Bible

The Parable of the Talents

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A few days before His crucifixion, Jesus told some parables. The first parable is about ten virgins looking for the coming of the bridegroom. Because of a delay, all of them fell asleep. When they were awakened, five of them who had made preparation had extra oil for their lamps. The other five who were foolish had no oil and their lamps went out.

The next parable about the talents appears to be built on the parable of the virgins by way of practical application to our lives and Christianity.

Matthew 25:13–30 “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. For [the kingdom of heaven is] as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made [them] other five talents. And likewise he that [had received] two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, [thou] good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [there] thou hast [that is] thine. His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and [then] at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give [it] unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

We all want to be that servant who hears the words, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

The Bible has much counsel to servants. Paul counseled the Ephesians, “Servants, be obedient to them that are [your] masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” Ephesians 6:5, 6. Obedience is always a sign of a servant. Doing the will of God from the heart is the key. It is an obedience that must come from the heart.

“We have by grace been chosen as His servants. A servant means a worker, one who bears cares, burdens, responsibilities.” Manuscript 81, July 18, 1893. “It is those who profess to have accepted Christ’s service who in the parable are represented as His own servants.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 326.

If we are to be found good and faithful servants, first we have to respond to the call of a servant and be found faithful. We must be mindful that all things that a servant possesses are gifts from the Master. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one, there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom; to another, the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit; to another miraculous powers; to another prophecy; to another distinguishing between spirits; to another speaking in different kinds of tongues; and to still another the interpretation of tongues: All these are the work of the one and the same Spirit. And He gives them to each one just as He determines.” I Corinthians 12:4–11.

“We are to realize that it is not our goods we are handling, but the Master’s entrusted capital for us to invest and increase as wise stewards of our Lord’s goods, that we may return to Him His investment with usury.” Manuscript 81, July 18, 1891.

“The talents that Christ entrusts to His church represent especially the gifts and blessings imparted by the Holy Spirit.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 327. This is the point of the parable. But it also includes the special gifts of the Spirit. “The special gifts of the Spirit are not the only talents represented in the parable. It includes all gifts and endowments, whether original or acquired, natural or spiritual. All are to be employed in Christ’s service.” Ibid., 328. Every talent or ability that we have belongs to Christ, and we are to employ them for His service.

In Romans 12:4-8 we are shown how each individual is the recipient of an important gift that, when brought together, makes a whole. “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have all the same functions: so in Christ, we who are many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve. If it is teaching, let him teach. If it is encouraging, let him encourage. If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously. If it is leadership, let him govern diligently. If it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” (Paraphrased.) Paul represents these gifts as being parts of the body. Christ is the one who makes up the body giving to each person a different gift. As we use these different gifts, we are functioning as a body.

“The talents are not apportioned capriciously. He who has ability to use five talents receives five. He who can improve but two, receives two. He who can wisely use only one, receives one. None need lament that they have not received larger gifts; for He who has apportioned to every man is equally honored by the improvement of each trust, whether it be great or small. The one to whom five talents have been committed is to render the improvement of five; he who has but one, the improvement of one. God expects returns ‘according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.’ II Corinthians 8:12.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 328.

“And likewise he who [had received] two, gained two more also. But he that had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.” Matthew 25:17.

When we look at the parable, one man receives five talents, one man receives two talents, and one received one. Two of them brought a return. The one who was given five talents brought back five more, and the one who was given two also increased, bringing back two more. However, both of these men received the same commendation, teaching us that it is not the amount of talents that we have that is important to God; it is all about what we do with what we have been given. “But he that received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them.” Matthew 25:18, 19.

“We are all entrusted with the goods of heaven—talents of intellect, wealth, reason, and we are not to regard lightly any of these gifts. They are the Lord’s capital, to be used, sanctified, and returned to the Lord improved by use. To every man God has given his work, and all will have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of what they have done for their Master. …

“The more we have of this world’s goods, the greater will be our accountability to God. Let the question be asked sincerely, heartily, What do I with my Lord’s entrusted talents? There are those who have great light, great opportunities; they realize the Master’s kindly affections, and are stirred to make returns. But other influences come in.” Bible Echoes, June 6, 1898.

Satan is out there battling against each one of us to bring other influences into our lives to divert our attention from what we should be doing. “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares.” Luke 21:34. If we become overcharged with these things and forget what we are supposed to be doing, then we could be found unfaithful, like the servant who hid his talents in the ground.

One of the most overwhelming flaws in humanity is selfishness. It was this very thing that prompted the servant to hoard what was given him. He was afraid that God was going to claim something that he didn’t want to give—he was “afraid to trust God; afraid that God will require something they claim to be their own. They hide their talent in the earth, fearing to invest it anywhere, lest they be called to give back the improvements to God. … Because they have but one talent, they are afraid to trust it with God, and they hide it in the earth.” The Review and Herald, February 23, 1886. This servant was unwilling to give God what belonged to Him. What this man did not realize was the ultimate damage done by selfishness. “You that are placing your talents of means in a napkin, and hiding them in the earth, who are building houses and adding land to land, God calls upon you, ‘Sell that ye have, and give alms.’ [Luke 12:33.] There is a time coming when commandment keepers can neither buy nor sell. Make haste to dig out your buried talents. If God has entrusted you with money, show yourselves faithful to your trust; unwrap your napkin, and send your talents to the exchangers, that when Christ shall come, He may receive His own with interest.” Counsels on Stewardship, 40.

There are several ways that we bury our talents in the ground. One way is through the misuse of our mental faculties. “The Lord desires us to obtain all the education possible, with the object in view of imparting our knowledge to others. None can know where or how they may be called to labor or to speak for God. Our heavenly Father alone sees what He can make of men. There are before us possibilities which our feeble faith does not discern. Our minds should be so trained that if necessary we can present the truths of His word before the highest earthly authorities in such a way as to glorify His name.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 333, 334. One of the best ways to educate our mind is through witnessing. As we witness we use the things that we have learned, and as we share them with others, God gives us more.

There is one thing in this world that has the power to make or break any good thing. It is the power of speech. This can be the greatest blessing or the greatest curse depending on how it is used. “The power of speech is a talent that should be diligently cultivated. Of all the gifts we have received from God, none is capable of being a greater blessing than this. With the voice we convince and persuade, with it we offer prayer and praise to God, and with it we tell others of the Redeemer’s love. How important, then, that it be so trained as to be most effective for good.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 335. Our speech can be used for the Lord, but it can also be used for Satan. If we want our speech to be pure, our hearts need to be pure. We need to watch and be aware of the effect we have on others through this powerful medium. When speaking of the things that God has given as gifts to use in His service, this one, as the Bible says, has the power for great good or great evil.

Another gift that God has endowed us with is our influence. Whether we realize it or not, everything that we do influences another being in some way. It is for this reason that we need to exercise a spirit of joy and kindness. “Every soul is surrounded by an atmosphere of its own—an atmosphere, it may be, charged with the life-giving power of faith, courage, and hope, and sweet with the fragrance of love. Or it may be heavy and chill with the gloom of discontent and selfishness, or poisonous with the deadly taint of cherished sin. By the atmosphere surrounding us, every person with whom we come in contact is consciously or unconsciously affected.” Ibid., 339.

Time is another talent. What do we spend our time on? Is it worthy of a Christian, and enriching to the Christian walk? “Our time belongs to God. Every moment is His, and we are under the most solemn obligation to improve it to His glory. Of no talent He has given will He require a more strict account than of our time.” Ibid., 342. It may come as a surprise to many that it is the account of our time that we are held the most accountable. Our very lives are not our own, but His. Given this, how we spend the time that we are given is very important to God.

Health is often something that is taken for granted; however, health is another thing that needs to be worked with and increased. “Health is a blessing of which few appreciate the value; yet upon it the efficiency of our mental and physical powers largely depends. Our impulses and passions have their seat in the body, and it must be kept in the best condition physically and under the most spiritual influences in order that our talents may be put to the highest use.

“Anything that lessens physical strength enfeebles the mind and makes it less capable of discriminating between right and wrong. We become less capable of choosing the good and have less strength of will to do that which we know to be right.” Ibid., 346. Health is something to be guarded. The mind and the body sympathize with each other and every power of the will is necessary to overcome that which would be more difficult without good health.

Lastly, finances are a talent. “Our money has not been given us that we might honor and glorify ourselves. As faithful stewards we are to use it for the honor and glory of God. Some think that only a portion of their means is the Lord’s. When they have set apart a portion for religious and charitable purposes, they regard the remainder as their own, to be used as they see fit. But in this they mistake. All we possess is the Lord’s, and we are accountable to Him for the use we make of it. In the use of every penny, it will be seen whether we love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves.” Ibid., 351. It is an individual work to see to it that the Lord is pleased with our stewardship. He is faithful to help us in every area that we may lack, to help us be faithful.

The importance of using our God-given gifts is not often fully acknowledged. “When Philip found Jesus, he immediately went to find Nathanael, and when he had found him, he said, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathanael said, ‘Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.’ This is what you should do,—invite others to come, and hear and see for themselves whether your words are true, and your religion genuine. When Jesus saw Nathanael, he said, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.’ Nathanael was astonished, and said, ‘Whence knowest thou me?’ And Jesus said, ‘Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.’ Nathanael exclaimed, ‘Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the king of Israel.’ [John 1:45–49.]

“Here is an example of how we may put our talents out to the exchangers. Philip communicated his knowledge to another, and so brought a soul to Christ. The light given us of Heaven is to be communicated to others in this way. If you have given light to one soul, you have enlightened one hundred, for that one will communicate the light to others, and so it will go on continually increasing.” The Review and Herald, April 30, 1889.

When the misuse or neglect of our gifts becomes perpetual, eventually they are taken away. “Take … the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 364. This is not an arbitrary act of God, but rather a result of our own neglect. “Talent employed increases the gift but when used only to bless self, it diminishes, and finally is withdrawn.” The Southern Watchman, October 9, 1901. “Upon the slothful servant the sentence was, ‘Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.’ [Matthew 25:28.] Here, as in the reward of the faithful worker, is indicated not merely the reward at the final judgment but the gradual process of retribution in this life. As in the natural, so in the spiritual world: every power unused will weaken and decay. Activity is the law of life; idleness is death. ‘The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.’ I Corinthians 12:7. Employed to bless others, his gifts increase. Shut up to self-serving they diminish, and are finally withdrawn. He who refuses to impart that which he has received will at last find that he has nothing to give. He is consenting to a process that surely dwarfs and finally destroys the faculties of the soul.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 364.

It is wholly unnecessary that we should be stripped of God’s gifts. He has given them to us with our best interest at heart and also the best interest of others with whom we come into contact. When we use these precious endowments to His glory, we will never lack any good thing. It is His joy to give to us and care for us. He works with us day by day, hour by hour to enrich what He has given us if we allow Him. “When we give ourselves wholly to God and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. He would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavors. Not once should we even think of failure. We are to co-operate with One who knows no failure.” Ibid., 363.

“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents: look, I have gained five more talents beside them. His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant: you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord. He also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents: look, I have gained two more talents besides them. His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:20–23.

Let us each be blessed through the use of the blessed talents, aptitudes, and gifts that we are given by a generous Father who wishes to bless us and asks us nothing in return but to use those blessings to enrich others and, ultimately, ourselves.

Jim Stoeckert works as an assistant with the Faith Haven Christian School and as head of maintenance for Steps to Life. He also serves the Prairie Meadows Church as head deacon. Jim can be reached by e-mail at: jimstoeckert@stepstolife.org or by phone at 316-789-5559.

The Ten Commandments, Part VI: Judged by the Rock

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As we look at the Ten Commandments, in Deuteronomy 5, we are able to see that eight of those ten begin with a negative prohibition, “Thou shalt not.” But we need to remember that wherever there is a negative, there is also a positive. With every negative command that is to prohibit us from something, there is always a positive encouragement to do what is right and good.

The negative command we will be considering in this article is the one of not taking the name of the Lord in vain. This negative command indicates that there is a positive command to serve God in an acceptable way with reverence and godly fear. From this positive perspective, we know that those who keep this commandment will have a reverent attitude. They recognize that the character of God is to be found in His name, and any time they are in proximity with God, they are to have a reverent attitude.

God’s name and His character are inseparable. You cannot look at one without looking at the other. You cannot examine one without being exposed to the other. As we study this commandment, we need to recognize this fact as well.

A Good Name

When we speak of a person having a good name, such as, “John has a good name in the community,” what are we really saying? He has a good character; he has integrity; he is upright; he treats other people right; everything about him is of a respectable nature. This is why the Bible says, “A [good] name [is] rather to be chosen than great riches.” Proverbs 22:1. Many people have found themselves seeking after riches only to discover that they have lost their good name.

In the name of God, we see His character revealed. In this commandment, we see the endorsement that we are to come up to the level of all that God is in character. This is why, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48.

Come Up

We are called to come up. We may not yet be at the highest point, but the call is to continually come up. So often we find that people are content with where they are, but we, as Christians, and particularly as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, should never, ever be content with where we are in our lives. Even though we may go day after day without the real sense that we have committed a sin, we know, because of our human natures, that we are in peril; we are in a constant state of temptation. We may feel that we are right with God, but we should never be content to stay where we are. We should always be studying and trying to discover more of what God can mean to us.

We are to live up to all that God’s name means. If we are not living up to all that God’s name means, in regard to His character, we are indeed taking His name in vain.

Meaning of a Name

What does “the name of the Lord” mean? The phrases, “name of God,” “the name of the Lord thy God,” and “thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God,” are immensely comprehensive. These mean more than merely titles or descriptions by which Deity is distinguished from all other deities. They mean all that may be properly established or conceived of God.

When, for instance, we think of the name of George Washington, the first President of the United States, there immediately comes to our minds everything that we have learned and known about this man. There should be a great amount of respect for the name, but if we allow ourselves to think a moment about it, we will discover that it is a symbol for something more. When this great man’s name comes to our minds, we think of his character, his wisdom, his integrity, his patriotism, his heroism. Everything that Washington was and did comes to our minds. The same thing is true as far as God is concerned. When we think of the name of God, everything that He is and has done should come to our minds. It should have an effect on our hearts.

When we think of the name of God, we find that it signifies His nature, His attributes, His character, His authority, His purposes, His methods, His providences, His words, His institutions, His truth, His kingdom, or, in other words, everything and all that God is comes into mind. All that God asks is also included in His name.

Characteristics of Name

We can see all these things as we study the peculiar characteristics of the word name in Scripture and how they apply to God. All of these things come to bear upon the commandment that says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

For instance, in Psalm 8:1, we read: “O Lord our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.” Something interesting is brought out in this text. The first Lord is given in capital letters, meaning Jehovah God. “O Jehovah God, our Master,” is really what it is saying when it uses the word Lord. “O Jehovah, the God that we serve, the One that we love, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.”

Psalm 111:9 says, “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend [is] his name.” The commanded covenant, of course, is the Ten Commandments. How long will the Ten Commandment Law be in existence? Forever. It was in effect before the world was created; it will be in effect in the New Earth.

Attributes

Another attribute is revealed to us in Malachi 3:16: “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.” In other words, those who fear the Lord, who have a reverent attitude concerning the Lord, are the ones who are going to reflect upon the character of God and what that means to them as relating to their Master.

In Matthew 6:9, the Lord is teaching the disciples how to pray: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” The word hallowed means holy. The name of God, the character of God, the attributes of God, everything about God is holy, and we should keep that in mind when we approach God.

“And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.” Luke 9:48. This is why we are told, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20.

In Matthew 28:19, 20, is given the commission of Jesus just before He ascended to heaven: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.” In this passage, we learn also that we are to baptize in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Godhead possesses a particular aspect that is to be revealed in the life of the baptismal candidate.

Adopted

Finally, we read, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name.” Revelation 3:12. What does it mean to have the name of God written upon us? It means that our lives are to reveal the character of God. And not only the name of God is to be written upon us but also the name of the city, and Jesus says, “I will even write My new name on him.” What a privilege it is for sinful, fallen human beings, who have been utter wretches, who have gone through the degradation of sin, to be lifted and exalted, to sit upon thrones, to have a new name given.

There are many stories that could be told about the process of adoption, of how families take in those who have no name, give them a name, and then try to instruct those children how to live up to that name. I remember one occasion when I was speaking with my son on the telephone. He was going through a particular trial, and he was relating to me that he was going to do a certain thing to an individual who had wronged him. I told him, “You cannot do that.”

“Why not?” he wanted to know.

“Because,” I said, “you are a Baugher. That is why you cannot do it. You must live up to the name.”

God expects the very same thing of us. Once we have entered into that relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, having been baptized in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, we have a life to live that should never have any shame cast upon it. He has called us into a family that has a name above all names, and we must live up to it.

Revelation 17:14 tells us, “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful.” God has a plan and a purpose for us all. We are called; we are chosen; and we are to be faithful to the Lord of lords and King of kings.

Each Term Significant

The character of God is so great, so magnanimous, that there are about 350 different terms or names that are applied to God. Each title used to describe Him or used to describe His work reveals a little something different about the One called God.

I have been called a lot of things in my life. Some of them, used to describe what the other person felt was my character, were not so nice. Not so with God. Every aspect of the name that is used to describe God tells something wonderful about Him.

The most sacred name of all names or designations of God is that of Jehovah or Yahweh. It was considered so sacred among the Jews that if they were walking down a street and they saw a piece of paper lying in the way, they would never step on that piece of paper for fear that the name of God was written on it. We kind of snicker in our minds at some of the extremes the Jews used in this regard, and yet, when we stop and think about it, should we not be as careful as far as God and His name are concerned?

Need for Respect

I do not know about you, but I personally never, ever, ever, ever like to lay anything on the Bible. There is just something about that action that says, here is where the profane comes in contact with the holy. I do not even like to lay another Bible on the Bible, if I can keep from it. Now, this may sound like an extreme, but it helps me to have the sense that there is something holy about that Book which tells me about the God of the Bible.

Christians today, in many ways, are in danger of going to the other extreme by frequently being too familiar with God and not having the reverence that they are supposed to have with concern to God.

In a meeting I once attended, it was suggested, based upon the Greek text, that we should address God as Papa, Daddy, or other similar terms, because, some people said that this is what Jesus meant when He addressed His Father as Abba. This does not set quite right with me. We need to have a greater reverence for God than to call Him Daddy. We can think of Him as an endearing parent, but it should be done with reverence. There are things that can drag us down to the level of the common and the profane, if we allow them to happen.

This is one of the reasons why the seventh church of Revelation, the church of Laodicea, is designated to reflect the day and the age in which we are living. Their character is reflective of the common attitude toward the use of the name of God.

More Than Curse Words

What about taking God’s name in vain? How do we take the name of God in vain? This is what the third commandment prohibits. To take the name of the Lord in vain is thought by many to deal with cursing or profanity. If we use an expletive where the words God and Jesus are used, we think this is a violation of the commandment, and indeed it is encompassed there. We should not minimize that in the least, but it is not only that with which the commandment is dealing. It is dealing with something that is more profound than just curse words on our lips, where we use the name of the Lord when we hit our thumb with the hammer.

The word profanity is made up of two Latin words: pro, meaning “in front of,” and fane, meaning “temple.” When we use profanity, it is really an indication of irreverence for holy things. It is defying God, as it were, in the very precincts of His temple. This is one of the reasons why I believe this commandment covers all aspects of reverent attitude in the sanctuary of God.

If we could understand this, it would make a significant difference in the way we treat the sanctuary of God—if we truly believe the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth be silent. There are very few of us who think about this commandment in terms of irreverence in the sanctuary of God. If we look at the sanctuary as the dwelling place where God is found, where we come to meet with Him, it would change our whole attitude as to how we relate to Him.

“The Lord [is] in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” Habakkuk 2:20. We all need to guard ourselves more closely on this particular point.

The Lord’s Name

We are treading on very dangerous ground when we use profanity that is touching on the Lord’s name. Some use profanity, believing that by doing so they are exalted in the eyes of their peers. This is how young people are usually trapped. As many enter into the age of individuality and separate from family ties, they begin to curse and swear. Anytime we seek for exaltation at the expense of God or at the expense of our fellowmen, we are surely going to be brought down as a result.

There are some who try to excuse the use of profanity as a weakness—the result of temper. I have heard people say, “I have such an awful temper. My father had an awful temper, and I guess I am just like him.” When confronted with such excuses as this, we need to ask some questions. One of the questions that we should ask is, “Are you born again?” If the answer is yes, then ask, “Is God your Father?” If the answer is yes again, remind this person of 11 Corinthians 5:17, 18: “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”

“The old nature, born of blood and the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The old ways, the hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up; for grace is not inherited. The new birth consists in having new motives, new tastes, new tendencies. Those who are begotten unto a new life by the Holy Spirit, have become partakers of the divine nature, and in all their habits and practices they will give evidence of their relationship to Christ. When men who claim to be Christians retain all their natural defects of character and disposition, in what does their position differ from that of the worldling? They do not appreciate the truth as a sanctifier, a refiner. They have not been born again.” Review and Herald, April 12, 1892.

“By” Words

There are certain “by” words that we, as historic Seventh-day Adventist Christians, have a tendency to slide by and still use, because we have not grown to understand that some of these words are profanity, as far as God’s name is concerned. Some words are right on the edge of profanity, and we use them as substitutes for the actual profane words. I am referring to words such as goodness or phrases such as goodness gracious. These words describe attributes of God, yet we hear people use them as expletives, never really thinking that these are attributes of God Himself or that they are taking this profanity upon their lips in saying such words.

Other examples of “by” words include mercy and abbreviations of the name of God or the name of Jesus, such as gee, golly, or gosh. A Christian, who is a disciple, will never use such slang words. If we have a habit of using these abbreviations, we need to cleanse our speech, because the language of Christ’s disciples should be as pure as any language can be.

As a college student, I was rebuked for using the phrase, for crying out loud. When I used this in the presence of a church member, he asked, “Do you know the origin of this phrase?” I had to admit that I did not; it was just an expression I had learned as a youngster. He explained to me that this is a phrase that came from Jesus just before He died on the cross, and that a Christian should never use such phraseology. Since that day, I have not used it.

Do Not Help the Devil

Many of these things we just do not think about, because we have been exposed to them on so many different occasions in non-religious settings that they do not bring a frown from anyone, so we continue using them. I share these things with you because we need to be careful in our speech that we do not, in the slightest way, profane our Lord.

In Mark 14:66–71, the scene is related of Peter in the courtyard during Jesus’ trial. “And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest: And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is [one] of them. And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art [one] of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth [thereto]. But he began to curse and to swear, [saying], I know not this man of whom ye speak.” The speech of Christ’s disciples was different from that of the average person of that time. In an attempt to disassociate himself as a follower of Jesus, Peter spoke with cursing and swearing. Christ’s disciples did not use that kind of language.

The devil is very clever in how he is able to do his work in reproaching God. Let us make sure that we do not help him through our speech!

False Swearing

Another area covered by the third commandment is false swearing. Leviticus 19:12 says, “And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I [am] the Lord.” In other words, we should never link the name of God with taking an oath, and then violate that oath by telling a lie.

You may have heard someone say, “I am telling the truth. I will swear to it on a stack of Bibles.” If someone says that, you may begin to wonder about his or her truthfulness! Perjury is one of the greatest crimes in our modern world today. Often, God’s name is presumptuously and blasphemously taken in vain by those who take a judicial oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God,” and then bear false witness. It is an insult to the truth and to the Author of all truth. It is treating His name with contempt and defying His holy Law. Remember, “the Lord will not hold [him] guiltless that taketh his name in vain,” in the final day of reckoning.

Hypocrisy

Perhaps the chief application of the third commandment concerns the sin of hypocrisy. We play the hypocrite when we lie with our lives.

As you probably have heard before, the Greek word for hypocrite is one that is used for an actor, a person who plays a part and is really someone different under the mask. A hypocrite is a person who wears a mask. Theater actors in ancient Greece portrayed themselves by wearing masks. The actors are hypocrites; they play a double role in their daily lives, professing to be one thing by acting a part. There is no other sin that has so aroused the indignation of Jesus as the sin of hypocrisy.

This is why, on one occasion, Jesus rebuked the Jews for making the Commandments of God of none effect. He said to them, “[Ye] hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:7–9.

It is a dangerous thing to use the name of the Lord when we do not know Him, and perhaps even more dangerous when we profess to know Him. Many professed Christians feel secure, as far as the third commandment is concerned. Because they do not use vile oaths or vulgar language, they think that they are not in violation of the commandments of God. Yet, all the while, their lives are not representing God.

God’s name can be hallowed only by doing His will on earth, as it is in heaven. God’s will can only be done if we are living lives that are in harmony with His character. If we are living lives that are not in harmony with His character, then we are hypocrites. The hypocrisy may not be visible to those about us, but we are hypocrites nonetheless.

We must make sure that we are rightly representing God’s name. When we take the name of Christian, we are taking the name of Christ upon ourselves. If we live a life that is contrary to the name of Christian or the name of Christ, then we are hypocritical, and we are in dire violation of the third commandment.

Penalty for Violation

A study of the commandments also reveals the penalty for those who, in Old Testament times, violated the commandments. It was death by stoning. If they had other gods, it was grounds to take them out and stone them. If they were guilty of worshipping idols, it was grounds for stoning. If they were Sabbath-breakers, it was grounds for stoning. If children would not honor their parents, it was grounds for stoning. If they were guilty of committing adultery, it was grounds for stoning. The Bible says so. We do not stone people today, but it was done back then.

Why were people stoned who were in violation of the Ten Commandments? Why were they not beheaded? Why were they not hanged or pushed off a cliff? Let me ask you a question, and by finding the answer, you will know the reason why. Upon what were the Ten Commandments written? On stone. If the commandments were violated, punishment came from the commandments. It was just that simple. Think about it.

Fall on the Rock

The Bible tells us some of the names that reveal the character of God: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6.

How glad we should be to serve the Creator God. How glad we should be to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. When we think about other gods and what their worship required of the faithful, we realize that they were not wonderful. They were demanding. But our God is wonderful. When we are perplexed, He is our Counseller; that is His name. We are to go to Him. He is the One that we are to seek after to find the answers to life’s problems. His answers are better than any $100-per-hour “shrink”! He is the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace.

With what great care we should take these meaningful names upon our lips! Every time we violate the third commandment, we soil the name of our God. Every time we violate the third commandment, His name is no longer “Wonderful.” His name is no longer “Counseller.” We have made those names a pro-fanity. Most likely we have all been guilty of this at one time or another. But the Bible gives the assurance that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

Perhaps there are things I have shared with you in this study that, as you reflect upon them, you are saying, “Woe is me. I am undone. I have never thought about these things before.” Now is the time that we can confess these things and say, “Lord, by Your grace, I never want to come into these kinds of attitudes ever again. I do not want to think this way. I do not want to be this way. I do not want to live this way.” Claim the promise from 1 John. Jesus tells us of a certainty that if we have not entered into this experience, if we have not fallen upon the Rock and become broken, the Rock is going to come upon us, and it is going to grind us to powder.

The counsel of the apostle Paul is important for each of us: “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:17. It should be our greatest desire to rightly represent Him. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, may we reflect the image of Jesus daily.

To be continued . . .

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

The Ten Commandments, Part V: Idol Worship is Bad News

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As we look at the various forms of idolatry which were practiced in Old Testament times by heathen worshippers, it seems almost inconceivable that the children of Israel could be caught up in something that was so obvious a departure from God. They knew who the true God was. They had revelations of the true God; they had prophets who told them about the true God, and yet it seemed almost too easy for them to get caught up in the worship of idols. The reason they got caught up in the worship of idols is, basically, the same reason why modern Israel gets caught up in idol worship today.

Ellen White wrote: “Through deceptive means and unseen channels, Satan is working to strengthen his authority and to place obstacles in the way of God’s people, that souls may not be freed from his power and gathered under the banner of Christ. By his deceptions he is seeking to allure souls from Christ, and those who are not established upon the truth will surely be taken in his snare.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 295.

The devil’s plan for each of us is to catch us in his snare. So the Lord, in an effort to prepare us to escape the snare of the devil, pleads with us to follow the counsels that He has given to us in His Word.

“Thou shalt not make thee [any] graven image, [or] any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me, And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Deuteronomy 5:8–10.

We read in these texts that God is a jealous God. In a previous article, we considered this concept of jealousy. The original Hebrew word for jealousy, qanna’, indicates the jealousy of a husband for the purity of his wife, whom he loves with an affection that will not tolerate any rival. We find that all through the Scriptures the relationship between God and His people is represented by a marriage, a pure relationship that excludes all other gods. There are to be no rivals.

God does not expect us to love only Him and ignore all of our fellow human beings, but He wants us to focus on Him as our Husband. We are His bride; He is our Husband. This is the kind of relationship, the kind of divine jealousy, which runs throughout the whole Bible. We need to understand this.

The Song of Solomon and Psalm 45, as well as other places in Scripture, allude to this marriage relationship that we are to have with God. An elaborate illustration is given in Ephesians 5 of the husband/wife relationship Christ uses to teach His people of the love He has for them.

Idolatry, then, in its final analysis, is really infidelity to the most sacred of vows—the divine marriage vow. When we are born again, when we accept Jesus as our personal Saviour, we are counted as the bride of Christ, and we are to be faithful to Him in all that we do. When we are counted as His bride, we take vows in this marriage covenant which, in reality, are the Ten Commandments. This is God’s will for us. This is what God expects us to follow. But many times we find ourselves, like many others today, having eyes that are casting about in other directions from where God would have us to look, and we become unfaithful to our marriage vow to God.

If we have the covenant relationship, the Ten Commandments, ever before us, we are going to be faithful to Him—not because we have to be, but because we love Him as God. I have never known anyone who really loved his or her spouse to be unfaithful to the marriage vow. If they really love their spouse, every other consideration dims, as they focus on that relationship, and then there is no temptation to commit adultery.

Gross and Refined Forms

The gross forms of idolatry practiced in heathen lands are practically unknown in the United States. But we do have what we would term “refined forms of idolatry.” These refined forms can be just as captivating to us as the gross forms are to the heathen.

In heathen lands, we see this gross idolatry being practiced in the forms of images, temples, shrines, and altars that are of a very imposing nature. People are captivated by the beauty of these things, and they are drawn to them. In the United States, it is slightly different. We have refined idolatry, which is probably more displeasing to God, and because we have such great light shed upon these kinds of things, we are going to be held more accountable.

In review, the second commandment tells us that we are to have no images or anything that is to be in the place of God. We have learned that idolatry is serving or worshipping the creature more than the Creator. To worship the creature does not necessarily mean to worship a living organism, but it is inclusive of everything that has been created. Whatever or whomever we love and serve more than God becomes an idol to us. We can love someone, but it is when we love him or her more than we love God that the problem occurs. I would hate to think what a husband/wife relationship would be if it was devoid of love and if it was believed, “I cannot love you, because I have to love God instead.” God tells us not to love them more, not to put them in the place of Him. Are we guilty of idolatry, as far as the divine definition is concerned?

When the apostle Paul visited the city of Athens, the Bible says that his spirit was stirred when he saw that the whole city was given over to idolatry. (Acts 17:16.) I wonder how Paul would feel if he were to walk the streets of the United States today, such as New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles. Would he recognize the forms of idolatry that are there, or would he just be looking for those gross forms of idolatry? Would these different forms of idolatry deceive him to the extent that he could not recognize them?

Let us look at some of the things the apostle Paul might see today, if he were on tour. Paul said, of the idolaters of his day, that they “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:21, 22.

How would Paul feel if he found himself in a sports arena where, as the teams ran out onto the field, the whole crowd stood to their feet screaming and yelling for them? Would he recognize this as a form of idolatry? Certainly it can become a form of idolatry.

How would he feel if he found himself at a rock concert? Many people today think nothing of a rock concert. When they started gaining popularity in the 1960s, people were appalled by what they saw. Now, when rock concerts are advertised, they just gather a protracted yawn from most people. Yet, when you consider what transpires at a rock concert, as far as the performers are concerned, is this, indeed, not a form of idolatry? Billions of dollars are spent annually to gather the music as a shrine, so it can be played over and over again.

What about movie stars? As they parade out on stage to receive their trophies at the annual awards shows, to the applause and cheering of the audience, would Paul recognize this as idolatry? Do we recognize some of these things as a violation of the commandment that says we should not bow down to these kinds of idols?

Those are some of the more obvious ones, but what about the marvelous discoveries of modern science that have increased the worship of the works of man? In this age of invention and discovery and scientific progress, we find that these categories can open up a violation of this commandment, when we see the exaltation and the deification of human achievements that present a god before which millions bow in reverence and admiration.

No longer do we need to depend upon God for life, health, or happiness. Are you growing old? Are you wearing out? Modern techniques of medicine can fix you up better than new. Do you need a new hipbone? Well, one can be put in that will last almost forever. What about a new lung? A new heart? Medical specialists can even give you a new heart, and we fall down and serve the creature rather than the Creator, in exalting medical technology.

But who is really responsible for all of the progress for which man takes credit? The Creator seems to stand humbly in the wings while the creature takes the bow on center stage.

Worship of Self

Although I have read 11 Timothy 3:1 many, many times, I present it now in an effort to bring this into a context in which we can understand the dangers that we face in light of this second commandment. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”

Often, people have the idea that these perilous times are referring to wars and rumors of wars. That is not what it is talking about. This is the thesis sentence of what is to follow, and Paul very specifically tells Timothy what those perilous times are all about: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves . . . .” In other words, there is going to be extreme selfishness. Self is all that is being considered.

“Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous [desiring what belongs to someone else], boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” Verses 2–4. Do you suppose that is idolatry? “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” Verse 5.

This is a graphic description of idolatry. Every one of these words and phrases fall into a category of idolatry—worship of self. Probably one of the greatest problems we face today is coming into contact with people who are so selfish. I would much rather be in Iraq, feeling my way along through mine wires, than to be in a setting where all that is mentioned in these texts are present. You might be able to make it through the minefield, but you may not be able to make it through this minefield of idolatry.

Many marriages today fail, or are failing, because of the worship of self. Instead of the marriage relationship being that of total giving, it has become a total getting experience. “What can I get out of this relationship?” is usually the question being asked, rather than, “What can I give to this relationship?”

There is probably nothing more responsible for this than the modern media—music, films, and all the rest. What can I get out of this relationship? It is this concept that is pounded into the minds of young people today. It is a philosophy that comes directly from the headquarters of evil.

Christ is not able to find any corner to stand in or any chair to sit down on, in those whose hearts are filled with self, and unless Christ is the center of the marriage, it will become a “getting for self” experience rather than a “giving experience.” How wrong is this kind of philosophy!

Selfishness is a malicious ruler. It cannot be satisfied through simple appeasement. It clamors for more and still more, and the person who worships self is not even aware, many times, of the terrible dangers and eternal consequences that come through this kind of sin. If you look at the Law of God and make application of the second commandment, self dies, and Christ takes up residence.

We know that Jesus is the very embodiment of humility. On the opposite extreme, selfishness is the very spirit of the satanic. Indeed, I can say that perilous times have come upon our generation in the fulfillment of this Bible text.

Antidote for Selfishness

According to the Spirit of Prophecy, one of the greatest antidotes for the disease of selfishness is to work for the salvation of others. (See Review and Herald, August 16, 1881; December 10, 1901.) And, yet, this too can become a deception. If we think that we want to guard ourselves against selfishness by going out to work for others, we need to make sure that we have the right motive. If we do not have the right motive, it can turn into a system of works for self’s sake.

Fashion

Self can center its expression in fashion. Fashion, in its broadest sense, embraces idolatry. The word fashion means to conform to the prevailing modes, practices, and customs of the world.

We need to have more education with concern to fashion. I mean this in a loving way, but some Seventh-day Adventists and other Christians—and even historic Seventh-day Adventists—take the counsel relative to fashion and interpret it to mean that they have to go about looking like scarecrows! They think they have to dress like one in order to avoid being fashionable. We are made in His image, and God does not intend for us to look like scarecrows. We will scare everyone away to whom we are trying to witness if we look like that!

Fashion can become an idol when the thoughts and the intents are: How can I be like the world? How can I acclimate myself to all the customs and the traditions and the dress and the ornamentation of the world? This can, but does not need to, become an idol. You can look representative; you can look modest; you can have a pure deportment, but that does not mean that you are being fashionable. Let us make sure that we have a right understanding of what it means to be dressed as a Christian versus what it means to look like a scarecrow. We have to be able to know the difference, so we can rightly represent the Lord in all of this.

Worship of Others

Along with the worship of self comes the worship of others. For instance, there are many parents who make gods of their children. This is an area about which we must be very careful. Our children are never to become idols of worship to us, but there are many people who devote their lives, as parents, serving and obeying their children. In these homes, the children are indulged and pampered and defended until they become so self-centered and such bigots that they expect everybody to bow down to their every whim and to their every wish. You know them, and I know them. Where does it all start? It starts in the home where the children are made an idol of worship.

It is a travesty that children are allowed to control what happens in a home. The home is where the parents are to be in control and where the children are to be obedient to their parents. I have never read in the Bible or in the Spirit of Prophecy where parents are to be obedient to their children and are to honor them. It is the other way around. The children are to obey and honor their parents.

People can worship other people, and this is a form of idolatry. This is one of the reasons why the Lord Jesus stated, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37. This revolves around the second commandment concept.

Can we love father and mother? Yes, we can. Can we love son and daughter? Yes, we can, but this love must be kept in its proper perspective.

Lovers of Pleasure

Paul mentions, in his list, those who, in the last days, are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. What would he say today if he could see the advertising in the United States which seems entirely directed toward making us lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God? Professed Christians spend more time and money in the shrine of pleasure than they do in the house of God and at the altar of prayer. In this pleasure-mad age, thousands of people live only to satisfy their cravings for fun and frolic.

In the parable of the sower, the pleasures of this life are said to be thorns that cause the seed to become unfruitful. (Matthew 13:22.) Where, on any given day, do you suppose you would find most people if they had to choose between missionary work and play? What would most of them be doing? You would probably find most of them at play.

Is there anything wrong with taking time to play? No. It is not my intent to take away anyone’s playtime, but we need to make sure that we have things in their proper perspectives.

The kind of recreation, inspiration tells us, in which a Christian should participate is that which is of a quality that recreates the body and the mind. “There are modes of recreation which are highly beneficial to both mind and body. An enlightened, discriminating mind will find abundant means for entertainment and diversion, from sources not only innocent, but instructive. Recreation in the open air, the contemplation of the works of God in nature, will be of the highest benefit.” The Adventist Home, 496. “Recreation, when true to its name, re-creation, tends to strengthen and build up. Calling us aside from our ordinary cares and occupations, it affords refreshment for mind and body and thus enables us to return with new vigor to the earnest work of life.” Ibid., 512. This is what recreation or re-creation is all about. Unless it does this, it should not be labeled as recreation.

Perverted Appetite

One of the other plagues of idolatry can be found in perverted and uncontrolled appetite. Paul identifies this area, which is part of the refined idolatry of the day: “(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.)” Philippians 3:18, 19.

The idolatry of appetite embraces, in its broadest application, all the appetites of the flesh. There are many people today—thousands, perhaps millions—who live to eat rather than eat to live. This is one of the reasons why many Americans experience such poor health. On every business street corner and even into suburbia, we find restaurants appealing to the appetites of the people.

There is nothing wrong with eating. I enjoy eating, but there are people who make eating the center of their lives. Many belong to supper clubs where the supposed finest cuisine is served—most of which should never be consumed.

Eating and drinking, as a means of health and strength, should be practiced by every Christian, but eating and drinking as an end in itself is a foolish, dangerous, and deadly practice. It is legitimate to satisfy a normal, temperate appetite, and doing so should be pleasurable.

The Lord has given us a tremendous amount of counsel concerning proper eating and drinking—not only from the standpoint of health but also from the standpoint that if this is a pleasure that has taken the place of God, then it is in violation of the second commandment.

Sensuality

Another idol that is worshipped today is the goddess of sensuality. There is no question in my mind that we have arrived at the anti-type of the days of Noah when the earth was destroyed with the flood—the time when the earth was so corrupt before God that every imagination, every thought, and every intent of the heart was only evil continually.

As we read, in the second commandment, the Lord will punish generation after generation after generation who hate Him and are not following His commandments. This does not mean that God is going to punish children for the sins of their parents. Ezekiel 18 is very, very clear about that. But what it does tell us is that there is a proliferation from one generation to another of the traits and the characteristics of the former generation. Just by virtue of beholding, we become changed into that which we behold.

We must make sure that we are always following the Lord and not following the dictates of the household, if they are different from what the Lord has instructed us. It is an unfailing rule of justice that the iniquities of parents are visited upon their children if they follow their footsteps.

Think about that for a moment. Parents’ ideas of religion are usually accepted by their children. This can be a sobering thought. We would wish that it would be wholly positive, but it can be just the opposite, if the parents’ ideas of religion are skewed.

The parents who say they will let their child decide what religion he or she wants to practice when he or she grows up, will usually find that their child will reflect their philosophy. Ultimately, no one is saved. The parents are lost, and the child is lost, because neither has a definite belief regarding the Saviour.

How do you worship God in your home? Is it consistent? Is it spiritual? Is sin rebuked, or is it condoned? Whatever attitude you are fostering is the attitude with which your children will grow up, whether you realize it or not.

The law that says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” proves true every time. Proverbs 22:6. But there is a contrast. Sin is visited unto the third and forth generations (Exodus 34:7), but the contrast is greater than the sin. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Romans 5:20. Notice what the commandment says: “Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me, And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Deuteronomy 5:9, 10. In other words, sin is visited unto the third and fourth generations, but the reward of obedience reaches to a thousand generations. I like this positive aspect that, if we are serving the Lord, these effects can be felt right on down through generations to come. Sin will eventually run its course; it will become extinct, but virtue and loyalty and righteousness will never, ever die. Obedience to God’s Law, both moral and those that involve our well-being, brings a rich reward in character and happiness.

“Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” Deuteron-omy 7:9. There is a limit to God’s wrath that will be poured out upon the sins of the third and fourth generations, but a thousand generations beyond that will experience His love and His mercy. His mercy reaches far beyond His wrath.

What is Permissible

We could go on about the prohibitions of image worship or idolatry, but let us look at one image that it is permissible to worship. This image of worship is not only permitted, but it is actually commanded as the only means of salvation.

Because the Father knew that it would be difficult for man to worship an invisible God, He sent His Son into the world to become Emmanuel—God with us. The incarnation of Jesus, as the Son of God, was God manifest in the flesh. Christ was declared to be the very image of the invisible God. (Colos-sians 1:15.) His character is described, and it is that which is promised to be reproduced in us as we worship Him. By beholding Christ, we become changed into His image. (11 Corinthians 3:18.) We must learn of His attributes, His character, His love, His long-suffering, and incorporate these into ourselves by beholding His image. This is the only acceptable image worship, because it is all righteousness.

The chief ambition of every Christian should be to worship the only true image of the invisible God, Jesus Christ, and have His character likeness reproduced in his or her life. This form of worship is not idolatry. It is Christianity.

“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.” 1 Corin-thians 3:18. We have a tendency, as human beings, to think that our wisdom is okay if it centers upon the things of the world to the neglect of Christ. But we have become fools, if that is the case. We need to understand that there is a God in heaven Who has commanded us, Who expects us to respond to His command, and that by beholding Him, we can become changed into His likeness. That is where true wisdom is found. The rest is all foolishness. Solomon called it vanity: “Vanity of vanities; all [is] vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:2.

The only responsibility of human beings is to “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13. May that be our vow to God, and may we be determined to serve Him to the end.

To be continued December 2005 . . .

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

The Ten Commandments, Part IV: Idol Worship is Bad News

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“You shall not make for your self a carved image [an idol]—any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” (Deuteronomy 5:8.)

The created is not to become the object of worship. The sun, the moon, and the stars in the heavens have been made objects of worship. The creatures of the earth and the creatures in the water have been made objects of worship, but God said, “No!” The reason is spelled out in the next verse, which says, “For I, the Lord thy God, [am] a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 5:9. (What it means for God to be a jealous God was discussed in the first article of this series.)

The second commandment is enforced by a threatened penalty and sustained by a precious promise. “I the Lord thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me, And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Verses 9, 10.

Sins of the Parents

This is a very troubling statement to many people. They feel that it is an arbitrary decree, but it is not. It is the unalterable, eternal law of heredity and environment that the sins and the faults of the parents are handed down to their children and, in many ways, cannot be escaped.

Many children who have grown up in an alcoholic home hate alcoholism. But the environment, the setting, the passions, and the attitudes are passed on to those children, and, usually, 80 percent of children who grow up in alcoholic homes will become alcoholics. It is just the way it works. We grow up in a home with certain kinds of attitudes—whatever those attitudes may be—and those things are handed down to us, to our children, and to our children’s children. This is why the old story of the Hatfields and the McCoys is perpetual. The hatreds are passed on from generation to generation, and, many times, the current generation does not even realize why they have the hatreds.

The Christian call is for us to come to God’s Word, learn what He asks and requires of us, and then look at ourselves in the mirror of His Law. Are we then to ask, “What is my life all about? I see that I am a sinner, but I am incapable of dealing with this issue. Am I to be eternally lost? Should I just fall down in a pool of discouragement and say, ‘There is no help for me’?” No! In 11 Corinthians 5:17, we read: “If anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation.” We have another chance by being born again and growing up into the full stature and the measure of a person in Christ Jesus, as we are told in Ephesians 4:15.

This life changing experience can happen at the age of 12 years, or it can happen at 80 years. Even in older years, we can still go through this process of changing and maturing in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are young, God will allow the miracle to grow slower. If you are old, He will pour a lot of “fertilizer” on it, and you will grow very quickly. God has an answer for everything!

These sinful tendencies, which parents have passed on to the children, will be passed on and on, unless Christ intervenes in the lives. This is one of the reasons we hear little sayings such as, “He is acting just like his father,” or, “She is following in her mother’s footsteps.” But it does not have to be that way.

Idol of Fashion

Fashion, in its broadest sense, embraces idolatry. The word fashion means, “to conform to the prevailing modes, practices, and customs of the world.” Worldly fashions have to do chiefly with garments and ornaments with which the body is clothed and bedecked. Usually, we find that all exhibitions of pride and dress, which are contrary to the Word of God, constitute a species of idolatry, and God’s Word declares it so. This is why we, as Seventh-day Adventists, have special counsel relative to the areas of fashion, dress, and adornment. Those things constitute a species of idolatry, which is a transgression of the second commandment.

It is upon the Ten Commandments that hang all the law and the prophets. This second commandment is very profound. Women, as well as men, can be slaves to the idol of fashion. Your adornment should not be an outward thing; it should not be a display of ornaments and articles of dress.

Casebook/Codebook

When I attended Walla Walla College in Walla Walla, Washington, I had a professor by the name of Alden Thompson. Several years after I graduated, he wrote a book entitled, God’s Word: Casebook or Codebook? Codebook meaning that the Bible is just a code of laws and prohibitions, a code of “Thou shalt nots.” Casebook meaning the case histories of how God relates to the sinner through all the failings and difficulties that man encounters. Both aspects are found in the Bible. It is indeed a codebook, and it is indeed a casebook as well!

Nothing New

While studying recently, in the Book of Exodus, I came across something very interesting, in regard to the concept of casebook. Let us see if we can figure out what it was that was so displeasing to God, as we read this passage: “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for [as for] this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” Exodus 32:1.

What struck my interest is the next recorded event: “And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which [are] in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] unto me.” Verse 2.

When I read this, I thought, “Surely there is nothing new under the sun!” Idolatry is a perpetual kind of thing that keeps reaping generation after generation after generation. I do not know about you, but I was very dismayed when I first saw an earring in a male’s ear. Then they began showing up in women’s noses; I have witnessed women with multiple earrings from the tops to the bottoms of their ears. From this text in Exodus, take note that this kind of ornamentation is a form of idolatry.

One Sin Leads to Another

“And all the people brake off the golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron. And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw [it], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow [is] a feast to the Lord.” Verses 3–5. Here was this object, fashioned by their hands, and they held it up before the children of Israel as that which represented Jehovah God! Is it not almost incomprehensible? Yet it took place.

“And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings;”—you can imagine—“and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” Verse 6. One thing leads to another. If you break one of the commandments, you have broken them all. “He who willfully breaks one commandment, does not, in spirit and truth, keep any of them. ‘Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.’ James 2:10.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 51.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted [themselves]: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it [is] a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit [it] for ever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony [were] in his hand: the tables [were] written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other [were] they written. And the tables [were] the work of God, and the writing [was] the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, [There is] a noise of war in the camp.” Exodus 32:7–17.

Do you know what was taking place? They were shouting and singing and dancing. Verse 18 continues, “And he said, [It is] not the voice of [them that] shout for mastery, neither [is it] the voice of [them that] cry for being overcome: [but] the noise of [them that] sing do I hear.”

Then it goes on to tell how they not only became involved in the breaking of the second commandment but also got involved in singing and drinking and dancing, finally stripping off their clothes! “Moses saw that the people [were] naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto [their] shame among their enemies.)” Verse 25.

The second commandment is very deep. It is so deep that we will deal with more aspects of it in another article. God has a message for His people, as far as the second commandment is concerned. It was not just for the Old Testament Jews, because we can see that many of the issues to which the second commandment speaks are very relevant to us today. It is only as we come up to the standard to which God calls us that we will find His acceptance.

To be continued . . .

The Ten Commandments, Part III: Idol Worship is Bad News

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According to what God has told us, upon the Ten Commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Testimonies, vol. 2, 43.) So all instruction really emanates from His Word, His Law, His character, and His love. We need to gather the principles contained in His Law and then apply them to our lives that we might not sin against Him.

The Second Commandment

“Thou shalt not make thee [any] graven image, [or] any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me, And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Deuteronomy 5:8–10.

The first commandment is very short and to the point. The second commandment is a bit longer, but the first and the second commandments are closely related in that they both prohibit idolatry and false worship. There are, nevertheless, very distinct differences between them. Let us take a look at some of these differences.

Catechisms

The first commandment deals with the question of Who is the true God. The second commandment deals with how the true God is to be worshipped. The second is not a repetition of the first, as some would have us to believe. As we look at Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican catechisms, we see that the second commandment is removed or, with very small type, is included under the first. Then the second commandment is given as, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” The third commandment is given as, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” And the tenth commandment is divided in half to fill the void.

The distinction between the first and second commandments is as much as that which exists between any of the other ten. The first commandment reveals the object of true worship. It tells us Who alone must be worshipped. The second tells us how He must be worshipped or how He must not be worshipped. The first prohibits the worship of false gods; the second forbids false forms of worship.

No Tinkering

Ellen White tells us, “The Lord has not placed before one individual the trade of becoming a church tinker.” Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 40. With what should we not tinker? We should not tinker with the form of worship! Is it tinkering because we are not following a certain kind of liturgy, or is it speaking to greater principles than this? I think that it is speaking to greater principles. When we are counseled to not tinker with the form of worship, it involves the fact that the attention is not to be given to those who are directing the worship but rather to the One who is the object of the worship.

In the early years of my ministry, I attended, at my cousin’s invitation, a special musical program in a Nazarene church. During the program, I noticed one individual, a gentleman, who seemed particularly enraptured with the presentation.

The musical presentation was followed by the “Ministry of the Word,” but at the conclusion of the music, this man left. He had no interest in the preaching. He only wanted the “high,” the sensuous emotion that the music had apparently given him. He did not have any further interest in hearing the Word.

We can tinker with worship to the extent that it becomes almost a sensuous experience; we become wrapped up in all the choreography and the details of the presentation and forget Whom it is we have come to worship. Such are the kinds of things to which this commandment speaks.

The first commandment deals with our conception of God. The second commandment addresses our external acts as manifested in worship. It directs against the false worship of the true God. He must not be worshipped through idols or images—visible manifestations to represent the diety.

Negative Implies a Positive

We must not think that the Ten Commandments are wholly negative. Many of them begin with “Thou shalt not,” and there is a tendency for us to bristle just a little, because we do not like to be told what not to do. This is part of our sinful, fallen, human nature. Yet, we perceive a negative aspect to the second commandment, because it leaves more of a negative impression upon our minds than it does a positive. This is, again, a result of human nature.

There are many things that we accept being told to do, but there are very few things that we enjoy being told not to do. However, if we are told not to worship in a certain way, it is because there is a positive way in which to worship. The negative command, “You shall not,” always implies the positive command, “You shall.” Sin forbidden indicates righteousness commanded. “You shall have no other gods before Me,” implies the command, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only should you serve.” (Matthew 4:10.)

Internal Belief/External Acts

Both the internal belief and the external acts are involved in worship. These are distinguished by the first two commandments. The outward acts of worship reveal the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Outward acts are fruits; they are one of the things we can judge. We cannot judge the intents of the heart, but the intents of the heart are usually revealed in the outward actions. This is where a lot of people get into trouble. They do not want to be judged, but they present themselves before people in such a way that there is nothing else that can take place, because we are called to be fruit inspectors and to judge from that standpoint. As a man thinks in his heart, so is his conduct. (Proverbs 23:7.)

False or True

The distinction between false gods or false forms of worship needs to be recognized, because, as fallen human beings, we can very easily be caught up in worshipping idols and things along with or in place of the true God.

When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, He told her that “the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” John 4:23.

This is a positive aspect of the second commandment. True worship is far more than religious forms and ceremonies. This is one of the principles of this commandment that we need to consider.

True worship can become perverted and degraded by those who are occupied with the externals and substitute them for the spiritual experience. This is one of the problems with churches which apparently feel that the louder the noise and the more physical movement that occurs, the more they are worshipping God.

One of the reasons many Seventh-day Adventists are worshipping independently of the organized church is because of the inroads the celebration movement has made into Adventism. This is one of the reasons I am no longer employed by the organized conference.

A Stand for True Worship

I had preached a sermon about the celebration movement and the inroads it was making into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Shortly thereafter, the local conference academy wished to sponsor a rock radio station on its campus. Some of the church members, who knew my stand on the matter, asked if I would accompany them to talk with the conference leadership concerning this station.

We prepared a packet of materials that outlined Christian standards of music and sent a copy to each member of the Conference Committee 30 days before the scheduled meeting. They laughed us to scorn in the meeting.

The church members decided they were going to see to it that this issue was put on the agenda for the constituency meeting, which was to be held in three months. At the appointed time, I was the only pastor who stood before the assembled constituents and spoke against the music that would be played on the campus of the academy by this proposed radio station.

In the three months following this meeting, the little conference of 6,000 members missed its budget by $150,000. The leadership sent out a letter, inquiring whether any of the pastors knew why the giving had diminished so drastically. Upon receipt of that letter, my wife and I drove to the conference office and said, “You have asked a question; we have an answer.” We told them what we felt the answer was, and they again laughed us to scorn and declared, “It could not possibly be.”

A few months later, the conference president called me to his office and told me he would like to discuss my new responsibilities. I had been in my current church district for seven years, and I knew it was getting close to the time to move to another district. We did not think we would be moved clear out, but we were. The conference president said, “We have four positions which must be cut because of the finances. One pastor has taken a call to another conference; one has retired; one has gone back to Andrews University. This leaves one more position, and that is yours.” If I was in trouble, it was because I stood for principle on issues, not because I was involved in moral problems or other personality difficulties.

As far as I was concerned, this change was fine. God had called me to ministry, so my wife and I started an independent ministry. We have continued in the Lord’s work ever since.

Forbidden Images

The second commandment, as given to the Israelites, forbids the making of images or any likenesses of any created object in heaven or earth for the purpose of worship. There are people who believe that this commandment forbids photographs—pictures of Jesus or relatives or anything of that nature. They say that such pictures are graven images. They do not believe we should display these things in our homes, because the commandment forbids it. Well, the commandment does not forbid this kind of thing. If indeed such was the case, then Moses, when commanded by the Lord, shortly after this commandment was given, to embroider figures of angels, to be placed in the Sanctuary to beautify it, was under divine injunction to transgress this commandment!

The principle of this commandment centers on worship. If you have created a shrine, where you bow down and worship, and the shrine includes a photograph of someone you adore and worship, then yes, this is wrong, and the second commandment addresses that. Memory’s hall, where we have photographs and pictures of loved ones, has nothing whatsoever to do with this principle.

Anything in the Heavens

Many people interpret “Thou shalt not make . . . any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above” as not making a picture of Jesus. After all, He is in heaven above. But let me just ask you a question: Are we to worship Jesus? Absolutely! This commandment is not forbidding the worship of Jesus. (Although, as presented previously, it does forbid worshipping a graven image of Jesus.) He certainly is worthy to be worshipped.

This commandment is referring to the planets in the heavens above us, to which people have attributed the status of gods. People have bowed down and worshipped Venus, Mars, and the sun. The Lord tells us that we should not worship these heavenly bodies or make any graven images of them. Neither should we worship angels, which are in heaven. They are not worthy of worship. (See Revelation 22:8, 9.)

Dead gods are not worthy of worship. Let us be honest; there are dead gods. They were known and called such, but they were believed to have immortal souls. We are forbidden to make graven images for the worship of these gods.

The second commandment is a prohibition against the worship of the work of our hands.

In Place of God

An idol is any creature or created thing put in the place of God. Idolatry is creature worship rather than Creator worship. Of all the forms of idolatry, the most degraded and senseless is the worship of the mere image of the genuine.

Think about this for a moment. Man is always superior to that which he makes, and in worshipping the works of his own hands, he is worshipping that which is inferior to himself. If you fashion a little doll or an image—perhaps a statue of the Virgin Mary—it is something crafted by your hands. It has no life or energy. It cannot help you. It is actually beneath you. It would be one thing to worship a living human being who is on your same level, but it is altogether different to worship something which is beneath you.

Image worship is even worse than the worship of what God has made, because what God has made has at least come from His hand. Image worship is the worship of something from the hand of man.

Heathen Gods

When the law was given to the children of Israel at Sinai, they had just been delivered from a country where some of the worst forms of idolatry had been practiced. They were on their way to a land that was equally corrupt. The chief gods, which the Egyptians worshipped, were the likenesses of Osiris and his wife, Isis. Osiris was known as the god of the dead. All heathen gods were men and women who, after their deaths, were deified and worshipped. In many places, they are still worshipped.

In Egypt, along with the worship of human forms, the people also worshipped the ox, heifer, stork, crane, hawk, crocodile, serpent, frog, and fish of the Nile. Every living thing was a god, and a god was in everything. This was a form of pantheism.

As far back as can be traced, the worship of all pagan deities originated with the worship of dead men and dead women. The Bible speaks very plainly concerning the worship of the dead and the familiar spirits of the dead. Do not seek after those that peep and mutter, the Bible says. (Isaiah 8:19.) (See also Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10–12.)

All graven images of worship usually represent dead heroes, ancestors, or, as we find in modern forms of this idolatrous worship, the saints and the Virgin Mary. Interestingly, in the Catholic structure, a person does not become a saint until he or she is dead.

Immortality of the Soul

This commandment forbids the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. If it were understood correctly, there would never be the concept of the immortality of the soul.

Can you see why, on the Ten Commandments hang all the law and the prophets? Immortality is not spoken of in the Ten Commandments, yet the foundation of it is found there. This is why it is never to be entertained as a doctrine, because the second commandment forbids the consideration of the immortality of the soul. Only God is immortal. To represent God, an image must represent someone who is immortal as well.

In the book, The Origin of Pagan Idolatry (A. J. Halry, London, 1816), the author, George S. Faber, states that the gods were holy men and the sun, moon, and stars were regarded as intelligences, because they were the abode of deified men. The gods were the souls of men who were afterwards worshipped by their posterity on account of their extraordinary virtues.

Since the dead are unconscious and know not anything and have nothing whatsoever to do with anything that is done under the sun, pretended spirits of the dead are really the spirits of devils or evil angels impersonating the dead for the purpose of deception. (Ecclesiastes 9:5) The worship of idols constitutes demon worship and is so designated in the Scriptures.

The Great Apostasy

Idol worship denigrates the idea of worshipping God to the level of worshipping goats and devils. What an abomination to our Creator!

Idolatry is Satan’s effort to substantiate the lie to Adam and to Eve when he said, “You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day that you eat of this tree, then your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods.” (Genesis 3:4, 5.)

The great apostasy, or falling away, which was mentioned by the apostle Paul during the early Christian centuries, was a return to heathen idolatry under the disguise of a Christian exterior. The apostles were scarcely dead before the early Christians began to make images of them to venerate the relics of apostolic days. The apostasy ripened into its full fruitage between the fourth and the eighth centuries.

Edward Gibbon, in his book, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (reprinted by Allen Lane The Penguin Press, London, 1994), wrote that the sublime and simple theology of primitive Christians was gradually corrupted and the monarchy of heaven, already clouded by metaphysical subtleties, was degraded by the introduction of a popular mythology which tended to restore the reign of polytheism, the worship of many gods.

At the first, the experiment was made with caution. As the church leadership began to bring this practice in, they did it very carefully at first, because they did not know what the reaction of the people was going to be. The venerable pictures of saints and martyrs were discretely allowed, and before the end of the sixth century, these images were the object of worship and the instruments of miracles. By the beginning of the eighth century, the more timorous Greeks were awakened by an apprehension that, under the mask of Christianity, they had restored the religion of their fathers.

Temporal or Eternal

It is so much easier to be carnal than spiritual! This explains the general demand for ritualism on the part of unspiritual people. They seem to feel that a great outward show of religion makes up for the lack of an inward experience. This is one of the things commanding the attention of human beings today, especially in the area of fashion. The less spiritual experience a person has, the more they are drawn into the field of fashion. They do not seem to realize that these “things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen [are] eternal.” 11 Corinthians 4:18. This is why, “The just shall live by faith,” not by sight. Galatians 3:11. (See also 11 Corinthians 5:7.)

The most lasting and valuable things of life are invisible. Love, joy, peace, righteousness, and character cannot be seen, yet they are more precious and eternal than all the things that are visible to the naked eye.

To be continued . . .

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mikebaugher@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Ten Commandments, Part II: No Other Gods

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Before beginning this study of Deuteronomy 5, I would like to share, as an illustration, a personal experience.

When my wife and I moved from Washington State to the Los Angeles, California, area, our two dogs accompanied us. We were fortunate to find a house with about an acre and a half of land, which was fenced on two sides. One of my first tasks, when we moved into the house, was to fence the other two sides of the property, so the dogs would have plenty of room to run without having to be chained or cooped up in any way.

Interestingly, even with all of this space, the dogs kept trying to find a way out of the yard. We would frequently notice them running the fence, looking for an opening. They were unsuccessful, until one Sabbath. Returning from church that day, we found a note on our front door from an Animal Control Officer stating that he had been called, because our dog had been struck by an automobile and, not finding anyone at home, he was taking it to the veterinary hospital. I rushed to the hospital, and actually arrived before the Animal Control Officer. When he appeared, I told him that I was the dog’s owner and would gladly take her home and closely monitor her condition.

Arriving at home, I felt the dog all over and found no broken bones, but her back feet were scraped so badly that she could hardly walk. She would eat and drink, but it was obvious that she was very sore. She could not sit or lie down; she could only stand, hang her head, and whine, because of the pain. We gave her some Tylenol for the pain and tried to comfort her as best we could. Each day she showed signs of improvement, until, after a short period of time, she was doing quite well.

As I reflected upon this experience, I thought of how true this is of the way God deals with us. He has put a fence, the Ten Commandments, around us, and if we stay within this fence, there is safety to be found. We, like the dog, sometimes think that it is better to be outside of God’s fence to explore what is beyond. We want to see if there is something out there of interest to us, but we then find ourselves in the devil’s traffic. Many times we run headlong into a moving vehicle of the devil’s design.

The Whole Duty

Moses, on two occasions, brought the Ten Commandments down from the mountaintop. Upon his return the first time, he found the children of Israel cavorting around a golden calf, committing idolatry and adultery. He threw down the stone, upon which the Ten Commandments were written, and broke it.

The second time Moses went up on the mountain, God’s Law, the Ten Commandments, became the established covenant between God and His people. They stood, during those 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, as the very center of the sanctuary service, which God had instituted for His people.

All too often, we feel that we subscribe to the Ten Commandments, and we think that we know everything there is to know about God’s Law. After all, how much difficulty is there in reading the Ten Commandments? How much intelligence do we really have to have in order to understand ten precepts? Well, there is much more to God’s Ten Commandments than just reading them from Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5. We need to be reminded of just how important God’s Law is, because we are tricked, by our own sinful natures, into thinking that we can go contrary to what those ten precepts say.

The Bible says, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.”

Our Duty

The first table of God’s Law contains the four commandments, which reveal man’s whole duty or responsibility to his Maker. The second table, with its six precepts, sets forth man’s whole duty to his fellow man. Jesus said that on these two tables, defining our love to God and our love to man, hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:40.) So, if we are to fear God and keep His commandments, this being our whole duty, and upon these commandments hang all the Law and the prophets, what was Jesus saying? He was saying that the Ten Commandments are that for which we are to be responsible to God.

The rest of the law—the five books of Moses—dealing with the sacrificial system, the civil laws, and the health laws, is ultimately based on the Ten Commandment Law. The words and writings of the prophets are nothing more and nothing less than dealing with man and his sinful waywardness concerning the commandments. The issues involved are centered on idolatry, waywardness from God, oppression of the poor, and the failure of man, which directly relate to God and to his fellow man. We often have the tendency, which the prophets tried to clarify, to simply look at how the prophets dealt with problems, to the neglect of a deeper study of the law.

As soon as Adam was created, the first table of the law began to govern and to regulate his duty toward his Creator. As soon as he was made, this law came into being, as far as he was concerned. Eve’s creation constituted another relationship, which had to be defined by law; the second table of the law came into being and became operational. It is quite evident that, as long as the Creator and any of His creatures are in existence, both tables of the law must continue in force.

Consider this for a moment. As long as there is a God, and as long as there is more than one creature, there has to be a law which governs how that creature relates to his Creator and to one another. This is why the law is eternal. This is why the law originated in the heart and mind of God, and as He began to create, this law became greater and greater in its application.

Written on Our Hearts

The Lord, at creation, wrote the principles of His moral law in the mind and upon the fleshly tables of man’s heart, and before sin came into the world, they operated naturally and spontaneously, as the laws of nature do in the physical world. It was as natural for man to do the will of God as it was for the birds to fly, for the trees to grow, and for the flowers to bloom. It was just as natural for man to respond to God through the law. But when Adam and Eve fell to Satan’s temptation, man’s nature was changed from righteousness to sinfulness. It was as though man had slipped on a long, slick slide, which would carry him away from the God who had created him and from the keeping of the divine law, which was to regulate his life and to make it productive and happy. But although sin has changed man’s nature, the Law of God has not been entirely erased from his mind, from the fleshly tables of his heart.

We see the evidence of this when we read Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he says, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.” Romans 2:14, 15.

Here the fact is stated that the law was placed in the heart of man in the very beginning when God created him, and man responded. When sin came along, it did not totally erase the obligation in man’s mind concerning the need to keep the law. This is why we find, in the realms of the world today, religions of every size, shape, and description, for man has a sense of sin and, to the best of his ability, he is trying to find some relief for this sin.

This is the reason there will be people in heaven who may never have heard the name of Jesus Christ or may never have known about the God of heaven. If they respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who is bearing witness with their consciences, God will continue to sanctify their lives, even though they know nothing of the law, because they are responding to the little bit of an impress of the law which is written in their hearts. When they get to heaven, they will inquire about the scars in Jesus’ hands and the scars on His head, and Jesus will tell them the story of salvation for the first time.

Righteousness by Faith

Perfection, keeping the law, is defined as “righteousness by faith.” Often times the definition of “righteousness by faith” is “doing right by faith” or “right doing.” But this meaning gets the cart before the horse. You cannot do right until you are right! Righteousness is, first of all, right being, which is far more fundamental and important than right doing. Right doing is the fruit, if you please, of right being.

We must be right, before we can do right, and if we are right, we will do right. The devil has tried, down through the ages, to turn this thing around and have people do right and then have them believe that they are right. Of course, this is nothing more and nothing less than salvation by works.

If Christians and/or heathens believe that they are right because they do right, they have really missed the boat. They first must be right, before they can do right and be accepted by God. This is why those who are right, because of their acceptance of what Christ has done for them, can say, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law [is] within my heart.” Psalm 40:8.

This should be the experience of every Christian. The law is not to be done away with. The law is to find its proper response in the hearts of men. Our God, the One who created us, is ever seeking to help us live in harmony with the great principles of the heavenly government. None of His laws are arbitrary, but they are eternal principles—perfect and eternal as the Creator and Lawgiver Himself.

Brief but Complete

The Ten Commandments are both brief and comprehensive. They were given in a written form 3,500 years ago, yet, interestingly, there has never been a need for those ten laws to be altered or changed in any degree. They have never needed to be amended in the least particular. The Ten Commandments are just as current and applicable to the needs of mankind today as when they came from the mouth and the hand of the Creator Who gave them. This, in itself, is enough to convince us of the perfection and holiness of the law and of its divine origin.

It is estimated that man has enacted some 35 million laws, in an effort to regulate his conduct, but he has never yet attained the perfection of the Ten Commandments. The laws of men must be continually corrected and updated, often requiring change. Not so with God’s Law. God’s law was written in stone 3,500 years ago, and it is just as up-to-date as if it were written yesterday.

Recently, one bill passed through Congress which repealed more than 1,000 old and out-of-date laws. They did not apply any longer. Not many people need to be fined today because they have tied their horse to a hitching post and neglected to put a grain bag on it! There have been attacks on the Law of God, but the Bible tells us, “The law of the Lord [is] perfect,” and “The works of his hands [are] verity and judgment; all his commandments [are] sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, [and are] done in truth and uprightness.” Psalms 19:7; 111:7, 8.

The Devil’s Purpose

There is a spirit in the world which never tires of attacking God’s Law or God Himself, but these efforts, which are put forth, are for the purpose of deceiving and causing potential candidates of the kingdom of heaven to be lost. This is the devil’s number one purpose.

If a law can be changed in a man’s mind, then that which the Lord uses to point out sin will no longer do its work, and mankind can never develop a character like God, because the Law of God is a revelation of the character of God. This is why it is important that we obey and keep the Law of God. By so doing, our characters are changed.

Law as a Tool

The law is a tool, or instrument, in the hands of the Holy Spirit, by which men are convicted of sin. Sin is divinely declared to be the “transgression of God’s Law.” 1 John 3:4. The law and the gospel work hand in hand in the redemption of sinful man. The law cannot take away sin. It is only a mirror to point out the sin, to let us see how dirty our faces are. All it can do is convince us that we are guilty sinners and that we are under the penalty of eternal death. Pardoning and cleansing have to come through Christ and the gospel.

Before a sick man can seek a remedy, he must first understand that he has a sickness. He must be convinced that he is sick. Before man can realize his need of a Saviour, he must first realize that he is a sinner and that he is in need of help, because the law convicts him.

Original Presentation

Let us look at the circumstances when the Ten Commandments were originally given. Mount Sinai was located in an area where there was a large, sandy plateau, 4,000 feet above the Mediterranean Sea. The plain, about two miles long and one-half mile wide, was large enough to hold some two million people, who were there at the time the law was given.

Looking up, a granite mountain could be seen, rising up some 2,200 feet high out of this plateau. Isolated, precipitous, fissured, altar shaped, it was the mountain of Jehovah’s Law, the sublime throne from which the King of kings proclaimed the Ten Commandments of the covenant with His people.

In the midst of these craggy slopes, Moses had kept the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. Here he had twice fasted, 40 days and 40 nights. Here Elijah found refuge from the wrath of Jezebel. Here it was that Paul spent three years preparing for his gospel calling.

It was here, on Sinai’s mountain, that Moses mediated between Jehovah and Israel. The words came down: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and [how] I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth [is] mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” Exodus 19:4–6, first part.

These were the words of God which came down to them, and as the people heard these words, they responded: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Verse 8.

Solemn Grandeur

On the third morning, after the ceremonial purification, came lightnings, thunders, a thick cloud, and the voice of a trumpet growing louder and louder until the mountain began to quake and smoke began ascending, like the smoke of a furnace. All of this made the preparation for the delivery of the law on Mount Sinai a scene of unparalleled solemnity.

Somehow we have lost sight of the awe and the solemnity with which we should look at the Law of God. We take for granted that the Ten Commandments are rules and regulations by which we are ordered to live, and we do not grasp the meaning of the grandeur and the solemnity with which this law was given.

The Covenant

“And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount).” Deuteronomy 5:1–5.

God made the covenant, at Mount Sinai, with the children of Israel. After they had been camped around the mount for two years, they began to make their way toward the Promised Land. They sent their spies over into that land and decided, from their report, that they did not want to go in because of the giants. So, the Lord turned them back into the wilderness, and He told them that all of them would die there. (Numbers 14:22, 23; 26:65.) Indeed, in the next 38-year period of time, they all died in the wilderness, with the exception of two—Caleb and Joshua.

What is meant by: “The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day”? Is there something wrong here? No. It is all right, and it needs to be understood. “The law was not spoken at this time exclusively for the benefit of the Hebrews. God honored them by making them the guardians and keepers of His law, but it was to be held as a sacred trust for the whole world.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 305.

Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903 with many employees. Ford Motor Company is still operating today, but the first generation of employees has all died. One charge, which was made to the first employees, in 1903, is still a charge to today’s employees: Create an automobile of excellence.

Corporateness

God instills the idea of corporate-ness within every generation, and it never changes. It is a tribal concept. We are all individuals within the tribe, but there is a sense of corporateness, and God expects us to corporately respond to it.

This is one of the reasons why unity is as much a command of God as is obedience to the Ten Commandments, because the concept of unity has to be there in order for us to be His covenant people. This is why Jesus prayed, “Father, I want them all to be one, like You and I are one. I want them to understand that I am in You and You are in Me and I am in them and they are in Me.” (John 17:22, 23.)

There is a sense of corporateness in which God intends His people to participate and to understand. This is one of the reasons why there is absolutely no room for racial discrimination, for class distinction, for differences—as far as salvation is concerned—between male and female or between Jew and Greek. God made all of this clear. He wants us, more than anything else, to come into such a state of unity that we will be able to be one body, one corporate unit. Until we reach this point, we are never going to be able to have a part in the covenant, which God has for us.

This was the preamble which Moses gave in Deuteronomy 5:3. He was stating that the generation with which the covenant was made was dead and gone. And even though the current generation was not yet in the position of accountability when the covenant was made, they had matured to the point where the covenant now applied to them. They were as much there, in a corporate setting, as were we when Adam first sinned. How is it, do you think, that we are born with a sinful nature? It is because of what our father did. There is the sense of corporateness with which we, as a people, must come to grips, before we can come into a unity where we can keep God’s commandments, as He wants us to do, and thereby be found in a state of sanctification and holiness so the end can come. As long as we are fracturing, as long as we are at odds with one another, as long as we think that we are so important we cannot reconcile these differences, as long as we cannot come to terms with these feelings that we have about one another, we are as lost as if we had never come to Jesus. If we are harboring those kinds of feelings one for another, because we are not part of the covenant, we are not part of the corporate group. Those with such feelings are in that group which will come before the Lord and say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? Have we not cast out devils in Thy name? Have we not done many wonderful things in Thy name?” And the Lord will turn to them and say, “I beg your pardon. What is your name? Do I know you? I am sorry; I do not know you at all. You are not part of the corporate group who are in unity, who are truly obedient to My Law; therefore, depart from Me, you that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22, 23.)

“I am the Lord”

Deuteronomy 5:6 says, “I [am] the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

When we look at the phrase, “I am the Lord,” the word Lord is translated from the Hebrew word Jehovah or Yahweh. Today, a number of people are making a tremendous issue out of what they term “holy names.” If we do not pronounce the name of God correctly, according to them, they do not want anything to do with us. They believe in keeping all of the Ten Commandments, but they do not want to have anything to do with anyone who, they think, incorrectly pronounces the name of God. We are not a part of their fellowship, and we are lost, as far as they are concerned.

I would submit to you, first of all, that we do not even know how to correctly pronounce God’s name. This was lost centuries ago. Hebrew was made up strictly of consonants, and many centuries after the Hebrew language was developed, vowel points were inserted so we could pronounce the words. By this time, the pronunciation of God’s name was lost. All that was left were consonants—Yhvh.

For instance, look at the consonants grnd. There are no vowels. This is like God’s name, which has four consonants and no vowel points. If we were to insert the a vowel, we could spell grand. We could, instead, insert the i vowel, and we would spell grind. But then we could remove the i and replace it with ou and spell the word ground.

The one thing we need to understand about those four consonants is that this was the name of God, and it identified something about His character. It means that He was the eternal, self-existing, ever-living, ever-acting One. If we can understand this aspect, we do not need to know whether it is an a, an i, an ou, or whatever. All we need to know is that there is a God who is in control of everything; He always has been, and He always will be.

While Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, along one of the creek beds near the foot of Mount Sinai, there suddenly appeared before him a burning bush. You are familiar with this story. Out of it came a voice saying, “I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. . . . Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:6, 10.

One God

Moses remembered that his countrymen had long been exposed to the debasing effects of servitude and that they were still living in a polytheistic (multi-god) Egypt. He ventured to respond to God, “Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them?” Verse 13.

And God told him: “i am that i am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, i am hath sent me unto you.” Verse 14. This is what the word Jehovah or Yahweh or those four consonants mean: “I am.”

The Israelites, who were listening at this moment to Jehovah’s voice, numbered close to two million, yet God addresses them as an individual corporateness with a singular “you,” not a plural “you all.” God regarded His people as a single, colossal personality or a corporate unit. It was this divine conception of the Jewish people as a single, corporate personality that gave Israel such a unique position among all the nations of the earth.

This concept has not really changed today. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. How He relates to us is the same. Where, before, He related to the children of Israel as a corporate nation, He now relates to them as a bride—not brides, but bride.

We, as a people, must understand this concept of unity, in the laying aside of our differences and in the coming together. If we do not, we are in no better shape than the sinner who is without Christ.

No Other Gods

“I [am] the Lord thy God, . . . Thou shalt have none other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 5:6, 7.

There is a reason why God gave this precept in this way. We are told, in Exodus 20:5, that He is a jealous God. Jealousy, to the human mind, is not a good thing, but there is nothing wrong, from a godly perspective, with being jealous. There is such a thing as good jealousy, such as being jealous for the things of God.

God says, “I am a jealous God.” Why is He jealous? Is it because He has some internal, selfish need to be pumped up, that He has the same feelings of jealousy that we have? No. It has nothing to do with this.

Those of us who are parents know what it means to be jealous of our child in the right way, in the watchful, careful guarding or keeping of that child. This occurs when we want the very best for that child, and we do not want any outside influences coming in to ruin that child’s life. We, as parents, have created that child; we do not want any interference of any kind destroying that child.

This is the kind of jealousy that God has. He sees His people, and He says, “I am a jealous God. I do not want to have second place to any other god.” Why? because there is only one God. Any other god has an evil intent, and God says, “I will not put up with it; I will not cooperate with it. I will not share you with anything. I am to be supreme, because I am the Creator; I am the One who called you into being as a corporate nation, and I want you as my bride in the kingdom of heaven.”

God said this, knowing that the children of Israel were coming out of the polytheistic country of Egypt and going to the polytheistic country of Canaan. In some places in Canaan, there were as many gods as there were villages. There were multitudes of gods—Baal, Ashteroth, Molech, and Dagon, to name a few. Israel, as far as their heritage was concerned, came out of a polytheistic society.

The Bible tells us, in Joshua 24:2, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, [even] Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.”

God says, “Look, we are going to correct this whole situation. We are going to bring you into a corporate unity where I am the only God that you are to worship.”

What About Today

How can we relate to this today? Who truly is this Jehovah God about which the Bible speaks? From the New Testament, we know this is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. (See John 1:3; Hebrews 1:1, 2.) It was Jesus who was on Mount Sinai, according to Nehemiah 9:6, 13. It was Jesus who spoke the Ten Commandments. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

When Jesus came as a babe to Bethlehem’s manger, the angel had told His parents that they would call His name Jesus, because He would save them from their sins. He is known as the Alpha and the Omega. The name Emmanuel means “God with us.” And the beauty of the gospel message is the fact that the God of heaven is ever working to restore us into fellowship with Himself. He loves us. He died for us. He was the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, and His plans have never changed.

“I am the Lord, your God.”

Singularly. Personally. The fact that Jesus is a personal God, individually and corporately, is expressed in the concept that the church is called the bride of Christ. The church is also called the body of Christ. This same unity is still the high calling for the church today, as it was for Israel of old. The requirements of unity are still the same.

Law Passing Away

Is the law passing away? Heaven forbid! Can you imagine where we would be if we were worshipping other gods? What could they do for us? Oh, they can bring us the pleasure of sin for a season, but they cannot bring us salvation. They are totally impotent, unable to accomplish a thing for us.

The first commandment, which says, “Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me,” had its application to Israel as they were traveling from Egypt to Canaan, but it also has application to the church today. Nothing is to take God’s place in our lives.

We live in such a materialistic society today that there are things that are clamoring for our worship on every level. The Bible says that if we are angry with our brother, we have already committed murder. (1 John 3:15.) He is making a spiritual application. There is a spiritual application of the first commandment as well. Anything which commands our attention above and beyond God becomes something in the place of God.

There is an old saying, seen on bumper stickers, which reads, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” This is the mentality of people today, in this materialistic world. That person, in fact, is the loser, because when we take the spiritual application of this commandment, it calls us to turn our eyes upon just one God—the One who created us and redeemed us.

As we continue through the commandments, in Deuteronomy 5, we will review the original, physical application, and we will also learn the spiritual application.

To be continued . . .

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mikebaugher@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Sitting with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

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While in a bookstore recently, some books containing pictures of the past caught my eye. I looked at pictures of the Civil War, covered wagons, miners in California, and various groups of people, all of which were very interesting to me, because it is history which was lived, and now it is gone. Although a reality at one time, it is passed away, but pictures are left behind which help us see what the people and their lives were like.

Man can produce pictures of the past. We have the technology to produce pictures of the present, but God is the only One Who can produce pictures of the future. A picture of the future is given in Matthew 8:11: “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Here is a picture of reality. Jesus pulls back the veil, and He gives us a picture of what is going to happen. Someday, “Some of you are going to sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in My kingdom.” Do you want to be there in that day?

The Future is Reality

In Matthew 22:31, 32, Jesus categorizes Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob among the living: “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Jesus says that God is a God of the living, not of the dead. But then He says that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These patriarchs of the Old Testament are dead. How, then, can He identify them among the living?

Romans 4 explains how God is able to do this. God looks at things differently than you and I look at things. Remember, through Isaiah, He says, “My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8. “Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:16, 17.

God calls those things which are not right now, as though they are. He views reality—past, present, and future—all in the perspective of the living. So, He views Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as living even though they are not, because some-day they will be living. The picture of the future is reality. God deals in the reality of what has been, what is, and what will be. The question we may ask ourselves, at this point, is, Would it not be well for us to view life as God does? Yes, it would.

Real or Imaginary

“On a certain occasion, when Betterton, the celebrated actor, was dining with Dr. Sheldon, archbishop of Canterbury, the archbishop said to him, ‘Pray, Mr. Betterton, tell me why it is that you actors affect your audiences so powerfully by speaking of things imaginary.’ ‘My lord,’ replied Betterton, ‘with due submission to Your Grace, permit me to say that the reason is plain: It all lies in the power of enthusiasm. We on the stage speak of things imaginary as if they were real, and you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary.’ ” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 255.

God wants us to wake up to the reality of the past, the present, and the future, because God is dealing in reality. If we are going to walk with God, we are going to have to deal in the same. How is it with us when we talk about salvation, when we talk about Jesus, when we talk about Calvary? Is it real? How is it when we talk about heaven? Is it real? If it is, it will be sensed in our voices; it will be seen in our expressions; it will be heard from the pulpit.

Sitting with Jesus

Jesus gave us a picture, in Matthew 8:11, that someday the redeemed would sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—very notable men—and there will be others with whom the redeemed will sit, but I want you to know there is Someone else. A picture of the future—a reality which will be: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21. Where is Jesus today? He is sitting at the right hand of His Father. Not only will the redeemed sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they are going to sit with Jesus also.

Do you want to sit with Jesus Christ someday? Do you want to be in this picture? When you are looking at family pictures, and you see yourself in the picture, there is a special feeling about being included. God wants you in His picture. This verse tells us how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the rest of the redeemed will eventually sit down with Jesus in His kingdom. How did they obtain an experience, which will eventually place them in the picture of the future—namely, eternal life? There is one word; they were overcomers! In their lives, they overcame, and this gives them the reward of someday sitting with Jesus and the rest of the redeemed in the picture of eternity.

One Author

It does not matter whether you read James, 1 Thessalonians, Romans, Isaiah, Ezekiel, or any of the other various books of the Bible; one Author inspired every book. It is the same One who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. We are not listening to Paul; we are listening to Jesus. We are not listening to Isaiah; we are listening to Jesus. We are not listening to Moses; we are listening to Jesus. And may I say, we are not listening to Ellen White; we are listening to Jesus Christ! The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy.

Endure Temptation

“Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” James 1:12. God places Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the future picture, because they overcame temptations in their lives. They will receive their crowns, because they endured the temptations to sin. Did they sin at one time? Oh, yes! But did they eventually gain victories? Yes, they did. If we are going to sit with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, we are going to have to learn to endure temptation as did they, living in a world of trouble, sin, and temptation.

Jesus said, very clearly, that we will never endure without Him. “Without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5. Not a thing!

Overcomers

If we cannot endure temptation, we are going to sin. If we sinned this past week and we know that we have, it is because we disconnected ourselves from Jesus. If we are walking with Jesus, we will not sin; we will be overcomers.

Overcoming is merely coming over. It is coming over to Jesus and to His side of the issue in the great controversy. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. When we respond to this invitation, we then have made the decision to walk with Jesus. We then have the ability, through His grace, to endure temptation, just as surely as did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are attributes to help us overcome, and I would like for us to consider three of them. Three men with three things in their lives which, if we incorporate them into our lives, will give us the victory over temptations which they experienced, and thus give us the privilege of someday sitting with them in the kingdom of God!

Faith of Abraham

Let us start with Abraham. He is a tremendous example of faith. God called him and told him, early in his experience, that he needed to leave his hometown. Did he obey? Oh, yes, he did. Abraham had faith in God, and he responded to Him. Notice what God tells us about Abraham, through the writings of Paul. “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?” Romans 4:1. Abraham found something, which we need to find, and if we have found it, we need to hold on to it. Continuing, in verse 3: “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” It was accounted unto him for righteousness because he believed God. Abraham had more than just faith—he had a living faith. A living faith is a faith which acts!

James says that faith without works is dead. (James 2:20, 26.) We know, by God’s testimony of Abraham, that he had a faith that worked. The kind of faith Abraham had is the kind of faith that we need, if we are going to someday sit in God’s kingdom.

Notice what motivated his faith: “And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Corin-thians 13:2. The kind of faith, which Abraham had and God rewarded, was motivated by love. This is why James tells us that Abraham became the friend of God. You and I can be God’s friend, if we respond to His love with love. Love begets love, and God has taken the initiative to love us, even though we are unlovely. God commended His love to us, in that while we were yet transgressors of His law, Christ, His Son, died for you and me. (Romans 5:8.) He has demonstrated His love, not merely professed it, and He wants us to have the kind of faith that will act. Abraham had the kind of faith which was motivated by love.

On what was Abraham’s faith focused? Romans 4:20, 21 says, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” You see, Abraham focused on God’s Word—His promises. He not only focused, but he also believed what God said would be. He chose to cooperate with God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3.)

The living faith, which is motivated by Christ’s love, becomes a living reality and can do wonderful things. We find Abraham doing something that would be impossible without such faith. “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [son].” Hebrews 11:17. Abraham was privileged to illustrate the plan of redemption to fallen man by taking his only son, Isaac, up to Mount Moriah and willingly offering him as a sacrifice at the command of God. Did it take faith for Abraham to do this? It took a great deal of faith. He knew God’s voice, and he knew Who had asked him to do this nearly impossible thing. But he was willing to do it, and he exercised faith, which God rewarded.

If we have the kind of faith Abraham had, we will be able to do the impossible! What we think is impossible, we can do, by God’s grace, if it is His will and His command—just as Abraham did the impossible by taking Isaac to Mount Moriah. He never hesitated. This is why he is called the friend of God. If we have any hesitation in our experience with God, in believing His promises, we still have room to grow—and all of us have room to grow in faith.

We can have this kind of faith! “It is not the capabilities you now possess or ever will have that will give you success. It is that which the Lord can do for you. We need to have far less confidence in what man can do and far more confidence in what God can do for every believing soul. He longs to have you reach after Him by faith. He longs to have you expect great things from Him.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 146. We need to focus on His promises.

God wants to do great things for us, but He cannot do them unless we exercise faith, because He will not compromise. He does not have to compromise. He has made Himself well-known to humanity, if humanity chooses to respond through the avenues by which God has made Himself known. All that He did for Abraham, He will do for you and me, for God is no respecter of persons. If we are not there in the day when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sit down with Jesus, it is not against God. It has nothing to do with any arbitrary decree on the part of God. It will be our own choice. Just because we are in church every Sabbath does not mean that we are safe and secure. We are marked men and women. “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed.” Revelation 12:17. We can choose to be God’s wheat, or we can choose to be the tares. Jesus told us they are growing together. We can all be wheat, if we so choose.

From Abraham, we learn a main attribute. If we are going to be in God’s kingdom someday, we have to exercise a living faith—a living faith that is motivated by love; faith that is a personal experience with God; an experience that causes God to call us His friend.

Isaac’s Obedience

Now let us look at another attribute from the life of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Did Abraham raise Isaac right? Oh, yes! We are going to see that he did. I can tell you that the majority of young people today, whom I see in the world around me, would not have reacted as Isaac did that day on Mount Moriah. It has everything to do with how a child is raised. “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.” Genesis 22:9.

Was Isaac struggling all the while? Was he saying, “Dad, Dad, do not do this; it is wrong”? No. Isaac was told by his father, Abraham, what God had told him, and Isaac said, “Father, may God’s will be done. Tie me up.” We need to think about this for a moment. Did Isaac have faith? Oh, yes, he had faith. But he also had obedience—obedience which was more than mere obedience.

Remember, the rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus enumerated some of the Ten Commandments, and the rich young ruler said, “I have done all of those since I was a child.” (Mark 10:17–20.) Did he have the obedience which would allow him to someday sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? No. He had obedience, but he did not have the kind of obedience that Isaac had.

Isaac had what we would call sacrificial obedience, which is the putting of self aside and obeying God, no matter what. Do we have this kind of obedience—actually dying to self and doing God’s will instead of our own, turning away from the inclinations of the flesh, the desires of our own, natural hearts and choosing God’s will no matter what? Jesus had this kind of sacrificial obedience to His Father when, in Gethsemane, He said, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22:42.

Isaac had what Jesus had—sacrificial obedience. If you and I are going to sit someday with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we are going to have to go beyond obedience. We are going to have to have sacrificial obedience, a willingness to die to self.

What motivated Isaac on Mount Moriah to allow his father to bind him and put him on the altar? “And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3. Isaac was motivated by love to offer the sacrifice of obedience. How is it with us?

“Isaac believed in God. He had been taught implicit obedience to his father, and he loved and reverenced the God of his father. He could have resisted his father if he had chosen to do so. But after affectionately embracing his father, he submitted to be bound and laid upon the wood.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, 107. This is inspired commentary. Sacrificial obedience is what we see in the life of Isaac. “All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses.” The Desire of Ages, 668.

Do we not want to have this kind of obedience? Jesus is the only One Who can give it to us, but it is all based upon our consent, our willingness to do. “The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience.” Ibid. Did Isaac know God? Yes, but he was a young man. You might ask how he knew God. He knew God from his father, but then he came to know God himself, choosing, individually, to respond to his heavenly Father. So not only did Abraham know God personally, but Isaac also knew God personally.

We can never offer sacrificial obedience to God without first knowing Him. We can offer obedience without knowing Him, but never sacrificial obedience. We have to know Him from the heart.

Jacob’s Persevering Determination

Finally, what does Jacob teach us? What attribute from the life of Jacob will help us to be ready to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and him in God’s kingdom someday?

The conflict of Jacob’s life is recorded in Genesis 32. You and I are going through little conflicts, little tests, right now. A river Jabbok is just before each one of us. The conflict of our lives is just before us, as God’s professed people. Each one of us will be tested, closer and closer. How are we doing on the quizzes?

As Jacob struggled with the Angel—Jesus—from midnight to dawn, He said, “Let me go, for the day breaketh.” And Jacob responded, “I will not!” Have you ever told God this? Every time we fall into sin, we are saying, “God, I will not!” But we can say, as did Jacob, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” Genesis 32:26.

I can remember that, when I came back after the apostasy I went through, I struggled with things in my life. It is not an easy thing to come back, but it is not impossible either. I remember giving in to temptation and sinning, then weeping and going to my Father, thinking, “It is impossible! Give it up.” But the Lord inspired me with a thought, and I prayed it more than once, because it took more than once. I remember praying to my Father, “Please forgive me; I choose not to give up, but to get up!”

Jacob said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What [is] thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Verses 26–28. We have something to learn from Jacob’s experience. It is called persevering determination. How much do you press toward heaven?

In 11 Peter 1:10, Peter says, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence [give determination] to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” May I add, if you do not do this, you will fall! He goes on to say, “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Verse 11. We must have this attribute—persevering determination—to continue to press on.

Paul said, “[This] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, . . . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14. [Emphasis supplied.] He pressed; he was determined. Paul was a determined man, because he realized that the pictures, which God put before him of the future, were reality. He knew the pictures of the past were reality. He knew what he was going through was reality.

Jacob was a determined man. What motivated Jacob? Paul speaks about love in 1 Corinthians 13:7, 8: “[Love] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.” Did Jacob have this kind of love, this kind of motivation? Yes, he did. He was determined. His faith endured. Jacob knew his quest was real, not imaginary.

“Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God’s promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded.” The Great Controversy, 621. This is
a wonderful promise. What Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob experienced, we can experience. It must be our experience if we are to someday sit with them in God’s kingdom.

The Final Picture

Someday soon, Jesus and all of His angels will come to this earth. He is coming for those who have had the living faith of Abraham, the sacrificial obedience of Isaac, and the persevering determination of Jacob. Of them, Jesus says, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13. We need to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. Combining the attributes of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with love, we will have victory! We will secure a seat in the kingdom. We will be part of this picture!

Craig Meeker is Director of the Bible Correspondence School at Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: craigmeeker@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Man Who Would Not Give Up, Part II

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When the time came for Jacob to return to the land of his father, he approached the country of his birth with trepidation, anticipating the welcome he would receive from his twin brother, Esau. To help soften his brother’s heart and to appease him, Jacob sent expensive gifts to him. He did everything he could, but he knew that it was not enough, and it was not enough. Esau was on his way with 400 armed men.

Jacob learned something, friend, that you and I need to learn. He was shrewd; he knew how to make business deals. But he was in a situation now where those skills were useless. There was no business deal that he could make, which would get him out of this. He knew that unless the Lord intervened, it was going to be all over.

Plea for Help

So, Jacob went to the Lord in prayer: “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah. You said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your kindred, and I will deal well with you: I am not worthy for any of your mercies which you have done with your servant.’ ” Genesis 32:9, 10.

Jacob had divided his family into two camps, thinking that if the people in one camp were killed, the people in the other camp would be able to flee on horses or mules and get away. Then he had crossed over the Jordan. His plea to God continues in verses 11 and 12: “Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; because I am terrified lest he should come and strike me and the mother with the children. And now, You said, ‘Indeed, I will deal well with you, and I will make your descendants, your seed, as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

We do not know the entire contents of his prayer; all that is recorded are those few verses in Scripture. He was, no doubt, praying there for hours, pleading with the Lord. From these verses, you can understand the gist of his prayer. He said, “Lord, You promised. You are the One Who told me to come back here, and You said that You would deal well with me. You said that my descendants would be like the sand of the sea, which could not be numbered for multitude. Now we are all about to get killed.”

Jacob kept praying into the night hours. He was alone and unprotected, having sent his family and everything that made life dear to him a distance away. He was there all by himself. In describing the region where he was praying, Ellen White wrote: “It was in a lonely, mountainous region, the haunt of wild beasts and the lurking place of robbers and murderers. Solitary and unprotected, Jacob bowed in deep distress upon the earth. It was midnight.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 196.

Midnight, and his mind is still filled with doubts and questionings: “Maybe the Lord cannot fulfill His promises to me, because I am such a bad sinner. I am a crook and a liar. Maybe, even though He promised this to me, it will not happen, because I am so sinful, and now all my children, my wives, and everything will be killed, because of what I have done.”

If you are a father, you can understand Jacob’s anguish. For most fathers, it would be easier to die themselves than to watch their children get killed. This is why, during the Dark Ages, to torture the Waldenses, the agents of Rome would kill their sons before them, cut off their heads, tie them to the necks of their fathers, and then march the fathers to their deaths.

Bless Me

“He arose in that night and took his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven sons and passed over the Brook Jabbok.” Genesis 32:22. Verse 23 says that he “sent them over the brook,” and verse 24 emphatically states that “Jacob was left alone.” He was left alone, all by himself. No one else was around. While Jacob was praying, all of a sudden, “There wrestled with him a man until the breaking of day. And He saw that He did not prevail against him, and He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh went out of joint as He was wrestling with him. And He said, ‘Send Me away, because the dawn is coming.’ And he said, ‘I cannot send You away unless You bless me!’ ” Verses 24–26.

You see, when his thigh was touched, Jacob realized instantly that he was dealing with a supernatural being, with someone from heaven. He was not dealing with another man. If you were struggling with another man and the man just touched you with his finger, your hip would not go out of joint. He knew, then, with Whom he was dealing.

“And He said, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob, Heel Grabber.’ And He said, ‘Not Jacob shall be called anymore your name, but rather Israel; because you are a prince with God and with men you will prevail.’ And Jacob asked and said, ‘Declare, please, Your name.’ And He said, ‘Why is this that you ask My name?’ And He blessed him there.” Verses 27–29.

The Meaning

What is the meaning of this story? During this night, Jacob struggled with the Lord Jesus. Jacob called the name of this place Peniel, which means “The Face of God,” because he said, “I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive.” Verse 30.

Jacob wrestled as hard as he could wrestle. What lesson can we learn from this? Have you ever met someone who has wrestled hard to overcome sin in his or her life, and he or she says, “I can never do it; I guess I will just have to be lost”? Jacob was fighting to overcome. He thought he was fighting Esau, one of Esau’s men, or a robber or a murderer who was going to kill him. He was determined to overcome, but he found that he could not. If you have a besetting sin in your life, you cannot overcome it anymore than Jacob could overcome. You cannot overcome unless you are blessed.

Confess and Forsake

Over and over again this night, it came to Jacob’s mind that he had stolen from his brother, and he had lied to and deceived his father. It kept coming back to him, and he told himself that was why he was going through this. But in the midst of it all, he had to keep fighting or, he thought, he himself would be killed.

While those sins kept coming to his mind, he also thought to himself, “But I have repented. I have told the Lord over and over again for 20 years that I am sorry, and I want to be forgiven. I do not do those things anymore, and I will not do them anymore. The Lord has promised me . . .”

The promise is very clear in the Bible. Proverbs 28:13 tells us, “He who hides his rebellions, his transgressions, will not prosper. But the one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Jacob’s transgressions were rebellions. They were deliberate transgressions against the Law of God. They were not sins of ignorance.

Although the Book of Proverbs had not yet been written in Jacob’s time, he knew the principle. He knew that if a person confessed and repented of his sins, God had promised mercy. And he kept saying, as he was fighting, “Lord, I have repented. I have confessed. I have tried to do everything I know to make it right. I am not living like that anymore.”

This experience was also recorded by Hosea, in Hosea 12:4: “He wept and pleaded.” For what was he pleading? He wanted the assurance that his sins were pardoned and that they would not be held against his account. He continued to weep and plead until, it says, “He had power over the Angel and prevailed.”

This is quite a statement, that a human being would have power over an angel! And this was the Angel of the covenant, whose name we know as Jesus Christ! Jacob was fighting with Jesus Christ!

No Excuse for Sin

This is the story of a sinful human being who, by humbling himself, by repentance, and by self-surrender, prevailed with the Majesty of heaven. He did not come to the Lord and say, “Lord, You made a promise before I was born that my older brother would serve me,” even though God had made this promise before he was born. He did not come to the Lord and say, “Lord you know that Esau is a profane person”—and Esau is called a profane person. (See Hebrews 12:16.) Jacob did not use either divine promises or the character defects of his brother to excuse his own sin. Remember this. A confession is not an excuse; there is no excuse for sin.

“Satan is jubilant when he hears the professed followers of Christ making excuses for their deformity of character. It is these excuses that lead to sin. There is no excuse for sinning. A holy temper, a Christlike life, is accessible to every repenting, believing child of God.” The Desire of Ages, 311.

There is no excuse for sin. I cannot come to the Lord and say, “I sinned because so and so did this wrong.” This is not a confession. This is an excuse. Jacob did not do this. He did not say, “Lord, my brother did something . . . .” No, he just confessed his own sin and said, “Lord, I need to be cleansed from what I have done.”

Time to Come

This story about Jacob and the Angel—called “Jacob’s Time of Trouble”—when a helpless, unworthy person pleaded God’s promise of mercy to repentant sinners, is used in the Bible as a symbol of future events. In Jeremiah 30:5–7, we read, “Because thus Jehovah said, ‘A voice of trembling we have heard of dread, and not of peace. Ask now, and see, if a male bears a child. Wherefore do I see every male with his hands upon his loins as a woman giving birth to a child, and they have turned all faces into paleness? Alas! Because that day is great, so there is none like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he will be saved out of it.’ ”

If you look at the whole context of this prophecy, you will understand that this is a prophecy about the end of time. We are approaching the time when the plan of salvation is going to be completed.

The Book of Hebrews teaches that Christ is our High Priest. He is an all-powerful mediator. Even if you are the worst and weakest of sinners, you have an all-powerful Mediator who, if you call upon Him, can help you. He specializes in helping people who other people consider helpless, and this is what the strongest of Christians have to learn too. This is what Jacob had to learn.

Time of Jacob’s Trouble

There is coming a time when Christ’s work as a mediator in man’s behalf is over. What happens next? The Bible says, in Revelation 22:11, 12, “He who is unjust, shall be unjust still; and he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; and the righteous one, let him do righteousness still; and the holy one, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every one according as his work shall be.”

Soon after this pronouncement is made, the time of Jacob’s trouble is going to begin, because the plan of salvation will be over. It is the end of probation. Soon after this pronouncement is made, if you are filthy or unjust, you are going to stay this way forever. If you are righteous and holy, you are going to stay this way forever. When this pronouncement is made, then the time of Jacob’s trouble will begin for all of God’s children.

Bible prophecy tells us, in Revelation 13:15, that there is coming a time when, if we do not accept the mark of the beast or do not worship the beast, there will be a death decree against our lives. It will be just as it was with Jacob. Was Jacob in danger of losing his life? Yes, he was. Every member of his family was in danger of losing his or her life. If the Lord had not worked a miracle on Esau’s heart, they all would have lost their lives.

Jacob knew that the only way he would be saved was if he received the mercy of God. This is the only way you and I are going to be saved too.

Repent and Confess

Almost driven to despair, Jacob began to plead for deliverance. Imagine having to wrestle with someone from midnight until almost dawn! He held on. He would not give up. This is going to be the experience of God’s people who are alive during the last days, in their final struggle with the powers of evil spoken of in Jeremiah 30:5–7. It will seem to each person that his or her case is hopeless. Did Jacob’s case look hopeless? It looked absolutely hopeless.

God’s people will have a deep sense of their shortcomings. We all have shortcomings. If we look at our pasts, we are tempted to lose all hope. This is the feeling the devil tries to impress upon people. If the devil can convince us to believe we are absolutely hopeless and our hold on God is broken, then he has us. The people of God are going to do the same thing as did Jacob, when they know the greatness of God’s mercy, and they know that they have repented and confessed their sins.

My dear friend, right now is the time. If you have any sins on your record, which the Holy Spirit brings to your remembrance, say, “Lord, I want to be through with sin.” Repentance means that you are sorry for your sins—sorry enough to not keep repeating them. Confess the sin. If it is a private sin, confess it to the Lord. If you have injured someone, go to him or her and make it right. Jacob had to make things right with Esau.

Just think of coming to the end of the world and realizing the devil can point at you and say, “This sin you have concealed; you have never repented of it; you have never confessed it!” If this is true, what will happen? You will lose salvation. Now is the time to make sure there is nothing on your record for which you have not repented and confessed.

Remember, the other person’s sin does not excuse your sin. You can never say to the Lord, “I sinned because he sinned.” He does not accept this excuse. No matter what the other person does, you are not responsible for it, but you are responsible for what you say and do.

Assurance of Salvation

Are you going to be as persevering in your Christian walk as Jacob was in his struggle? If you are willing not to give up, then it is absolutely guaranteed that you are going to be saved, as is Jacob.

Mrs. White penned a very encouraging statement about Jacob’s experience. “Jacob’s history is an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been betrayed into sin, but who have returned unto Him with true repentance. It was by self-surrender and confiding faith that Jacob gained what he had failed to gain by conflict in his own strength. God thus taught His servant that divine power and grace alone could give him the blessing he craved.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 202, 203. Jacob learned that he could not do it on his own. This is what we must learn.

“Thus it will be with those who live in the last days. As dangers surround them, and despair seizes upon the soul, they must depend solely [only] upon the merits of the atonement. We can do nothing of ourselves. In all our helpless unworthiness we must trust in the merits of the crucified and risen Savior.” Ibid., 203. Acknowledging that we are unworthy, we must put our trust in His merits. If we do this, we are given the promise: “None will ever perish while they do this.” Ibid.

What good news! If you realize that you are helpless and you put your complete trust and confidence in Him, you cannot perish, because you serve an all-powerful Mediator.

“The long, black catalogue of our delinquencies is before the eye of the Infinite. The register is complete; none of our offenses are forgotten. But He who listened to the cries of His servants of old, will hear the prayer of faith and pardon our transgressions. He has promised, and He will fulfill His word.” Ibid.

Greatest Need

Many people believe that we need more talent, more education, more money, or more manpower to finish God’s work. I want to tell you that we will never finish God’s work with all the talent, education, money, or manpower in the world. Where must we go to gain the victories that we need for ourselves and as a church?

“The greatest victories to the church of Christ or to the individual Christian are not those that are gained by talent or education, by wealth or the favor of men. They are those victories that are gained in the audience chamber with God, when earnest, agonizing faith lays hold upon the mighty arm of power.” Ibid.

Do not say, “We need more money; we need more education; we need more talent; we need more manpower.” It would be nice to have all of those things, but what we need more than anything else is people who will go to the audience chamber and pray, as did Jacob, “Lord, I am not going to quit asking until a change happens in my life.”

When God sees that you are serious, a change is going to happen in your life. He said that, if you lay hold of God’s promises, “I am going to take away your stony heart, and I am going to give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26. Claim this promise and say, “Lord, I must have a change in my heart or I am lost, and I am not going to give up. I am going to keep asking. I am going to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and I am going to plead with you for this until I have it.”

John Knox went to the Lord and said, “Lord, if you don’t give me Scotland, I am just going to die.” He kept praying, and Scotland became a Protestant country as the result of one man’s prayers. Just think what could happen if people went to the Lord and said, “Lord, I am like Jacob. I am helpless. I am vile, and I am wretched. I know I must have a change in my heart or I will be lost, so I am not going to quit asking. I am coming to you, because I have a great need. I want to be ready for heaven, and I want you to change my heart and my life.” God would gladly hear and answer such a prayer! He heard Jacob’s cry for help, and He is no respecter of persons. (Acts 10:34.)

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

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

Illogical Logic

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“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.

Here is both a comfort and a challenge. We appreciate the fact that the Lord offers to reason with us, but He also shows us that there is something wrong with us. We have sins as red as scarlet, and He offers to forgive us and wash these away. Consequently, we are invited to reason with the Lord, but not as equals. We cannot, because we are not like Him, nor are our minds like His mind.

Earlier in the same chapter, Isaiah puts our condition into perspective: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.” Isaiah 1:2–5.

God calls us to reason with Him, but He also warns us that our heads are sick and so we have to reason with sick heads. This is the best we can do. We just do not have good sense anymore. Let us get that established right at the beginning.

With our true condition in perspective, I would like to study with you how many down through the years have considered human reason, and the effects this has had on Adventism today.

I want to pose to you a question that I will seek to answer in this article. That question is simply this: How does it happen that a Bible scholar of our own faith, a respected man, will announce to us, “Folks, the prophecy of Daniel 8 does not say or mean what we have been thinking it said or meant?“

To answer this, we must go back a long, long way and start at the beginning, at the time when God gave man the ability to reason. (For God’s invitation for us to reason with Him indicates that He has given human beings reasoning powers.) There is no one in the world today that has good sense in comparison with Father Adam. Everything you see in any human being as a gift or attribute is something inherited from Adam.

For instance, some people have perfect pitch. They can name any musical tone, no matter what they have just heard. Others have a sense of perfect time. They can tell you what hour of the day it is without looking. Still others can work through complicated mathematical problems in the flash of a few seconds.

But think about Father Adam. He had all these abilities, and many more. He never needed written records to keep him from forgetting things. His head was not sick. I think if Adam were here today, he would probably say, “These people should not be running around loose. They ought to be locked up before they hurt each other!” He would be right, too, because we are continually hurting each other because of our sick heads.

Now let us move on from the very beginning. Let us just begin to reflect about the problem of human reason. Just look out at the world today. There are people with the very best of training, the very best minds that disagree about science, politics, or the best way to do just about anything.

Some years ago, when I was pastoring the Honolulu Central Church, I had a very illuminating experience. There was a severe problem with the public address system at the church. When the system was turned to normal levels out came shrieks and squeals and everything went wrong. So I looked for an expert to tell me what was wrong. The gentleman from the University of Hawaii gave me one opinion and the gentleman from the sound system downtown gave me an altogether different opinion. Finally, a gentleman came along who worked on organs. He said, “I think I can tell you what to do.” So he told me, we tried it, and it worked. I learned from that experience that even the best experts are often wrong, and they are constantly disagreeing with each other. This says that there is something wrong with human reason.

Insanity versus Stupidity

There are people in the world today who are mentally disabled. However, these people seldom deceive us. Their disability is self-evident, and it is usually uniform. A person who is retarded in mathematics is usually also retarded in social sciences and in a lot of other things.

Another problem of human reason is what we call insanity or mental illness. We must carefully distinguish between this and a mental disability. Retardation is usually uniform, but it is possible for a very brilliant mind to be off in certain areas.

I experienced this difference between insanity and stupidity some years ago. I was called to perform a ministry at the chapel of the mental hospital in Kaneohe, Hawaii. I had never been there before, and the grounds were large. I was running a little bit late and as I approached the grounds I was saying to myself, “I do hope I can by chance encounter some workman or attendant that knows where the chapel is, because I need to get there fast. And these grounds are huge.”

I parked my car and raced to the front steps of the main building. Just as I had hoped, a man came down the steps carrying a broom. I thought, “Ah, how wonderful. I have found one of the workmen.” I said to him, “Can you tell me where the chapel is.” “Oh, yes,” he said, “Come with me. It is easier to show you than to tell you.” So he led me up through the building and as we walked along, he talked in a very intelligent manner. We went through several hallways and finally to a back door.

Then he took me outside and said, “The chapel is in the trees up there.” I thought, “Oh, how fortunate! I am not going to be late.” I expressed my gratitude to him and he said, “Oh, that is all right. I should know where the chapel is, I am the Virgin Mary!” I was a little taken aback. Here was a very intelligent person, as far as I could see, but he had himself confused with the Virgin Mary. You see, stupidity is not insanity and insanity is not stupidity.

A friend once told me another story to illustrate that point. This man had a flat tire while driving past a mental hospital with large fenced in grounds. He pulled off into the tall grass between the road and the fence to change his tire. He removed the wheel; laid the hubcap behind him and placed each nut in the hubcap. But he put it too close to the road, and a car came by and hit the hubcap. It flipped and those five nuts flew in all directions into the tall grass.

Now he was stuck, with a wheel off the car and no way to fasten it on. Realizing that he had to find the nuts, he got down on his hands and knees and started searching through the tall grass. He finally found one, but that was not enough to hold the wheel on. He kept searching. As he was crawling and peering into the grass, he heard a voice from inside the fence saying, “Friend, may I make a suggestion?” He looked up in surprise and said, “Why, yes.” The man inside the fence said, “I would like to suggest that you remove one nut from each of the other three wheels, that will leave four there and that will give you four for the wheel that is off now. That is enough to get home on. Then you can buy some more nuts and put them back.”

What a beautiful idea! Why had he not thought of that? So as he started to do that, he said to the man, “Thank you. I presume you are one of the workmen or attendants here?” The gentleman inside the fence shook his head sadly. He said, “No, I am an inmate here. I may be crazy but I am not stupid!”

Driven by Emotions

Another problem of human reason is our emotional involvement. The human mind should be scientific and handle evidence objectively, as a computer would, and not be influenced at all by any emotional considerations, prejudices or biases. However, as good as that sounds, it is not fact.

There is no such thing as an objective human mind. Do not be misled when you hear the statement made, “we must follow evidence wherever it leads.” Evidence leads no where. Evidence simply exists. It is the interpretation of evidence that leads somewhere. And the interpretation of evidence is always, to a greater or lesser degree, subjective and influenced by emotional attitudes. There is no way that I can step outside of myself and say, “All right, mind, you sit on the shelf and work like a computer and do not pay any attention to me.” The mind is always influenced by the environment.

A History of Bible Interpretation

With this sketch of the problems that exist, let us move down through a specific area of human thought—the area of interpretation of the Bible. Beginning with Origen in the third century and moving down to the time of the Reformation, there were two ways of dealing with Scripture.

The first, and the one most likely to influence us, was what was called the allegorizing method. This method was acquired from the pagans who had the concept that an intelligent person can see hidden meanings in what he reads. A person who does not have that kind of intelligence would just see simple stories in the Bible, but if one was truly intelligent, he could read a passage and know much more. He could know, for instance, that this man’s left hand represents the Garden of Eden. His right hand represents the New Earth. The top of his head represents the Throne of God and his feet represent the Lower Regions.

This was Origen’s thinking and because he was a great leader of the church, these ideas spread and became the fashion on the common level. On a different level there was the philosophic method, which is the idea that if there is truth in the Bible, it should be possible to prove it through human reason. It was taught that truth did not need to be accepted on the authority of God, but that human reason could prove what truth is. First promoted by Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and the ancient philosophers, it was later held by Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotious, Peter Abaelard. So you have these two levels of how to interpret the Scriptures coming along side by side—one on the scholarly level and the other on a popular level.

The Reformationists reacted strongly against both the allegorizing and the philosophic methods. Martin Luther said that allegorizing put a nose of wax on the Bible that can be turned in any direction one chooses. And they spoke with equal strength against the philosophical study of the Scriptures. They said that it is too dangerous because the history of philosophy shows far too many unsuccessful attempts, to be given such infallible authority. They taught that the Word of God is revealed to man through the authority of the Holy Spirit. And it is not mans job to try to decide whether it is reasonable.

A new system of Bible interpretation developed in the Reformation days. It was called the systematic study of the Bible. In this system, if someone proposed that something was truth, he must give supporting texts from God’s Word in order for it to be accepted and believed. That is called Systematic Theology, systematic interpretation of the Bible. A truth should be stated in a proposition supported by proof texts. That was the Reformation style.

Next to come upon the scene was the Rationalistic School, which started in Germany and spread all over the world. The Reformers believed that God had revealed Himself in His Word, out of mercy to man, through revelation. In contrast, the presupposition of the Rationalist School was that the Bible is just like any other book. This is called the historical critical method.

If the presupposition of this method is accepted and the scholar must deal with the Bible as he would deal with any other book, there are certain things that immediately follow. First, no other book is inspired by God, therefore the Bible cannot be inspired. Next, since there is no such thing as long range prophecy found in other books, it cannot be found in the Bible. This conclusion is not the result of an examination of the evidence of the predictions and findings in the Bible, but this conclusion is required by the presupposition that there is no such thing as a difference between the Bible and any other book.

It is important that we understand the effects that presuppositions have on human action. To illustrate this, consider this situation. A pile of bones and rocks are sitting on a table. These bones are unmistakably half man and half monkey. That is the evidence. The evidence proves nothing. The interpretation of evidence might prove something. And the interpretation of evidence will reach back to the presuppositions.

The evolutionist says, “That is the proof that the monkey was developing into a man.” The creationist says, “That is the proof that the man was devolving into a monkey.” These two men can look at the same bones and come out with two different conclusions. Why? Because of their presuppositions.

The conclusion is not based on the evidence. The conclusion is based on the presupposition, which is unproven and unprovable in most cases. So the man who starts out with a presupposition that the Bible must be dealt with like all other books, well, how do you prove that? You cannot prove that. It is unproven and unprovable.

This problem with human reasoning can lead to some very interesting ways of thinking.

A man will say, along with his rejection of systematic theology, “Truth cannot be stated in propositions.” He has just stated, as a proposition, that truth cannot be stated in propositions! You would be astonished at how many times you encounter this same illogical logic in the halls of higher learning.

I once sat in on a class at Harvard University, where theological students from seven theological seminaries from around the area, came to listen to one of the great scholars of our time as he gave a most moving address. It seemed to me that he was very sincere. His line of reasoning went something like this: They have developed a new strain of wheat that will produce ten times as much as the old strains. We have to change our theology. They are sending men flying into space. We have to change our theology. As I listened to that for a while, I felt a little sarcasm creeping up in my mind and I thought to myself, “And old Bessie, the cow, is giving more milk than she used to. We must change our theology!”

Then he moved on to where he felt the strongest. He said: “Change is resisted by those who feel that some things ought not to change. We call them absolutes. But all absolutes must go.” I questioned in my mind, isn’t what he just said an absolute? I listened to a man again at Harvard, a learned professor from another university saying, “All value judgments are dangerous and moral value judgments are the most dangerous of all.” Isn’t that a value judgment?

A young man, at Atlantic Union College, came from a philosophy class into a religion class that I was teaching. Something he heard in the philosophy class bothered him. He challenged me with it. He said, “Listen, in philosophy there are no absolutes.” I said, “Is that absolute?” The class started to laugh and he started to grin and the expression in his eyes said, “I have been had. Nobody will hook me like that again.”

So you see, what we must watch out for is presuppositions, which are unproven and unprovable, upon which men base their conclusions. This is not evidence! It is just presuppositions.

A Muddy Mixture

Karl Barth developed the next major school of thought, during the early part of this century. He had learned the historical critical approach, that the Bible is like all other books. Yet, he still wanted to believe that the Bible was a revelation from God, so he tried to invent a theory to merge the two ideas.

What he came up with can be illustrated like this. Suppose a bee stings a man. The man screams. The scream tells you that a bee stung him, but you would not analyze the scream to find truth. If thirty bees sting thirty men and all thirty men scream, you know that thirty men got stung by bees but you would not compare their screams to see if they agreed with each other. And so he said that in the Bible we find overwhelming evidence that the Holy Spirit of God inspired men to write, speak and do things. But all we should learn from that is that God inspires men with His Holy Spirit. We should not analyze words of Scripture looking for truth.

This is the new orthodoxy school, in which Barth tried to hang on with one hand to the Bible being the revelation of God to man and still not reject the philosophy of the higher critical school, and so the historical critical method continues on.

These two schools of thought are prevailing in the theological seminaries of today. A more liberal theological seminary will not waste much time with Karl Barth and his thinking. They simply teach the higher critical approach. Other seminaries follow the Barthian approach and try to combine the two.

The results of these ideologies can be seen even in Adventism. A well-known Seventh-day Adventist scholar spent many years in Bible study. After attending one of these seminaries to get his advanced degree, he said, “Friends, we must recognize that Daniel 8, ‘Unto two thousand three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,’ does not mean what we used to think it meant.”

What did he base his conclusion on? Had he discovered that the verse says something different than we used to think it said? No! Had he read in the book of Daniel something to give him that opinion? No! His basis was the presupposition that God would not speak to a man in one generation about things that are going to happen many generations later.

I feel very uncomfortable with that facet of the historical critical method, which presumes to tell God what He can and cannot do. Suppose that God did intend to give Daniel information that would not make any sense at all to him, but would make sense to the generations that would come along later. Should God apologize to those doctors because He did not follow their presupposition. How ridiculous! Who do we think we are? I do not feel comfortable trying to tell God how He can exercise His will to reveal something to man!

Have you realized yet the fact that man reasons poorly? Because of that fact, God has given us revelation through His Word. In addition to the Bible, He has given us the writings of Ellen White, to deal with the minutia, the small things of life. God does not give counsel where no counsel is needed. And that says something to us about our sick heads that we would rather not hear. If you and I need to be counseled about the minutia of life, that implies that we cannot even handle those questions very well, on our own, by human reason. Is that an insult to our intelligence, or an act of mercy showing how much God cares for us? I prefer to believe that God has sent me counsel on the minutia of life because He loves me. Even though my head is sick, He still loves me.

Unfortunately, many do not think that way. Once I pointed out to a seminary professor a discrepancy between what he taught the class and a certain page in the writings of Ellen White. His response was, “Look, man, we ought to be able to think for ourselves. We should not need to run to Ellen White every time something comes up.” That terrifies me! Here is a man who insists that he has a good mind, when actually his head is sick and handicapped. He is likely, in his unwise self-confidence, to make wrong conclusions.

We must realize that we have sick heads, and flee to the counsels of God for help at every point where decision making is needed. I feel no shame in running to the counsels of God that came to us through Ellen White. I treasure them. I have found them dealing with the minutia of life in a way that helps me very much and I plan to continue that way.

The Lord’s gracious appeal to us is, “Come, let us reason together,” remembering the indications that we are not well. But, nevertheless, the Lord’s mercy and love are indicated and I believe that the twenty-five million words that came to us through Ellen White are words of love and mercy, an indication of God’s love for us. I believe that in my loyalty to them I find my truest freedom. I am not ashamed to submit my reason to the reason that comes to me from God—the source of all wisdom and knowledge.

This article was taken from a message given by Elder Larson some years ago while he was pastor of the Campus Hill Church at Loma Linda University.

A Root out of Dry Ground

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God’s Word contains the word of life. When Jesus was in the wilderness, He said to the tempter, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. Every word of the Bible is pure and true, but there are some portions that we are especially admonished to memorize. One such chapter is Isaiah 53. In this chapter we see a picture of Christ, the Lamb of God, and His great sacrifice for us.

It begins with these words: “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Isaiah 53:1. A news report that is unbelievable is in this chapter. Here the story is told of the manifestation of the power of God to save humanity. And this unleashing of God’s power through humanity is unbelievable! The arm of the Lord is a symbol of His power. He said, “My arm is not shortened that it cannot save. Neither is My ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your sins have separated between Me and you so that I cannot reach out and save you.” (See Isaiah 59:1, 2.)

In this chapter, Isaiah gives a description of this Person and the qualifications He has that allow the power of God to work through Him. The first one is tenderness: “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant.” Verse 2. Are we tender? Are our hearts soft towards each other? Jesus’ heart was tender. He was not hardhearted. His heart was touched with the feelings of others.

How did people respond to Christ’s tenderheartedness? Isaiah says He was “as a root out of a dry ground.” Ibid. Jesus did not fit in. He was misplaced like roots growing on top of the ground.

“He hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Verse 3.

Jesus lived on this earth with people like you and me. He went to a synagogue, He worked in a carpenter’s shop and He worked and talked with people. But, despite all that He had in common with these people, He was not accepted. They rejected Him and scorned Him. (See The Desire of Ages, 84–92.)

What is so very amazing is that the Scripture says, “He hath borne our grief and carried our sorrows.” Verse 4. He carried the grief and sorrows of the very ones who mocked and derided Him. And what did He receive in return? “Yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Ibid. Seeing Him burdened with the heavy load of our sins, we looked at Him and scoffed, saying that God must have given Him this heavy burden to carry to punish Him! But it was not His burden; it was ours.

“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes, we are healed.” Verse 5. I need to be healed from the scars of sin, and there is healing through His stripes. That is a promise that each one of us can claim. I do not understand the working of the divine agency, but I know it works because I have experienced it. He heals the broken hearted and brings comfort and joy.

“All we like sheep have gone astray.” Verse 6. Who is this chapter written to? It is written to all of us, because we have all gone astray. Do not let the devil tempt you into thinking that you are in such a bad condition that Christ’s stripes cannot heal your sins. His stripes can bring each one healing and joy—no matter how low we have fallen. What wonderful news!

“We have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.” Verse 6, 7. When you are oppressed and ridiculed do you give a quick and angry reply? Whenever you are tempted to do this, think of Jesus before His persecutors. He did not open His mouth to speak a word in retaliation.

“He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death.”Verses 8, 9. How was this Scripture fulfilled? The wicked was the thief on the cross who never repented. The rich is described in a beautiful passage in The Acts of the Apostles, 104: “At this time of peril, Nicodemus came forward in fearless avowal of his faith in the crucified Saviour. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin and with others had been stirred by the teaching of Jesus. As he had witnessed Christ’s wonderful works, the conviction had fastened itself upon his mind that this was the Sent of God. Too proud to openly acknowledge himself in sympathy with the Galilean Teacher, he had sought a secret interview.” Nicodemus asked for a secret interview because he was proud. He did not want anyone to see him, one of the top leaders in the nation, associated with Jesus. “But when at last Christ had been uplifted on the cross, Nicodemus remembered the words that He had spoken to him in the night interview on the Mount of Olives . . . and he saw in Jesus the world’s Redeemer.” Ibid.

Another man, who before Christ’s death had been too proud to associate with Him, was Joseph of Arimathea. “With Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus had borne the expenses of the burial of Jesus. The disciples had been afraid to show themselves openly as Christ’s followers, but Nicodemus and Joseph came boldly to their aid. The help of these rich and honored men was greatly needed in this hour of darkness. They had been able to do for their dead Master what it would have been impossible for the poor disciples to do; and their wealth and influence had protected them, in a great measure from the malice of the priests and rulers. Now, when the Jews were trying to destroy the infant church, Nicodemus came forward in its defense. No longer cautious and questioning he encouraged the faith of the disciples and he used his wealth in helping to sustain the church at Jerusalem and advancing the work of the gospel. Those who in other days had paid him reverence, now scorned and persecuted him.” Ibid.

Nicodemus was experiencing the steps in Isaiah 53. He, too, became a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And besides being scorned and persecuted, “he became poor in this world’s goods, yet he faltered not in defense of his faith.” Ibid.

All the prophecies about the life of Christ were fulfilled just as the prophets gave them. “And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.” Isaiah 53:9.

The next phrase stuns your mind. It is the type of passage that I often feel that the angels should read, because it is far above mortal humans to understand the great love of God it portrays. It reads: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” How can this be? The Father and Son were closer than any human beings have ever been on this earth. They loved more because they had more to love with. And yet, the Lord loves you and me so much that it delighted Him to send His Son to save us. He made a way of escape for us through the only way possible—the death of His precious Son. This is what our Redeemer did to save us.

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” Isaiah 53:10.

What is the pleasure of the Lord? Jesus said, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. In other words, in His hand there is all the power that is needed to bring you and me into a condition to inherit His kingdom.

“He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:11, 12.

What a touching representation of Christ’s love is given to us in this chapter. No wonder inspiration tells us: “This chapter should be studied. It presents Christ as the Lamb of God. Those who are lifted up with pride, whose souls are filled with vanity, should look upon this picture of their Redeemer, and humble themselves in the dust. The entire chapter should be committed to memory. Its influence will subdue and humble the soul defiled by sin and uplifted by self-exaltation.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 4, 1147.

If you are struggling to follow the meek and lowly Savior, then memorize this chapter and let your mind contemplate it word by word. If the truth it contains becomes a part of your life, your heart will be melted and changed into the likeness of our meek and lowly Savior.

Water From a Different Source

In the remainder of this article I would like to focus on just one phrase from this chapter. It is found in verse 2. It says that Christ was as “a root out of a dry ground.” Consider this carefully. When you pull up a weed, throw it on the ground and leave it in the sun for a few hours, it wilts. Why does it wilt? Because, it no longer has a water supply, and the cells in the plant begin to wither and die.

Jesus was looked upon as a root out of dry ground because He did not draw His nourishment from earthly sources. Jesus’ source of nourishment was streams of heavenly origin. Streams that those who were blinded by worldliness did not want to see. Because they could not see, they could not understand where He derived His strength. To them He was as “a root out of a dry ground.”

What characteristics did Christ have that showed that His nourishment did not come from earthly sources? “Our Redeemer did not come to our world with outward display.” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, July 19, 1887. He was not trying to dress, eat, live or to speak so as to draw attention to Himself. The people who rejected Him saw nothing of heaven in His appearance. “They could not see hidden beneath the humble disguise of humanity the world’s Redeemer. They saw before them a ‘Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.’” Ibid. And that is not what they wanted to see.

What is it that they wanted to see? Luke 17:20, 21, records a conversation that Jesus had with the Pharisees on this very subject. “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation (outward show, margin), neither shall they say, Lo, here! or lo, there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” These people were looking for something on the outside of Him, but Jesus came to do something to the inside of us. He said, “My kingdom is not with outward show.”

“The afflicted, suffering ones who saw Christ as their helper, were charmed with the divine perfection, and beauty of holiness, that shone forth in His character. But the Pharisees could see no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. His simple attire, and humble life, devoid of outward show, rendered Him to them as a root out of dry ground.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1111.

They wanted a king, dressed with the latest and the most expensive clothing as they were. But this was not Christ’s way. “Through all the lowly experiences of life He consented to pass, walking among the children of men, not as a king to demand homage, but as One whose mission it was to serve others.” The Mount of Blessing, 14.

Unless you accept in your own life the principle of self-sacrificing love, you cannot know God. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. “The kingdom of God comes not with outward show. The gospel of the grace of God with its spirit of self-abnegation can never be in harmony with the spirit of the world. The two principles are antagonistic.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 14.

Each one of us will have only one of these two principles (roots) operating in our lives. The root is the foundation of a plant. From the root, moisture and nutrition are gathered for the plant to give it life. While the plant is growing, you cannot see the root, you can only see the leaves and the fruit. But it is the root that determines the character of the plant. Each one of us will be one of two kinds of roots. We have our choice. Either we will be self-denying and thinking of the good of others or we will be self-serving.

The Tie of Worldly Associations

There was another reason why the Jewish people rejected Jesus, and the same influence causes many today to reject Him. “Worldly associations attract and dazzle the senses so that piety, the fear of God, faithfulness, and loyalty hath not power to keep them steadfast. The humble, unassuming life of Christ seems altogether unattractive.” Adventist Home, 461. If our lives are knit with worldly associations, the life of Christ will not appear attractive to us. It does not make any difference what theory we claim to believe. If we associate with those who love the world, His life of self-abnegation will be to us as a root out of dry ground. We will not want Him, because the people we are associating with have not accepted His invitation. They love the things of this world just as the Pharisees loved pomp, power, fancy clothes, and the admiration of other people. They have the root of the Pharisees instead of the root of Christ.

What is the root of the Pharisees? Evangelism, 633 says, “There is nothing that so much retards and cripples the work in its various branches as jealousy and suspicion and evil surmisings. These reveal that disunion prevails among the workers for God. Selfishness is the root of all evil.” The root of the Pharisees produced a plant with lots of pretty leaves. But that root built up self at the expense of others.

Christ’s own disciples were influenced by this root of selfishness. Inspiration tells us: “Even His disciples were so blinded by the selfishness of their hearts that they were slow to understand Him Who had come to manifest to them the Father’s love.” The Mount of Blessing, 25.

They could not understand the nature of Christ because they still had the root of selfishness in their hearts. With this mindset it was easy for them to accept the theory of the Pharisees that told of a great kingdom where they would rule the earth. This should be a warning to us. We cannot understand the Word of God in its fullness until selfishness is rooted out. If it has not been, then we can interpret any part of the Bible to build ourselves up.

Roots and Their Fruits

How deceptive the devil’s kingdom can be. Since the root is buried, how do you know the root of the situation? “For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.” Romans 11:16.

You cannot have a holy root that grows thorns and thistles. If the root is holy, then the fruit is holy.

How can we know for certain what is good fruit and what is bad? Have we been told exactly what Jesus’ root is, so that there can be no mistake? In Christ’s Object Lessons, 128 we read: “Many who claim to believe and to teach the gospel are in a similar error. They set aside the Old Testament Scriptures, of which Christ declared, ‘They are they which testify of Me.’ John 5:39. In rejecting the Old, they virtually reject the New; for both parts are of an inseparable whole. No man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law. The law is the gospel embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root.”

With the law as the root, the gospel is the fruit. In the new covenant, Jesus said, “I will write them [My laws] in their hearts.” Hebrews 8:10. “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.

If the law is written in our heart and is the foundation of our life, then the fruit will be humility and meekness. David said, “Oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97. If we want the root of selfishness and pride uprooted from our hearts, we must love God’s law as David did and allow it to purify us completely.

John the Baptist told the Pharisees how the root of selfishness could be removed from their hearts. He said, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matthew 3:10.

A tree cannot be changed by picking off its bad fruit. The axe of God’s Word needs to be laid to the root of the problem. (See Hebrews 4:12.) The root of selfishness needs to be removed. There is no reformation program for the Pharisees plan of action that will make it acceptable to God; a total change must be made.

John the Baptist told the Pharisees, “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.” Matthew 3:9. They claimed to be the heirs of His kingdom. Let us call them the Seventh-day Adventists of their day. When these leaders came to John he looked them straight in the eye and he said, Do not even think of calling yourselves Seventh-day Adventists. Until the root is taken out, you can call yourself whatever you want, but profession is nothing. It all depends on the fruit.

John the Baptist continued: “For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now, also, the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Matthew 3:9–11.

Here is a promise you can claim if you want the root of selfishness taken out of your heart. This prophecy of Christ says, “Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:12.

Get down on your knees with this verse under your fingers and say, “Lord, I want the floor of my heart clean. I want the axe laid at the root of selfishness. I want selfishness, covetousness and the love of money pulled out.” God will answer your prayer. However, when you surrender your sinful self to God you must understand that you will be treated as Jesus was. Do not look for worldly acclaim, for it will not come to you.

On the hills of Palestine, our heavenly Father planted a goodly vine and He Himself was the husbandman. He had no remarkable form that would at first sight give an impression of its value. It appeared to come up as a root out of dry ground and attracted but little attention. But when attention was called to the plant, it was by some declared to be of heavenly origin. The men of Nazareth stood entranced as they saw its beauty. But when they received the idea that it would stand more gracefully and attract more attention than they could, they wrestled to uproot the precious plant and cast it over the wall.

The men of Jerusalem bruised the plant and trampled it under their unholy feet. Their thought was to destroy it forever. But the Heavenly Husbandman never lost sight of His plant. After men thought that they had killed it, He replanted it on the other side of the wall and hid it from the view of men. May you be as humble as Jesus was, and may you have joy as Jesus did. And when you are persecuted, may you endure it as Jesus did, and someday may your future be as glorious as His.