Bible

Let Us Hear the Conclusion of the Whole Matter

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My expertise is accounting. I realized that the most expert accountant ever is our Creator, who keeps the most accurate record books that anyone has ever kept. The result of that record-keeping is noted in the scripture found in Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good, or evil.” The righteous Judge will assess the value of every work I have ever performed and determine its worth, weighed against His perfect law.

In secular accounting, there is what I call the master equation: Assets minus liabilities equal net worth. Stated another way, the value of what you own (assets), minus what you owe (liabilities), equals your net worth.

In accounting, things of value are called assets. For example, cash is an asset. Theoretically, any time you spend that cash, you gain something of equal value. It might be another asset, such as food or clothing. It might be a service, such as a doctor’s visit. Or it might be relief from a liability, which decreases your liabilities and increases your net worth. It’s sad to say, but some folks have a negative net worth due to outstanding debts. More about that later.

Fortunately, God does not keep His heavenly records the same way secular accountants do, something we need to recognize if we are to appreciate the value of a soul.

The First Transaction

Inspiration describes the ultimate accounting transaction, the payment of the debt we incurred as the result of Adam’s fall:

“It is at an immense cost that we have been placed on the high vantage ground where we can be liberated from the bondage of sin, which has been wrought by the fall of Adam. … Never can we understand the value of the human soul until we realize the great sacrifice made for the redemption of the soul upon Calvary.” Christ Triumphant, 215. One asset, Christ’s life, was exchanged for another asset, the human soul.

In business law, consideration is “a promise, performance, or forbearance bargained by a promisor in exchange for their promise.” Consideration is the main element of a contract. Without consideration by both parties, an agreement cannot be enforceable.

In the simplest terms, a consideration is the benefit a party to the contract receives from the deal negotiated in the contract. It’s the answer to the question: “What does each party receive by entering this contract?”

A legally binding and legitimate contract must include the consideration, or the expectation of each individual or entity who is a party to the contract.

In most cases, a consideration comes in one of the following ways:

  1. The promise to do something that you are not already legally obligated to do.
  2. The promise not to do something that you otherwise would have the right to do.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1, 2

Verse 2 sets before us the greatest accounting transaction ever. Christ gave His life, an incredibly valuable asset, for the joy of seeing you and me saved from a life of sin.

Although there was no legal obligation for Christ to pay with His life for my sin, payment had to be made. “For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. What did Christ purchase by His sacrifice? “Eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Hebrews 12:2 shows us the consideration that each party in the agreement included in the contract. Remember, consideration can be a promise to do something you are not legally obligated to do. Christ was not legally obligated to give His life for mine, but He agreed to do so. Our part of the contract is to believe in Him as our Redeemer.

One party to the contract is those involved in easily besetting sin, but who overcome and receive eternal life. The other party to the contract is Christ, who received absolute and inexplicable joy knowing that there are those who have and will accept His sacrifice and have chosen and chose to follow Him, thereby fulfilling both parts (the giving and receiving) of the contract.

“The vows which we take upon ourselves in baptism embrace much. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we are buried in the likeness of Christ’s death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection, and we are to live a new life. Our life is to be bound up with the life of Christ. Henceforth the believer is to bear in mind that he is dedicated to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. He is to make all worldly considerations secondary to this new relation. Publicly he has declared that he will no longer live in pride and self-indulgence. He is no longer to live a careless, indifferent life. He has made a covenant with God. He has died to the world. He is to live to the Lord, to use for Him all his entrusted capabilities, never losing the realization that he bears God’s signature, that he is a subject of Christ’s kingdom, a partaker of the divine nature. He is to surrender to God all that he is and all that he has, employing all his gifts to His name’s glory.

“The obligations in the spiritual agreement [contract/covenant] entered into at baptism are mutual. As human beings act their part with wholehearted obedience, they have a right to pray: ‘Let it be known, Lord, that Thou art God in Israel.’ The fact that you have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is an assurance that, if you will claim Their help, these powers will help you in every emergency. The Lord will hear and answer the prayers of His sincere followers who wear Christ’s yoke and learn in His school His meekness and lowliness.” Testimonies, Vol. 6, 98, 99

This passage speaks in detail about the covenant, the contract, between God and mankind, and the mutual contractual obligations found in the contract. Mutual obligations are the essence of a legal contract in business law—the consideration of each party in the contract. Our part—acknowledging the supremacy of the Godhead. Their part—providing help in every emergency. And I will assert that this help is not restricted to emergencies. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

The Consideration that Separates

Scripture and Inspiration provide many other examples of this amazing transaction.

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:21–28

These texts provide at least three examples of an accounting transaction. First, verse 24 states that we are justified by His grace. One thing of value, His grace, provides for another thing of value, our justification.

Verse 25, the transaction with a capital T is noted: God set forth His Son as payment for sins that were previously committed. His payment entitles Him to my service on His behalf.

Verse 28 describes justification as a highly valued asset. It is provided for by faith, another valued asset, given by God to each of us. With exercise, the seed of faith grows into a fruit-bearing plant.

John also makes note of this incredible transaction.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:7–10

Of course, we find the ultimate transaction in John 3:16.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

This text is the best of many that provide examples of the consideration required for a contract to be considered legal and enforceable in business law. Christ gave His life as payment. In return, our belief in Him is required for the everlasting life provision of the contract to be fulfilled.

Another way—a more painful way—to look at this transaction is that Christ gave His life, and in return, He received my sins and the resultant penalty—the shedding of His blood—required as payment for my sins. A penalty so severe that it caused Him to cry out in agony, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.” Matthew 27:46

It is consideration of the point at which He was separated from His Father by our sins and experienced the second, eternal death that should make us realize the absolute sinfulness of sin and the unavoidable consequences of engaging in it.

The Overcoming Transaction

In Revelation 2 and 3, we are given seven promises as rewards for those who are successful at overcoming. This set of transactions requires the same consideration as our part of the transaction. These are the promises made to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3.

To Ephesus, the patient and hard-working, is the promise that they will eat the fruit from the tree of life in the garden of Eden. “When the tide of iniquity overspread the world, and the wickedness of men determined their destruction by a flood of waters, the Hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from the earth. But in the final restitution, when there shall be ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ it is to be restored more gloriously adorned than at the beginning.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 62. If we are patient and hard-working saints, we then can anticipate the same reward.

To Smyrna, who suffers for Christ’s sake, is promised the crown of eternal life, being spared from the second death. This promise is also made to the saints who bear the characteristics of the Smyrnans and who have overcome the assaults from the synagogue of Satan.

To Pergamos, a two-fold promise is given. The overcomers who maintain their faith, even amid the enemy’s fiery darts, will be privileged to eat of the hidden manna, and Jesus will give a white stone, written with a new name, which no man knows except the one who receives it. It will be interesting to discover God’s assessment of us as He gives us each a new name. I wonder if this will be a name in confidence between each saint and his Maker or if it will be shared with all.

To Thyatira, whose patience exceeds their works and who overcome by doing the works of Jesus until the end, will receive power over the nations. “You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Psalm 2:9

To Sardis, the overcomers whose lives are undefiled, reflecting an unspotted character, will receive garments of white, with their names retained in the book of life, and Christ will “confess” their names in heaven, acknowledging their right to be there.

To Philadelphia, the untainted ones who keep God’s command to persevere, He promises to keep them from the hour of trial, which soon will come upon the entire world, testing all who dwell on Earth (Revelation 3:10).

This promise is multi-faceted. He who overcomes, I will:

  1. make him a pillar in the temple of My God;
  2. he shall go out no more;
  3. I will write on him the name of My God;
  4. give the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God;
  5. I will write on him My new name.

To Laodicea, he who overcomes even as I also overcame, will sit with Me in My throne.

“The heavenly temple, the abiding place of the King of kings, where ‘thousand thousands [one million] ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand [100 million] stood before Him’ (Daniel 7:10), that temple filled with the glory of the eternal throne, where seraphim, its shining guardians, veil their faces in adoration—no earthly structure could represent its vastness and its glory.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 357

Seven times we are admonished to overcome. What must we overcome?

“There is work, earnest work, to be done for the Master. The evils condemned in God’s word must be overcome. You must individually battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The word of God is called “the sword of the Spirit,” and you should become skillful in its use, if you would cut your way through the hosts of opposition and darkness.” Christian Education, 117

“Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:10–17

A surface reading of this passage seems to contradict God’s word and inspired writings. Inspiration says that we are to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. But Ephesians says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

It has been said that these apparent contradictions arise because of our lack of understanding rather than there being an actual contradiction. Note that in Ephesians, the actual phrase states, “… we wrestle not against flesh and blood.” “Flesh and blood” is a commonly-used idiom for people. What Paul is telling the Ephesians is that our warfare is not with other people, but with higher authorities, particularly the rulers of the darkness of this world. Granted, those rulers of darkness use people as their weapons, but it is essential that we realize that our real battle is not with the agents of Satan, but rather with Satan himself. And only the word of God can give us the victory over him.

Inspiration is telling us that the flesh that we must overcome is our own carnal nature, the natural, innate cravings of our physical existence.

It is interesting to note how often in both Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy our natural character, the one we are born with, is spoken of as fallen, impure, and corrupt. Nowhere, exactly nowhere, in either source of divine enlightenment, is it stated or even implied that we are born completely innocent and pure and that at some indeterminate point our characters suddenly become corrupt. What is often termed as the “age of accountability” should more correctly be viewed as the point at which we realize that we are sinners, not by action alone, but also by nature. That our sinful actions are simply an outward display of our inward condition.

“Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matthew 12:34, 35

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.” Matthew 15:18

“ ‘How degenerate is your heart!’ says the Lord God, ‘seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.’ ” Ezekiel 16:30

“The propensities that control the natural heart must be subdued by the grace of Christ before fallen man is fitted to enter heaven and enjoy the society of the pure, holy angels.” The Acts of the Apostles, 273

“When the word of God is set aside, its power to restrain the evil passions of the natural heart is rejected. Men sow to the flesh, and of the flesh they reap corruption.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 41

“… the evil tendencies of the natural heart can be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Jesus.” Ibid., 56

“The servants of Christ are not to act out the dictates of the natural heart.” The Desire of Ages, 353

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” Ephesians 2:1–3

Clearly, the natural heart is imbued with Adam’s sinful character.

A Transaction by Faith

Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8 all detail another interesting transaction involving Jesus.

“On the way to the ruler’s house, Jesus had met in the crowd a poor woman who for twelve years had suffered from a disease that made her life a burden. She had spent all her means upon physicians and remedies, only to be pronounced incurable. But her hopes revived when she heard of the cures that Christ performed. She felt assured that if she could only go to Him she would be healed. In weakness and suffering, she came to the seaside where He was teaching, and tried to press through the crowd, but in vain. Again she followed Him from the house of Levi-Matthew, but was still unable to reach Him. She had begun to despair, when, in making His way through the multitude, He came near where she was.

“The golden opportunity had come. She was in the presence of the Great Physician! But amid the confusion she could not speak to Him, nor catch more than a passing glimpse of His figure. Fearful of losing her one chance of relief, she pressed forward, saying to herself, ‘If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole.’ As He was passing, she reached forward, and succeeded in barely touching the border of His garment. But in that moment she knew that she was healed. In that one touch, was concentrated the faith of her life, and instantly her pain and feebleness gave place to the vigor of perfect health.

“With a grateful heart she then tried to withdraw from the crowd; but suddenly Jesus stopped, and the people halted with Him. He turned, and looking about asked in a voice distinctly heard above the confusion of the multitude, ‘Who touched Me?’ The people answered this query with a look of amazement. Jostled upon all sides, and rudely pressed hither and thither, as He was, it seemed a strange inquiry.

“Peter, ever ready to speak, said, ‘Master, the multitude throng Thee and press Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me?’ Jesus answered, ‘Somebody hath touched Me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me.’ The Saviour could distinguish the touch of faith from the casual contact of the careless throng. Such trust should not be passed without comment. He would speak to the humble woman words of comfort that would be to her a wellspring of joy—words that would be a blessing to His followers to the close of time.

“Looking toward the woman, Jesus insisted on knowing who had touched Him. Finding concealment vain, she came forward tremblingly, and cast herself at His feet. With grateful tears she told the story of her suffering, and how she had found relief. Jesus gently said, ‘Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.’ He gave no opportunity for superstition to claim healing virtue for the mere act of touching His garments. It was not through the outward contact with Him, but through the faith which took hold on His divine power, that the cure was wrought.

“The wondering crowd that pressed close about Christ realized no accession of vital power. But when the suffering woman put forth her hand to touch Him, believing that she would be made whole, she felt the healing virtue.” The Desire of Ages, 343–347

Her faith called forth Christ’s virtue—His healing power. Christ offered her healing; she believed she would be healed, and she was. Healing had been acquired by faith.

I who have nothing and owe what I can never repay, am loved by He who has everything and was willing to sacrifice it all to pay what I could not. My value is now seen by the light that illuminates His blood-stained face, His nail-scarred hands, and His voice that cried out—for me—“It is finished.” My part in this transaction is to believe, surrender, and obey. God’s is to redeem and transform.

John R. Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by email at johnpearson@stepstolife.org

Satan’s Five Discouragements

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The devil is a very busy individual. He mounts attack upon attack against God’s people, severely trying them until many become discouraged and want to give up. In his efforts to thwart the plan of salvation, he has attempted to discourage even God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Yes, friends, discouragement is the devil’s business.

For hundreds of years, the devil worked to hide that he was the real oppressor, instead convincing God’s chosen people that the Messiah would come to deliver them from an earthly oppressor. So, when Jesus came to save them from their sins rather than the Romans, most of the Jews rejected Him because He was not the Messiah they were expecting or, dare I say, wanted. They saw themselves as holy people, God’s chosen nation, but they failed to recognize that they were sinners more in need of a Saviour than rescue from an oppressive ruler.

“They could find no rest from the accusings of a troubled conscience. Thus, Satan worked to discourage the people, to lower their conception of the character of God, and to bring the faith of Israel into contempt. He hoped to establish the claim put forth when he rebelled in heaven—that the requirements of God were unjust and could not be obeyed. Even Israel, he declared, did not keep the law.

“While the Jews desired the advent of the Messiah, they had no true conception of His mission. They did not seek redemption from sin, but deliverance from the Romans. They looked for the Messiah to come as a conqueror, to break the oppressor’s power, and exalt Israel to universal dominion. Thus the way was prepared for them to reject the Saviour.” The Desire of Ages, 29, 30

“Humanity, becoming more degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer. Satan had been working to make the gulf deep and impassable between earth and heaven. By his falsehoods he had emboldened men in sin. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God, and to extinguish His love for man, so that He would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction.” Ibid., 34, 35

By making men and women so wicked and, as a consequence, creating so much wickedness in the world, the devil was attempting to wear out the forbearance of God.

“Satan was unwearied in his efforts to overcome the Child of Nazareth. From His earliest years, Jesus was guarded by heavenly angels, yet His life was one long struggle against the powers of darkness. That there should be upon the earth one life free from the defilement of evil was an offense and a perplexity to the prince of darkness. He left no means untried to ensnare Jesus. No child of humanity will ever be called to live a holy life amid so fierce a conflict with temptation as was our Saviour.” Ibid., 71

“No one upon earth had understood Him, and during His ministry He must still walk alone. Throughout His life His mother and His brothers did not comprehend His mission. Even His disciples did not understand Him. He had dwelt in eternal light, as one with God, but His life on earth must be spent in solitude. …

“Alone He must tread the path; alone He must bear the burden.” Ibid., 111

Are you tempted to be discouraged, believing there is not a single person in the world who understands? No one understood Jesus; not one person—not His mother, His family, His disciples, not even John the Baptist—understood what Jesus was about to do for mankind. If Satan tempts you to be discouraged because you feel all alone in the world, remember that you have a Saviour, and He walked His entire life alone, though surrounded by many people, in a world that chose not to understand Him.

“There were none on earth who could comprehend His divine mission, or know the burden which He bore in behalf of humanity.” Ibid., 326

“Satan excited the evil passions of men, in order to fasten his rule upon them. … From generation to generation he worked to blind the people to these prophecies, that they might reject Christ at His coming. …

“Since he [Lucifer] had lost heaven, he was determined to find revenge by causing others to share his fall. This he would do by causing them to undervalue heavenly things, and to set the heart upon things of earth.” Ibid., 115, 116

God said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17. And with these words, it became Satan’s determined effort to cause Christ to doubt them. He took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and said, “If You are the Son of God … .” If he could shake Christ’s confidence in God, he would win the great controversy. The plan of salvation would be ruined if Christ were to lose faith in the Father and work a miracle on His own behalf.

“Satan saw that he must either conquer or be conquered. The issues of the conflict involved too much to be entrusted to his confederate angels. He must personally conduct the warfare. All the energies of apostasy were rallied against the Son of God. Christ was made the mark of every weapon of hell.” Ibid., 116

Jesus became Satan’s focal point. All of his army came together to find some way to bring about the downfall of Jesus Christ.

“Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no special bearing on their own life; and for them it has little interest. But within the domain of every human heart this controversy is repeated. Never does one leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without encountering the assaults of Satan. The enticements which Christ resisted were those that we find it so difficult to withstand.” Ibid.

“In all ages, temptations appealing to the physical nature have been most effectual in corrupting and degrading mankind. Through intemperance, Satan works to destroy the mental and moral powers that God gave to man as a priceless endowment. …

“Our only hope of eternal life is through bringing the appetites and passions into subjection to the will of God.

“In our own strength, it is impossible for us to deny the clamors of our fallen nature. Through this channel Satan will bring temptation upon us. Christ knew that the enemy would come to every human being, to take advantage of hereditary weakness, and by his false insinuations to ensnare all whose trust is not in God.” Ibid., 122

Christ’s mission to this world was more than His death on the cross and the example of His life. Jesus came to reveal to man the true character of God, to break Satan’s power over man, setting his captives free. Jesus offered love, the power to overcome, and a new life with a changed heart and nature. But this aroused the devil’s ire, and he summoned all his forces to contest Christ’s work. And so it will be for those who choose to follow Christ in these final hours of the great controversy  (The Desire of Ages, 257).

In Matthew 16, Jesus told the disciples that He was to be crucified to redeem mankind, but this was so contrary to what they had always been taught they could not believe or accept it. Peter immediately began to argue with Jesus. But Jesus gave the most severe rebuke that He had ever given to any of His disciples because Satan was speaking through Peter, “But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’ ” Verse 23

“Satan was trying to discourage Jesus, and turn Him from His mission [of being crucified]; and Peter, in his blind love, was giving voice to the temptation. The prince of evil was the author of the thought. His instigation was behind that impulsive appeal. In the wilderness, Satan had offered Christ the dominion of the world on condition of forsaking the path of humiliation and sacrifice. Now he was presenting the same temptation to the disciple of Christ.” The Desire of Ages, 416

“Satan, the author of sin and all its results, had led men to look upon disease and death as proceeding from God—as punishment arbitrarily inflicted on account of sin. Hence, one upon whom some great affliction or calamity had fallen had the additional burden of being regarded as a great sinner.

“Thus, the way was prepared for the Jews to reject Jesus. He who ‘hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows’ was looked upon by the Jews as ‘stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted;’ and they hid their faces from Him. Isaiah 53:4, 3.” Ibid., 471. The disciples believed that the true Messiah would not be in a situation like this, therefore, this couldn’t possibly be the Messiah.

“To the heart of Christ it was a bitter task to press His way against the fears, disappointment, and unbelief of His beloved disciples. It was hard to lead them forward to the anguish and despair that awaited them at Jerusalem. And Satan was at hand to press his temptations upon the Son of man. Why should He now go to Jerusalem, to certain death? All around Him were souls hungering for the bread of life. On every hand were suffering ones waiting for His word of healing. The work to be wrought by the gospel of His grace was but just begun. And He was full of the vigor of manhood’s prime. Why not go forward to the vast fields of the world with the words of His grace, the touch of His healing power? Why not take to Himself the joy of giving light and gladness to those darkened and sorrowing millions? Why leave the harvest gathering to His disciples, so weak in faith, so dull of understanding, so slow to act? Why face death now, and leave the work in its infancy? The foe who in the wilderness had confronted Christ assailed Him now with fierce and subtle temptations. Had Jesus yielded for a moment, had He changed His course in the least particular to save Himself, Satan’s agencies would have triumphed, and the world would have been lost.” Ibid., 486

The devil knew that the salvation of our world rested fully on just one Person. He knew that he would rule the whole world if he could overcome Him. But it seems that the devil forgot who that Person is—the Creator of all things, who holds up worlds and maintains everything in its order, the One who grants mercy, grace, and pardon to a world in need of redemption, and the power to overcome, Jesus Christ.

“At this time [a few days before the crucifixion] Christ’s work bore the appearance of cruel defeat. … To His disciples the case seemed hopeless.” Ibid., 621

“In the wilderness of temptation, the destiny of the human race had been at stake. Christ was then conqueror. Now the tempter had come for the last fearful struggle. For this he had been preparing during the three years of Christ’s ministry. Everything was at stake with him. If he failed here, his hope of mastery was lost; the kingdoms of the world would finally become Christ’s; he himself would be overthrown and cast out. But if Christ could be overcome, the earth would become Satan’s kingdom, and the human race would be forever in his power.” Ibid., 686, 687

So what temptation did the devil press upon Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane? Complete and eternal separation from the Father, the fear that His sacrifice would be unacceptable, that He would never be one with God again.

“Satan and his confederacy of evil, the legions of apostasy, watched intently this great crisis in the work of redemption [in the Garden of Gethsemane]. The powers of good and evil waited to see what answer would come to Christ’s thrice-repeated prayer. Angels had longed to bring relief to the divine sufferer, but this might not be. No way of escape was found for the Son of God.” Ibid., 693

“And what was to be gained by this sacrifice? How hopeless appeared the guilt and ingratitude of men! In its hardest features, Satan pressed the situation upon the Redeemer: The people who claim to be above all others in temporal and spiritual advantages have rejected You. They are seeking to destroy You, the foundation, the center, and seal of the promises made to them as a peculiar people. One of Your own disciples, who has listened to Your instruction, and has been among the foremost in church activities, will betray You. One of Your most zealous followers will deny You. All will forsake You. … The sins of men weighed heavily upon Christ, and the sense of God’s wrath against sin was crushing out His life.” Ibid., 687

“Satan led the cruel mob in its abuse of the Saviour [during His trial]. It was his purpose to provoke Him to retaliation if possible, or to drive Him to perform a miracle to release Himself, and thus break up the plan of salvation. One stain upon His human life, one failure of His humanity to endure the terrible test, and the Lamb of God would have been an imperfect offering, and the redemption of man a failure.” Ibid., 734

“Satanic agencies confederated with evil men in leading the people to believe Christ the chief of sinners, and to make Him the object of detestation. Those who mocked Christ as He hung upon the cross were imbued with the spirit of the first great rebel. He filled them with vile and loathsome speeches. He inspired their taunts. But by all this he gained nothing.” Ibid., 760, 761

Just as Satan worked to discourage Jesus in the hope of causing the world to be lost, he now seeks to discourage you and cause you to be lost. Jesus has paid the price for the salvation of this world, but as individuals, we still retain free will, and it is here that Satan focuses all his power. If he can, through temptation and harassment, he will cause me to become discouraged, and if I give in to discouragement and give up, then I am lost. This is the devil’s whole purpose for all mankind.

Since the devil successfully uses discouragement against Christians and those who want to become Christians, let’s look at a few of his methods.

Health Problems

When your body is sick and weak, your mind is affected and there is no escaping it. The devil comes, whispering everything imaginable, telling you that you might as well give up. You haven’t been able to overcome, and you will never overcome. But remember, no matter how sick or weak you are, even if you are the worst sinner, you can trust yourself to Jesus Christ, and the devil cannot cause you to be lost. (See Hebrews 7:25; The Desire of Ages, 125.)

Financial Problems

Have you ever had to choose between doing the will of God or losing your job because you won’t work on the Sabbath, or have you sacrificed your education because you will not attend classes or tests on the Sabbath? This is another way the devil brings discouragement because of the financial burden that following the Lord seems to bring. Some people have said, “I am choosing to obey God even if it costs me my career.” Jesus was [and remains] the Prince of heaven. He sat on a throne, wore a crown, and carried a scepter. All the universe’s riches were His, yet He became poor in this world to save you. If you become poor and sacrifice everything to follow Jesus, you will have an everlasting reward worth more than anything this world can offer.

Hypocrisy

Character defects in family or church members can discourage those striving for heaven. Too often, hypocrisy runs rampant in Christians’ lives.

It is purported that Mahatma Ghandi said: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

For those looking ahead to the soon-coming of our Lord, a shaking time is coming. We must strive to remove from our hearts the selfishness and besetting sins that hold us back from developing the perfected character—the Christlike character—required by God to live in His presence. When the time of shaking is over, everyone who is not converted, every hypocrite, will be shaken out (Hebrews 12).

The book of Revelation was written primarily for the last days, but unlike the book of Daniel, it was not written for the whole world, but for God’s church (Revelation 1:1). “ ‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.’ ” Revelation 22:16. When Jesus comes again, He will take only His church out of this world; no one else is going.

Don’t misunderstand; over the history of this world, many people have lived and died, and never belonged to a church, never heard or spoke the name of Christ, but they will be saved and resurrected with the church triumphant. Those who have overcome (repeated seven times in Revelation 2 and 3) and who live through the time of trouble and are alive when Jesus comes again will be taken up from this world. God’s church will have the seal of God in their forehead, and it is clear that in the last days, if you do not have the seal of God in your forehead, you will suffer His judgments.

“They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” Revelation 9:4

If you want to be ready when Jesus comes, you must be a member of His church.

Throughout the Scriptures, a woman is used as a symbol of the church. Revelation 12 describes a pure woman as God’s church. Revelation 12:17 describes the last church on earth as a people who will keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus Christ (Revelation 14:12). They will also have the spirit of prophecy.

“Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10, last part

Revelation 17 tells us that those who are a part of Christ’s church when He comes will have three characteristics—called, chosen, and faithful. “ ‘These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.’ ” Verse 14. We will not be taken to heaven if we lack these three characteristics.

God tells us that we must be baptized with water, but it isn’t the water that is important. Baptism is an outward expression of an inward change, a symbol of being baptized by the Holy Spirit, an acceptance into the body of Christ. God’s bride, His church, has “made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). She has been given “fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen” (Verse 8) represents the righteous acts of the saints. And finally, God’s church is “called to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Verse 9). “By one Spirit [Holy Spirit] we were all baptized into one body [body of Christ, the church].” 1 Corinthians 12:13

My Own Defects of Character

We all (sorry, no exceptions) have character defects that we struggle to overcome. The devil wants you to believe that you can’t give them up. He whispers that you have done it a thousand and one times now, and you will never succeed. As long as you are in this world, you will face this struggle, but do not be discouraged. Sanctification is the process by which we overcome, and the struggle is a part of overcoming. The devil repeatedly tempted Jesus throughout His life, and he will do the same to you (John 15:20).

“The apostle Paul declares, ‘I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing’ (Romans 7:18). To those who have tried so hard to obtain by faith so-called holy flesh, I would say, You cannot obtain it. Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on the earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 32. Not one human being is free from struggle. That is why we pray. And Jesus promises that if we ask Him, He will help us.

“There’s no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but will with the temptation make it possible for you to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13, literal translation. God has promised to give you all the help that you need, but, if you intend to win, don’t give up the fight.

False Theology

The devil tried to discourage Jesus by telling Him that because He had taken upon Himself the sins of the world, He would be forever separated from God because sin and holiness do not coexist (Isaiah 59:2). But the Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38, 39). And no matter the cost, man must be saved. For this reason, Jesus was tempted as no human being will ever be tempted. There is no human being so sinful that they cannot be saved. I am saved when I commit myself to Jesus and give my heart to Him alone, He then becomes sovereign in my life.

Jesus, as our Saviour, endured everything the devil brought against Him, and He did it to save you. The devil is trying to press the same discouragements upon us. He wants us to believe that we are beyond redemption and that our character defects can never be removed. But he is wrong. “ ‘The one who comes to Me I will by no case cast out.’ ” John 6:37, last part

If you put your trust in Jesus, He will save you.

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

The Gathering

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God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:4. However, salvation has always been conditional upon man’s willing obedience to God. In speaking to the Israelites through Isaiah the prophet, God said, “ ‘If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword’; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 1:19, 20

Throughout biblical history, God has always done all in His power to bring man into a saving relationship with Himself. His plea has been, “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?” Isaiah 5:4

“The plan of redemption contemplates our complete recovery from the power of Satan. Christ always separates the contrite soul from sin. He came to destroy the works of the devil, and He has made provision that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted to every repentant soul, to keep him from sinning.” The Desire of Ages, 311

120 years

As the antediluvians drifted further and further away from God’s plan for their lives, God sought through Noah to awaken them to the direction in which they were heading. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5

“God bestowed upon these antediluvians many and rich gifts, but they used His bounties to glorify themselves, and turned them into a curse by fixing their affections upon the gifts instead of the Giver. They employed the gold and silver, the precious stones and the choice wood, in the construction of habitations for themselves, and endeavored to excel one another in beautifying their dwellings with the most skillful workmanship. They sought only to gratify the desires of their own proud hearts and reveled in the scenes of pleasure and wickedness. Not desiring to retain God in their knowledge, they soon came to deny His existence. They adored nature in place of the God of nature. They glorified human genius, worshiped the works of their own hands, and taught their children to bow down to graven images.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 90, 91

“Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” Genesis 6:9. Therefore, God chose Noah to carry a message to the wicked world of that day. He was to build an ark, and at the same time, he was to proclaim the destruction of the world by a flood for “one hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3).

“Amid the prevailing corruption, Methuselah, Noah, and many others labored to keep alive the knowledge of the true God and to stay the tide of moral evil. One hundred and twenty years before the Flood, the Lord, by a holy angel, declared to Noah His purpose and directed him to build an ark. While building the ark, he was to preach that God would bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy the wicked. Those who would believe the message, and would prepare for that event by repentance and reformation, should find pardon and be saved.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 92

Noah was not only to proclaim God’s message of destruction, but at the same time, he was to seek to gather aboard the ark all who would turn to God for salvation. Thus, God established a principle very early in the world’s history: whenever there is a prophetic time period dealing directly with His people, He sends a prophet to proclaim the beginning of that prophetic period, and at the end of the period, God has a prophet who gathers His people for His purpose.

Noah was both the proclaiming and gathering prophet in this first, comparatively short, prophetic period. He warned the people regarding the Flood, but he also sought to gather them aboard the ark to save them from the destruction that was to come. “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” Genesis 6:22

400 years

We find a second prophetic time period dealing with God’s people in Genesis 15. The Lord “came to Abram in a vision” (verse 1), showing him that he would have offspring more numerous than he could count. God then informs Abram (the proclaiming prophet) that His people would be in a strange land for a period of four hundred years (verse 13), but afterward, they would “come out with great substance” (verse 14). And Abram, whose name God changed to Abraham, “believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness” (verse 6).

As this remarkable time period draws to its climax, God prepared His gathering prophet. “You remember Moses went into the wilderness and stayed forty years, during which time he put away self, and that made room so that he could have the presence of God with him.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 83

“Shut in by the bulwarks of the mountains, Moses was alone with God. The magnificent temples of Egypt no longer impressed his mind with their superstition and falsehood. In the solemn grandeur of the everlasting hills he beheld the majesty of the Most High, and in contrast realized how powerless and insignificant were the gods of Egypt. Everywhere the Creator’s name was written. Moses seemed to stand in His presence and to be overshadowed by His power. Here, his pride and self-sufficiency were swept away. In the stern simplicity of his wilderness life, the results of the ease and luxury of Egypt disappeared. Moses became patient, reverent, and humble, ‘very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth’ (Numbers 12:3), yet strong in faith in the mighty God of Jacob.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 248–251

As Moses tended the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a fiery bush. The Angel said, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey. … Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people … out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:7, 8, 10

Again, we see the biblical principle: Abraham, the proclaiming prophet, is seen at the beginning of the prophetic period, and Moses, the gathering prophet, is seen at the end. Moses was asked to gather “the children of Israel out of Egypt” (verse 10). “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:41

From the beginning of Israel’s existence as a nation, the people scattered as a consequence of their disobedience to God. Notice the very powerful statement given to the Israelites after they departed from Egypt: “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you … . Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth to the other.” Deuteronomy 28:15, 64. But when the Israelites would repent with all their heart and return to the Lord in obedience to all He commanded, He would again gather them together as His people. (See Deuteronomy 30:1–3.)

70 years

In the book of Jeremiah, the prophet proclaims that the Israelites would spend 70 years in captivity in Babylon. (See Jeremiah 29:10.) This is the third time period affecting God’s people. “When men’s hearts are softened and subdued by the constraining influence of the Holy Spirit, they will give heed to counsel; but when they turn from admonition until their hearts become hardened, the Lord permits them to be led by other influences. Refusing the truth, they accept falsehood, which becomes a snare to their own destruction.

“God had pleaded with Judah not to provoke Him to anger, but they had hearkened not. Finally sentence was pronounced against them. They were to be led away captive to Babylon.” Prophets and Kings, 425

But there were also promises of deliverance. “Prophecies of oncoming judgment were mingled with promises of final and glorious deliverance. …

“Like sweetest music, these promises of deliverance fell upon the ears of those who were steadfast in their worship of Jehovah.” Ibid., 427

Daniel, apparently an ardent Bible student, refers to this period in Daniel 9 as he seeks, through prayer and supplication, to have his people brought out of captivity per the prophecy of this prophetic period. “The deliverance of Daniel from the den of lions had been used of God to create a favorable impression upon the mind of Cyrus the Great. The sterling qualities of the man of God as a statesman of farseeing ability led the Persian ruler to show him marked respect and to honor his judgment. And now, just at the time God had said He would cause His temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt, He moved upon Cyrus as His agent to discern the prophecies concerning himself, with which Daniel was so familiar, and to grant the Jewish people their liberty.” Ibid., 557

In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we see the beginning of the regathering of God’s people: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, … ‘Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem … .’ ” Ezra 1:1, 3

Nehemiah 1 references the scattering and gathering promises found in Deuteronomy 28. “Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ ” Verses 8, 9

So we see that for this 70-year prophecy, Jeremiah was the proclaiming prophet, while Daniel was the initial gathering prophet.

490 years

Daniel also serves as a proclaiming prophet in Daniel 9:24–27, where the prophecy of the Messiah, as well as the prophecy of the Jews’ probation as God’s people, is set forth. God gives His people 490 years “to make an end of sins, … and to anoint the most Holy” (verse 24). During that time, the Messiah would come and “bring an end to sacrifice and offering” (verse 27) through His death on the cross.

Right on time, Jesus came to begin His ministry of gathering the people to Himself. John the Baptist initiates this gathering process through his message of repentance and the announcement that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” (See Matthew 3:1–3.)

But notice the Lord’s statement in Matthew 23:37: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” And in John 12:32, Jesus says, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw [gather] all peoples to Myself.” So we see that Daniel is the proclaiming prophet, and Jesus is the gathering prophet.

2,300 years

In 1844, another time period came to its fulfillment. Daniel had prophesied this great time period of 2300 days. “And he said unto me, ‘For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.’ ” Daniel 8:14. It had as its object the beginning of a new ministry for Jesus in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary—the judgment of God’s people, a significant and solemn event. (See Daniel 7:13.) At that time, the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 were to be proclaimed, bringing a revival of interest in the gospel and the second coming of Jesus worldwide.

“Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort, they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14.

“When this work shall have been accomplished, the followers of Christ will be ready for His appearing.” The Great Controversy, 425

In accordance with His principle of always following a proclaiming prophet at the beginning of a time period with a gathering prophet at the end, God called upon Ellen G. White to gather His people for this last great declaration of truth before the coming of Jesus, so that as many as will might be saved. “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7. And Satan seeks to prevent this gathering by doing away with the gathering prophet, for he knows that “where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18, first part, KJV

“The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. … Satan will work ingeniously … to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony. … The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 48

“Many are going directly contrary to the light which God has given to His people, because they do not read the books which contain the light and knowledge in cautions, reproofs, and warnings.” Testimonies, Vol. 4, 391. Without the prophet to give direction that is so badly needed in these last days, God’s people will flounder and drift in one direction and then another with all the winds of doctrine that blow around us. We must recognize God’s prophet and be diligent in heeding her counsel to us.

A Time is Coming

The time is near when the “sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:30, 31

May God help us now to gather up and live by every word of instruction, reproof, and encouragement which He has spoken to us, that when the angels of heaven shall appear, we may be among the multitude of the redeemed gathered up by them to live forever with Jesus.

Source: Clark Floyd, Our Firm Foundation, Vol. 19, No. 4, April 2004, 4–7

The Keys to the Kingdom

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The time is coming when every person will be compelled to answer for their understanding of two questionable texts in the New Testament. Satan’s forces claim that these texts give them the power to demand absolute obedience to papal authority. On the other hand, those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus declare that these same scriptures provide them with unmistakable proof to reject Rome’s demands and obey only Christ. It is, therefore, of utmost importance that these two verses be divinely understood. Once we have discovered God’s explanation, let us implant the truth so deeply within our mind that we can stand without fear in the coming life and death issue. Let us examine these scriptures.

The Keys of Matthew 16:19

“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19. These are powerful keys.

I had the privilege of attending a general conference session in San Francisco in the middle of the last century. There, I saw Kato Raguso from the Solomon Islands. He stood over six feet tall, barefoot, wearing a wrap-around skirt and bushy hair. He was also a Seventh-day Adventist ordained minister. We were all captivated by his pidgin English. Here is his thrilling story.

Back in the 1940s, he had personally helped to save the lives of some 200 of our U.S. airmen shot down over the jungle islands. One day, an allied officer overwhelmed by the stress of war ordered Kato Raguso to commit a very unchristian act. Being a faithful Seventh-day Adventist, he refused to do so. The officer became angry and forced him over a gasoline barrel and beat him until the blood flowed. Then he commanded him again to commit this evil act, but he refused. This time, the officer pulled out his handgun and pistol-whipped him, breaking his nose and leaving him unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he was again ordered to commit this ungodly act, but he would not.

The officer was so angry that he placed him before a firing squad. Two times, he was unable to give the command to shoot. The third time, he was unable to speak for two days. Determined, this devil-possessed officer found another method that would kill Kato and his buddy Luti. He threw them both in the brig, locked the door with his key, and waited for the morrow to murder both men. The Adventists on the island heard of his desperate situation. They beat their drums, calling for an all-night prayer meeting.

While the Adventists were still praying, a man walked out of the jungle to the prison gate. In his hand was a key that he used to unlock the prison door, and he called for Kato Raguso and Luti to come out and follow him. He led them down to the seashore, where he had prepared a canoe with two paddles. By the moonlight, they could see some hundred yards in all directions. This man who had delivered them said, “Goodbye,” and the two Solomon Islanders turned to thank him, but he was nowhere to be seen. This angel had delivered them with a key that opened the prison door while the officer’s key still hung on the wall of the sleeping quarters. The angel’s key made the difference between life and death.

The First Question

The keys referenced in Matthew 16 have tremendous power because, with them, you can bind or loose on earth and in heaven. One must admit that this is a mighty power, and if that isn’t awesome enough, Jesus further described the power of these keys in this way: “ ‘If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ ” John 20:23

The first question we should consider is: Does Jesus have keys that He can give to whom He pleases? Isaiah 22:22 says, “The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.”

John the Revelator declared that Jesus Christ had these keys. “These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.” Revelation 3:7. Jesus Himself said, “ ‘I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of Hades and of Death.’ ” Revelation 1:18. We can clearly see who has the keys.

The Second Question

Our second question is: What are these keys? Inspiration gives us the answer. “ ‘The keys of the kingdom of heaven’ are the words of Christ. All the words of Holy Scripture are His and are here included. These words have power to open and to shut heaven. They declare the conditions upon which men are received or rejected. Thus, the work of those who preach God’s word is a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Theirs is a mission weighted with eternal results.” The Desire of Ages, 413, 414

Since Jesus Christ has the keys, He can give them to whomever He chooses. He gave these keys to Peter and the same to the other eleven disciples. What is more thrilling and fascinating is that He promises to give them to you and me. “The words of Christ: ‘I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,’ were not addressed to Peter alone, but to the disciples, including those who compose the Christian church in all ages.” The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 2, 273

The Gospel, Repentance, Forgiveness, and a Miraculous Change

But what is our responsibility when we have these keys in our possession? How are we meant to use them? We are to share the gospel of repentance and forgiveness to all we meet, telling them that once they confess their sins and true repentance is at work in the heart, Jesus will write “Forgiven” in the heavenly records. Furthermore, Jesus will wash away the sin living in their heart with His precious blood, allowing them to stand before God as though they had not sinned, and providing their conscience with the peace for which it longs. The keys unlock man’s sinful heart on earth and open the door to heavenly forgiveness.

Rejection, Sinfulness, and the Closed Door

However, these keys also prevent Jesus from being able to perform this miraculous change if an individual refuses God’s love and offer of salvation. He may shrug his shoulders, uninterested in repentance or forgiveness, choosing to continue living as he is. You can tell him that his sinful record will remain locked in heaven’s record book and that Jesus will not be able to cleanse his heart, nor can he expect to receive God’s promised peace. If he does not change his sinful ways, the door to heaven’s salvation will be closed against him forever.

There is Always a Wrong Way

I recall an experience while I was the Youth Secretary of the Southern California Conference during World War II. One of my responsibilities was to pastor our young Seventh-day Adventist men in my conference serving in the armed services. When a soldier had a problem, I was required to help him.

Recently drafted into military service, a young marine stationed at Camp Pendleton near San Diego had accepted Jesus as his Saviour. He had committed to keep the commandments and been baptized.

On the Sabbath following his baptism, his commanding officer ordered him to dig a trench for battle practice with the other men of his barracks. He respectfully refused, saying, “I cannot, for my God commands me to keep the Sabbath day holy.” The marine officer became very angry and ordered him to be placed in the brig and to face court-martial. When I received the call from this young man, I immediately drove to Camp Pendleton.

When I entered the training base, I went directly to see the chief chaplain. As I walked into his office, I noticed he was a Roman Catholic priest. He listened intently while I told him of this young man’s problem. “I have been informed all about him,” He said. “He faces a court-martial in two weeks.” Looking the chaplain straight in the eye, I answered, “You must defend this young man, for his conscience will not allow him to disobey his God.” With a big smile, he replied, “I’ll take care of this case.” I felt relaxed. Then he asked, “Are you his pastor?” I answered, “Yes.” Then he said, “This is an easy case. All you have to do is to give him a dispensation to work on the Sabbath. Case dismissed.” In amazement, I said, “Wait, Chaplain, not so fast. Neither my church nor my God has ever given me such authority. God expects me, as His ambassador, to do only as He commands. I must, therefore, stand by this young man and defend his conscience. I will urge him to keep the seventh-day Sabbath holy.” I continued, “I am also aware that your church gives you the authority to give a dispensation whenever you choose so that you may tell such an individual that he can break God’s eternal law, but I cannot do this.”

There we stood—I, the representative of God’s remnant church, and he, the representative of Babylon. Each of us claimed to have the keys to the kingdom. This Catholic chaplain believed the keys gave him authority to change God’s word so he could tell the young man that it was not a sin to disobey God. There I stood, a representative of Jesus Christ, with the keys that required me to encourage this young marine to obey God and that he should be faithful even if it meant spending years in jail. The Catholic priest discovered that I would not compromise, so he decided to defend the young man, and together, we secured an honorable discharge for him.

You and I will soon face the final struggle between the system of Babylon and God’s true church. I trust you will never follow the satanic power that claims it can give you a dispensation to sin. May you stand firmly with the church of Christ—those who keep the commandments and have the faith of Jesus who is the Rock of salvation.

A Rolling Stone or a Mighty Rock

The second scripture for which we must answer is Matthew 16:18, but let’s start with verses 13–17, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’ ”

“ ‘And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.’ ” Verse 18. We must understand this scripture if we are to be faithful to Christ in the coming test.

We must look at this scripture in the original Greek to understand it better. “ ‘And I say also to you, that you are Petros [a small pebble, a rolling stone, something unstable upon which you must never build], and upon this Petra [a mighty rock, a stable foundation on which to build] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.’ ” I can think of no better illustration than that of El Capitan, that mighty rock in Yosemite National Park in California. Standing some 4,000 feet high, El Capitan is composed of solid granite and embedded deeply within the earth. In this scripture, Jesus says He will build His church upon Petra, the mighty Rock—Christ Himself—against whom the gates of hell cannot prevail. No matter where you read in God’s word—Old Testament Hebrew or the New Testament Greek—Christ is the Rock upon which His church is built.

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.” Isaiah 28:16. The papacy does not have the keys of Christ, which are founded on the Rock Jesus Christ, for the Roman Catholic system is founded on St. Peter, which Inspiration reveals to be Petros, a pebble. The time is near when you will stand before a judge appointed by a Catholic power, using the Catholic interpretation of this text to convince you that you must keep Sunday holy in obeisance with the laws of the Roman Catholic system.

The Spirit of Prophecy reveals this final issue. “Two great opposing powers are revealed in the last great battle. On one side stands the Creator of heaven and earth. All on His side bear His signet. They are obedient to His commands. On the other side stands the prince of darkness, with those who have chosen apostasy and rebellion.” The Review and Herald, May 7, 1901

The Jesuits have a satanic plan to lure you from the divine truth. Unity of the Churches, An Actual Possibility by Karl Rahner—published in 1983 and studied in all Jesuit schools—lays out a detailed, seven-step formula built by the World Council of Churches, called Faith and Order of Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, that reveals Satan’s plan.

Here are the seven steps from Rahner’s book.

  1. There must be unity in all churches.

“When this shall be gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort to force.” The Great Controversy, 445. Any student of the Spirit of Prophecy can see that the ecumenical program to secure the unification of all churches is the last step before persecution. When you read or hear the word unity or the word ecumenical, it should ring an alarm bell that persecution will be coming soon.

  1. Protestant laity are to obey their leaders.

“With respect to ecclesiastical leadership the average congregation in the Protestant churches in fact usually practices the kind of obedience to their church leaders that is customary in the Roman Catholic church. … On the basis of their theological expertise and their religious conscience, the representatives of this ecclesiastical leadership can decide in favor of church unity and can also work with sufficient zeal among the church members to gain their understanding for this decision.” Unity of the Churches, An Actual Possibility, 54

We have come to a time in the Seventh-day Adventist church when our leaders are doing all they can to bring this church into conformity with the ecumenical program; therefore, we must weigh every church command from headquarters to see if it conforms to the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. We must not mindlessly obey our church leaders.

  1. The churches will unite because they have become liberal.

I know of no other terminology which so accurately describes the Seventh-day Adventist church today. “Doctrines must become inconsequential. The time for interconfessional polemics is gone. So is the time of controversies focused solely on substantive differences.’’ Ibid., 66. This book demands there be no controversy between Protestantism and the Papacy. That means we are not to call the pope the antichrist. Is this why you seldom hear the three angels’ messages from our pulpits? Is this the reason for the change of our three angels’ logo?

  1. The churches may retain their structures.

Rahner explains the pluralism promoted by the ecumenical movement: “In this one church of Jesus Christ, composed of the uniting churches, there are regional partner churches, which can, to a large extent, maintain their existing structures. These partner churches can also continue to exist in the same territory, since this is not impossible in the context of Catholic ecclesiology.” Ibid., 43. Pluralism is often used by many Adventist ministers in our papers and books. Again, Ellen White was shown that this was to come. “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” The Great Controversy, 445

  1. The churches are to live in reconciled diversity.

“The Catholic church will be satisfied if the individual has an affirmative relation to fundamentals and does not raise explicit and decided objectives.” What does such language mean? “All churches are to shut their eyes and ears to the truth. You must never teach what you believe to a member of another church.” Rahner is teaching a message from the old Greek philosophers. “The propositions of both sides, when developed further and understood in a larger context, do not really contradict each other.” Unity of the Churches, An Actual Possibility, 36, 37. Now, isn’t that a sneaky position?

Rahner pleads, “The Protestant Christian would not need to make a doctrinal and definite agreement right now to many of the propositions that the Catholic regards as binding on the faith. But he does not need to reject them definitely either. … This Protestant Christian can most certainly assume that (hopefully) in the course of the further history of religious consciousness these Catholic propositions will obtain the kind of clarification and interpretation that will permit a definite agreement on his part (not yet possible today) without his having to feel duty-bound to reject them directly.” Ibid. What a subtle, devilish approach.

  1. No church is to reject the dogma held by another.

“Nothing may be rejected decisively and confessionally in one partner church which is binding dogma in another partner church. Furthermore, beyond Thesis 1, no explicit and positive confession in one partner church is imposed as dogma obligatory for another partner church. This is left to a broader consensus in the future.” Ibid., 25. This means that you are to do as other churches; you are no longer to depend on your study of God’s word alone. “One has to depend more and more on the knowledge of others, which one can no longer assimilate or check oneself.” Ibid., 28

Rahner’s argument is precisely this: “The church itself is the guarantor, through its formal teaching authority, of the truth of the individual doctrines it presents.” Ibid., 32. This means that we don’t question what our church teaches concerning a belief or the actions that it commands. Inspiration foresaw this and declared, “A day of great intellectual darkness has been shown to be favorable to the success of the papacy. It will yet be demonstrated that a day of great intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. … The false science of the present day, which undermines faith in the Bible, will prove as successful in preparing the way for the acceptance of the papacy, with its pleasing forms, as did the withholding of knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in the Dark Ages.” The Great Controversy, 573, 574

  1. The ministers are to exchange pulpits in a pulpit fellowship.

“It is self-evident that there must be fraternal exchanges and intensive cooperation among the theologians of these partner churches, even though this in no way requires the fusion of the institutional or organizational representatives of the theologies of these distinct churches.” Unity of the Churches, An Actual Possibility, 52. How clever. I’ll never forget when, out of the blue, the Catholic priest of the nearby parish asked me if I would be willing to exchange pulpits with him. I am sure you know my answer.

“The solution to these problems will nevertheless require that all sides give up certain number of old familiar customs, so as to make possible not just coexistence with tolerance and much indifference but a true unity of these partner churches in truly loving recognition of their differences.” Ibid., 48. I may be considered a fanatic, but I believe in the Bible’s way of being separate. “Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” Revelation 18:4

So there you have the seven steps to be followed by all churches.

“The word Peter signifies a stone—a rolling stone. Peter was not the rock upon which the church was founded. The gates of hell did prevail against him when he denied his Lord with cursing and swearing. The church was built upon One against whom the gates of hell could not prevail. …

“The Saviour did not commit the work of the gospel to Peter individually. At a later time, repeating the words that were spoken to Peter, He applied them directly to the church. And the same in substance was spoken also to the twelve as representatives of the body of believers. If Jesus had delegated any special authority to one of the disciples above the others, we should not find them so often contending as to who should be the greatest. They would have submitted to the wish of their Master, and honored the one whom He had chosen. …

“ ‘The head of every man is Christ.’ God, who put all things under the Saviour’s feet, ‘gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.’ The church is built upon Christ as its foundation; it is to obey Christ as its head. It is not to depend upon man or be controlled by man. Many claim that a position of trust in the church gives them authority to dictate what other men shall believe and what they shall do. This claim God does not sanction. … Upon no finite being can we depend for guidance. The Rock of faith is the living presence of Christ in the church. Upon this the weakest may depend, and those who think themselves the strongest will prove to be the weakest, unless they make Christ their efficiency. ‘Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.’ The Lord ‘is the Rock, His work is perfect.’ ‘Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.’ ” The Desire of Ages, 413, 414

Each of us has the keys to the kingdom. May we wisely use them.

Pastor Lawrence Nelson served the Seventh-day Adventist church for over fifty years as a pastor and evangelist, and then in Conference, Union, and General Conference leadership, and was the director of Keep the Faith Audio Tape Ministry. Elder Nelson passed to his rest on April 18, 2012.

Take Heed Lest You Fall

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“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

1 Corinthians 10:12

Revelation 2 and 3 describe the characteristics of the seven churches that represent the different time periods from the apostolic church through the end of time. To some of the churches, God spoke not one negative thing against the church, but when He came to the Laodicean church—the end-time church—His message was severe. This last church had a special tendency to feel over-confident about themselves. After all, they had the “truth,” more light than the churches in ages past. They were God’s people. However, John the Beloved records God’s rebuke of the Laodiceans.

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:15–19

John follows this rebuke with words of hope from God. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Verses 20, 21

Those who made up the Laodicean church were confident that they were God’s people, that they were rich, and in need of nothing. But God tells them that they are really wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Then He offers them just what they need: gold refined in the fire (a perfected character), white garments (forgiveness), and eye salve (clarity to see their true condition and need).

It is the devil’s determined effort to “help” people to feel secure and satisfied, and it appears, in the case of this church, that he has been quite successful. However, the purpose of the Laodicean message is to shake the people out of their stupor.

Paul describes himself as the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). His day-to-day effort was to keep himself under subjection to the will of God (1 Corinthians 9:27). “Forgetting those things which are behind, I press forward to those things which are ahead.” Philippians 3:13. He offers this warning to all who might think they are rich and need nothing, “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:12

When people believe they have the truth, are attending the right church, claiming to be saved, and planning to stand with the saved, it is easy to feel pretty good about themselves. But Paul warns that this is the very time that we should pay attention, because that is when we most likely need help.

“Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’ ” Revelation 6:14–17

Most of the people described in these texts are those who are standing or once stood, and claimed to be saved. But now they are crying for the mountains and rocks to bury them for they cannot stand to see Jesus’ face. Who was able to stand then? “Only he who has clean hands and a pure heart.” Psalm 24:4, first part. Only he in whose “mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.” Revelation 14:5

Sometimes, the Lord will send someone to us with a message—like Noah before the flood, Elijah on Mount Carmel, Jonah to Nineveh—and we may turn away from them because we think they don’t have the right spirit, or they don’t say or do it right.

Imagine the people swimming around the ark really wishing they could be safe inside. All of the excuses they had given, all the jeering at Noah or claiming that he was too harsh and negative, seemed pretty feeble, I’m sure. They all had their reasons for rejecting the message Noah gave, but none of those mattered; they were still on the outside, destined to die.

God has given to us the work of winning souls for His kingdom. But before we can help others to accept Jesus as their Saviour, we must first be confident that we ourselves are firmly grounded in the truth. Like the mighty oak—its roots thrust deeply into the ground—is able to withstand a storm, we are to thrust our faith deeply in the Saviour. As Jesus told in the parable of the seed sower, if we allow anything to crowd out His words, then we are not solidly grounded in truth. Jesus has promised the grace needed to live and grow in this world, and then to receive eternal life.

My faith must be secure in my Saviour. I must be growing more day by day into the image of Him who made me and saved me. I am not standing secure if I have not grown over the last month, the last six months, the last year. If I am still losing my temper as I was a year ago, I am on shaky ground. If I am still impatient and irritable, if I continue to fall over the same old sins time and time again, then I am not rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ. Before I can do the work that God has laid out for me to do, I must fall on the Rock and be broken. Only then can I be successful in the personal work of overcoming.

Our work is to plant seeds all around us—with our spouse, our children, our church members, a coworker, the person on the street—they all need to know that Jesus is able to supply the grace needed to live for Him, and that He has promised the free gift of eternal life to all who accomplish it.

A time of shaking is coming for everyone who claims the name of Christian. But regardless of what some claim, if they have not been, and are not now growing, then he or she will be shaken out of the faith. In light of this tremendous shaking that no man can escape, we should ask ourselves, Is there anything that could make me turn away from the Lord? Perhaps sickness, death, discouragement, finances, or poverty? Prosperity and worldly recognition and fame? Lack of friends or good friends turning against you, rumors, or slander? Can your hold on the Lord be shaken free? We may have a great deal more confidence in ourselves than the Lord does, for He can see things in us that we cannot see or that we just tend to ignore. Remember, we are Laodicean, confident of our salvation, yet lacking what we truly need to be saved—gold tried in the fire, white raiment, and eye salve. Satan is fervently working to shake us free from Jesus, and if we are not firmly grounded in Him, Satan will succeed, and we will be lost. It will be too late then to become rooted. We have been given this time and the grace, right now, to overcome our besetting sins.

In 1 Corinthians 10:1–11, Paul describes the experience of the children of Israel. “Brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized.” Verses 1, 2

The children of Israel were set apart. They ate spiritual food, listened to Moses, Aaron, and Joshua day after day, they heard the thunder from Mt. Sinai. They drank spiritual drink—and the literal, pure water from the rock that represented Jesus. They ate heaven’s food, food that had such perfect nutrition they were never sick during all their wilderness journey. Their minds were keen and clear, able to be filled with spiritual thoughts. They could pray clearly. They had fresh air, exercise, perfect food, pure water. They saw, heard, tasted, and lived it all, but what has Paul written about them?

“But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain [murmur], as some of them also complained [murmured], and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Verses 5–11

The devil had a whole arsenal of temptations. And while some would be unsuccessful against you or me, they would bring a complete downfall in another. Some were caught up in games and playing, others in lusting after things that God said they shouldn’t desire. Some were consumed with sexual fantasies and immorality, and others lacked faith.

Israel had the truth. There was no doubt in their minds that they were the children of Abraham, God’s chosen people. They kept the Sabbath day, and worshiped Jehovah. They had the gift of prophecy and they had seen the miracles that God had performed on their behalf. They were standing on truth, and they were going to Canaan. Just like us. But sadly, in spite of all this confidence, only two entered the promised land.

Paul says, “These things were written for our admonition on whom the ends of the world are come.” I believe with all my heart, just as much as the children of Israel believed, that the Seventh-day Adventist church is the movement that God raised up for the last days. I believe that it presents the truth for the world today. God gave us the Spirit of Prophecy, and the ability for us to continue learning truth through it and the Bible. We have the Sabbath, His day of rest. The prophecies tell us what to expect in the near future and we can see prophetic events fulfilled and fulfilling all around us. Miracles are performed for individuals, and also on a much larger scale. There can be no question that God’s church will go through to eternity. But have you ever wondered, When God’s church goes through to eternity, will I be going with it? The children of Israel were confident they soon would be living in Canaan and continuing to receive the blessings of God as His chosen people, only to discover that just two of the congregation that left Egypt would go in. Sobering thought, isn’t it?

This is a warning that the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy offer many times. “I would say that we are living in a most solemn time. In the last vision given me, I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved. Many will get above the simplicity of the work. They will conform to the world, cherish idols, and become spiritually dead. The humble, self-sacrificing followers of Jesus will pass on to perfection, leaving behind the indifferent and lovers of the world.

“I was pointed back to ancient Israel. But two of the adults of the vast army that left Egypt entered the land of Canaan. Their dead bodies were strewn in the wilderness because of their transgressions. Modern Israel are in greater danger of forgetting God and being led into idolatry than were His ancient people. …

“A blessing or a curse is now before the people of God—a blessing if they come out from the world and are separate, and walk in the path of humble obedience; and a curse if they unite with the idolatrous, who trample upon the high claims of heaven. The sins and iniquities of rebellious Israel are recorded and the picture presented before us as a warning that if we imitate their example of transgression and depart from God, we shall fall as surely as did they.” Testimonies, Vol. 1, 608, 609

We find a similar warning in Testimonies, Vol. 2, 401, 402: “The Lord is proving and testing His people. Angels of God are watching the development of character and weighing moral worth. Probation is almost ended, and you are unready. Oh, that the word of warning might burn into your souls! Get ready! Get ready! Work while the day lasts, for the night cometh when no man can work. The mandate will go forth: He that is holy, let him be holy still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. The destiny of all will be decided. A few, yes, only a few, of the vast number who people the earth will be saved unto life eternal, while the masses who have not perfected their souls in obeying the truth will be appointed to the second death. O Saviour, save the purchase of Thy blood! is the cry of my anguished heart.”

God has a specific message to His people found in the experience of the Laodicean church and throughout the Bible. It is not enough to know and keep the letter of the law. My heart must be changed and God’s law written on it. In no other way can our hearts be transformed. As Christ’s life was the embodiment of the law, so it must be with us if we are to be saved. We must grow to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We must overcome our besetting sins, having an individual and personal work of gaining experience with Jesus, becoming more and more like Him with each passing day, and being clothed with His robe of righteousness. We cannot go on day after day, week after week, year after year falling, falling, falling. No, dear friend, we must be overcomers. I am so thankful we have an Advocate who forgives our sins when we fall, but God wants more than forgiven sinners; He wants overcomers, and He is willing and able to help those who surrender their wills to Him to accomplish it.

It is human nature to look to man to be our standard for righteousness. A pastor, teacher, or parent might seem to be the perfect example of obedience. But there isn’t a single human being alive today, nor one who has lived and now is gone, who can be a perfect example of obedience, except Jesus Christ. It is His life that we are to emulate. Jesus lived in the world, but was not part of it, and we are admonished to live the same way.

“I was shown our danger, as a people, [is] becoming assimilated to the world rather than to the image of Christ. We are now upon the very borders of the eternal world, but it is the purpose of the adversary of souls to lead us to put far off the close of time. Satan will in every conceivable manner assail those who profess to be the commandment-keeping people of God and to be waiting for the second appearing of our Saviour in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will lead as many as possible to put off the evil day and become in spirit like the world, imitating its customs. I felt alarmed as I saw that the spirit of the world was controlling the hearts and minds of many who make a high profession of the truth. Selfishness and self-indulgence are cherished by them, but true godliness and sterling integrity are not cultivated.” Counsels for the Church (1991), 83

“And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’ ” 2 Corinthians 6:15–18

We are either all for God or, eventually, we will be all for Satan.

“Do not put off the work of forsaking your sins and seeking purity of heart through Jesus. Here is where thousands upon thousands have erred to their eternal loss. I will not here dwell upon the shortness and uncertainty of life; but there is a terrible danger—a danger not sufficiently understood—in delaying to yield to the pleading voice of God’s Holy Spirit, in choosing to live in sin; for such this delay really is. Sin, however small it may be esteemed, can be indulged in only at the peril of infinite loss. What we do not overcome, will overcome us and work out our destruction.

“Every act of transgression, every neglect or rejection of the grace of Christ, is reacting upon yourself; it is hardening the heart, depraving the will, benumbing the understanding, and not only making you less inclined to yield, but less capable of yielding, to the tender pleading of God’s Holy Spirit.

“Many are quieting a troubled conscience with the thought that they can change a course of evil when they choose; that they can trifle with the invitations of mercy, and yet be again and again impressed. They think that after doing despite to the Spirit of grace, after casting their influence on the side of Satan, in a moment of terrible extremity they can change their course. But this is not so easily done. The experience, the education, of a lifetime, has so thoroughly molded the character that few then desire to receive the image of Jesus.

“Even one wrong trait of character, one sinful desire, persistently cherished, will eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel. Every sinful indulgence strengthens the soul’s aversion to God.” Steps to Christ, 32–34

As you look at your life, is there something that the Holy Spirit has at least once convicted you of? Is there something you are holding onto? Something, unless you overcome it, that will eventually destroy you and cost you eternal life? It may be that you are not practicing it, but you still cherish it in your heart. It must be removed from your heart as well as your actions. You must overcome it, or it will surely, in time, overcome you.

“You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

The Lord is calling each of us to live on a higher plane than just nominal Christianity. He is calling us to be doers of the word and not just hearers, clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness. He is calling us to be separate from the world, to have pure thoughts, and to have the love of Jesus in our hearts. We must develop Christ’s character, having no guile in our mouths, and being able to stand without fault before the throne of God.

Take heed, dear friends, lest we fall.

Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life. 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.

Christology – The More Excellent Ministry

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In the book of Hebrews, we find a lot of information in the area of Christology. Christology is defined as “the branch of Christian theology relating to the person, nature, and role of Christ.” Theology—Theos meaning God, and Logos meaning wisdom and knowledge—is a knowledge of the nature and work of God. Christology is a knowledge of the nature and work of Christ.

The apostle Paul wrote Hebrews as a treatise on Christology, one that is uniquely different from other testimonies about Christ found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These gospel writers build their Christology by narration—telling you what Jesus did. However, John shifts the emphasis more toward what Jesus said—a Christology by quotation. He builds his case regarding the nature and work of Christ by telling us what Jesus said about His own ministry, His relationship with His Father in heaven, and with us here on earth.

In Hebrews, Paul gives us a Christology by comparison. He sets up ten comparisons for us to examine, and there is a reason for this. Paul was by far the best educated of the apostles. Trained in the rabbinical schools and at the feet of Gamaliel, you might say he attended the Harvard of his time. He was extremely well-versed in the Scriptures and the teachings of the faith, with a much better understanding of them than any of the other apostles.

We all remember the story of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. On his way to apprehend Christians and return them to Jerusalem to be punished, he was confronted by the Lord. Saul asked, “ ‘Who are you?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’ So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.’ ” Acts 9:5, 6. Blinded by the Lord, he did as he was instructed, waiting, without food and water, for three days. God sent Ananias to Saul. “ ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ ” Verse 17, last part. Saul converted became Paul, and he went out and preached in the synagogues that Christ was the Son of God.

For this, the Jews rose up and sought to kill him; so he fled to the desert of Arabia and remained there for two years. While there, he was taught by Jesus Himself. “Jesus communed with him and established him in the faith, bestowing on him a rich measure of wisdom and grace.” The Acts of the Apostles, 126

At first glance, someone might think that the other apostles had the greater advantage over Paul in that they personally travelled with Jesus for three and a half years, and learned directly from Him. But the apostle Paul was not left out. Jesus privately communed with him. Because of his background, training, and understanding, the Lord knew that Paul would do a mighty work for Him once his mind was straightened out and he was established in the faith.

It is important for us to see that Paul understood some things better than the other apostles. He understood that the gospel was to be taken to the Gentiles which he went to great lengths to explain in Romans 10 and 11. (See Romans 11:16–21.)

Paul also understood the distinction between the moral and ceremonial laws. If the writings of Paul were taken out of the New Testament, there would be no way of knowing that significant parts of the ceremonial law were no longer binding. (Compare Romans 7, Hebrews 7, Colossians 2, and Ephesians 2.) While the other Bible writers may have understood it, they made no mention of it anywhere in the Bible.

But there was something very significant that Paul knew, and it was a burden on his heart. “He [Paul] knew that the typical ceremonies [the sacrifices and temple services] must soon altogether cease, since that which they had shadowed forth had come to pass … .” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 65

We today might say, “What’s the big deal?” But then, to the Jew, there was nothing in this world so dear to him as the temple—a marvelous building even by modern standards. The pomp and ceremonies performed there were magnificent, beautiful, and charming in every way. The temple was the very center of the Hebrew culture.

Paul knew that the temple and all the ceremonies and services connected with it were soon to be destroyed. The people would look for their priests, but would find none. They would look to make their sacrifices, but would be unable to make them. The very heart of their nation’s culture and everything associated with it would be destroyed. What would happen to the faith of the Hebrew Christian? So Paul wrote the book of Hebrews as a way to prepare them for this devastating future.

“The very priests who ministered in the temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the thing signified. In presenting the sacrificial offerings, they were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more through these channels. The whole system must be swept away.” The Desire of Ages, 36

The Jews deeply loved their culture, their traditions, and their nation. The destruction of Jerusalem would be a crisis they were unprepared for, so Paul set up these ten comparisons in the book of Hebrews to help them meet the coming crisis.

With this introduction, let’s begin in Hebrews 1.

Christ with the Prophets

First, we will look at the prophets.

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:1–3

To a genuine, spiritual Jew, a prophet was a revered person, highly honored and respected. But Paul is saying here that in spite of the great honor and respect the people held for the prophets, they needed to look to Jesus, because He is so much greater than the prophets.

Jesus with the Angels

Next Paul compares Jesus with the angels.

“Having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” Verse 4

Then, to reinforce his argument that Jesus is better, higher, greater than the angels, he quotes from the book of Psalms.

“For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You’? And again, ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son’?…

“But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’ And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.’ But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’ And: ‘You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.’ ” Verses 5–10

The remaining verses of the chapter are filled with psalms exalting Jesus Christ, speaking of and addressing Him as one with God. There are two additional verses that provide a clear distinction between Jesus and the angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Verse 14. “For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.” Ibid., 2:5. The world to come has been placed in subjection to Jesus.

Jesus with Moses

Paul’s third comparison is found in chapter 3. Other than Abraham, there is no other name so revered within Israel as that of Moses. Paul is comparing Jesus, with Moses as the leader, and establisher of the nation.

“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One [Jesus] has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house.” Verse 1–3

The Bible uses the word house in the same way that you and I would use the word family.

“… inasmuch as He who built the house [family] has more honor than the house [family]. For every house [family] is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house [family] as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house [family], whose house [family] we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” Verses 3–6

Christ is greater than the prophets, greater than the angels, greater than Moses. And when everything else is swept away and gone, only Jesus Christ will remain.

Jesus with Aaron

Paul’s fourth comparison is found in chapter 5, verses 4–6, comparing Christ with Aaron.

“And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called of God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ As He also says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ ”

We see that Christ is like Melchizedek and not like Aaron. Paul’s evidence is found in verses 7–14. We will see this Melchizedek theme also repeated through chapter 7.

“Who in the days of His [Jesus’] flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek.’ ”

Melchizedek is an interesting character in the Bible. We find no record of him—where he came from, anything about how he lived or died, nothing about him outside the comparison with Jesus.

Jesus with Abraham

In chapter 7, Paul enlarges on the statement that Jesus was a high priest after “the order of Melchizedek.” That Jesus is greater than Aaron, is supported by this comparison of Jesus being like Melchizedek, but then he actually makes a transition by bringing Abraham into the narrative.

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all … .” Verses 1, 2, first part

Verse 2, shows us that Melchizedek is a “king of righteousness” and as the “king of Salem” he is the “king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.” Verse 3

Paul adds verses 4–7 to his basic argument that because Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek, he [Abraham] is not as exalted as Melchizedek.

“Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.”

Jesus with the Levites

The Levitical priesthood is introduced in chapter 7 beginning with verse 10 and continuing to the end of the chapter. Here he discusses the Levitical priesthood and that Christ is greater than the Levites.

A Better Covenant, A Better Sanctuary

In the middle of chapter 7, Paul introduces the subject he is going to expound on as we continue through Hebrews.

“By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.” Verse 22

Some people feel that the word better is the key word in Hebrews. A better testimony, a better covenant; He is better all the way through. In chapter 8, Paul writes about the better covenant.

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” Verse 6

The Old Testament covenant revolved primarily on the promises of the people. But this new, better covenant revolves around the promises of God. Following the better covenant, we find that chapter 8 also tells us about a better sanctuary. Paul has compared Christ with prophets, angels, Moses, Abraham, Aaron, and the Levitical priesthood. Now he compares Him to the covenants and the sanctuary.

“Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.” Verses 1, 2

The better sanctuary is the heavenly sanctuary. If we could just remember that things of the greatest importance are not of this world, then we would not be fearful when we see things happening around us that those without hope fear.

We see that the discussion of the better sanctuary picks up again in chapter 9.

“Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.” Verse 1

Paul has compared the two sanctuaries—the earthly and the heavenly. Now he compares the two dedications of these sanctuaries.

“For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Verses 13, 14

“Then likewise he [Moses] sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Verses 21, 22

Now notice a change: “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these [that is, the blood of the earthly sacrifices], but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Verse 23

So, the earthly sanctuary was built and in order. Moses dedicated it by sprinkling the ark of the covenant and the vessels therein with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly sanctuary was sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.

Next, we find Paul is really settling into his long comparison of the two sacrifices.

“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Verse 24

Paul’s emphasis has been on quality all the way through the book of Hebrews. Christ is greater, higher, better, more glorious. And now he declares that the earthly sacrifices had to be made repeatedly, but Christ’s sacrifice was made only once, showing that Christ is all sufficient.

“Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Verses 25–28

“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

“For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sin every year.” Ibid., 10:1–3

Paul continues to reinforce that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is infinitely greater than the sacrifice of animals. The animal sacrifices, which could never take away sin, were only a symbol of the more perfect sacrifice.

“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God … . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Verses 12, 14

Every day, morning and evening, the Jews brought their sacrifices to the temple; and every morning and evening the priest would present their offering to the Lord. But now, after the one perfect sacrifice, there is no other sacrifice, no priest to offer it, no lamb to be the sacrifice. The entire sacrificial system given to the Jews by God Himself was only a symbol of the sacrifice, the atonement, that Jesus would make on the behalf of all mankind.

“He bore the curse of the law for the sinner, made an atonement for him, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. … Genuine faith appropriates the righteousness of Christ, and the sinner is made an overcomer with Christ; for he is made a partaker of the divine nature, and thus divinity and humanity are combined.” God’s Amazing Grace, 177

Mrs. White makes reference to this atonement at least 11 times.

“He has made an atonement for us.” In Heavenly Places, 71

“Christ has made an atonement for the sins of the whole world.” Lift Him Up, 235

“Christ has made an atonement for you.” Medical Ministry, 44

“Jesus has made atonement for all sins. … Christ has made atonement for every sinner.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 1145, 1178

“He made an atonement.” That I May Know Him, 100

“On the cross of Christ, the Saviour made an atonement for the fallen race.” The Signs of the Times, December 17, 1902

“The precious blood of Christ was of such value, that a full atonement was made for the guilty soul.” The Signs of the Times, November 24, 1890

“A complete sacrifice to God by virtue of this atonement, He has power to offer us salvation.” The Faith I Live By, 50

“In every part, His sacrifice was perfect, for He could make a complete atonement for sin.” The Youth’s Instructor, June 24, 1900

“He [Jesus] planted a cross between heaven and earth, and when the Father beheld the sacrifice of His Son, He bowed before it in recognition of its perfection. ‘It is enough’, He said, ‘the atonement is complete.’ ” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7A, 459

Then Mrs. White writes in the present tense.

“Our High Priest is making the atonement for us.” The Great Controversy, 623

“Today Christ is making an atonement for us.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7A, 481

“He will make an atonement for all who will come with confession.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 127

And finally, in Mrs. White’s rich understanding of the Christology Paul has presented in Hebrews, she introduces a new phrase—final atonement.

“The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin. It would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 357

“So in the great day of final atonement an investigative judgment.” The Great Controversy, 480

The first 15 chapters of Leviticus contain 18 statements that include, “the sinner comes and an atonement is made.” Eight of those statements add the words, “the sin is forgiven.” Leviticus 16 then talks about the great day of atonement, including five verses that tell us that even though sin is forgiven and an atonement is made, it is still necessary that a final atonement be made; that day of at-one-ment is described by Paul as: “… God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:19

Those who argue that there is no final atonement simply are not following Scripture.

“Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation [atonement] for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:17

“His work as High Priest completes the Divine plan of redemption by making the final atonement for sin.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 10, 157

“As the priests in the earthly sanctuary entered the most holy, once a year, to cleanse the sanctuary, Jesus entered the most holy of the heavenly at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by His mediation and to cleanse the sanctuary.” Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, 162

The apostle Paul’s message was given to turn the people’s hearts away from buildings, the priesthood, the animal sacrifices, a ministry. He says that we should not fasten our faith on these earthly things because the day is coming when they will all be swept away.

Fasten your faith on Jesus Christ, the One who never changes. He was there for the children of Israel. He is here today. And He will always be here—every day.

A time is coming for every single one of us when all earthly supports will be gone. There will be no physical church, no conference, no preacher or teacher, elder or deacon. But Jesus is always on the job until His work is totally finished. We have nothing to fear except our own human weaknesses and inabilities, and the Lord can take care of those if we will let Him. We need nothing more than Him.

“The heaviest burden that we bear is the burden of sin. … He will take the load from our weary shoulders. He will give us rest. The burden of care and sorrow also He will bear. He invites us to cast all our care upon Him; for He carries us upon His heart.” The Faith I Live By, 105

Dr. Ralph Larson completed forty years of service with the Seventh-day Adventist church as pastor, evangelist, departmental secretary, and college and seminary teacher. Upon retirement, he continued his service, diligently working with and giving counsel to those within the historic movement.

A Trip Out of This World

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Have you ever thought about being an astronaut? Not just being a stargazer with your feet firmly planted on the ground, but to actually travel among the stars and galaxies? The Bible tells us of a few good men who have been given this privilege. Who were they and what qualified them to be the world’s first space travelers?

A Life of Continual Perfecting

Enoch was the first man to travel in space. This is what the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy tell us about him.

“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:24

“Enoch continued to grow more heavenly while communing with God. … The Lord loved Enoch because he steadfastly followed Him and abhorred iniquity and earnestly sought heavenly knowledge, that he might do His will perfectly. He yearned to unite himself still more closely to God, whom he feared, reverenced, and adored. God would not permit Enoch to die as other men, but sent His angels to take him to heaven without seeing death.” The Story of Redemption, 59

“His faith waxed stronger, his love became more ardent, with the lapse of centuries. To him prayer was as the breath of the soul. He lived in the atmosphere of heaven. …

“For three hundred years Enoch had been seeking purity of heart, that he might be in harmony with heaven. For three centuries he had walked with God. Day by day he had longed for a closer union; nearer and nearer had grown the communion, until God took him to Himself. He had stood at the threshold of the eternal world, only a step between him and the land of the blest; and now the portals opened, the walk with God, so long pursued on earth, continued, and he passed through the gates of the Holy City, the first from among men to enter there.” Reflecting Christ, 320

What qualified Enoch for translation? He abhorred iniquity and continually grew more heavenly, earnestly seeking to perfectly do God’s will. He purposed to unite himself more closely to God.

We also find that Mrs. White had occasion to meet and talk with Enoch during one of her visions.

“Wings were given me … . Then I was taken to a world which had seven moons. There I saw good old Enoch, who had been translated. … I asked him if this was the place he was taken to from the earth. He said, ‘It is not; the city is my home, and I have come to visit this place.’ He moved about the place as if perfectly at home.” Early Writings, 39, 40

A Life Restored

For 40 years, God had prepared Moses to lead His children out of Egypt into the promised land of Canaan. For another 40 years, he led the children of Israel through the wilderness. He withstood their rebellions, their whining, and their anger. And through it all, he remained faithful and obedient to God, until he, the meekest man in the world, was driven by frustration to strike the rock in disobedience to God’s instruction. With a contrite heart, Moses confessed his sin, and he was forgiven, but denied the privilege of leading the people into the promised land.

He stood before the congregation and spoke to them his last words.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him; for He is thy life, and the length of thy days. That thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” The Signs of the Times, March 24, 1881

That same day God commanded Moses to go to Mount Nebo.

“When Moses had ended his last words to Israel, he turned from the congregation, and in silence and alone he made his way up the mountain side. … To Nebo, the highest point on that ridge. Upon that lonely height he stood, and gazed with undimmed eyes upon the scene spread out on every side. …

“Angels of God presented to Moses a panoramic view of the land of promise. Every part of the country was spread out before him, not faint and uncertain in the dim distance, but standing out clear, distinct, and beautiful to his delighted vision. …

“As the glories of the promised land faded from his sight, a scene of deeper interest passed before him. He was permitted to look down the stream of time, and to behold the first advent of our Saviour. He saw Jesus as a babe at Bethlehem. He heard the voices of the angelic host break forth in that glad song of praise to God and peace on earth. He beheld Christ’s humble life in Nazareth, His ministry of love and sympathy and healing, His rejection by a proud and unbelieving nation, the agony in Gethsemane, the betrayal, the cruel mockery and scourging, and that last crowning act of nailing Him to the tree. Moses saw that as he had lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of God must be lifted upon the cross, to give His life a sacrifice for men … .

“Then, like a tired warrior, he lay down to rest. ‘So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.’ …

“Satan exulted that he had succeeded in causing Moses to sin against God. For his transgression, Moses came under the dominion of death. Had his life not been marred with that one sin, in failing to give to God the glory of bringing water from the rock, he would have entered the promised land, and would have been translated to heaven without seeing death. But the servant of God was not long permitted to remain in the tomb. Christ Himself with the angels who buried Moses, came down from heaven, and called forth the sleeping saint, and bore him up in triumph to the city of God.” Ibid., March 31, 1881

Romans 5 tells us that death reigned from Adam to Moses. Moses was the first human being to die and be resurrected. He was also given an immortal, sinless body at his resurrection.

Moses didn’t need a spaceship. Christ Himself woke Moses and took him, with a retinue of angels to the city of God.

A Life of Perseverance

“Elijah the Tishbite … entered upon his mission confident in God’s purpose to prepare the way before him and to give him abundant success. The word of faith and power was upon his lips, and his whole life was devoted to the work of reform. His was the voice of one crying in the wilderness to rebuke sin and press back the tide of evil. And while he came to the people as a reprover of sin, his message offered the balm of Gilead to the sin-sick souls of all who desired to be healed.” Prayer, 133

A man of prayer and enduring faith, God used Elijah to deliver—during one of the most grave crises in the history of the children of Israel—a message of much-needed repentance among His people and judgment to King Ahab. We all know the Bible account of Elijah and the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, and the extraordinary and miraculous display of God’s power.

“Elijah had walked with God. His work had been painful and trying, for the Lord through him had reproved the sins of Israel. Elijah was a prophet of God; yet he was compelled to flee from place to place to save his life. His own nation hunted him like a wild beast that they might destroy him. But God translated Elijah. Angels bore him in glory and triumph to heaven.” Early Writings, 162

“In the desert, in loneliness and discouragement, Elijah had said that he had had enough of life and had prayed that he might die. But the Lord in His mercy had not taken him at his word. There was yet a great work for Elijah to do; and when his work was done, he was not to perish in discouragement and solitude. Not for him the descent into the tomb, but the ascent with God’s angels to the presence of His glory.” Heaven, 102

“Suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them [Elijah and Elisha]; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” 2 Kings 2:11

Elijah didn’t need a spaceship. God sent a band of angels in a whirlwind to carry him up to heaven.

The Perfect Example

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, He went back to heaven to present His sacrifice to His Father. That same day, He returned and remained 40 days with His disciples before He was taken up from the Mount of Olives.

“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men [angels] stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’ ” Acts 1:9–11

“They saw Moses, representing those who will be raised from the dead at the time of the second advent; and there also stood Elijah, representing those who at the close of earth’s history will be changed from mortal to immortal and be translated to heaven without seeing death.” Heaven, 103

Christ ascended from Olivet. He didn’t need a spaceship. He slowly began to rise, not subject to the law of gravity. He engaged in interplanetary travel without any worldly assistance. Jesus was received into a cloud, disappeared from sight, and went up into the kingdom of heaven.

Soon-to-Be Space Travelers

Jesus is coming again soon, in clouds of glory surrounded by an innumerable number of angels to take His children home with Him for eternity. What do the examples of Enoch, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus tell us about this glorious event?

The purpose of this 6,000-years-long controversy is two-fold:

  • to prepare a people, restoring the image of God in those whom He created, and
  • to demonstrate the heinousness of sin and its ultimate and utter destruction.

“The Lord here teaches a lesson of the greatest importance by the translation of Enoch, a descendant of fallen Adam, that all would be rewarded, who by faith would rely upon the promised Sacrifice and faithfully obey His commandments. …

“Enoch, separating himself from the world, and spending much of his time in prayer and in communion with God, represents God’s loyal people in the last days, who will be separate from the world.” The Story of Redemption, 59, 60

“To such communion God is calling us. As was Enoch’s must be their holiness of character who shall be redeemed from among men at the Lord’s second coming.” Reflecting Christ, 320

“God shut Moses out of Canaan, to teach a lesson which should never be forgotten—that He requires exact obedience … .” Heaven, 101

“Moses was a type of Christ. He received the words from the mouth of God, and spoke them to the people. God saw fit to discipline Moses in the school of affliction and poverty, before he could be prepared to lead the armies of Israel in their travels from Egypt to the earthly Canaan. The Israel of God who are now passing on to the heavenly Canaan have a Captain who needed no earthly teaching to perfect Him for His mission as a divine Leader. He manifested no human weakness or imperfection; yet He died to obtain for us an entrance into the promised land.” The Signs of the Times, March 31, 1881

When Jesus returns to this earth, the Bible says that all of His children, those who have died and those who are living, are going to take a space trip. It says, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Those who have died in Christ, those who were His disciples and followers, will rise first. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Verse 17

Notice that when He comes, there will be a shout, and when Jesus shouts, graves all over the world will open and the dead in Christ will be alive again. Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” John 5:28, 29

Paul said, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:50, first part. A person cannot go to the kingdom of God in their present and sinful body. His body must be changed to an immortal, sinless body. He said, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep [we will not all die], but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Verses 51, 52

This immortal, sinless body is not bound by the law of gravity and will be able to lift off and travel into space. “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” Philippians 3:20, 21

There are just two things needed to make this trip—a sanctified character and a new, transformed body. There is no need for reservations, visas, tickets, luggage, rental cars, planes, ships, or trains. The perfecting of character will have been done, and that perfect character will be carried in the heart as the new body rises up into the clouds to meet Jesus.

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:30, 31

People who look to the world do many things to look better. They visit their barber or beautician, they go to a tailor or dressmaker, buy cosmetics, and maybe even have a face lift or some other cosmetic surgery. All this is done to make the outward man look more pleasing. All the while they remain inside the sinful, mortal creatures they are.

But God offers a new, sin-free character and a new body that will never age to everyone who is willing to believe in and surrender their will to Him. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12

Friend, sin does not have to control your life. You can be free from your evil habits and sinful ways. The Bible says that if you receive Jesus, He will give you the power to be victorious. The Holy Spirit will transform you, on the inside, to become a new person, and that changes everything. If you want to be a space traveler, you must surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and ask Him for a new heart and a perfect character. Only God—because of His Son, and through the working of the Holy Spirit—can do this for you.

Have you opened the door of your heart to let in the heavenly Guest who wants to transform you into His likeness as you cooperate with the Holy Spirit? To experience the greatest space trip ever, we must be born again. The kingdom of God, a land with no sorrow, no sickness nor death, no pain, no suffering, no disappointment, is awaiting its citizens.

“A character formed according to the divine likeness is the only treasure that we can take from this world to the next. Those who are under the instruction of Christ in this world will take every divine attainment with them to the heavenly mansions. And in heaven we are continually to improve. How important, then, is the development of character in this life.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 332

“The character we cultivate, the attitude we assume today, is fixing our future destiny. We are all making a choice, either to be with the blessed, inside the City of Light, or to be with the wicked, outside the city. …

“When Christ comes, the balances of heaven will weigh the character, and decide whether it is pure, sanctified, and holy. …

“Happiness is the result of holiness, and conformity to the will of God. Those who would be saints in heaven, must first be saints upon the earth; for when we leave this earth, we shall take our character with us … .” Reflecting Christ, 303

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

That You May See

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“I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”

Revelation 3:18

In the above text, there are three items mentioned that we are counseled to use in our walk along the narrow way: gold, white raiment, and eye salve. All have their role in our walk, and without the use of all three, we are unlikely to cross the Jordan successfully. However, I want to investigate the specific role that the eye salve plays in our Christian journey. It’s the only one of the three that we apparently do not need to buy. Perhaps that is an indication that we already possess it.

Why does Christ tell us to anoint our eyes with eye salve? The scripture clearly answers that question: “that you may see.”

One of the dictionary definitions of the word see is to “discern or deduce mentally after reflection or from information; understand,” which the context of the word in Revelation 3:18 would lead us to accept as the intended use of the word.

But then the question becomes, What does Christ want us to see, to understand?

A study in the Spirit of Prophecy reveals that, as we walk the narrow way, there is more than one thing, aided by holy eye salve, that Christ would have us to see and understand. Note that these blessings found in the Spirit of Prophecy are in no particular order here.

In Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, there is an eye-opening account of an incident that occurred at Cooranbong, Australia, in 1900. It gives us a good understanding of one of the things that we are to “see” once our eyes have been anointed with holy eye salve.

“In April, 1900, a holiday was appointed at the Avondale school for Christian workers. The program for the day provided for a meeting in the chapel in the morning, at which I and others addressed the students, calling their attention to what God had wrought in the building up of this school, and to their privilege and opportunities as students.

“After the meeting, the remainder of the day was spent by the students in various games and sports, some of which were frivolous, rude, and grotesque.

“During the following night I seemed to be witnessing the performances of the afternoon. The scene was clearly laid out before me, and I was given a message for the manager and teachers of the school.

“I was shown that in the amusements carried on at the school that afternoon the enemy gained a victory, and teachers were weighed in the balances and found wanting. I was greatly distressed and burdened to think that those standing in responsible positions should open the door and, as it were, invite the enemy in; for this they did in permitting the exhibitions that took place. As teachers, they should have stood firm against giving place to the enemy in any such line. By what they permitted they marred their record and grieved the Spirit of God. The students were encouraged in a course the effects of which were not easily effaced. There is no end to the path of vain amusements, and every step taken in it is a step in a path which Christ has not traveled.

“This introduction of wrong plans was the very thing that should have been jealously guarded against. The Avondale school was established, not to be like the schools of the world, but, as God revealed, to be a pattern school. And since it was to be a pattern school, those in charge of it should have perfected everything after God’s plan, discarding all that was not in harmony with His will. Had their eyes been anointed with the heavenly eye salve, they would have realized that they could not permit the exhibition that took place that afternoon, without dishonoring God.” Op. cit., 348, 349

If they had understood what they were permitting, if they had had the anointing of the heavenly eye salve, they could have avoided allowing activities that grieved the Spirit of God. They would have been able to discern that the conduct that went on that afternoon was contrary to God’s will. In short, they would have been able to distinguish error in even its most subtle and disguised form.

This spiritual discernment of subtly-disguised evil is perhaps one of the most important things that the application of heavenly eye salve enables us to accomplish.

Another ability granted by this anointing is explained in the following passage:

“Discussions may be entered into by mortals strenuously advocating creature merit, and each man striving for the supremacy, but they simply do not know that all the time, in principle and character, they are misrepresenting the truth as it is in Jesus. They are in a fog of bewilderment. They need the divine love of God which is represented by gold tried in the fire; they need the white raiment of Christ’s pure character; and they need the heavenly eye salve that they might discern with astonishment the utter worthlessness of creature merit to earn the wages of eternal life.” Faith and Works, 23

Here is the second thing that the eye salve of spiritual discernment enables us to perceive: that creature merit or believing that I or any other creature has inherent or innate or acquired worthiness, is totally false. It is Christ’s merit alone, acquired by faith, that offers the believer safe passage to Canaan.

The third thing that heavenly eye salve does for us: It gives us a clear vision of the narrow way that we are to tread—the path that leads directly to Canaan, as explained in the following statement.

“Those who think that they can receive the blessing of God at this meeting [a council meeting in Michigan] without humiliation of self will go away just as they came. They will have as much perplexity as they had before. But, brethren and sisters, we cannot afford this. Let us humble our hearts before God. Let us allow Christ to anoint our eyes with the heavenly eye salve that we may see. We do not want to be blind; we want to see everything distinctly. We do not want to be marching one day toward Canaan, and the next day back to Egypt, and the next day toward Canaan, and then back to Egypt again. Day by day we are to march steadily forward. It makes my heart ache, it fills me with the keenest sorrow, to think of the precious blessings we are losing because we are so far behind the light.” Mind, Character, and Personality, Book 2, 727

The fourth thing that the application of heavenly eye salve does for our spiritual vision is it enables us to distinguish between truth and error. “The eye salve, [is] the power of clear discernment between good and evil … .” Our High Calling, 351

It is explained in more detail in this passage:

“Christian strength is obtained by serving the Lord faithfully. [We] should realize that to be one with Christ is the highest honor to which [we] can attain. By the strictest fidelity [we] should strive for moral independence, and this independence [we] should maintain against every influence that may try to turn [us] from righteous principles. Stronger minds may, yes, they will, make assertions that have no foundation in truth. Let the heavenly eye salve be applied to the eyes of your understanding, that you may distinguish between truth and error. Search the word; and when you find a ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ take your stand.” My Life Today, 73

A fifth blessing given by application of spiritual eye salve is the ability to discern the “indications of the divine will,” enabling us to walk the narrow way without becoming confused by erroneous winds of doctrine that are blowing with more and more frequency as we approach the end of time.

“Whatever path God chooses for us, whatever way He ordains for our feet, that is the only path of safety. We are daily to cherish a spirit of childlike submission, and pray that our eyes may be anointed with the heavenly eye salve in order that we may discern the indications of the divine will, lest we become confused in our ideas, because our will seems to be all-controlling. With the eye of faith, with childlike submission as obedient children, we must look to God, to follow His guidance, and difficulties will clear away. The promise is, ‘I will instruct thee and teach thee … : I will guide thee with Mine eye’ (Psalm 32:8).” Our Father Cares, 134

Closely akin to the fifth blessing is the sixth: the ability to discern the wondrous providences of God.

“Great possibilities, high and holy attainments, are placed within the reach of all who have true faith. Shall we not anoint our eyes with eye salve, that we may discern the wondrous things here brought before us? Why do we not with persevering earnestness, work out this prayer, advancing onward and upward, reaching the standard of holiness? We are laborers together with God, and we must work in harmony with one another and with God, ‘for it is God which worketh in … [us] both to will and to do of His good pleasure.’ (Philippians 2:13).” Ibid., 260

The ability to “see all things in the light of God’s word” is the seventh blessing that the application of eye salve provides.

“A deceiving crookedness is discernible in the minds of those whose eyes are not anointed with the heavenly eye salve that they may see all things in the light of God’s word. The will becomes enslaved, bound to pursue a course which the word of God will not justify.” Ibid., 268

The depth of meaning in the following passage, which details our eighth blessing, is from Our High Calling, 315, and requires a bit of analysis to fully comprehend the ninth blessing.

“The worker for God often regards the activities of life as essential to the advancement of the work. Self is mingled with all that is said and done. … The worker looks upon himself as a necessity. God says, ‘This poor soul has lost sight of Me and My sufficiency. I must cast My light and My vitalizing power into his heart. I must prepare him to receive truth by anointing him with the heavenly eye salve. He sees too many things. His eye is not fastened on Me.’ ”

First, God says that the application of eye salve enables us to perceive the truth, but then He adds that by perceiving the truth, our vision will be focused on God. When we perceive God with the aid of heavenly eye salve, we understand His loving character more and more.

“But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in mercy and truth.” Psalm 86:15

As we seek to advance the cause of truth, the use of eye salve is essential so that our “spiritual eyes are anointed with holy eye salve, that they may discern clearly what will be for the advancement, not the detriment, of the cause.” Publishing Ministry, 225. Clear spiritual vision will enable us to be effective workers as we seek to hasten the end of Satan’s rule and the return of our Lord and Saviour.

A common theme in the counsel we are given in the Spirit of Prophecy regarding studying sacred and inspired writings is to “mine” for hidden gems.

“Those who desire to find the treasures of truth must dig for them as the miner digs for the treasure hidden in the earth. No halfhearted, indifferent work will avail. It is essential for old and young, not only to read God’s word, but to study it with wholehearted earnestness, praying and searching for truth as for hidden treasure. Those who do this will be rewarded, for Christ will quicken the understanding.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 111

Thus we have the tenth benefit of the application of holy eye salve: “When our eyes are anointed with the holy eye salve, we shall be able to detect the precious gems of truth, even though they may be buried beneath the surface.” Reflecting Christ, 111

The eleventh and last benefit we will look at is enabling us to distinguish the true from the counterfeit.

“It would be surprising if there were not some, who, not being well-balanced in mind, have spoken and acted indiscreetly; for whenever and wherever the Lord works in giving a genuine blessing, a counterfeit is also revealed, in order to make of none effect the true work of God. Therefore we need to be exceedingly careful and walk humbly before God, that we may have spiritual eye salve that we may distinguish the working of the Holy Spirit of God from the working of that spirit that would bring in wild license and fanaticism.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 142

In one sense, even though there may be subtle or situational differences between these eleven points, all can be lumped together by recognizing that the heavenly eye salve simply gives us the ability to distinguish truth from error, right from wrong, the leadings of God from the deceptions of Satan, the real from the counterfeit, to distinguish between good and evil. Given that, we can easily recognize that the application and use of eye salve is essential in our Christian walk. Therefore it is also essential that we recognize what this eye salve is and how to obtain it. Inspiration clearly tells us.

“The eye is the sensitive conscience, the inner light, of the mind. Upon its correct view of things the spiritual healthfulness of the whole soul and being depends. The ‘eye salve,’ the word of God, makes the conscience smart under its application, for it convicts of sin. But the smarting is necessary that the healing may follow, and the eye be single to the glory of God.” Our High Calling, 350

We see, then, that the eye salve is the word of God. Indeed, we do not need to “buy” it. It is a free gift. And when we study that word, we are applying the heavenly balm to our thinking, our reasoning, our understanding, so that we may have the clear spiritual vision that the Lord wants all of His children to have.

Note: In the Spirit of Prophecy, our subject word is written eye salve, eyesalve, and eye-salve. For consistency, we have used eye salve throughout this article.

John R. Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by email at johnpearson@stepstolife.org

Coming of the King

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At creation God gave to man a beautiful world. “And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31. This earth was to be inhabited by a loyal, happy people, whose joy and delight would be to honor and obey the Giver of all the wonderful bounties of earth, sea, and sky.

Then entered Satan, and all was changed. Through sin, man became a rebel to the government of God. The dominion of the earth was lost to him, and Satan became the ruler. Again and again has the earth been cursed as man sinks lower and lower in his service of Satan, and departs farther and farther from God.

But this condition will not always maintain. In the outcome God’s purpose will be carried out. “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:18

And although man has sinned, and the earth is cursed, yet they will be redeemed, brought back to their loyalty to God, and the first dominion will be reestablished. Through Christ the blessings of Eden will be restored. “And Thou, O Tower of the flock, the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8

The First Advent of Christ

The only hope of salvation for a lost race was centered in the mission of Christ to earth at the first advent. The penalty for the sins of the saved must be met, and Jesus alone had wherewith to pay the price. As one with the Father, as Creator and Lawgiver, His sacrifice alone could meet the requirements of a broken law, and man could be redeemed.

Christ, the desire of the faithful of all ages, could purchase back the lost dominion. He could restore man to the vantage ground which he had lost. With longing anticipation patriarch and prophet looked forward to the coming Messiah. This was the keynote of all their hopes.

The Second Coming of Christ

Prophets have foretold, and Christ when on earth distinctly taught, that He would again come to earth and bring redemption to His faithful people.

Before the flood, Enoch, “the seventh from Adam,” testified, “Behold, the Lord cometh … to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. This can refer only to the second coming of Christ.

In the depths of affliction, Job looks down the ages to the coming of the Lord, the resurrection and final deliverance, and exclaims, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:25–27

Of the final rescue of this world from the thrall of sin and Satan, the inspired David sings, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.” Psalm 96:11–13

In glowing words, the prophet Isaiah tells of the joy of the saints as they catch a glimpse of their Lord coming in the clouds. They exclaim, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isaiah 25:9

Just before the crucifixion the Saviour comforted the disciples with the promise, “In My Father’s house are many mansions. … I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3

And as the sorrowful disciples stood with uplifted eyes striving to discern the form of their Lord as the cloud “received Him out of their sight,” two men in white apparel appeared by their side, and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9, 11

How will He come? In answer to the question of the disciples as recorded in Matthew 24, our Saviour said, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Verse 4. This certainly indicates that there will be a great deception abroad in regard to the second coming of Christ.

No event which ever has transpired, or ever will take place in this world, is so offensive and hateful to Satan as the second coming of Christ. At that time our Lord will come to break Satan’s hold upon this world, and redeem the faithful and true. Then will be destroyed forever the power of the enemy. Hence every deception which he can use will be employed to deceive the world as to the nature and importance of this great event.

To meet the popular belief that the second coming of Christ occurs at death, at conversion, or in any other than the literal way, He says, “As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Verse 27

To the spiritualist, who proclaims that Christ has come in the private seance; to those who claim that the senseless jargon of Christian Science is the second advent of Christ; to all the pretenders in all time who claim to be Christ, the apostle John says, “Behold, He cometh with clouds [of holy angels]; and every eye shall see Him.” Revelation 1:7

And our Saviour warns us, “If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” Matthew 24:23–26

No one will be left to question and doubt when our Saviour really appears. John describes His appearance when He returns to earth: “His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. … And His name is called The Word of God.” (See John 1:1.) “And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.” Revelation 19:12, 13, 16. He is not then the lowly man of Calvary, but the King coming to His kingdom.

Yes, Jesus is coming again. And while this fact rouses the hate and fury of Satan, and is a source of uneasiness and terror to the unprepared, it is the theme of joy and rejoicing to the few who “love His appearing.” Paul writes, “Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:28

The apostle says that our Lord will come with salvation “unto them that look for Him.” Jesus said, “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Mark 13:37. When Jesus comes, all who are thus watching will swell the glad shout of victory, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.” Isaiah 25:9

But the wicked will not be able to endure the glory of Jesus as He comes to earth. They will hide themselves “in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.” They will call to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the glory of the face of Jesus. (See Revelation 6:15, 16.)

Can we know the time of His coming? Our Saviour said, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36

No, the day and hour have not been revealed, and hence all who set a definite time for the Lord to come are sure to be mistaken. But are we left in absolute uncertainty? The twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew gives us many signs which mark as near at hand the day of His appearing. To the student of prophecy He says, “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:33. Then comes the watching period. Then comes the time of waiting for our Lord. We do well to study our Saviour’s great second advent prophecy.

But the question is asked, “Does not Paul say that ‘the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night?’ ” Yes, and he also says that some will say, “ ‘Peace and safety,’ there is no danger that the Lord will come in our day.” But this is a dangerous position for any to occupy, for Paul says of such that “sudden destruction cometh upon them, … and they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3

But there is no need for any to be overtaken unprepared. We may understand and know when the Lord “is near, even at the door.” The waymarks are plain and the mileposts are sure. For Paul adds, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Verses 4, 5

Jesus is coming soon. Paul, writing to those who are looking for and expecting the Lord, said, “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Hebrews 10:37

When Jesus comes, He will bring the reward to the righteous. In the last chapter of the Bible, addressed to those in the last days, our Saviour says, by the mouth of John, “Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12

Past, Present, and Future, James E. White, ©1909, 416–423

[All Scripture taken from the King James Version.]

The Beginning of Religion – A Lie About the Immortal Soul

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Religious diversity in the world is vast. From the very beginning of civilization, religions have played a significant role in the lives of both societies and individuals. Specific beliefs have determined the understanding of the metaphysical reality, which has always had its impact on the way of life and its quality for individuals.

Despite the multitude of different religions in the world, there is a certain religious doctrine that has exerted and continues to exert a profound influence not only on the religious world, but also on the broader cultural landscape. This common element, a denominator that connects almost all Christian denominations, Judaism, Islam, as well as Eastern and pagan religions, is the belief in the immortality of the soul. This belief dates back to the very beginnings of human civilization. Therefore, if we want to understand the origins of human religious systems, we need to go back to the dawn of humanity—to the garden of Eden—specifically to the conversation between Eve and Satan.

The Primordial Lie of Satan

God had instructed the first humans that their lives depended on obedience to the rules of life established by Him as their Creator. God said “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16, 17 ESV. However, when Eve was confronted by Satan in the form of the serpent, he questioned God’s direction, saying, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Eve’s response was that God had told them to eat freely of all the trees of the garden except for this one tree. And if they ate, or even touched, the fruit, they would die. But Satan then replaced what God had said with a lie of his own, “You will not surely die.” Genesis 3:1–4 ESV

Contagious Idea

Satan’s lie became the beginning of the theory of unconditional human immortality. The adversary of God was the creator of the idea that humans can live eternally independent of God, regardless of divine law. When deceived by Satan’s lies, humans sinned by rebelling against God, choosing independence from Him. God was no longer at the center of human life; instead, it was human ego. Convinced by the devil of their uniqueness and the greatness of their own “self,” humans believed that the ego could survive the death of the body, that it was something distinct from their physical tissue, which was subject to degradation and ultimately death, and therefore, that the ego is and must be immortal. For the tainted human nature influenced by sin, the idea that the immaterial “self” is immortal is incredibly tempting, attractive, and highly contagious. Consequently, the majority of Christianity did not resist it. How did it happen that the idea of the immortality of the human soul, which contradicts the words of God, became part of Christian doctrine?

Ancient philosophy

In the realm of Western civilization and culture, the concept of a self-existent, immaterial, spiritual, and immortal soul, which is widespread in, among others, the Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations, appeared in Christianity primarily through Greek philosophical concepts, specifically through the philosophy of Plato.

Theories and Views

Plato argued that a human being consists of two fundamental elements: an immortal soul and a mortal body. Therefore, Plato’s concept of the soul is a form of dualism. Dualism suggests that a human being is not a homogeneous entity but rather composed of multiple elements, specifically that the structure of a human being consists of two fundamental components: the soul or spirit and the body.1 The issue is that Plato’s concept of the soul is not solely a product of his philosophical reasoning but has its origins in the mystical religious beliefs of Orphism, which Plato refined and elaborated upon. Hence, Plato’s concept of the soul has a distinctly (false) religious origin.

Mysteries of the Mysteries

The word mystery comes from the Greek mysterion, which originally meant “dedicated rite” and later became associated with “secrecy” or “hidden knowledge.” The Romans translated myein as initiare, which means “to introduce to something” (from initium, meaning “beginning”). The process of initiation was called initiatio. Therefore, initiation was understood as receiving knowledge, and by extension, transitioning into a new form of religiosity. Initiation distinguished mystery cults from the commonly accepted and practiced religion.2 Mysteries were, therefore, rites of passage or entry—an initiation into another reality, a spiritual reality.

Mystical Platonism

In ancient Greece, alongside the official state religion practiced publicly and privately, there existed ancient mystery cults with pre-Greek origins. These cults showed influences from Egyptian and Eastern spirituality. Mystery cults had a significant impact on shaping Greek spirituality and philosophy because Greek philosophy is an integral part of Greek spirituality. What distinguishes Greek philosophies is their specific experiential foundation, rooted in a particular kind of experience. Philosophical experience defines the spirit of philosophy. Therefore, it can be said that the philosophy of Plato, as well as the entire Platonic philosophy, is profoundly mystical and, as such, adopts and continues the tradition of Greek mysteries.3 It was the Orphic mysteries in particular that allowed Plato to recognize the spiritual essence in humans above all else, with all the consequences that follow. According to Plato, “… if any one of us is to have pure knowledge of anything, he must get rid of the body and contemplate things by themselves with the soul by itself. Then, I suppose, it will be plain that we shall attain to that which we desire and shall achieve that goal which we have in view, if there is a goal of this kind.”4

Updating an Old Lie

The Orphics held a doctrine of the immortality and divinity of the soul, a motif that is very clearly present in Plato’s teachings about the soul. Plato describes the soul as being most similar to what is divine and immortal, accessible only to thought, having a single form, indivisible, and always self-identical.5 The Orphics believed in an immortal, divine soul trapped in an impure body. According to Orphic belief, the body is merely a prison and a tomb for the true, spiritual human being. Liberation from this bodily imprisonment is necessary to return to the divine sphere of the universe. Orphic mysteries promised humans a return to the world of the gods, provided they purify themselves from bodily attachments.6 When we explore Orphic beliefs, it is easy to hear echoes of the devil’s lie in the garden of Eden. After all, Orphic beliefs contain the conviction that the immaterial essence of humans—the soul—certainly does not die because it is immortal. Through mysteries, the human soul can attain enlightenment and recognize its divine nature. “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ ” Genesis 3:4–5 ESV. Just as Greek mysteries updated Satan’s old lie in the ancient world, the New Age movement has, through its beliefs, updated the devil’s lie for our modern times. Consequently, contemporary culture and popular culture are permeated with the belief in the immortal soul, as observed almost daily in news articles, social media posts, and common entertainment venues.

Platonic dualism

All elements of the mysterious religion of the Orphics can be found in Plato’s philosophy except for the Orphic cult and rituals. Plato simply rationalized Orphic mysticism to fit the needs of his philosophy. In Plato’s view, reality always had a dualistic structure. In the world of Platonic thought, there is a duality of ideas and things, and even more significantly, an anthropological dualism of the soul and the body. Such an approach causes the soul, as immaterial and immortal, to be in sharp contrast to the mortal and material body. The union of the soul with the body is unfavorable for the soul because the body is its prison and tomb. This opposition is extremely radical because the body is a punishment for the soul, a place where it undergoes penance as in a prison. The body becomes the worst enemy of the soul, serving as its tomb. With death, the liberation of the soul from the body begins. According to Plato, the body undergoes decay, but the soul is independent of it and exists eternally after its destruction. The existence of the soul is both eternal and everlasting because it has no beginning or end.7 Therefore, Plato presents himself as a deeply religious man who, fascinated by the world of Orphic mysteries and beliefs, appears more as a mystic than a philosopher dealing with the realm of reason.

Death in Plato’s Philosophy

For Plato, death is the separation of the soul from the body. To put it more vividly, it is the liberation of the soul from the body. Therefore, for Plato, death is a good thing to strive for because only through death can the soul return to the divine realm. It would be amusing, as the philosopher says, “for a person who has worked on himself all his life to be as close to death as possible while alive, to then recoil when it comes to him? Isn’t that funny?”8 There can be no greater contrast between Plato’s view of death as a good thing, as a friend, and the perception of death in the Bible.

Death in the Bible

Death is described in the Bible as evil (Deuteronomy 30:15 ESV), a curse (Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV), bitterness (Ecclesiastes 7:26), terror (Psalm 55:4, 5), darkness and shadow (Psalm 107:10), and an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV). Death, as the opposite of life, is portrayed as an adversary and something foreign to God. The Bible addresses death because it is a profound issue intertwined with life. In the Hebrew Bible, death is understood as the end of life’s symptoms, the end of existence. It is essential to emphasize that death was not perceived merely as the act of dying, but primarily as a state. Death elicited fear because in death, a person lost their relationship with God, which was most terrifying for the Hebrews.9

What is the state of the deceased according to the word of God? The deceased do not possess any of the three attributes that define existence: mind, emotions, and will. In the deceased, there are no cognitive processes: “When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.” Psalm 146:4 ESV. Therefore, “the dead know nothing.” Ecclesiastes 9:5 ESV. The deceased have no emotions: “Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:6 ESV. The deceased have no will because after death: “in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.” Ecclesiastes 9:10 BSB. This state of nonexistence is euphemistically referred to as “sleep” in the Bible.10 Furthermore, the meaning of the word Sheol is “grave” or “burial place” in the sense of the state of death, not a place for the spirits or souls of deceased people.11 Death as the “sleep in the dust of the earth” is a direct consequence of the biblical understanding of the mortality of the soul (nefesh), which is a psychophysical unity of a person.

Biblical Anthropology

What characterizes the Hebrew concept of a human being is the absence of a dualism between the soul and the body. In Genesis 2:7 KJV, we find the fundamental biblical definition of a human being, a paradigm that is characteristic of the entire Hebrew thought on humanity. “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” This text does not state that God breathed a soul into the man’s nostrils but “the breath of life.” Similarly, it does not say that the man became an immortal soul but a “living being” or a “living soul.” Thus, human beings do not possess a soul as a substantially different entity from their body; a human being is a living soul. According to the Bible, God first formed the body of the human being from the dust of the ground, which includes material and organic elements. Later, He breathed life into it, and in this way, the human being began to exist, becoming a living being.

Biblical equation

The way God created humans can be presented as a biblical equation as follows: dust of the earth (material elements) + breath of life = a living being, a living soul, a living body, a human. In the Hebrew language, “living soul” and “living body” are synonymous.12 Therefore, the Bible conceives of a human being as a holistic entity comprising the body, mind, and spirit. Just imagine the far-reaching implications that the Platonic concept of a human being has for theology, psychology, epistemology (philosophy of knowledge), and popular culture. On the other hand, consider how the biblical holistic concept of a human being could impact the understanding of these areas of life if it had not been rejected by nearly all of Christianity.

Death as a friend versus death as an enemy

To ensure that our considerations of Plato’s and the Bible’s concepts are not too tedious and overly academic, let me present to you, dear readers, two radically different approaches to death by two historical figures: Socrates and our Lord Jesus Christ. Oscar Cullmann described it as follows in his excellent essay: “Is there a greater contrast than that between Socrates, who, like Jesus on the day of His death, is surrounded by His disciples but full of sublime calm, discusses with them the topic of immortality, and Jesus, who a few hours before His death trembles and shudders and begs His disciples not to leave Him alone? The Letter to the Hebrews, which, more than any other New Testament text, emphasizes the full divinity (Hebrews 1:10) and full humanity of Jesus, surpasses even the synoptic accounts in its description of Jesus’s fear of death. In chapter 5:7, it states that Jesus, with loud cries and tears, offered up prayers and supplications to the One who could save Him. Therefore, as the Letter to the Hebrews says, Jesus cried out and wept before His death! There, serene and composed Socrates, discussing the immortality of the soul; here, Jesus, crying out the words of the psalm, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ And He dies with an inarticulate cry (Mark 15:37). This is not death ‘as a friend.’ This is death in all its horrifying dread. It is truly ‘the last enemy of God,’ as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:26, and that is exactly where the complete opposition between the Greek world on one hand, and Judaism and Christianity on the other, reveals itself … . Nothing better illustrates the radical difference between the Greek doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the (Hebrew) Christian doctrine of resurrection than this [contrast] between Socrates and Jesus.”13

Hope of Christians

The word of God does not teach that humans have immortal souls. The Bible teaches that only God is immortal and possesses immortality: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17 BSB. All other beings have life solely through Him. Scripture says, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:12 BSB. The alternative to this truth is Satan’s lie: “You will not surely die.” Genesis 3:4 BSB. Through this lie, the immortality of the soul became the cornerstone of all non-biblical (and therefore devil-inspired) religions. It is a fundamental element of spiritualism. Without it, there would also be no doctrine of hell and purgatory, the hidden purpose of which is to portray God as a cruel monster. Jesus clearly said that the alternative to eternal life is death (“to perish”): “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ESV.14 Immortality can only be obtained through the resurrected Jesus Christ, “who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10 BSB). This will happen at the resurrection of the dead: “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 BSB

References:

1  M. Jędraszewski, Antropologia filozoficzna Prolegomena i wybór tekstów, Saint Wojciech Library, Poznań 1991, p. 151

2  M. Giebelova, Tajemství antických kultů, published by Dialog, Liberec 2009, p. 12

3  P. Świercz, Jednośc wielości – Świat, człowiek, państwo w refleksji nurtu orficko-pitagorejskiego, published by Silesian University, Katowice 2008, p. 19

4  Platon, Dialogi, Fedon, trans. W. Witwicki, Publishing Union Verum, Warsaw 2007, p. 237

5  Ibiden, p. 235B

6  K. Pawłowski, Misteria i filozofia, Scientific society KUL, Lublin 2007, p. 29

7  Platon, Dialogi, Fedon, trans. W. Witwicki, Publishing Union Verum, Warsaw 2007, p. 238

8  Ibiden, p. 238

9  R. Rumianek, Rozumienie śmierci w Starym Testamencie, Warsaw Theological Studies XIV 2001, p. 31, http://fides.org.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=242&dirids=1

10  J. Dunkel, Apokalipsa, Orion Plus 2001, pp. 110, 111

11  Ibiden, p. 297, cf. L. E. Froom, The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, Review and Herald,Washington, D.C. 1966, t.1, p. 162

12  R. L. Odom, Czy twoja dusza jest nieśmiertelna, tłum. R. Jarocki, published by Signs of the Times, Warsaw 2000, p. 8

13  E. Piotrowski, T. Węcławski, Praeceptores Teologia i teologowie języka niemieckiego, wydawnictwo Poznańskie, Poznań 2005, p. 402 cf. O. Cullman, Unsterblichkeit der Seele und Auferstehung der Toten, trans. E. Pieciul, Tcheologische Zeitschrift 12 (1956), p. 134-136

14  J. Dunkel, Apokalipsa, Orion Plus 2001, pp. 299

Marcin Watras lives in Katowice, Poland. He is interested in the philosophy of religion and trends in society. He works for the European Union.