are not going to teach anything else that is not in inspired writings.' The true church is not a church that makes war against those who are keeping the commandments. That makes sense when you think it through. In Revelation 12:17, it says that it is the devil, or the dragon, that makes war against those that keep the commandments. The true church does not make war against those who are keeping the commandments and that is something very important to remember so that your thinking is clear.

People say, 'Oh, we are going to triumph. We are the church that will triumph. The Lord is going to straighten everything out. He is going to sweep out all the tares and we are going to triumph.' But, friends, the very people that are saying things like that are making war against the church, against the people [because the church is the people], that are trying to keep God's commandments. Is that the true church? It is not!

Let me read from the Spirit of Prophecy about that. "The wrath of the dragon will be directed against the loyal servants of heaven. Says the prophet, 'The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.' Revelation 12:17. We can see from this Scripture that it is not the true church of God that makes war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The Signs of the Times, April 22, 1889

The true church does not make war against those that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Do you want me to state it to you really plain? The true church does not make war in the courts in Florida against Elder Raphael Perez for trying to get the Three Angels' Messages all over the world.

Somebody says, 'Oh, you are not going about it right. Fine, show me a better way to do it.' I want to know the right way to do it. If the way I am trying to get the Three Angels' Messages all over the world is incorrect, I want to be corrected. But do not just tell me to not do anything! The true church is going to get the Three Angels' Messages to all of the world. If we are doing it wrong in some way, we want to be corrected so we can do it better. But the way to do it better is not to stop and not do anything. The true church does not make war against those that keep the commandments of God.

Who are the people that will not triumph? The people that will not triumph are the tares, the sinners in Zion, and the tares in the church, the people who make a profession that they are the remnant church while they are actually the children of the devil. There are people like that. We know, because the Spirit of Prophecy says so.

"While professing to be children of God, they are to all intents and purposes children of the wicked one; for they act out his spirit and do his will. It is mutual strife in the place of mutual love, that if persisted in will prove their common ruin. Professed Christian Churches are often ruined by their own unchristian course toward one another." The Review and Herald, June 28, 1887.

So, it is not enough to make a profession. If we profess to be the children of God while we are, to all intents and purposes, the children of the devil, we are not going to triumph. There comes a time when separation from apostasy becomes an absolute duty. Some people think that you need to stay with the church, no matter what happens in it and while people are staying in that church, they lose their souls and they lose the souls of their children.

That happened in the Roman Church and millions and millions of people said, 'We are going to stay here, even though it is in apostasy, we are going to stay here and let the Lord take out all the tares.' They ended up losing their souls. Let me read about that. "Paul writes to the Romans, 'if it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men.' But there is a point beyond which it is impossible to maintain union and harmony without the sacrifice of principle. Separation then becomes an absolute duty." The Signs of the Times, November 8, 1899

If you are compromising moral principle to stay with any group or any church, then you have an absolute duty to separate from that group. So the people that will triumph will not be the people that stay and compromise principle when there is an absolute duty to separate from apostasy.

Did you know that Ellen White foretold a time, and she stated that it was already there in her time, when there was a little hope if we did something with the young people. Now what should we do with the young people? We are all concerned. All of us that have children want our children to be saved. What can we do so that our children will be saved? Here is what we are instructed to do when we are living in a time of apostasy.

"There is hope in one direction: Take the young men and young women, and place them where they will come as little in contact with our churches as possible." Manuscript Releases Vol. 12, 333. She is talking in this statement about Conference Churches. She is saying, take our young people and place them where they will come as little as possible in contact with these churches. Why? Here is why. "That the low grade of piety which is current in this day shall not leaven their ideas of what it means to be a Christian." Ibid.

Do you have a good idea of what it means to be a Christian? If you do not, how are you going to teach your child how to be a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian? It says in 1 John 2:6 that we, as Christians, are obligated to walk as He walked; that is, as Christ walked. What does it mean to be a Christian? It means to be Christlike. It means to have a Christlike character.

As children grow up, they are always watching and they are always imitating. They even imitate after they become adults. Children that grow up in a home where there has been abuse of a spouse or abuse of children, they grow up and they do the same thing in their own home twenty years later, thirty years later. Children imitate.

But as they see the father, the mother; as they listen to the tone of the voice, the type of words that are spoken; and if they hear Christlike words and see Christlike actions; if they see kindness, courtesy, and love manifested, they will begin to learn what the Christlike life is all about. The Bible says that God is love and he that does not love, does not know God.

How does a child learn about that? A little child learns about that by watching the behavior and listening to the speech of the father and the mother. She says put your children as little as possible in contact with our churches, [That is with these Conference Churches], that the low grade of piety which is current in this day shall not leaven their ideas of what it means to be a Christian.

Those that say, I am part of the church, I am part of the remnant church but are living in sin, are not going to triumph. It is not enough to say, I am part of the church and still live in sin. Notice this statement. "The Lord hath a controversy with His people, and although in His great mercy He bears long with them, yet if they persist in living in transgression of His law, they will not stand in the day of His rebuke." Signs of the Times, March 12, 1894.

Notice, they are not going to triumph. They are not going to be a part of the church triumphant. "He has seen the backsliding and iniquity of His professed people. He has noted the unbelief, the hypocrisy, the pride, the selfishness, the disobedience to His law, and He will punish for these things. God cannot be in harmony with the people who will not obey His commandments." Ibid.

God cannot be in harmony with the people who do not obey His commandments; those who make a profession and say, 'I am part of the church' and still live in sin. Eventually they are not going to be part of the church anymore. They will not triumph. "The church that will triumph will not be a professed church that is joined to the world or the Papacy." Ibid.

"The professed church of Christ has wandered from her privilege, her duty, and her God. Like ancient Israel, she has forsaken the covenant, and joined herself in harmony with the world. Pride, luxury, and pleasure are invited into the sanctuary, and her holy places are defiled. Those who have pledged their allegiance to God, enjoy the company and spirit of His avowed enemies. Their choice determines their character."

Do you know, those that are in harmony with apostate powers prove that they are at enmity with God? That is something that we need to remember. If you are in harmony with those who break the law of God, if you give your hospitals to them [like happened in Denver], if you send representatives and make agreements with them in regard to the Eucharist [as was done in South America], if you agree that you will not publish and send out certain things and you oppose the worldwide distribution of books like The Great Controversy, you are at enmity with God.

Are you aware of the fact that there are many countries of the world that have been denied access to the books that you and I have access to here in the United States? Historic Adventists are attempting, right now, to get these books into these parts of the world. When I was in Guatemala a few years ago, they told me, 'The books are available here if you are wealthy.' But the people there are not wealthy, and they do not have access to the inexpensive, paperback books like we have.

I hope one of these Sabbaths that Pastor Paul will be able to be with you here. He is working right now to get hundreds of thousands of The Great Controversy printed to distribute in Central and South America to people who have never had access to these books. It is terrible that they have been denied access to these books. But, by the grace of God, the Lord is opening the way so that they can be distributed in all of these countries.

The church that triumphs will not be a professed church that is living in sin, that is joined to the world or that is joined to the Papacy. That already happened once and Ellen White wrote in 1892 that what the devil did before in the early church, he was going to try to do again to us--if he could.

Here is what happened. "Through the agency of Romanism, Satan took the world captive. The professed church of God was swept into the ranks of this delusion, and for more than a thousand years the people of God suffered under the dragon's ire." Signs of the Times November 1, 1899. So the professed church was swept into the ranks of the delusion and the people of God, for over a thousand years, were suffering under the dragon's ire.

So you see, it is not enough to make a profession. Those people were making a profession. When the church triumphs, if you are part of it, you are going to get to go to a great marriage supper. You are going to see Jesus. Remember, when the communion was instituted, Jesus said, "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." You are going to see Him drink the fruit of the vine again for the first time in two thousand years. It is going to be exciting.

Who is the church that will triumph? Here are their characteristics, from the Bible. If you have these characteristics in your life, you will be part of the church that triumphs.

1. The church that triumphs will not be joined to the world. James 4:4; Testimonies to Ministers, 265.

2. The church that triumphs will be a church that is faithful to the truth. The true church has always been faithful to the truth. The church is a pillar in the ground of the truth, the apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 3:15.

3. The church that triumphs will be a church that takes the Three Angels' Messages to all of the world. It will not be a church that is trying to fight those that are taking the Three Angels' Messages to all of the world. Here is what Ellen White said about it. "The Third Angel's Message will triumph, and we must hold fast to the truth and triumph with it." Manuscript Releases Vol. 20, 236. "The truth of the Third Angel's Message is bound to triumph and those who purify their souls from all defilement will triumph with it." Sermons and Talks, Vol. 2, 131. The Third Angel's Message is going to triumph. There is no question about that. The question is, are you going to be proclaiming it and being faithful and true to it when the Third Angel's Message triumphs? Revelation 14:12.

4. The church that triumphs will actually keep the commandments of God. Revelation 12:17, Revelation 14:12. They will not just make a profession and then not do it. They will actually keep them, by the power that Jesus provides.

5. The church that triumphs will not be a church that is seeking any kind of worldly recognition. Revelation 13:15-17, Revelation 14 and 15.

6. The church that triumphs will be a group of people that have conquered selfishness. 2 Corinthians 5:15. As a result of the death of Christ on Calvary's cross, we are no longer to live for ourselves, but for Him who died for us. 2 Corinthians 5:15.

7. It will be a church that is whole-hearted in doing God's will, not half-hearted. They will not be half-hearted or rebels at heart. Their whole heart will be in doing God's work. Jesus said, 'This is the first and great commandment that you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and the second is like to it, that you love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22:37-40.

8. It will be a church, a group of people, who walk humbly with God. Micah 6:6-8.

9. It will be a church, a group of people, who will be laborers together with God. They will not just be pew-warmers, people who come to church once a week and then they do not do anything for the Lord at all. They will be laborers together with God. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:9, 'You are God's co-laborers.' And friends, that is the greatest privilege any of us can have in our home, or wherever the providence of God puts us, to labor for the Lord, to raise children for the Lord, to witness for the Lord to others. We are laboring together with God. We are not just pew-warmers, but we actually labor with the Lord for the salvation of souls.

10. The church that triumphs will be a church that has been through a mighty conflict as you see described in Revelation 13, 14, 15, and 17:14. You cannot be part of the victory if you are not willing to be part of the struggle, which is going on right now.

We are looking forward to that time when Jesus is going to come and we are going to go with Him and we are going to partake of the communion supper with Him in His literal presence. I want to be there. I say, 'Lord, I want more than anything in this world, whether I live or die, it does not even matter in this world, if I can just be there.'

Is that what you are saying in your heart? If I can just be there! You can be there because the communion service is a symbol of what Jesus wants to do for you. He wants to take away your sins by His blood, that is what the grape juice represents. He wants to live His life in you by the power of His Holy Spirit. That is what the bread represents. The foot-washing service is a service where He has promised to wash away from us all of our selfishness, our pride and our earthliness.

He has promised to do this. And when we participate in this, we are saying, 'Lord, I believe that You could do it.' As soon as the foot-washing service is over, then we partake in communion together.

In the Adventist church we believe in open communion. We do not force anyone to partake, but neither do we force anyone not to partake. You do not have to be a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to partake in communionif you are a Christian. If you are not a Christian, you would not want to, if you have not given your heart to the Lord, you would not want to. It would not mean anything. But if you are a Christian, you do not have to be a member of our church to partake, because Jesus did not make that a rule.