Bible

A Sentence of Death – The Beginning of Life

by

And the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman taken in adultery. And standing her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. You, then, what do you say?’ They said this, tempting Him so that they might have reason to accuse Him. But bending down, Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger, not appearing to hear. But as they continued to ask Him, He lifted Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.’ And again bending down, He wrote on the ground. And hearing, and being convicted by conscience, they went out one by one, beginning at the oldest, until the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. And bending back up, and seeing no one but the woman, Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, where are the ones who accused you? Did not one give judgment against you?’ And she said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I give judgment. Go, and sin no more.’ ” John 8:3–11 NKJV.

This story is a powerful illustration of a stark reality as expressed in the following quote from Selected Messages, Book 1, 219. It says, “They [sinners] must feel themselves sinners, exposed to the wrath of God, before they will realize their need of a Saviour.”

The Desire of Ages vividly portrays the position of the woman caught in adultery, the reality of her situation, and poignantly illustrates the reality. Try to wear her shoes, empathizing with her in her position, feeling her shame and terror, her abjection, wretchedness, and despair. After all, we are told in Revelation 3:14–17 that this is indeed our state, not just hers. So take into your very soul the reality of her situation, because it is your own.

The Desire of Ages, 460–462: “A group of Pharisees and scribes approached Him, dragging with them a terror-stricken woman, whom with hard, eager voices they accused of having violated the seventh commandment. Having pushed her into the presence of Jesus, they said to Him, with a hypocritical show of respect, ‘Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest Thou’ (John 8:5)? …

“Jesus looked for a moment upon the scene—the trembling victim in her shame.

“The woman had stood before Jesus, cowering with fear. His words, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone’ (John 8:7), had come to her as a death sentence. She dared not lift her eyes to the Saviour’s face, but silently awaited her doom.”

Picture the scene. The woman, caught in the very act, shamed and embarrassed, dragged through the streets before the eyes of all, and cast at the feet of Jesus, facing the death she knew she deserved.

But she was painfully, terrifyingly aware of more than this. Not only was she facing death, death by stoning, she was facing an eternity without her Lord and Saviour. She knew she was a sinner. She knew of the purity and holiness of Jesus. She was brought face to face with death—eternal death; terrifying, hopeless, forever lost. She knew she was not ready to die.

Yet, there she was, caught in the act of adultery, surrounded by the temple dignitaries, accusing, pointing fingers, condemning, seeking her death. She heard the hard, judging voices, pressing upon Jesus for His decision, and with downcast eyes, and fearful heart she awaited the whistle of stone flying through the air and the first crushing blow.

But as she waits, the seconds stretching into eternity, nothing happens. No stone whistles through the air to wound, to bruise, to destroy. Only a painful silence descends upon the air, and eventually the shuffling of feet fading into the distance reaches her ears. Time passes, and lo, she is left alone with Jesus. “In astonishment she saw her accusers depart speechless and confounded; then those words of hope fell upon her ear, ‘Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.’ Her heart was melted, and she cast herself at the feet of Jesus, sobbing out her grateful love, and with bitter tears confessing her sins.” The Desire of Ages, 462.

Her encounter with death, physical and eternal, was to her the turning point to a new life, a new life in Jesus, a life free from the degradation and shame of sin. It is this same encounter that we each one must face in order to appreciate, and hunger and thirst for the redeeming grace of a Saviour.

“They [sinners] must feel themselves sinners, exposed to the wrath of God, before they will realize their need of a Saviour.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 219. The woman realized, in her encounter with death, that she was a sinner. There was not a shadow of a doubt in her mind. She realized the reality of the following words from the same book, page 342: “He [the sinner] has nothing of his own but what is tainted and corrupted, polluted with sin, utterly repulsive to a pure and holy God.” This was an inescapable, brutal truth to her. I believe that she had reached the point stated in Testimonies, vol. 5, 620: “We must realize how terrible are the pains of the second death.” She tasted this stark reality.

But the story does not end there. It is rather, in fact, simply the beginning; the beginning of a new and different life, a life in Jesus, free, pure, joyous, full of gratitude and thanksgiving, with a heart overflowing with love for our Saviour and Redeemer.

“This was to her the beginning of a new life, a life of purity and peace, devoted to the service of God. In the uplifting of this fallen soul, Jesus performed a greater miracle than in healing the most grievous physical disease; He cured the spiritual malady which is unto death everlasting. This penitent woman became one of His most steadfast followers. With self-sacrificing love and devotion she repaid His forgiving mercy.

“In His act of pardoning this woman and encouraging her to live a better life, the character of Jesus shines forth in the beauty of perfect righteousness. While He does not palliate sin, nor lessen the sense of guilt, He seeks not to condemn, but to save. The world had for this erring woman only contempt and scorn; but Jesus speaks words of comfort and hope. The Sinless One pities the weakness of the sinner, and reaches to her a helping hand. While the hypocritical Pharisees denounce, Jesus bids her, ‘Go, and sin no more.’ ” The Desire of Ages, 462.

What made the Pharisees hypocritical? It was nothing more or less than pretending that they were without sin, without need, but rather rich and increased with spiritual good. Jesus never told them “Go, and sin no more.” They never received of Jesus’ mercy, His grace, His power to overcome sin and live a life of purity and peace. Why? Because they did not see themselves as “sinners, exposed to the wrath of God.”

It was after her traumatic encounter with death, and her ensuing rescue that, with a heart full of gratitude and filled with love for her Saviour, that the woman, enabled by His power of love fulfilled the command of Jesus, “Go and sin no more.”

Although there is no conclusive proof that the woman taken in adultery is Mary, the similarity of the two situations is evident. Whether or not the two are the same is immaterial, for in both situations, the repentance of the sinner is clear. The following statement from the book The Spirit of Prophecy, although spoken of Mary at Simon’s banquet, could rightfully be said of the woman taken in adultery:

“Though she had been very sinful, her repentance was sincere, and Jesus, while reproving her guilt, had pitied her weakness and forgiven her. Mary’s heart was filled with gratitude at the compassion of Jesus. Seven times she had heard His stern rebuke to the demons which then controlled her heart and mind, and she had listened to His strong cries to His Father in her behalf. She knew how offensive everything impure was to the unsullied mind of Christ, and she overcame her sin in the strength of her Saviour. She was transformed, a partaker of the divine nature.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, 377.

“Jesus knows the circumstances of every soul. You may say, I am sinful, very sinful. You may be; but the worse you are, the more you need Jesus. He turns no weeping, contrite one away. He does not tell to any all that He might reveal, but He bids every trembling soul take courage. Freely will He pardon all who come to Him for forgiveness and restoration.

“Christ might commission the angels of heaven to pour out the vials of His wrath on our world, to destroy those who are filled with hatred of God. He might wipe this dark spot from His universe. But He does not do this. He is today standing at the altar of incense, presenting before God the prayers of those who desire His help.

“The souls that turn to Him for refuge, Jesus lifts above the accusing and the strife of tongues. No man or evil angel can impeach these souls. Christ unites them to His own divine-human nature. They stand beside the great Sin Bearer, in the light proceeding from the throne of God. ‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us’ (Romans 8:33, 34).” The Desire of Ages, 568.

Dear friends, fellow sinners, do you recognize that you have “nothing of his (your) own but what is tainted and corrupted, polluted with sin, utterly repulsive to a pure and holy God?” Do you feel yourself a sinner, “exposed to the wrath of God?” If you do not, for your soul’s sake, and for the sake of Him Who spilled His blood on Calvary, plead with God to show you your wretchedness and sin. Plead that He will open your eyes to the reality in which you stand before Him. Then He will fulfill His promise. Of our Father it is said, “God’s plan is not to send messengers who will please and flatter sinners, He delivers no messages of peace to lull the unsanctified into carnal security. But He lays heavy burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer, and pierces his soul with sharp arrows of conviction. The ministering angels present to him the fearful judgments of God, to deepen the sense of his great need and prompt the agonizing cry: ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ The very hand that humbles to the dust, rebukes sin, and puts pride and ambition to shame, lifts up the penitent, stricken one, and inquires with deepest sympathy: ‘What wilt thou that I shalt do unto thee’ (Mark 10:51)?” Testimonies, vol. 4, 178.

“When man has sinned against a holy and merciful God, there is no course for him to pursue so noble, as to sincerely repent and confess his errors in tears and bitterness of soul. This God requires of him and will accept of nothing less than a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” The Signs of the Times, February 12, 1880. And then His promise is “He lifts up the penitent, stricken one, and inquires with deepest sympathy, ‘What wilt thou that I shalt do unto thee?’ ” Ibid.

Let us join this woman taken in adultery, bowed at the feet of Jesus, trembling, recognizing our shame, our sin, our degradation. It is the truth. It is our reality just as much as it was hers. Let us accept that we are sinners; accept that we are “exposed to the wrath of God;” accept that we have “nothing of [our] own but what is tainted and corrupted, polluted with sin, utterly repulsive to a pure and holy God.” It is then, and only then that we will realize our need of a Saviour. And it is only as we recognize our need that we will seek—and receive healing. It is then, as with her, that Jesus will say to us, “Neither do I give judgment. Go, and sin no more.”

Brenda Douay is a staff member at Steps to Life. She may be contacted by email at: brendadouay@stepstolife.org.

Thoughts from the Book of Hebrews

by

The disciples of Jesus stayed in Jerusalem for three and one-half years after the day of Pentecost. This period ended when Stephen was stoned. The Sanhedrin was steeped in the earthly sanctuary service and the sacrificing of animals after Jesus’ death, even after the veil of the temple was rent in two and the sacrificial lamb escaped, signifying that the sacrificial service had ended. It was about this time, following the stoning of Steven, that Paul became instrumental in the gospel story. Paul was a young and brilliant student, trained and educated in Phariseeism and in the traditions of the Jews. It appears that he had no significant contact with Jesus prior to the crucifixion.

“Prominent among the Jewish leaders who became thoroughly aroused by the success attending the proclamation of the gospel, was Saul of Tarsus. A Roman citizen by birth, Saul was nevertheless a Jew by descent and had been educated in Jerusalem by the most eminent of the rabbis. …

“Saul had taken a prominent part in the trial and conviction of Stephen, and the striking evidences of God’s presence with the martyr had led Saul to doubt the righteousness of the cause he had espoused against the followers of Jesus. His mind was deeply stirred. In his perplexity he appealed to those in whose wisdom and judgment he had full confidence. The arguments of the priests and rulers finally convinced him that Stephen was a blasphemer, that the Christ whom the martyred disciple had preached was an impostor, and that those ministering in holy office must be right.” The Acts of the Apostles, 112.

Saul had a question about what he was doing and went to the leaders of the church. He struggled with this conviction. “And having fully decided that the priests and scribes were right, Saul became very bitter in his opposition to the doctrines taught by the disciples of Jesus.” Ibid., 113.

Some of these doctrines were as follows:

  1. Jesus was the Lamb of God Who was represented by the lamb that had been sacrificed every morning and evening.
  2. Jesus was the Son of God represented by that sacrificial lamb.
  3. Jesus ratified the new covenant by His death.
  4. The sanctuary on earth was useless now that Christ had died and that no sacrifices should now be offered in the temple.
  5. Jesus rose the third day after His crucifixion, ascended to heaven that third day and opened the holy place in the sanctuary in heaven.
  6. Jesus again ascended 40 days later and was inaugurated at that time as the High Priest in the daily service of the new covenant sanctuary in heaven.
  7. The sanctuary in heaven replaced the sanctuary on earth.

These were the messages that the disciples were told to preach in Jerusalem for the next three and a half years. Because Saul heard this message and saw the success they were having as thousands were joining this new movement, he had a controversy in his mind.

He had been convinced by the church that the apostolic message had to be destroyed. “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.” Acts 9:3–5. Saul was shocked. He saw Jesus in person, in His inaugurated, glorified position in the holy place of the sanctuary in heaven.

Revelation 1:16, last part, gives a description of Jesus as High Priest. It says, “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” When you look at the sun too long, you become blinded. Saul could not turn his eyes from Jesus and he went temporarily blind. “But Saul understood the words that were spoken, and to him was clearly revealed the One who spoke—even the Son of God. In the glorious Being who stood before him he saw the Crucified One. Upon the soul of the stricken Jew the image of the Saviour’s countenance was imprinted forever.” The Acts of the Apostles, 115.

Paul never forgot what he saw on the road to Damascus. He now understood the terrible condition of the Sanhedrin and the Jewish nation in their misapplication of Scripture, the rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah, the persecution of the true church and the disciples. And most importantly he saw their rejection of the new covenant—the plan of redemption. He was overwhelmed with the thought that his friends in the Sanhedrin were doomed to destruction. He now knew that the sacrifices they were offering every morning and evening were useless and they were deceiving themselves thinking that they were serving the God of heaven by offering those sacrifices.

The theme throughout the book of Hebrews, written to the Jews, concerns Christ and the sanctuary in heaven. Paul is elevating Jesus in the eyes of the Jews—helping them to see that Jesus was the true Son of God. The phrase in Hebrews 1:6, “Let all God’s angels worship Him” had been recently spoken by God the Father in His inauguration in heaven, as related in The Desire of Ages, 834: “The voice of God is heard proclaiming that justice is satisfied. Satan is vanquished. … The Father’s arms encircle His Son, and the word is given, ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him’ (Hebrews 1:6).”

“But we do see Jesus, Who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 2:9. Paul is trying to show that Jesus was the One promised to Adam to atone for their sins, to give them power to overcome the devil, to provide eternal salvation and to free them from the judgment of eternal death. Jesus had to become a human being so that by His death He might destroy Satan who holds the power of death.

“In the Saviour’s expiring cry, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30), the death knell of Satan was rung. The great controversy which had been so long in progress was then decided, and the final eradication of evil was made certain. The Son of God passed through the portals of the tomb, that ‘through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil’ (Hebrews 2:14).” The Great Controversy, 503.

Paul informs the Jews that the One they persecuted was their Saviour. In chapters 2 and 3 of Hebrews Paul shows the reality of Jesus—that the disciples saw Him ascend to heaven and that he saw Jesus serving as High Priest. If they believed in Moses then they needed to believe more in Jesus because He has received greater honor than Moses. Paul was doing his best to present Jesus Christ to them to save them from eternal death.

He continues in chapter 4:14–16: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest Who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest Who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One Who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

What a hope! We have a High Priest Who is living in heaven—Jesus, the One you crucified. We are holding firmly to this faith. He is without sin and He can represent us in the heavenly courts. Paul presented Christ as our mediator Who is in heaven and Who understands our infirmities. Let us approach Him with confidence. He explains that you do not need to go through that sacrificial lamb every morning and evening like you are doing. Go to Jesus in the holy place in the sanctuary in heaven with confidence that Jesus will free you from sin.

In Hebrews 5 Paul tells the Jews that Jesus had to take humanity upon Him and experience our suffering. Because He suffered faithfully, under reverent submission, no sin was found in Him. He learned obedience and through that obedience, He was made perfect. Being made perfect He became the Source of eternal salvation for all who obey. God appointed Jesus to be priest in heaven. Jesus has offered the sacrifice of Himself, has ascended to heaven, and is our High Priest forever “in the order of Melchizedek.”

“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.” Hebrews 6:17, 18. God has offered by an oath His commitment to the plan of salvation and we can trust God the Father because He never lies. This oath was pronounced to Abraham. In Patriarchs and Prophets, 371, Ellen White explains as follows: “The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the ‘second’ or ‘new’ covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. That the new covenant was valid in the days of Abraham is evident from the fact that it was then confirmed both by the promise and by the oath of God—the ‘two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie’ (Hebrews 6:18).”

Paul tells the Jews that this covenant in which they profess to have salvation, the Abrahamic covenant, is actually Christ’s ministration in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary because He was the Lamb that was slain.

In verse 19 he says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain …” Our hope is in the ministry of Jesus in the holy place “… where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Verse 20.

There was no question that they understood the ministry of Jesus in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. The apostolic church had no question about the sanctuary in heaven. Had they clung to the truth that Jesus is our high priest, we would not be in the problem we are in today; but because they allowed that message to become obscure, and because the Roman church covered it up by setting the pope as the head of the church, instructing people to confess their sins to the priest, the role of Jesus has been replaced by an earthly priest, wiping out the message of the apostolic church. Daniel 8:14 had to be proclaimed because this message will be restored in the Second Advent Movement, in which the sanctuary message will become just as prominent as Paul’s message is in the book of Hebrews. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Verse 19.

Jesus is still that High Priest today. He is no longer ministering in the holy place, but in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary. Those who enter into His ministry in the most holy place as the apostolic church entered into His ministry in the holy place will find eternal life.

Paul builds the case stronger for the truth. “And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, One who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to His ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.” Hebrews 7:15, 16. In other words, it is not based on the ancestry of the priests in the earthly sanctuary. “For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’ ” Verse 17. One has been found like Melchizedek Who is a permanent priest forever. We can believe in Jesus and accept Him for He meets the Melchizedek requirements.

Paul goes on to say in verse 21: “… but He [Christ] became a priest with an oath when God said to Him: ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever.” ’ ” He is an anchor for us today. Those who cling to Jesus and His ministry in the most holy place have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure during the storms around us.

“Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—One Who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself.” Verses 22–27. He is the One that died on the cross and He has His offering, His blood, forever.

Hebrews 8:1, 2, a continuation of the thought at the conclusion of chapter 7, says, “Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, Who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and Who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.” Paul confirms to these leaders in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, that we do have a High Priest and He is ministering today in the sanctuary in heaven.

“Turning again to the book of Hebrews, the seekers for truth found that the existence of a second, or new-covenant sanctuary, was implied in the words of Paul already quoted: ‘Then verily the first covenant [ministration] had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.’ And the use of the word ‘also’ intimates that Paul has before made mention of this sanctuary. Turning back to the beginning of the previous chapter, they read: ‘Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, Who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man’ (Hebrews 8:1, 2).” The Great Controversy, 413. [Emphasis author’s.]

Then is made this interesting statement: “Here is revealed the sanctuary of the new covenant [the sanctuary in heaven]. The sanctuary of the first covenant [the earthly] was pitched by man, built by Moses; this is pitched by the Lord, not by man. In that sanctuary the earthly priests performed their service; in this, Christ, our great High Priest, ministers at God’s right hand. One sanctuary was on earth, the other is in heaven.” Ibid.

Paul openly contrasts the purpose of the sanctuary on earth with the one in heaven. He says that since Christ has died as the Lamb of God, the earthly sanctuary is now useless—no more to be used.

“By calling this covenant ‘new,’ He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” Hebrews 8:13.

In “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 932, she says, “Christ’s death and resurrection completed His covenant. Before this time, it was revealed through types and shadows [the earthly sanctuary], which pointed to the great offering to be made by the world’s Redeemer, offered in promise for the sins of the world. … Christ’s sacrifice is the glorious fulfillment of the whole Jewish economy. The Sun of Righteousness has risen. Christ our righteousness is shining in brightness upon us.”

“When the Jews sealed their rejection of Christ by delivering Him to death, they rejected all that gave significance to the temple and its services. Its sacredness had departed. It was doomed to destruction. From that day sacrificial offerings and the service connected with them were meaningless. Like the offering of Cain, they did not express faith in the Saviour. … and that the system of sacrificial offerings was forever at an end.” The Desire of Ages, 165. To reject the new covenant sanctuary in heaven is to reject the plan of salvation.

In Hebrews 9:1, 2, Paul states: “Now the first covenant [ministration] had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place.” Here Paul simply points back to the earthly sanctuary stating that this is what represented the sanctuary of the new covenant in heaven. Now that Jesus has paid the price and opened the sanctuary in heaven, we do not need this type anymore. Over and over again he emphasizes the uselessness of the sanctuary service in the earthly temple.

The Great Controversy, 411, states: “The sanctuary to which Paul here refers was the tabernacle built by Moses at the command of God as the earthly dwelling place of the Most High. ‘Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them’ (Exodus 25:8).”

“But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:11, 12. Paul did not intimate that everything was done at the cross. He continually pointed them to Jesus and His ministry in the holy place as part of their salvation.

In Hebrews 9:14, we are told: “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” Paul’s appeal is to get rid of sin and false teachings and come to Christ to be cleansed through His atoning blood.

“For this reason [that we might get rid of our sins in verse 14] Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.” Verse 15.

“Christ is the mediator of the new covenant” that we might be free from sin and receive eternal life. This is the gospel in one verse.

“It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices [animal sacrifices], but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these [the blood of Christ].” Verse 23.

“In Hebrews 9 the cleansing of both the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary is plainly taught. ‘Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens [the earthly sanctuary] should be purified with these [the blood of animals]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these’ (Hebrews 9:22, 23), even the precious blood of Christ.” The Great Controversy, 417. Paul tells his Hebrew friends that it was Jesus that they crucified and Who provided this blood to open the heavenly sanctuary. He pleads for them to give their hearts to Him and to forget their useless sacrifices—eternal life is in the message He is giving.

“For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.” Hebrews 9:24. Paul could have gone on to say that he saw Jesus there.

“The ceremonial law was given by Christ. Even after it was no longer to be observed, Paul presented it before the Jews in its true position and value, showing its place in the plan of redemption and its relation to the work of Christ; and the great apostle pronounces this law glorious, worthy of its divine Originator. The solemn service of the sanctuary typified the grand truths that were to be revealed through successive generations.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 367.

That was the purpose of the earthly sanctuary, which has now been fulfilled.

“Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:25.

Paul says that Jesus has now appeared and we have crucified Him. “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” Verses 27, 28.

Jesus is not coming the second time to bear sin or to take away your sin. Your sin and my sin must be confessed before that or we will be lost.

Paul then makes his conclusions and appeal in Hebrews 12:22–24: “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

Paul states that Jesus has come to open the sanctuary in heaven. You have been presented this message—come, join us and enter into the city of God, the New Jerusalem.

After his presentation throughout the book of Hebrews of Christ and of His work in the sanctuary in heaven, Paul makes his appeal in verse 25, where he says, “See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven?”

If we fail to heed the warnings of the prophets in the Old Testament, are we not even more guilty if we turn from God’s warnings that come directly from heaven?

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’ ” Verses 28, 29.

In his letter to the Hebrews, Paul presented an appeal to accept Jesus as the High Priest of the sanctuary in heaven. Jesus is the only One Who can take the confession of sin and atone with His blood and separate it from the sinner.

The following statements appeal to the Second Advent: “… the third angel was pointing them to the most holy place, and those who had had an experience in the past messages were pointing them the way to the heavenly sanctuary.” We see here that Ellen White had the essence of the whole second advent movement—the true disciples pointing everyone to the heavenly sanctuary. “Many saw the perfect chain of truth in the angels’ messages, and gladly received them in their order, and followed Jesus by faith into the heavenly sanctuary. These messages were represented to me as an anchor to the people of God.” Early Writings, 256.

Just as the Jews could turn to Jesus in the holy place and receive forgiveness of their sins, so we today can go to Jesus in the most holy place and there confess our sins and find an Anchor to sustain us through the latter rain experience. This is the only place where our Anchor is. The third angel’s message that does not include this truth of Jesus’ role as our high priest is a false message, just as false as the Jewish sacrificial service after the crucifixion.

“Those who understand and receive them [the three angels’ messages] will be kept from being swept away by the many delusions of Satan.” Ibid.

Jesus is ministering in the most holy place and all who seek Him there will find in Him One Who can give power to separate from sin right now. When the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, deal with it immediately. Jesus will give you the power to do it and then you will be ready to receive the Holy Spirit when the latter rain falls.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New International Version.)

Maurice Hoppe is Director of the Steps to Life training programs and a member of the Steps to Life Board. The Training Program for Ministers and Church Leaders is a correspondence course that prepares individuals to serve as pastors or Bible workers. Preparing for the Final Conflict is a correspondence course for the laity. Both of these courses teach present truth that will be an anchor for the soul during the storm of opposition and persecution just ahead. He and his wife also have a correspondence course offered through Revelation Ministry. He can be contacted at: mauricehoppe@stepstolife.org.

Like Master, Like Disciple

by

During Christ’s ministry on earth He was not accepted favorably by the masses. Warning His disciples about the future, He said, “It is enough for a disciple that He be like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household?” Matthew 10:25.

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” John 15:18–20. The Christian faith involves not only hope, but also bearing the cross while following Jesus.

In his epistles, the apostle Paul told of his personal encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. It was very convincing because it was backed up by a change in his life that nobody could contradict. Those who refused his testimony became furious with rage because of the effect that it had wherever he went. The Jews determined to find some pretext by which they could justify his death.

“While Paul’s labors in Rome were being blessed with the conversion of many souls and to the strengthening and encouragement of the believers, clouds were gathering that threatened not only his own safety, but also the prosperity of the church. Upon his arrival at Rome he was placed in charge of the captain of the imperial guards, a man of justice and integrity, by whose clemency he was left comparatively free to pursue the work of the gospel. But before the close of the two years’ imprisonment, this man was replaced by an official from whom the apostle expected no special favor.

“The Jews were now more active than ever in their efforts against Paul, and they found an able helper in the profligate woman whom Nero had made his second wife, and who, being a Jewish proselyte, would lend all her influence to aid their murderous designs against the champion of Christianity.

“Paul could hope for little justice from the Caesar to whom he appealed. Nero was more debased in morals, more frivolous in character, and at the same time capable of more atrocious cruelty, than any ruler who had preceded him. The reins of government could not have been entrusted to a more despotic ruler. The first year of his reign had been marked by the poisoning of his young stepbrother, the rightful heir to the throne. From one depth of vice and crime to another, Nero had descended, until he had murdered his own mother, and then his wife. There was no atrocity which he would not perpetrate, no vile act to which he would not stoop. In every noble mind he inspired only abhorrence and contempt.

“The details of iniquity practiced in his court are too degrading, too horrible, for description. His abandoned wickedness created disgust and loathing, even in many who were forced to share his crimes. They were in constant fear as to what enormities he would suggest next. Yet even such crimes as Nero’s did not shake the allegiance of his subjects. He was acknowledged as the absolute ruler of the whole civilized world. More than this, he was made the recipient of divine honors and worshipped as a god.

“From the viewpoint of human judgment, Paul’s condemnation before such a judge was certain. But the apostle felt that so long as he was loyal to God, he had nothing to fear.” The Acts of the Apostles, 485, 486.

God did shield his servant. The charges against him were not sustained. Nero declared him guiltless, and again he was a free man. However, during his confinement, the converts to Christianity had become so numerous that they attracted the attention of the authorities. The Emperor became particularly concerned when members of his own household became converted and he soon figured out a pretext by which he could kill off most of the Christian population in the city of Rome.

At that time the terrible fire that history has recorded occurred in Rome. It was rumored that Nero himself had caused the flames to be kindled that destroyed nearly half the city. However, blame was cast on Christians. This monster in human form amused the public by exhibiting the victims in their dying agonies when they were burned to death after their bodies had been painted with pitch. He took the keenest delight in the misery of others, which is one of the clearest signs that a person has become Satanic in character.

Paul knew his labors among the churches were coming to an end. It was not long before the Jews conceived of the idea of blaming Paul for instigating the burning of Rome. He was seized while in the city of Troas in the house of a disciple and taken by ship again to Rome for his second and final imprisonment.

“Reformatory action is always attended with loss, sacrifice, and peril.” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 305. Jesus was opposed and hated because people hate change. It is no easy matter to overcome sinful habits and practices. They can only be overcome with divine help.

The majority of people are not willing to accept the standard given by the gospel in the New Testament. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” I John 5:3. The person who says he loves God and does not keep His commandments is a liar.

When Paul returned to Rome for his second imprisonment, thousands of Christians had been killed for their faith, and many had left the city. Those who were left were greatly intimidated because of the persecution. There were no warm-hearted disciples to meet Paul as had happened on his first imprisonment. There was no one like a courteous and kindly Julius to say a word in his favor, no statement of favor from Festus or Agrippa to attest to his innocence. Paul was not now put in a rented house but in a gloomy Roman dungeon that would be his home until he was martyred.

A visit to the apostle Paul during his second imprisonment was nothing like a visit during his first imprisonment when he was in his own rented house. In the first imprisonment there had been no charge that had been sustained against him and he had won favorable opinions from princes and rulers such as King Agrippa, Felix, and Festus. But to visit him during his second imprisonment was to visit a person who was the object of universal hatred, being accused of instigating one of the basest and most terrible crimes against the city and nation. Anybody who did venture to visit him to show any kindness or attention made himself subject to suspicion and endangered his own life. Rome, at that time, was filled with spies who stood ready to bring an accusation against any person on the slightest occasion that could advance their own interests.

One by one, the apostle Paul saw his friends leave. In a letter to Timothy, he wrote, “Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, when you come—and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.” 1II Timothy 4:9–15.

And then he said, “At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever.” Verses 16–18.

Paul was still able to communicate with the outside world through Luke and his secretary so messages were sent to and from the different churches. While in such a dire situation, he was encouraged by an unexpected visit by Onesiphorus, who had come to Rome not long after Paul had arrived there the second time. Knowing that Paul was a prisoner somewhere in the city, he determined to find him. This was not an easy task in a city crowded with prisoners. Suspicion was everywhere and had only to fasten itself upon an unfortunate victim to consign him to prison and perhaps to death.

But in spite of all these difficulties, Onesiphorus searched for the apostle until he found him. Not satisfied with just one visit, he went again and again at the risk of his own life to Paul’s dungeon to lighten the burden of his imprisonment. The fear of scorn, reproach or persecution was powerless to terrify this true-hearted Ephesian Christian because he knew that his beloved teacher was in bonds for the truth’s sake, while he himself, in every respect far less worthy, was free. (See Sketches from the Life of Paul, 308.)

Paul wrote about this in 11 Timothy 1:16–18: “The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.”

“The desire for love and sympathy has been implanted in the human heart by God Himself. Christ in His hour of agony in Gethsemane, while bearing the guilt of sinful men, longed for the sympathy of His disciples. And Paul, though almost indifferent to hardship and suffering, yearned for sympathy and companionship. God would have His people cherish love and sympathy for one another. …

“It was the practice among both the Greeks and the Romans to allow an accused person to have an advocate to plead in his behalf. By force of argument, by his impassioned eloquence, or by entreaties, prayers, and tears, such an advocate would often secure a decision in favor of the prisoner, or failing in this, would mitigate the severity of his sentence.” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 309.

Paul had no legal counsel. Not one came forward to stand beside him even to preserve a record of the charges that were leveled against him. There are no human records of the arguments that he urged in his own defense. The only record that we have of this occasion is that of Paul himself: “At my first defense, no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.” II Timothy 4:16. All alone, he stood in a pagan court accused of an aggravated crime and all alone, he had to defend himself. However, unseen to those present there was One who stood with him and strengthened him. The result, he said, was that the preaching might be fully known.

“Paul before Nero—how striking the contrast! The very height of earthly power, authority and wealth, as well as the lowest depths of crime and iniquity had been reached by the haughty monarch before whom the man of God answered for his faith. In his power and greatness, Nero stood unrivaled, unapproached. There were none to question his authority, none to resist his will. The kings of the earth laid their crowns at his feet. The most powerful armies marched at his command. The ensigns of his navies upon the seas betokened victory. His statue was set up in courts of justice, and the decrees of senators and the decisions of judges were but the echo of his will. … The name of Nero made the world tremble. To incur his displeasure was to lose property, liberty, and life. His frown was more to be dreaded than the pestilence. Yet while surrounded by all the outward semblance of earthly pomp and greatness, adored and reverenced as a god in human form, he possessed the heart of a demon.” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 311.

There stood Paul before him, an aged prisoner, calm, whose face told of the peace of God that reigned within. “The results of opposite systems of training and education stood that day contrasted—the life of unbounded self-indulgence and the life of utter self-sacrifice. Here were the representatives of the two religions—Christianity and paganism; the simplicity of self-denying endurance, ready to give up life itself, if need be for the good of others, and the luxury of all-absorbing selfishness, that counts nothing too valuable to sacrifice for momentary gratification; the representatives of two spiritual powers—the ambassador of Christ and the slave of Satan. Their relative position showed to what extent the course of this world was under the rule of the prince of darkness. The wretch whose soul was stained with incest and matricide, was robed in purple, and seated upon the throne while the purest and noblest of men stood before the judgment-seat, despised, hated, and fettered.

“The vast hall which was the place of trial was thronged by an eager, restless crowd that surged and pressed to the front to see and hear all that should take place. Among those gathered there were the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant, the proud and the humble. Yet all alike were destitute of the true knowledge of the way of life and salvation.

“Again the Jews urge against the prisoner the old charges of sedition and heresy, while both Jews and Romans accuse him of instigating the burning of the city. While his enemies were vehemently urging their accusations, Paul, preserved a quiet dignity; no shade of fear or anger disturbed the peaceful serenity that rested upon his countenance. The people and even the judges beheld him with surprise. They had been present at many trials, and had looked upon many criminals; but never had they seen a man wear such a look of holy calmness as did the prisoner before them. The keen eyes of the judges, accustomed as they were to read the countenances of their prisoners, searched the face of Paul for some hidden trace of crime, but in vain.” Ibid., 312, 313.

Finally, after the accusations had been made, Paul was given opportunity to speak for himself. With more than human eloquence he explained to the anxious listeners the truths of the gospel. The company had never before heard words so true, clear and convincing. Divine light penetrated their darkened minds and the truth proclaimed on that occasion would never die. They had come to hear the utterance of a feeble and aged prisoner, but instead they heard words that were destined to shake nations.

Paul said, “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that the message might be preached fully through me and that all the Gentiles might hear.” II Timothy 4:17. Longing to see these people receive the truth of salvation and not perish, he lost sight of the terrible fate that awaited him and he looked to Jesus, his Advocate, and his Intercessor in the courts above. He pleaded with them and showed them that there was an Advocate available to them at the throne of God. He told them of the infinite sacrifice that had been made in behalf of the fallen race. There was no trace of fear, sadness, or discouragement on his countenance as he presented Jesus to his listeners.

“Never had Nero heard the truth as he heard it upon that occasion. Never had the enormous guilt of his own life been revealed to him as it was revealed that day. The light of heaven had pierced the sin-polluted chambers of his soul. He quaked with terror at the thought of a tribunal before which he, the ruler of the world should be arraigned, and where his deeds would meet a just reward. He was afraid of the apostle’s God, and he dared not pass sentence on Paul, against whom no accusation had been sustained. A sense of awe for a time restrained his bloodthirsty spirit.” Ibid., 315.

For a moment it seemed that the peace and purity of heaven would be something desirable. That was the moment of mercy, the moment, when—if Nero had made the decision—he could have turned his life around and chosen to repent and confess his sins and follow Jesus.

“But only for a moment. The command was issued for Paul to be taken back to his dungeon; and as the door closed upon the messenger of God, so the door of repentance was forever closed against the emperor of Rome. Not another ray of light was ever to penetrate the dense darkness that enveloped him.” Ibid., 316.

Paul knew that his enemies would not rest until they had secured his death, but he knew also that the truth had triumphed for the time. He had been given the opportunity to proclaim a crucified and risen Saviour before the vast throng who had listened to his words. It was a victory for the gospel. The work begun that day would increase and prosper and in vain would the emperor of Rome seek to destroy or hinder it. His speech had gained him many friends, and he was visited by some persons of rank, but it was with Timothy that the apostle longed to spend his final days.

There was great affection between the youthful laborer and the apostle. Timothy had been converted through his labors and to him had been committed the care of the church at Ephesus. Paul wrote to him asking him to come as soon possible to Rome. In case Timothy did not arrive in time, the apostle wrote his dying testimony. “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all those who have loved His appearing.” II Timothy 4:6–8.

Time was fast running out for the apostle; he must give some final counsel to the young minister. This same charge is repeated today when ministers are ordained in Christian churches. “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” II Timothy 4:1–5.

Paul predicted that the time would come when Christians would not endure the truth and get for themselves teachers who would preach smooth things that would please their ears. It is the duty of a Christian minister to hate and reprove sin, while manifesting pity and tenderness for the sinner. That is a difficult attainment.

On the one hand we must be careful that we do not have undue severity toward a wrong-doer, while at the same time, we need to understand the exceeding sinfulness of sin. This requires Christlike patience and love toward the erring, but being careful of the danger of manifesting so great tolerance for error that eventually the person who is living in sin will consider himself undeserving of reproof and reject it as an uncalled for hardness.

Care must be taken that toleration does not degenerate into toleration of sin. Godliness leads to brotherly kindness, and those who do not cherish the one will surely lack the other. So, if a person blunts his moral perceptions so that he becomes sinfully lenient towards those whom God condemns, the time will come when he will commit a greater sin by using severity and harshness toward those whom God commends. When Paul says that the time will come when Christians will not endure sound doctrine, he is not talking here about people who are atheists, or agnostics, or openly irreligious. He speaks of professed Christians who have indulged inclination until they are enslaved by their own ungoverned passions and led away as he says in chapter three, with various kinds of cravings or lusts.

Paul foresaw that people would turn away from the plain, searching truths of God’s word and that they would have itching ears, and would heap to themselves teachers that would present to them the fables that they desired, an easier gospel (11 Timothy 4:3). These teachers trample under their feet the fourth commandment and end up trampling all of the others as well.

The Creator of the world is insulted by those who claim to be His children while they transgress His law, and Satan laughs at the success of his plots against the human race. We are living in a time where there is distaste for religion and a growing contempt for God’s holy law. Pride, love of pleasure and self-indulgence abound. Many ask the question, “What can be done to arrest the alarming evils in society?”

Paul’s instruction to Timothy was, “Preach the Word.” Preach what the Bible says, whether people will hear or whether they will not. Within its pages are the only safe principles of action to reform or to save society. The Word contains a transcript of the will of God; it is an expression of divine wisdom. It opens to the understanding how to solve the great problem of life and all who will listen and act on it will be directed in the right way.

In Paul’s last letter he said, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” II Timothy 3:1–5.

In the last days religion will be full of people who have a form of godliness. They will profess to be Christians. They will profess to be religious and go to church. Looking at them from the outside, people in the world will believe that they are Christians but, while they have a form of godliness, they deny its power.

Paul clearly describes the power of the gospel in Romans 1:16, 17: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ”

At the end of his life as a true disciple of Christ, Paul was able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” II Timothy 4:7, 8.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

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

Lord’s Prayer Series – The Lord’s Provision

by

Lust as body function suffers without adequate food, water, and rest, when the spiritual needs are not satisfied the spiritual condition also suffers and becomes weak.

God desires that His children will trust in Him as children trust in their earthly parents to supply all of their needs. After recognizing God as our creator, honoring His name in every activity of life, and requesting that His will be done in our lives, then, as citizens of His kingdom we have a perfect right and every confidence to begin that series of petitions which involves our needs. Our first requirement is for our daily bread, not what we need for next week or next month, or even for tomorrow, but that we will have what we need for today to sustain our physical and spiritual lives.

The Bible gives a very powerful illustration of God’s attempting to teach His people to simply trust Him to provide for their needs when the children of Israel went through the desert on their journey to the Promised Land. The Bible says there were 600,000 men besides women and children (Numbers 26:51). Thus there is no doubt that it was a very large company of possibly several million who passed through the barren and desolate wasteland where there was no vegetation or source of water. It would be natural to be concerned about how the food and water were to be provided.

God had a plan and rained down manna from heaven daily, but the Israelites complained about it. The Lord told Moses that He had heard the complaints and they would have more to eat than they knew what to do with. The next day, the Bible says, “So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: “Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.” ’ And the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. And Moses said, ‘Let no one leave any of it till morning.’ Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.” Exodus 16:13–21.

God provided manna for them every day. They gathered only what they needed for that day and any excess would spoil. Their needs were supplied. “And so it was, on the sixth day (Friday), that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until morning.” ’ So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. Then Moses said, ‘Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.’ Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.’ So the people rested on the seventh day.” Exodus 16:22–30.

Notice that this incident was before the giving of the Ten Commandments. There are some people who, because of lack of careful study, do not seem to understand that when the Ten Commandments were given on Sinai, it was not the first time that the law was given. On Sinai it was simply a review of the principles of God’s law that were ever in existence. You can find all the principles of the Ten Commandments in the book of Genesis. While in slavery, the children of Israel had forgotten much of what their fathers had instructed them. So on the mount the Lord reviewed with them all the principles of His law.

The Ten Commandments existed before they were given on Mount Sinai. In fact, the Sabbath existed at the foundation of the world. You can read about the institution of the Sabbath in Genesis 2:1–3. Some of the Israelites did not have enough faith in God’s provision for them and went out to gather it on the Sabbath. To their surprise they found none. Every week they gathered the manna. Every day, five days of the week they gathered enough for that day. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much to provide for the Sabbath. The portion held over did not spoil. Every week the cycle began again. How long did that go on? “And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. … And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.” Verses 31, 35.

Each day for forty years God provided bread for them to teach them just to simply depend on Him and trust in Him. Hundreds of years later, Jesus spoke about how God provided for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. They do not worry about where they are going to get food to eat. Thus man should not worry either.

Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25–34.

Jesus does not want us to spend our lives in anxiety and worry over temporal things but to trust in God to provide for what we need. Those who are not His children and do not have faith in God and His word are dependent on themselves or maybe their parents, or the government, or somebody else. But if you are God’s child, your dependence is on Him to provide the things that you need.

Although my parents called themselves New Testament Christians, my father often said that they worked eight days a week. What that means is that they worked morning, noon, and night, never having time to stop. But after they became new covenant Christians, they only worked six days because they knew God has promised that He would provide for them. However, when God makes that promise, He does not mean that you have nothing to do, but you do not need to spend your life worrying and fretting about how you are going to make ends meet.

The Lord provides for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field but He does not put the food in their mouths. Their part is to go and gather it. In the same way, when we pray for our daily bread, we must understand that we have a role to play in obtaining it.

After man sinned, God told Adam how he would have to work to get his bread. He said, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. … In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” Genesis 3:17­, 19.

Even though we have to work for the bread that we receive, there are some people who do not want to. The Bible has a lot to say about this attitude. In fact, the Bible has many counsels and cautions and actually curses against those who are sluggards, or lazy, or do not work. The Bible teaches that every person should be a worker. Notice what the wise man said in Proverbs 6:6–11: “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—so shall your poverty come on you like a robber [prowler], and your need like an armed man.”

God expects for us to have at least as much wisdom as the creatures that set aside stores during the summer and during the time of harvest for the winter months.

How does God provide for our daily bread? Well, He provides more than enough in the harvest season so that those who gather the food will have food for a time when no food will grow. This is a principle that is taught throughout the Bible. In the very first book of the Bible, you can read the story of a very famous man who was called Joseph. Concerning him, the Bible says that he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream to mean that there were going to be seven years of plenty and after that there would be seven years of famine.

“Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the field which surrounded them. Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. … Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.’ The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.” Genesis 41:49, 53–57.

Notice the principle that was taught in this story. When God provides abundance, you store up for the winter months or for the time when there will not be any. Praying for our daily bread is not inconsistent with storing up food in the time of harvest for a time of scarcity. When we pray that we might be given our daily bread, we are not just asking that we might be given physical bread. When the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness to turn stones into bread, “He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” ’ ” Matthew 4:4. God supplies all of our needs from His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).

Our heavenly Father is immensely rich and abundantly able to care for all of His children. The message of the Bible is to trust in the Lord and do good and you will dwell in the land, and be fed (Psalm 37:3). To the person who walks in the ways of righteousness, the Lord says that “His bread shall be given to him and his water shall be sure.” Isaiah 33:16.

Not only that, but God has assured His people that they will not be ashamed in the evil time and in the days of famine they will be satisfied (Psalm 37:19). David, talking about this very same subject, makes the statement: “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.” Psalm 37:25.

In this petition, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11), we ask the Lord to give us that which we sometimes think we can get on our own, but the fact of the matter is that we would not be able to get it if the Lord did not first provide it. In Psalm 145:15, 16, it says, “The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” After the worldwide flood of Noah’s time, God promised that, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22.

Although there are over seven billion people in the world today, God is able to feed all. If all were following in the ways of the Lord, all would be fed and we would not see people starving to death, as we see in the world today. We cannot make food because food must be given life before it can impart life to the one eating it. Since God is the Life-giver, the only Source of life, food is a gift from God. When we ask for our daily bread we are not asking for something that belongs to somebody else but for our portion of that which has been abundantly supplied for every living creature.

We ask for food that will impart, not drunkenness, but strength, as noted in Ecclesiastes 10:17. One of the problems we have in our modern world is that there are people spending their money for that which is really not good for them. The Bible addresses this very problem in Isaiah 55:1, 2. “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good. And let your soul delight itself in abundance.”

The Bible says, “Eat what is good.” When we ask for our daily bread, we’re not asking that we might have something that will injure ourselves. We are not asking for food that will be injurious to our bodies, but we ask for that which will produce health and strength that we may do God’s service. Many Bible students, in studying the Lord’s Prayer, have concluded that the main subject of this petition, “Give us today our daily bread …” is a petition for both physical food and spiritual food. Actually, spiritual food is even more important than the physical food.

The day after Jesus fed the five thousand, they were still excited about that miracle. And Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” John 6:26, 27.

The daily physical food that we need strengthens us that we may work and that we may have health day by day, but the food that we eat day by day will not provide eternal life. This is a different kind of food. To receive that food Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35. And He went on to tell them, “Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and are dead.” Verse 49. Even though God provided the physical food day by day that they needed, they still all died. But if you eat the spiritual bread that comes down from heaven you will never die because He will raise you up at the last day.

The people had a problem understanding what Jesus meant by this saying so He explained it in John 6:63. He said, “It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Are you eating God’s word? Are you studying His word every day? As you study this Word and receive the thoughts of God into your mind, by beholding Him you will be changed and receive His character into your mind. Jesus promised that if you do this you will receive life. His word is indeed the bread of everlasting life.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

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

Rivers of Living Water

by

Pouring into Yosemite Valley are huge waterfalls that make lots of noise. In the Philippines I saw a roaring stream of brown water cascading over a waterfall and in Papua New Guinea are the most beautiful rivers that I have ever seen, as clear as crystal. The Bible describes you and me as being rivers. Some of us are fast flowing, some of us may be polluted and some of us may be quiet streams, beautiful and clear as crystal, but we all are described as rivers of water.

“Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people chided with Moses and said, ‘Give us water that we may drink.’ … And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord,’ and the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, ‘Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ ” Exodus 17:1–3 NKJV. The people were in a state of unbelief, though God had never forsaken them; He had always taken care of them throughout their journey.

“So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me?’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.’ And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ ” Verses 4–7 NJKV.

This was the first time that God brought water out of a rock. Moses was instructed to strike the rock to start the flow of water. The second time water was brought out of a rock is recorded in Numbers 20. Moses was irritated with the people and instead of speaking to it as he was instructed and glorifying the Lord, he struck it twice. As a result, he was not allowed to go into the land of Canaan.

David wrote, “He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.” Psalm 78:15, 16.

Isaiah wrote, “Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not when He led them through the deserts: He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; He clave [split] the rock also, and the waters gushed out.” Isaiah 48:20.

David again wrote about the miracle at Horeb in Psalm 105:41: “He opened the rock, and waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.” This time it says that water ran in the wilderness like a river.

Paul also makes mention of the wilderness wanderings saying, “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” I Corinthians 10:1–4.

While God was present upon Mount Horeb about to speak the Ten Commandments to the people, they began to contend with Moses, accusing him of bringing them out into the wilderness to kill them with thirst.

God gave Moses instruction to take his rod, go to the rock and strike it. The rock that Moses was instructed to strike was symbolic of Christ. Isaiah 53 says, “… yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions.” Isaiah 53:4, 5. From that rock in the wilderness came water, gushing water. Christ had rained down manna (Exodus 16), and because they complained about that, He gave them quail to eat. Millions had been fed by the manna that had rained down to sustain them and still they questioned, “Is the Lord among us, or not?” Exodus 17:7, last part.

They were guilty of unbelief and human nature is not any different today. Any time a complaint comes out of our lips we are asking, “Is the Lord among us, or not?” Complaining is unbelief.

Ellen White wrote, “The smitten rock was a figure of Christ, and through this symbol the most precious spiritual truths are taught.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 411.

It was not long before the children of Israel began complaining again saying, “Why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?” Numbers 20:4.

Exasperated at the continual complaining, instead of speaking to the rock as he had been instructed, Moses struck the rock twice. This act was not a representation of Christ, Who died once for all (Hebrew 9:28). Christ was not to be smitten twice and Moses did not give an accurate portrayal of what was going to happen to Him Who died once for the sins of the entire world.

Isaiah 12:3 says, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Zechariah 13:1 says, “In that day [when Christ would be pierced] there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced … .” Zechariah 12:10.

In John 19:28, last part, Jesus said, “I thirst.” We all need to thirst for those wells of salvation, thirst to draw from that fountain for sin and uncleanness. In verse 30, Jesus said, “It is finished!” He bowed His head and He gave up the Spirit. When the soldiers told Pilate that He was already dead He was surprised that a man could be dead after only six hours on the cross. In verse 34, it says, “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” When the rock at Mt. Horeb was struck, water flowed.

Christ’s blood was for cleansing from sin. In the Old Testament sanctuary, when the lamb was killed it took the penalty for the sin that the people had committed. The lamb had not done anything wrong. It was innocent, but a sacrifice had been made and the blood provided a means to atone for the person who had sinned against God and incurred the penalty of death, allowing him or her to live.

When Jesus, while on the cross, said He was thirsty, dehydration had set in and His tongue had swollen to such a proportion that He could hardly talk. When that soldier pierced His side, he pierced His heart. The pericardium that surrounds the heart contains serous, a water-like substance to keep the heart lubricated. When it was pierced, the serous fluid within flowed out. In The Desire of Ages, 722, it says, “But it was not the spear thrust, it was not the pain of the cross, that caused the death of Jesus. That cry, uttered ‘with a loud voice’ (Matthew 27:50; Luke 23:46) at the moment of death, the stream of blood and water that flowed from His side, declared that He died of a broken heart.” It wasn’t the cross, it wasn’t the nails, it wasn’t the thorns on His brow that killed Him, but it was our sins that crushed out His life. The guilt that pressed upon Christ’s mind, paying the penalty for the sins of every single person in this world broke His heart and extinguished His life.

“No matter what may have been our sins and shortcomings, there is a fountain open in the house of David for all sin and uncleanness.” The Signs of the Times, April 2, 1894. We can draw from that fountain for sin and uncleanness today and be cleansed. The fountain has been opened.

Isaiah 44:3–5 says, “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.” The water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:7, 8, “Nevertheless … it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter [Holy Spirit] will not come unto you. … And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

Our hearts, according to the Bible, are desperately wicked, like clods. When I lived in Wichita, Kansas, I remember walking out into a field looking at the ground that gets so hard and dry there were cracks about two inches wide. When it rains the water closes them right back up.

“His heart is as hard as stone, even as hard as the lower millstone.” Job 41:24, NKJV. If our hearts are like clods, hard and beaten down, we need some refreshing. We need some water upon the dry grounds. This is what Christ offers us.

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit.)” John 7:37–39, first part. The feast here spoken of is the Feast of Tabernacles that went back to that story at Horeb, reminding the people of the water that gushed out of the rock. Jesus is the living water, a fountain that is opened up for the one who thirsts. Only those who want it will be satisfied.

When the Holy Spirit is received into our lives, we will become rivers of life. In my travels around the world, I have always noticed that ancient cities are built upon river ways. Water brings life and you can become a well of water. This is not for the unbeliever but for those who believe. The Bible says, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14.

Think of yourself as a river today and ask yourself, What kind of river am I? Am I a muddy one, polluted, or a clear one? There are some that are quiet and beautiful, not making any noise, and there are big, gushy ones that make lots of noise. What kind of river are you?

John 4 records Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at the well, even though it would have been taboo for a Jew to talk to a Samaritan. She had come to draw water and did not even notice Him except that He was a Jew. Thus there was no reason to try to engage Him. He arrested her attention by asking her for something to drink and began to engage in a conversation with her. Amazed at what she had heard, she left her pot and went back to the city to invite her friends to come and see this Man. Jesus was the gushing well of water and told the woman of Samaria that if she knew the One Who was asking her for a drink, she would have asked Him for living water.

Jesus makes it very clear that receiving the water that He gives, you will never thirst again but will be filled. The Bible goes on to say that the woman was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, whole-heartedly. Racing back into the city she told the people of the city of Samaria, “I found the Messiah.” I have found Him and He told me everything that I’ve ever done. He could read my heart.

The whole city came out. She became a flowing river. “She proved herself a more effective missionary than His own disciples.” The Desire of Ages, 195. Jesus said right there, the harvest is ripe. Why do you wait four months until the harvest? The harvest is ripe right now.

“Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary. He who drinks of the living water becomes a fountain of life. The receiver becomes a giver.” Ibid. When there is no outlet for water to flow through, it stagnates. There are a lot of stagnant Christians. They are not wells or rivers, but stagnant ponds. To become rivers of water we need to receive more of God’s Holy Spirit and then give to others what we have received. We are not to be stagnant; the receiver becomes a giver. “The grace of Christ in the soul is like a spring in the desert, welling up to refresh all, and making those who are ready to perish eager to drink of the water of life.” Ibid. We need an experience that people will recognize and desire. Only then will we have something to give them because we have drunk deeply of the wells of salvation ourselves.

One of the signs of the end is found in Amos 8:11–14, which says, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.” This describes a day of spiritual famine when the word of God will not be found.

The solution to this problem is that you and I need to become wells of water, springing up into everlasting life, to go out and refresh the thirsty souls that are hungry and thirsty for the righteousness of God and do not know where to find it. If they see professed believers living in sin, talking and acting like the world, they will not want to come and drink from some polluted stream. They want to see a clear-flowing, crystal river.

In II Kings 2:19–21, it says that Elisha threw salt into the polluted water to purify it. Salt is a preserver. Jesus said, “Have salt in yourself.” Mark 9:50.

It is said of false teachers, those that claim to be Christians but bring damnable heresies into the church, “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with a man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.” II Peter 2:15, 16.

Notice verse 17: “These are wells without water … .” These are people who have nothing to give. They are not wells of water springing up into everlasting life, but everlasting death because you cannot live at a dry well for very long.

God offers something to Israel. He says, come and drink of My waters from My well, My spiritual drink from the well of salvation. They were drinking from the rivers of Egypt, the rivers of Babylon, which is spiritualism and confusion. He says, “For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13.

“Unless His grace transforms them into the image of Christ’s likeness, His Spirit will leave them as water leaves a leaky vessel.” Christ will leave us just like a leaky vessel, unless we have a Christlike character. “Their only hope is to seek God with all their mind, heart, and soul. Then they will lawfully strive for the mastery. Satan will steal the imagination and affections if you give him a chance.” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, 102.

“Unless the people of God watch and pray, spirituality will go out of the heart as water out of a leaky vessel.” The Review and Herald, July 3, 1888. We do not want to be like Israel of old, and drink from the wrong stream when there is this Fountain opened before us. Are we hewing cisterns for ourselves?

“The mind is occupied with worldly interests, and as soon as they leave the church door, the impression is lost; for as water flows from a leaky vessel, so the truth leaks from the heart. The more preaching they have, the less they do to carry out the truth in practical godliness. They are glutted with sermons, and the truth fails to arouse them to a sense of their condition.” The Review and Herald, March 7, 1893.

Jesus has a fountain flowing for us today. This fountain flows into our hearts through the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Christ was smitten at Horeb. He opened up a fountain of His blood to cover our sin and uncleanness. The water is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. This is what Christ wants to make us into, wells with water gushing out of us, rivers of living water. This will happen when we have gone to the fountain, to the Source, with all of our defects, our short-comings and our problems.

We are no longer to be leaky vessels. Even a slow leak, be it one drop at a time, will eventually result in an empty vessel. Watch and pray with an intense earnestness as never before to know God’s will and strive for the mastery to develop a Christlike character. Thank God for the cleansing stream that is still flowing to wash away our sins and uncleanness.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the King James Version.)

Mike Bauler was ordained into the ministry in 2005 and serves as pastor of the Historic Message Church in Portland, Oregon. Prior to locating in Portland, Pastor Bauler served as a Bible worker for Steps to Life Ministries. His goal is to help give the gospel to the greater Portland area with an emphasis in helping his Bible students discover the truths in Bible prophecy, which are so often neglected today. His wife, Amanda, a family nurse practitioner, and their daughters assist him in his ministry.

Lord’s Prayer Series – Freedom in Forgiveness

by

Human beings were never created to be independent creatures although some of us sometimes might like to think that we are. In this sinful world wherever there is more than one person, it is inevitable that differences will arise. If you have ever needed to apologize to somebody, you would have had to recognize that you are not independent and that it takes effort and compromise to sustain a proper relationship with others.

The fifth petition in the Lord’s Prayer is a request for forgiveness. It reads: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors [those who are indebted to us].” Matthew 6:12. We need to ask for forgiveness because we are sinners, because we are dependent, and because our conduct has been unworthy toward the One on whom we are dependent.

It would be unthinkable to ask help from somebody that you have wronged without at least some form of an apology in which you demonstrate your humility for what you have done. For that reason, the question of sin and our relation to God needs to be adjusted before we can have the proper use of any strength derived from the daily bread that He has lovingly provided for us. Maintaining a spiritual life without pardon is impossible. Forgiveness is one of the greatest needs that we have and it is one of the greatest gifts of God to the human race. This gift is the least deserved on our part and it is the hardest for us to give to others.

It is a wonderful experience to be forgiven for a wrong that we have committed against another person, but we should never forget what it cost the Godhead in order to be able to forgive our sins. The Bible says in I John 3:4 that “sin is the transgression of the law” KJV, or “sin is lawlessness.” This is repeated many times in the book of Leviticus. You sin by doing something contrary to one of God’s commandments. Romans 6:23 says that the wages or consequence of sin is death. The penalty for breaking God’s law is eternal death. His law is unchangeable and Jesus said that not even a part of a letter of it could be changed (Luke 16:17).

Not only is it impossible for God’s law to be changed, but the penalty for breaking it cannot be swept aside or done away with. There is no escaping the death penalty; someone must pay for the sins. Unless accepting the only acceptable substitute, the sinner will pay the price of his own sins and die, never to wake up again. Jeremiah describes the end of the wicked saying, “They will sleep a perpetual sleep and they will not wake up.” Jeremiah 51:39, literal translation.

However, because of God’s great love for His created beings and His unwillingness that any should perish but have eternal life (John 3:16), He provided a way out. A Substitute was provided to take the penalty in the sinner’s place. “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” I Corinthians 15:3. Jesus willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. To those who accept Him as their Saviour from sin and commit their lives to Him, He gives His life, the One He laid down and took up again. The result for those who accept this “payment” by believing in Him, repenting of their sins, and asking for forgiveness is the free gift of eternal life.

Peter said there is not salvation in anybody else; no one else can give you eternal life (Acts 4:12). To accept the sacrifice Jesus offers is the only way that you can have eternal life. Jesus has paid the price for the sins of the world and offers the free gift of eternal life to all. But just like every other gift that God offers, forgiveness is not unconditional. It is only granted, “as we forgive our debtors.” Matthew 6:12. It is impossible to keep an unforgiving spirit toward those who have sinned against you and expect forgiveness from God. It just doesn’t work that way.

To receive forgiveness and be forgiving are among the hardest things for human beings to do. We are debtors to God and our sins incur indebtedness, which must be paid. Jesus, in His mercy, has paid the price of our sins, if we accept Him. We are sinners, and as such, have accrued debt that must be paid. If we do not recognize the payment that Jesus has made, it would indicate ingratitude of the worst possible type.

In His prayer Jesus promised that we will be forgiven as we forgive others or, as some translations say, “As we have forgiven those who are indebted to us.” So God does not promise to forgive us until we have forgiven others. Sometimes because of the restricted nature of our human vision, we do not see the comparison between what we owe God and what other people owe us. Thus it is often very difficult for people to forgive others for what has been done to them, asserting their right to remain angry because of their ill treatment. After all, they maintain, no one knows how bad they were treated.

Among the Jews there was a difference of opinion as to how many times you should forgive an offender. Some thought three times was enough and after that you don’t need to forgive them anymore. So Jesus told a story to illustrate this point. “Then Peter came to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21, 22 KJV.

On another occasion, “He [Jesus] said to the disciples, ‘It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, “I repent,” you shall forgive him’ (Luke 17:1–4).”

When the disciples heard that they said, “Lord, increase our faith” (verse 5). They had never heard any teaching like that before. They had heard that you should forgive somebody three times. But seven times in one day? Peter thought he was being very liberal in suggesting he would forgive somebody seven times, but he was amazed at Jesus’ response, “seventy times seven.”

Then Jesus told a story that illustrates the measure of forgiveness. You and I owe an infinite debt to God and it is impossible to pay that debt. How can you compute the price of God’s having sent the majesty of heaven to this earth to save a world in rebellion. It is a debt that we can never repay, but if we expect God to forgive us, we have to forgive our fellow men.

“Jesus said … ‘Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.’ ” Matthew 18:22–25. In ancient times, this was the rule of law in many countries. If you owed money and could not repay it, the creditor could have your wife and your children, sold as slaves and all your property sold to pay the debt.

In the story that Jesus told, the king commanded that the man and his family with his property be sold to pay his debt. He was to lose everything because he had incurred a debt that he could never repay, ten thousand talents. So, the story reads, “The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, he released him, and forgave him the debt.” Verses 26, 27.

His master was moved with compassion because this man had gotten himself in such a mess, and he was forgiven the whole debt. Notice what happened when he was free:

“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ ” Verses 28, 29. Now this was a small debt of around three month’s wages. It was a debt that could actually be repaid. “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.” Verse 29, 30.

This was the law of the land in so many ancient countries in the Middle East, Europe and England where people were thrown into a debtor’s prison when they could not pay their debts. It makes you wonder how they could make their payments while in prison, but that was the custom. “So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother their trespasses.” Verses 31–35.

Jesus does not take kindly to the one who receives grace yet does not pass it on to his brother or neighbor. In the little book of James there is a sentence that should strike terror into the heart of many people in this world. It says, “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.” James 2:13. In the Old Testament, Proverbs 21:13 says, “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.” It is clear throughout Scripture that forgiveness is given on the condition that you forgive others just as you wish for God to forgive you.

On the final Day of Judgment there will be many people who will say they have not done anything wrong. They do not realize that Jesus not only talked about sins of commission, but also about the sins of omission. In fact, Jesus made it very plain that many people on that day of final judgment will be condemned, not because they did something wrong, but because they did not do what was right.

There are sins of omission as well as sins of commission. Notice how clearly Jesus explained this in the parable of the sheep and the goats referring to the time when He would come in the clouds of heaven:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31–46.

Notice what the problem was here. It was not because of some heinous crimes that they had committed that they were refused the gift of eternal life. Rather it was because of the right things they had neglected to do. O, friend, this should cause you to examine your life carefully. Some people think that they are Christians and living a wonderful life because they are not doing anything wrong. But have you asked yourself the question, “What am I doing that is right?” There are sins of omission as well as sins of commission. We must learn to do what is right for it is not enough to simply refrain from wrong.

One of the things that causes grief to parents is the lack of gratitude for what the child has been given as a result of great sacrifice on the part of the parents. The lack of gratitude does not necessarily manifest itself in wrongdoing; but it is just a neglect to express gratitude. This sin of ingratitude, not doing what is right, is often committed by children against their parents when their parents are elderly and most in need of the help of their children.

Do we grieve our heavenly Father by neglected duty, by base ingratitude for what He has done for us? Love is the supreme motive of service and no one can truly or properly love God, if they fail to serve Him and to serve His fellow men. We are hopelessly in debt. None of us can pay the debt, either for the sins we have committed or for the sins of omission—the right-doing that we have failed to do.

If we want to be forgiven for our enormous impossible debt, we must ask the Lord to give us a forgiving spirit toward those who have wronged us. Even our worst enemies must be forgiven from the heart. Your spirit will only be set free when you forgive your enemies. The person who hates his enemy and retains a grudge in his heart only destroys himself, for that enemy is often oblivious to what is going on in the mind or heart of the grudge-bearer. Unforgiveness destroys you spiritually and can even destroy you physically by ruining your health.

Jesus said, as much as you want God to forgive you, then you must forgive those who are indebted to you to the same extent. Friend, to find forgiveness is most liberating. Lay your burden at the cross of the One Who understands how you feel and Who knows the wrongs committed to you. Let Him deal with it in His way and in His perfect timing.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

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

I Met God, My Manager

by

“God is my Partner!” was my happy exclamation again and again as I drove my car through the congested street of a beautiful eastern city, with a young preacher as a companion. Finally, as I continued to reiterate the remark, he said quietly: “He is not merely your partner. He is everybody’s partner.”

His words made me pause. “Is God a partner of everyone?” I asked myself. And after a few moments of deep reflection on the matter, I came to the conclusion that He is not; for the Bible asks that question: “What concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? … Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” II Corinthians 6:15–17.

And, I continued to reflect, that not merely is God not everybody’s partner, but He may not be even my partner or associate under certain conditions. The Psalmist had sweet fellowship with God at one time, but he learned the sad lesson that this ineffable communion with God could be broken by sin. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm 66:18.

So, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I John 2:15.

When David turned his heart toward sin, his partnership with God was temporarily voided. But in deep sorrow of heart he cried out to God: “Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:11. “I acknowledged … my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” Psalm 32:5.

Nor is obvious sin the only obstacle to a full partnership with God. Such a sacred relationship is predicated on His being the senior partner, which simply means that He must always be the manager. “I will instruct thee.” Psalm 32:8. In other words, a real partnership between man and God is never one that is maintained on a basis of equality. We are always the junior partners and He is the senior Partner, Manager, or Director; for “He shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6.

So no longer do I gleefully proclaim that “God is my Partner.” Now I talk of Him only as my Manager. And even then I sometimes stop to pose the question to myself: “Is He really my manager?” Haven’t I unconsciously tried, on occasions too numerous to mention, to take the prerogative of management out of His wise hands and assume it myself? Have not I tried to make the decisions and then asked Him to accede to my wishes? Haven’t I many times tried to force the hand of Providence while testifying to the fact that God does answer prayer? Yes, on all these points I have been guilty of failing to abide by the rules of my partnership with God. And I have noticed that too many others are also guilty of this shortcoming. Let me illustrate:

One day a lady came to me with a big problem relating to her husband. She was praying for his conversion. And later, in a letter to me, she expressed herself as follows: “I have prayed that if God is going to save my husband at the camp-meeting this year, He will make it possible for me to be there. That way I will know that if I can go to camp-meeting, God will also bring my husband there, some way, and he will be converted.”

Without thinking too deeply, I replied that this would be wonderful. But then I began to give the matter deeper consideration. This good woman was doing just what I had so often done. She was telling God what her conditions were, without giving any thought to the possibility that maybe God had some plan of His own. For instance, it was quite possible that He wanted her to go to camp-meeting for the benefit she herself would receive. However, she made her own attendance a sign that God would at that same meeting convert her husband. So she was doomed to disappointment because she had superimposed her will on God’s.

This train of thought made me ponder further the whole concept of man’s asking Him to make the decisions. Sometimes I have given the Lord a sign which would mean one of two things. But what I overlooked on these occasions was that perhaps God had a third, entirely different choice. I was, in fact, trying to act as the manager instead of only the junior partner.

Again, I have, at times, prayed that God would spare me from persecution. That in itself may sound like a simple and reasonable request. But, if all our ways are to be serene and without trial, where will we possibly attain perfection of character? For the Scriptures declare, “tribulation worketh patience.” Romans 5:3. Thus, even in this seemingly harmless request I was unconsciously arrogating [claiming] to myself the powers of decision that by all rights belong to Him as my Manager.

Then again, I have too often attempted to lay down the conditions of my receiving God’s blessings rather than to let God do so. I have said: “Now, Lord, if next year this is your plan for me, then by tomorrow do this for me.” But Christ has made it abundantly clear that this is not the basis on which God deals with us humans. Said Jesus: “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34. Jesus recognized this in teaching us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11.

Even to His own Son, Jesus, the Heavenly Father disclosed His plans on a day to day basis. And Christ was fully satisfied to let His Father be His manager and guide. “He made no plans for Himself. He accepted God’s plans for Him, and day by day the Father unfolded His plans. So should we depend upon God, that our lives may be the simple outworking of His will.” The Desire of Ages, 208. “But the one who depends upon his own wisdom and power is separating himself from God. Instead of working in unison with Christ, he is fulfilling the purpose of the enemy of God and man.” Ibid., 209.

If my Manager sees that I need the rod and staff, then most gladly will I suffer. When Jesus comes again, “they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” Revelation 17:14. “Many are called, but few are chosen,” said the Master. Matthew 22:14. This is because “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Isaiah 48:10.

I try to make the great and continual prayer of my soul now: “Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.” Steps to Christ, 72.

In the days of Job, Satan challenged God. He declared that if God permitted affliction to come to Job that the latter would change his testimony concerning God. Prior to this, Job had been a holy man, and he had witnessed for God on many, many occasions. But in any court the witness is liable to cross-examination to see if he will perchance change his testimony. Satan claims that all humanity is basically motivated by the same spirit of selfishness by which he is actuated. Therefore God permits Satan to afflict the children of God, at least temporarily, to prove whether his charge is true.

But even as severe as these trials may seem to us, the apostle Paul says they are but a “light affliction.” II Corinthians 4:17. He says that in comparison with the glories of eternal life, they are mere nothing.

If, therefore, my Manager sees that it is better for me to permit affliction to come upon me, then why should I ask for release? I would a thousand times over prefer to be refined by fiery trials if that be His will for me. It will be the means of melting away the dross in my life and preparing me for eternal partnership with Him in the new earth where “affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Nahum 1:9.

And so, I would not pray merely for the temporal blessings. I would pray for character, consisting of all the wonderful attributes possessed by Jesus. If it takes suffering to accomplish this, then may I have the fellowship of His suffering. If it takes the enmity of the world, or even that of professed Christians, to bring it about; even then let me never take matters out of His hands.

Exuberantly, then, the true Christian can declare: “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” Psalm 73:24.

I Met God, by Glenn A. Coon, 133-140, Kingsport Press, Inc., Kingsport, Tennessee.

During his life, Glenn Coon was a mighty warrior for the faith of Jesus. He was a preacher and writer of many books encouraging a closer relationship with Jesus. He now sleeps in his dusty grave waiting the return of His Lord and best friend, Jesus.

Lessons from the Heart

by

“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind,

Even to give every man according to his ways,

According to the fruit of his doings.”

Jeremiah 17:10

Inspired writings have much to say about the heart of man. A study of the heart in both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy will yield a deeper understanding of the natural heart, the behaviors that the natural heart provokes, and how to overcome the temptations to which the natural heart is inclined to yield. The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of the vast amount of information that Inspired writings provide concerning the natural heart to stimulate in seekers of truth a desire to study for themselves the workings of the heart and to know how God changes the natural cold stony heart into a heart of flesh that throbs with the love of Christ.

Two of the most common Scriptures that quickly come to mind when considering what the Bible says about the heart are Genesis 6:5, 6 and Jeremiah 17:9.

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Genesis 6:5, 6. (Emphasis added.)

Ponder how these two verses reveal the sharp contrast between the natural heart of man and the wise and omniscient heart of our Lord.

The second Scripture that commonly comes to mind is Jeremiah 17:9.

“The heart is deceitful above all things,

And desperately wicked;

Who can know it?”

Fortunately, Scripture not only shows us the evil and deceitfulness of the natural heart, but it also gives us precious texts that promise us a way out of this condition. One of the most powerful is in Ezekiel 36:26, 27. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

Who, claiming this promise, can be disheartened?

Inspiration gives us a fairly succinct assessment of the natural heart in The Acts of the Apostles, page 273: “The refining influence of the grace of God changes the natural disposition of man. Heaven would not be desirable to the carnal-minded; their natural, unsanctified hearts would feel no attraction toward that pure and holy place, and if it were possible for them to enter, they would find there nothing congenial. The propensities that control the natural heart must be subdued by the grace of Christ before fallen man is fitted to enter heaven and enjoy the society of the pure, holy angels. When man dies to sin and is quickened to new life in Christ, divine love fills his heart; his understanding is sanctified; he drinks from an inexhaustible fountain of joy and knowledge, and the light of an eternal day shines upon his path, for with him continually is the Light of life.”

Not only do Inspired writings give us hope for a new heart, they also provide examples of—and therefore warnings against—the actions of a deceitful heart.

In the book of Esther, we are given an example of the deceitfulness of the natural heart. It is a familiar story and one that the Jews even to this day take particular delight in reviewing each year during Purim. The climax of the story is in chapter 6.

“That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

“Then the king said, ‘What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?’

“And the king’s servants who attended him said, ‘Nothing has been done for him.’

“So the king said, ‘Who is in the court?’

“Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The king’s servants said to him, ‘Haman is there, standing in the court.’

“And the king said, ‘Let him come in.’

“So Haman came in, and the king asked him, ‘What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?’ Now Haman thought in his heart, ‘Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?’

“And Haman answered the king, ‘For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!” ’

“Then the king said to Haman, ‘Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken’ (Esther 6:1–10).”

Haman had convinced himself that he was worthy of royal honor, only to discover that he had been self-deceived.

Christ gave another example of the potential actions of a deceitful heart when He was invited to a meal at a Pharisee’s home one Sabbath and He saw how, as the guests arrived, each sought the best place to sit. He gave divine instruction to those who were invited. The story is in Luke 14:8–11.

“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Christ was reminding the Pharisees of the words that the Holy Spirit had moved upon Solomon to write in Proverbs 25:6, 7.

“Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king,

And do not stand in the place of the great;

For it is better that he say to you,

‘Come up here,’

Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince,

Whom your eyes have seen.”

It is likely that Solomon had seen just this kind of behavior in his own court when he had invited guests to dine with him.

In addition to the example we read in Esther about Haman, there are other examples in Scripture of people “thinking” in their hearts. In common language today, we would say, “saying to himself” or “thinking to himself.”

One example is given in Genesis 24:45, when Abraham’s oldest servant went to Laban to find a wife for Isaac.

“But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ”

But perhaps the most familiar example of one thinking to himself is in Nehemiah 2:1-5, when Nehemiah stood despondently before King Artaxerxes.

“And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.’

“So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, ‘May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?’

“Then the king said to me, ‘What do you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.’ ” (Emphasis added.)

Sister White refers to praying under these kinds of circumstances as darting a prayer to heaven. Probably each of us has more than one memory of having darted a prayer to heaven in times of trial. It is a wonderful comfort to know that we have an all-knowing, omnipresent God who hears and answers sincere prayers offered from a sincere heart.

Scripture also alludes to the heart as the condition of the human mind. Look for an example in Exodus 23:9: “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

The principle that God is impressing upon Moses here is that we should be compassionate toward and understanding of others. Remember the trials and tribulations you have experienced and have compassion on others when they are in similar situations.

Another bit of light about the condition of a man’s heart is provided in 1 Samuel when the Lord had instructed Samuel to examine Jesse’s offspring to select a king to replace Saul, after Saul had proven himself unworthy of the office. When Samuel saw Eliab, whom he thought surely to be the Lord’s anointed, the Lord responded, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7.

What a lesson this incident provides for us. How often do we judge from outward appearance, only to realize when the fruit reveals the true condition of the heart that our initial assessment was incorrect.

The obvious question that arises from our study of the actions of the natural heart is, How can we overcome the natural tendencies and have that heart promised us in Ezekiel 36? Consider the request of Solomon:

“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask! What shall I give you?’

“And Solomon said: ‘You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?’ ” I Kings 3:5–9.

James may have been reflecting on this story when he wrote in his epistle, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5.

Perhaps the most wonderful encouragement we are given, though, came from the lips of Christ Himself, on the night of His betrayal: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27.

Can we not conclude from this brief overview that through prayer, such as Nehemiah’s or Solomon’s, and by exercising faith, as Christ commanded to His disciples, that we can have that heart of flesh and persevere against the fiery darts of the enemy of souls under all circumstances? Such is my prayer daily. May it be yours as well.

NJKV unless otherwise noted.

John Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. After retiring as chief financial officer for the Grand Canyon Association, Grand Canyon, Arizona, he moved to Wichita, Kansas, to join the Steps to Life team. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.

Lord’s Prayer Series – Deliverance from Evil

by

Proper guidance is vital to success in any endeavor. Many people are open to accepting guidance for their physical and mental lives, but, tragically, when it comes to their spiritual life, they depend on faulty, erring guidance systems.

In the gospel of Luke, as the Lord’s model prayer comes to a conclusion, we read these words of Jesus: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Luke 11:4. The phrase, “lead us not into temptation …’’ is a prayer for divine leadership. Not only are we to ask for our daily bread and ask to be forgiven, but we also need daily guidance and leadership as we face life’s daily temptations.

A woman taken in the act of adultery was brought to Jesus with the accusation, ‘Now Moses said that a person taken in adultery like this should be stoned. But what do You say?’ They said this to lay a trap for Jesus, because if He said, ‘No, give mercy to her,’ then they would go to the people and say, ‘He doesn’t believe in the law of Moses.’ But if He said, ‘She should be stoned,’ then they would go to the Romans and say, ‘This man said that this woman should be stoned.’ ” The Jews did not have authority on their own to use capital punishment without the Roman’s permission. Either way that Jesus answered their question would get Him in trouble.

Scripture continues that Jesus stooped down and started to write on the ground the sins of the people who had brought this woman to Him, beginning with the oldest. As He wrote they became embarrassed. The Bible says, “… beginning with the eldest until the last and there was nobody left.” “When Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.’ ” (See John 8:1–11.)

Notice the blessed assurance that Jesus provided the sinner. He assured her that “Neither do I condemn you.” Your sins are forgiven. It was immediately followed by the command to go, sin no more. The command to “go,” calls for progress and advancement, which always requires guidance. All moving things need to be directed. Unless directed in their proper course, they will come to a tragic end. That is true for airplanes, ships, cars, or any moving object. They must be directed. We are not left to travel alone, undirected, down the dark pathway of life. God has promised that if we ask Him, He will guide us, directing us with His eye.

The consciousness that human wisdom is faulty, causing us to make mistakes, leads us to request divine guidance for the future. The phrase, “lead us not into temptation” is considered by many Bible students to be the most difficult of all the petitions of the Lord’s prayer. In fact, some theologians believe that the early church, consisting of the early Christians in the first century, misunderstood it. As a result, the apostle James corrected their misunderstanding.

To impress the fact that it was not God Who was the source of our temptations, He said, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:12–17.

God is not tempted with evil and He does not tempt anyone. Part of the problem comes because of the faultiness of human language. An example of this is Genesis 22.1. Some versions of the Bible read, “It came to pass after these things that God tempted Abraham.” So people have been confused when in one place it says that God tempted Abraham and in the New Testament it says that God does not tempt anybody. Most modern translations say in Genesis 22 that God tested Abraham. There are many places in the Bible where God tests people. However, He does not tempt people or try to persuade or entice them to sin. That is the work of the devil and of the fallen human nature of man.

The main source of temptation is within us as we read in James 1. Therefore, a mere prayer for pardon is not sufficient; we need guidance or direction in our life. The original word for temptation used in the Lord’s Prayer literally means trial or test as it is translated in many other places in the Bible. For example, in James the 1:2–4 it says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

This is not a prayer that we will be kept from temptation, but that we will be divinely led during our temptation so that we will be kept from yielding to it. If we were to ask not to have temptation, we would be making a request that is impossible to be fulfilled in this world of sin. God never asks for us to do the impossible. Even Jesus Christ did not escape temptation. Notice what it says about His temptations in Hebrews 4:14–16, speaking of Jesus Christ: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Notice that even Jesus had temptations. The Bible speaks of His being tempted by the devil. He was in all points tempted as we are (Hebrews 4:15). Temptation must not be confused with sin. “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin …” Jesus did not yield to the temptation. There is no other way that you and I can develop the moral character that we need to enter the kingdom of heaven except through overcoming temptation.

As the gospel song says, “Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin.” [Yield Not To Temptation, Horatio R. Palmer, 1868.] All people are tempted, but all people do not yield to the temptation. It is through this process of resisting temptation that we grow in grace (II Peter 3:18). In Revelation 2 and 3 to each one of the Christian churches the promise of eternal life is given on the basis of being an overcomer. Even right at the end of the Bible in Revelation 21:6, 7 it says, “He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.’ ” To turn away from sin and overcome is a principle that is repeated throughout the Bible.

In the Bible, sometimes the Lord is spoken of as doing something Himself that He just permits someone else to do. God does not originate or approve of all the things that He allows to happen in this world but He does permit trials and afflictions to come to both good and evil people. The reason for this is so that we might overcome the temptation and become partakers of His holiness (see Hebrews 12).

The tests, the trials, the afflictions that we have in this life sometimes turn out to be blessings in disguise. In fact, in Romans 8:28, there is a promise that is so wonderful that it is very hard to believe while going through the trial. It says, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Now, it doesn’t say that all things are good, but that He can work all things, even those most difficult for us, into something that ultimately results in good, according to His purpose.

God allows the trials to come so that we can discern the impurities of our character so that they, through His grace, can be removed. Often we do not recognize the divine leadership and purpose in our trials and temptations that God allows to come to us, but someday it will all be made plain. We read many stories in the Bible of people who experienced terrible trials and discouragements and could not understand why God allowed such things to happen to them. Jacob once lamented that, “All these things are against me” (Genesis 42:36). He had lost Joseph and now Benjamin was going to be taken away. He thought that he was going to lose the only children he had from the one woman that he really loved. Although he thought that all these were against him, in a few weeks he not only had Benjamin back, but Joseph as well.

The Lord worked out all things together for good, although Jacob thought for a time everything was against him and it would all work out terribly. The same thing happened with David. For approximately ten years, David fled for his life before an infuriated king who stirred up the people against him, forcing him to live in caves and haunts in many desolate places wondering how he would ever become the king of Israel, as the Lord had promised him. But in spite of all those things, God eventually worked it out.

Romans 8:28 says that if you love God, all things will work together. It is not our responsibility to work it all out. God will work it out so that all things, even the evil things that happen to us, will be pulled together to work it out for our good in the end. This is very difficult to believe while going through severe tests and trials, but that is the Bible promise. The prophets Malachi and Isaiah have said that all of God’s children have to go through the furnace of affliction or trial. Trust God, for He has a purpose in our trials. When they are over, something wonderful is going to happen.

In this world, with our limited human vision, we struggle to see through the confusion, broken promises, disappointment and thwarted plans, but the Bible promises that when we reach the end of the Christian journey, we will be able to see in all of it a grand and overruling purpose and divine harmony. Malachi prophesied what the Lord will do in the last days. “He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Malachi 3:3.

The Bible clearly predicts that God’s remnant people, His children in the very last days of earth’s history, will go through a great tribulation, but it also promises that the Lord will bring them out of it.

Notice what John wrote in Revelation 7:9, 10: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues [languages], standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God Who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ ”

Then it says in verses 13, 14 that one of the elders answered and asked the apostle John, who was having this vision, “Who are these?” “Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?’ And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’ ”

You see, God is going to lead His children out of the great tribulation that is coming upon this world. The Bible says that the devil has come down to this world having great wrath. In Revelation 12:12, it says, “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows he has a short time.”

The devil knows that his days are numbered and that he has a short time to work out his plans of wickedness. He does have control of the majority of human beings in this world but in an effort to have full control of the world, he puts forth his last effort to take out those who claim Christ. If you have read the rest of the story you know that he does not win, for there will be a multitude that nobody can number that have come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes of character and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. It may not appear that way at present, but Satan is a loser.

We are not left alone to fight our adversary. Jesus said, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.” Revelation 3:10. The promise here made is that during the refining and purifying process, there will be divine guidance that we will be kept from falling. Temptation is always inspired by the devil, but it was the Spirit of God that led Jesus Christ into the wilderness to meet the temptation and to conquer it.

The person who asks for pardon for past offenses against God will then make every effort to avoid future transgressions and seek for the blessing of holiness or sanctification. The Bible tells us what the devil uses to tempt people. Understanding the source of the temptations will help to know how to meet them. The Bible says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust [or craving] of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” I John 2:15–17.

Divine assistance is needed in meeting these trials or temptations, but the Bible pronounces a blessing on the person who endures. Notice this text again in James 1:12: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

If we expect God to keep us when we are in temptation, we need to see to it that we do not deliberately walk into temptation. It is an interesting thing that some people pray and say, “Lord, lead me not into temptation” then presume to be protected when they deliberately walk in temptation’s way.

In the Garden of Gethsemane on the night that Jesus was betrayed, He gave some advise to His disciples that they neglected at that time. He said, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41.

Notice, it is because we are in constant danger of entering into temptation that we should pray not to be led where we will be tempted to sin. If we are sincere in our prayer, we will avoid walking directly into the allurements of the flesh which so easily tempt us.

The Bible predicts that a multitude of people in the last days will lose eternal life because, instead of praying to be guided away from temptation, they deliberately walk into temptation and have pleasure in unrighteousness. Paul says to these people, “God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” II Thessalonians 2:11, 12.

How is it with you friend? Are you praying that the Lord will guide you and lead you so that you will not walk into the way of temptation, or do you seek pleasure in unrighteousness? The choice is ours; help is only a prayer away. All the resources of heaven have been commissioned to save lost man so put your trust in Jesus today. Reflect on the words of the gospel song:

So I thank God for the mountains,

And I thank Him for the valleys,

I thank Him for the storms He’s brought me through.

‘Cause if I never had a problem,

I wouldn’t know that He could solve them,

I wouldn’t know what faith in His Word could do.

Through it all, through it all,

I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,

I’ve learned to trust in God.

Through it all, through it all,

I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

Andrea Crouch

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

Lord’s Prayer Series – Be Sober, Be Vigilent

by

Many people, when they have been overcome by temptation, have accused God of unfairness. They do not realize that God has provided special promises of deliverance and blessing to those undergoing temptation. However, for you to taste the victory, you must be willing to engage in the battle.

Many people consider the petition, “lead us not into temptation” to be the most difficult part of the Lord’s Prayer to understand. Some people have wondered why God tempts people. However, the Bible says that God does not tempt anybody. James wrote, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:12–17.

It is wrong to think that God tempts anyone. He is not tempted with evil and He does not tempt anyone. If He is not the source of our temptations, then where do temptations come from? One source is the devil. When Jesus was in the wilderness, He was tempted by the devil. In this world no one can avoid temptation. Notice what it says in Matthew 4 about Jesus’ temptation immediately after His baptism:

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Matthew 4:1. Clearly we can see that the devil is one of the sources of our temptations. But another source of our temptation is from within. James also talks about that. He said a man is tempted by his own desires, his own lusts and his own sinful or evil cravings. John recognized another source of our temptations when he said, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lusts of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” I John 2:15–17.

Temptations do not come from God. Rather they come from the world, the flesh; that is, from within us, and from the devil. So what does it mean when the Bible says in the Lord’s Prayer, “Do not lead us into temptation?” One way that it could be paraphrased would be like this: “O, Father, You know how weak I am of myself. Permit me not to be tempted above my ability to endure, but when the temptation comes, show me the way of escape from the snares of the evil one.”

We know that this is what this phrase means because of the way the apostle Paul explains the nature of and the deliverance from temptation. God has given wonderful promises to those who endure temptation. We just read one from James 1:12. Paul wrote this promise to the Corinthian church, especially for those who are being tempted: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” I Corinthians 10:13.

Notice that Paul first says that every temptation that comes to you is common to all mankind; none that you have are peculiar to you alone. But, God watches the tempted person and He promises that He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; in other words, not beyond what you are able to endure, but He will ensure that with the temptation, He will make a way of escape so that you will be able to endure it.

This is a wonderful promise. Many stories could be told of Christians who have received the answer to this promise when they prayed during times of great trial and trouble. But this promise follows a warning. We are in danger of falling into temptations because of our weakness and also because of our lack of judgment. Paul says in the previous verse, I Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” We need to beware of overconfidence, and not just think, “Well, the Lord has promised that He will give me the victory,” therefore just go rashly on my way without thinking. That attitude has caused many Christians to fall. Overconfidence leads to defeat because the Bible says, “It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” Jeremiah 10:23.

The Lord provides a way of escape when people are in temptation and He leads us through it in order that we might escape. To escape we need divine guidance. We need to be led by the Lord Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Bible talks a great deal about the fact that God will give victory over temptation to His children. John said, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith.” I John 5:4.

Paul wrote about it, “But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” I Corinthians 15:57, 58.

Christ is our victory. With Him there is no such thing as failure or defeat. So the cry, “Lead us not into temptation” is a cry that comes from a sense of our human weakness. Jesus understood the weaknesses that we have because He came into this world just as we do. He came to meet and endure temptation and then give us the power to do the same so that we can be what the Bible calls overcomers.

Jesus met temptation while He was on the earth. “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Hebrews 2:17, 18.

The cry “lead us not into temptation” is a cry that comes from a person who senses his human weakness and who understands something of the power and cunning of the great deceiver. The Scriptures say a great deal about the power of Satan to deceive men. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about the special working of the anti-Christ power in the very last days and how people in this world will be deceived. “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” II Thessalonians 2:9–11.

Jesus talked about it saying that after He left this world and before He would come back again there would arise false christs and false prophets and that they would show great signs and wonders. In other words, they would work miracles. Many times the Bible writers predicted that in the last days teachers working miracles would deceive almost the entire world. As a result of this deception they will lose their souls. This truth is so crucial to understand that Paul wrote about it. The apostle John mentions it numerous times in the book of Revelation, specifically in chapters 12, 13, 16, 18, 19 and 20.

Jesus said, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24. The prayer “lead us not into temptation” includes a request that we might be vigilant against our wily woe. The apostle Peter warned about it saying, “Be sober (do not be intoxicated), be vigilant (be watchful, be paying attention); because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter 5:8.

The people most likely to be overcome by temptation are those who either are not paying attention or are overconfident.

The night Jesus was betrayed to His crucifixion, He made the following prophecy or prediction to the apostle Peter. He said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Luke 22:31, 32.

When Jesus said this, Peter was so self-confident that such a thing would never happen that he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” Verse 33. But Jesus knew better: “Then He said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.’ ” Verse 34.

Recording the same experience in Mark, it says, “Peter said to Him, ‘Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.’ ” Mark 14:29. Self confident Peter was so sure that even if the rest of the disciples were to deny Jesus and be unfaithful, he would remain faithful.

But, “Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.’ ” Verse 30. Peter was sure that Jesus was wrong and he was right; he knew he would never deny his Lord. The events of that night proved that Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself.

Jesus knows you also better than you know yourself. That night Jesus had said to His disciples, “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation” (Matthew 26:41 literal translation) but now Peter “spoke more vehemently, ‘If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And they all said likewise.” Mark 14:31. All of the disciples said, We will be faithful, and yet just a few hours later, when Jesus was arrested, the Bible records in the gospels how all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

When we read the Bible, it is not wise to consider ourselves to be self-reliant and confident, thinking, “Well, I am OK, I can make it.” We need to distrust ourselves and appeal to the Lord. If Peter had prayed to Jesus and said, “Lord, please, I want a special miracle to be worked in my life so that what You said might not be” and had humbled himself, his fall could have been avoided, but he was self-confident. He did not comprehend his own weakness or the strength and cunning of his enemy, the devil.

The fact that we all possess certain tendencies toward evil is evidence of our need of help. Pray that God will help us to keep out of situations where we will be tempted and are apparently powerless to resist the temptation. We need to avoid what the Bible refers to as besetting sins. Notice what the apostle Paul wrote about that in the book of Hebrews: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1, 2.

Besetting or ensnaring sins are usually agreeable and fascinating to our human nature, and therefore must be avoided and shunned. We must not flirt with temptations that carry a special appeal to our carnal appetites and passions. In fact, Paul in this same passage in Hebrews 12, says that we are to shun these things and to resist to avoid becoming entangled. He said, “You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” Verse 4.

Temptations are something to be resisted and overcome and not deliberately walked into presumptuously. Another dangerous situation is what might be called the devil’s surprise attack. Anyone who has studied military science knows that one of the major features of gaining victories in military wars is the use of surprise, attacking at an unexpected time.

The devil does this repeatedly in our spiritual life. There are many instances recorded in the Bible of such things. Sometimes people fell and at other times they resisted and overcame.

Joseph’s experience is recorded in the book of Genesis. Although he was a slave, he became an executive in his master Potiphar’s house. “And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house were inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.’ ” Genesis 39:7–12.

This Scripture records how Joseph was met with a sudden temptation that was unexpected at first. However, it was repeated over and over with increasing intensity, but he continually resisted this woman’s advances and never gave in. Unfortunately, that was not the case with others who faced the same temptation whose stories were recorded in the Bible. King David’s story had a completely different outcome.

In the Garden of Gethsemane before He was arrested, Jesus knew that His disciples would soon face the most awful and greatest temptation that they had ever had in their lives. In a matter of hours they would be tempted to deny their Lord and forsake Him.

He appealed to them to pray with Him for an hour. Instead, they went to sleep. They were oblivious of the fact that the event to take place in the following hours would decide the destiny of the world. “Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ ” Matthew 26:40, 41.

After He had gone away and prayed again a second time, “He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.” Verse 43. Finally, “He came to His disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.’ ” Verse 45.

How many times Christians have wandered into sin and not resisted the temptation because they have neglected to take time to pray! How is your prayer life? Do you take time to pray? Do you ask with sincerity, “Lead us not into temptation?” Are you praying for victory over the things that tempt you? If you ask God not to lead you where you will be overcome by temptation, then you are planning to be faithful and true and not willingly walk into temptation’s way.

There are special blessings pronounced on those who do not yield to temptation. God will make a way of escape and make it possible for you to endure the temptation (I Corinthians 10:13) and James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man that endures temptation … he will receive the crown of life.”

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14.

O friend, are you being tempted? Do you need special help? Do you need special grace to deal with the temptations that you are facing day by day? The apostle says, Come boldly before the throne of grace so that you can obtain mercy and grace, the help that you need, to overcome the temptations with which you are dealing.

While living in this world it is impossible to avoid all temptation, but if you come to the throne of grace, Jesus can give you the victory.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

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