Bible

The Gideon Story

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1 Corinthians 10:11 talks about the experiences of the Children of Israel, and Paul says, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” We are going through the same experiences they went through, so let us look at one of these experiences.

Judges 6, tells about a man who felt forsaken and discouraged. The Lord came to encourage him, and told him he was a mighty man.

Why so Many Problems?

Gideon felt like replying, Lord, I am not. He said, if the Lord is with us, why have all these calamities happened to us? “‘. . . Where are all His miracles which our Fathers told us about, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.’” Judges 6:13.

Gideon did not hold any prominent position, and he did not belong to one of the strong tribes like Judah or Ephraim. In addition to that, Gideon said, I am the least of my father’s house, so why are you calling me a mighty man? “Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?’” And Gideon replied, “‘O My Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.’” Ibid., 14, 15.

The Lord said, Go!

Then Gideon asked for a sign. If I have found grace in Your sight, if I have found favor in Your sight, please show me a sign that it is You who talked with me. Please do not go away until I can fix you something to eat.

The Lord said, I will wait until you come back.

Gideon “went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour.…He put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them.”

“The Angel of God said to him, ‘Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.’ And he did so. Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.” Ibid., 17–21.

Then Gideon was scared. He said, I have been talking with God. Alas!

The Lord said, Do not be afraid. Do not fear.

Keep that in mind, because dealing with fear is a big part of the Gideon story.

I Am Going to Work Through You

Notice the first part of the instruction God gave Gideon. He already told him He was going to work through him to defeat the Midianites, a war-like people who were the enemies of God’s people. But before Gideon could go deal with the Midianites, he had some work to do at home.

Here are some questions for the men to think about. How are things in your family? If you are a pastor or an elder, how are things in your church? God holds you responsible for what is going on in your families. In the Day of Judgment, God is going to ask us a question that He is not going to ask our wives. You can read that in the Law of Moses.

If a woman made a vow, and her husband contradicted it, she was free from that vow. But let me tell you, if a man makes a vow, he had better fulfill it, because he is responsible to the Lord. He is responsible for what happens in his home. And, if he is a pastor or an elder, he is responsible for what happens in his church.

We are living in a generation where anything goes, and many fathers, pastors, and elders have let their responsibility slip. We have things going on in our homes and churches for which we are not going to want to give account in the Day of Judgment.

1 Samuel 2, tells of a man who did this very thing. It says Eli advised his sons not to do evil, but he did not enforce what he said. He and his sons lost their souls over it, and many thousands of people also lost their souls.

How Are Things in Your Home?

Before God can use any man to win a victory over his enemies, things have to be right in that man’s house, and things were not right in Gideon’s family. The Lord told him, “‘Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.’ So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.” Judges 6:25–27.

Are there idols in your family? Are you allowing it to happen? If you are, God is going to hold you responsible. A father has responsibilities. Ellen White wrote to fathers that they should not allow their son to curse, use tobacco or alcoholic beverages in the home.

But what if they say, Dad, I have the power of choice and I am going to do it anyway?

Then you have a responsibility to say, You can do it if you want, but you cannot do it in my home, you will have to leave, because I want the angels of God to dwell upon my family, and I cannot allow that in my home.

People, today, are mixed up about love. They think love means that you just let anything happen. God is love, but there are certain things God would not allow to take place in heaven, and when some angel said, We are going to do it anyway, the Lord said, Then you are going to have to get out.

God cannot work miracles for His church through a man whose family is not in order. Of course, we must pray and ask the Lord to help us to not be harsh, overbearing, severe, and unchristlike in our words and behavior. People have to understand that, in our homes, there is a law—not our law, but the law of God. We are His children, therefore we abide by those laws, and disobedience is not allowed.

This principle is all through the Bible. Jacob said, we need to have a revival in our family. I am the father, you have idols and I want you to get rid of all your foreign gods. And they gave them to Jacob, and he buried them. Jacob recognized that he could not have the blessing of God on his family while some of them were worshipping idols. (See Genesis 35:1–4.)

What Are Your Idols?

If there are idols in your house, the Lord is not going to be able to bless you and your family. If you are a father, you need to rid your house of idols.

God made a covenant with Abraham. “‘This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.’” Genesis 17:10–11. This was between God and all of Abraham’s descendants.

One of Abraham’s most famous descendants was Moses. God called Moses to deliver Israel, but God could not allow him to deliver Israel until Moses had straightened out some things in his own house.

On his way to deliver Israel, Exodus 4:24–26 tells us that the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. Why? You see, Zipporah had a horror of blood and suffering, so she had not allowed Moses to circumcise their son. [Because Moses had allowed this to continue, God could not let him go deliver the Children of Israel until the problem in his house was corrected.] Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet. So God let him go.

Are You Following Divine Instructions?

Is your family in order? Is the Lord going to be able to use you to defeat His enemies and bring victory to His people? Not if your house is not in order.

Is your church in order? Paul gives the necessary qualifications for a Bishop: “One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?).”
1 Timothy 3:4, 5.

There are Seventh-day Adventist Churches and homes all over the world that are not in order, and we need to do something about it! A deacon is a servant of the church. That is what the Greek word diakonos means, and these are the qualifications of servants of the church: “Their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.” 1 Timothy 3:11, 12.

God is going to have an orderly people, because they see it is the way God operates. If you really love God, you will obey His commandments.

I recognize that, no matter how humble, no matter how gentle, no matter how tactful you attempt to be, occasions will arise when people in the family will rebel.

Walking Alone

Ellen White says if you decide to do what is right and walk with the Lord, you might have to walk alone, like Enoch. (See the Youth’s Instructor, April 28, 1898.) I have often pondered that statement, because Enoch was a married man who had children, yet, she said he had to walk alone. I would rather be like Enoch and walk alone than be like Eli!

When you attempt to follow the instruction God has given to help your family come into order, you get in big trouble, and so did Gideon.

When the men of the city arose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was torn down; the wooden image had been cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. When they found out Gideon had done it, they told Joash to bring Gideon out to them so they could kill him. (See Judges 6:28–30.) He knew he was going to have trouble, so he did it secretly, at night.

When you attempt to follow the Lord’s instructions, by getting the idols out of your house and bringing your family into harmony with what God has said, you will be accused of being a fanatic; an overbearing father; an unenlightened person, a hard taskmaster, and all sorts of things.

And if you are an elder and try to help your church come to order, you will be accused of all those things, and more. People will accuse you of being unchristlike. When you attempt to follow the instructions needed to get your family or church in order, you will get in trouble, just like Gideon did.

Accusations Hurled Against the Reprover

People will say the same things about you that they said about Gideon. “You have wronged us. You are guilty. You have destroyed our property. You have destroyed our religion. You are a blasphemer. Since you have wronged us, you ought to be punished.” They will say, “You are too severe. The least you could have done is let us have the idols and let us get the market value out of them. You did not even allow us to recover our investment.”

And here is a real common one: “You took away our power of choice. You did not even let us choose; you have taken away our freedom.”

Let us just examine that for a minute. Did Gideon take away their power of choice? Gideon did not ask them if he could tear their idols down; the Lord told him to do it, and he did it. So did he take away their power of choice? It might seem like he did when you first look at it, but there is something you may have forgotten.

We all make agreements. When we get married, we make a holy, sacred and binding agreement, and it involves contractual relations, covenant promises. These people, who were so angry with Gideon, they and their forefathers had entered into covenant promises with the Lord. (See Judges 6.)

Gideon was not taking away their power of choice when he destroyed the idols. They had already promised not to worship idols! The choice had already been made. Those men had free choice, too. They could have decided to go back and live in Egypt, where they could have worshipped all the idols they wanted. They were free to separate from Israel and go back, but they had not. They wanted to be part of Israel, and being part of Israel meant no idol worship.

I appeal to the men who are reading this article to pray and ask the Lord if you are fulfilling your obligations. It may seem like your family is rebellious now, but the very people who seem rebellious now, can rise up in the Day of Judgment, your wife and your children, and say, Why did you not enforce the law of God in our home?

Where Are the Leaders?

We need leadership today. We need men who will say, “In my house, we are going to serve the Lord. We are going to live according to the Bible and the writings of the Testimonies of God’s Spirit. That is the way we are going to live here, because we have made a covenant to do that.” If you married a woman who was a Seventh-day Adventist, she has already made that decision. You are not asking anything unreasonable to say, “I want everybody in my family to obey God’s Word and to obey the Spirit of Prophecy.” Let me tell you young men, you better not marry somebody who has not made that decision, or you are in trouble.

Gideon was scared. I do not know if you have ever been in that state of mind. I have been, many times. Lord, I am so perplexed. You say do this, and I do not even know how to get started. So Gideon asked the Lord for a sign, and the Lord gave him a sign, but Gideon was still struggling to develop faith.

Lord, please do not be angry with me, he said. Let me ask you for one more sign. (See Judges 6:36–40.) Friends, with the situation in the world today and what we are soon going to go through, if we do not develop faith like Gideon had, we are not going to make it. You develop faith by proving His promises, and you are not going to make it through the Time of Trouble without it.

Gideon decided to do what the Lord told him to do. He issued a summons. He made some enthusiastic, zealous, impassioned appeals, and his countrymen flocked to him—all except the people from Ephraim. 32,000 men came. Even with 32,000 men the enemy outnumbered them about four to one!

God Will be Victorious!

The Lord said, You have too many people. (See Judges 7:2.) If this army goes out and they gain the victory, they will decide they did it themselves.

Friends, God’s work is soon going to be finished, and Gideon’s 300 are going to chase the enemies out of the world. The victory is going to be won in a way so you and I will know that we did not do it.

Gideon was astonished! Lord, you know whom I am up against! God said, I want you to do what Moses told you to do. Before you go to war, tell any man who is afraid to go home.

So Gideon did what the Lord told him to do, and with a heavy heart he watched 22,000 men go home. The majority of his army left. (See Judges 7:3.) They went home because of fear. Fear is a universal part of the human experience. Gideon had been struggling with fear, that is why he asked for those signs. He had received three signs so far, but he was going to receive more. God knew he needed something to bolster his faith and courage.

One of these days, we will find out what it is like to have the majority leave us. If you think that we have been forsaken now, read Testimonies, vol. 5, 80, 81. When the National Sunday Law is enforced, we are going to find out what it means to have the great majority of those who call themselves Seventh-day Adventists leave us. Why? Because of fear! If you are afraid, you are not going to make it.

So You Want to be One of the 144,000?

I have been aghast over the years when I have heard people say they hope that Jesus will come soon so that they will not have to die. They have no idea at all what they are talking about.

In the time of trouble, the 144,000, if they could have the assurance that their sins were forgiven, would not shrink from torture or death. If you are going to be part of the 144,000, you are not going to be afraid of death or torture.

During the Dark Ages they had many forms of torture, and some of the most awful were some of the most simple. In Inter-America, South America and in Europe they took men and women and tied an iron strap around their waist so that they were anchored to a big pillar. Another iron strap would be tied around their neck so that their head was anchored, and another around their ankles so they could not move. From above, they would drip a drop of water on their head.

They would let drop after drop of water fall. It was called The Drip, one of the most terrible forms of torture there is. Each hour they would turn the hourglass, and by the time four or five hours had gone by, the nerves were so irritated that every drop of water hitting their head felt like being pounded with a hammer. By the time five or six hours had passed, they could literally go insane, losing all their mental and physical functions.

When a prisoner was tied to one of those pillars, they, and their tormentors, knew exactly what was going to happen, and they knew what the consequence would be.

Those being tortured would say, Lord, unless You help me and deliver me, I am sunk. And unless the Lord helped them, the time would come when they would say anything and do anything to be free from that bang, bang, bang on their head. The 144,000 are going to be people who will not shrink from something like that.

Overcoming Fear

How are you going to overcome the problem of fear? As I read through the Bible, I find that fear is the universal experience of a man who is alone. There is only one Biblical solution to the problem of fear, and that is to have Jesus with you. If Jesus is not with you, you are going to be afraid. If He is with you, you will not be afraid. There is no human solution for fear. Isaiah 41:10 has the solution. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” You do not need to be afraid, because God says He is going to be with you.

There were several times during Jesus’ life on earth when the disciples were afraid, until Jesus came. For instance, the disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee and they saw Jesus coming. They thought He was a spirit, and they were terrified. “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer. It is I; do not be afraid.’” Matthew 14:27. “Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’” Matthew 17:7.

The Presence of Jesus Removes Fear

You see, it is the presence of Jesus that will take away your fear. There is nothing else that will do it. When we are faced with the kind of experiences that we will be going through, there is no psychology, no human rationalization that can deliver us from fear.

“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5, 6.

Gideon only had 10,000 men left. The enemy outnumbered him twelve to one. The Lord comes to tell him that he still has too many. The Lord said, We are going to put the people to a test, and we are going to separate them into two groups.

Meeting the Test

You and I are being tested day by day. Most often, we do not even know it! These people did not know that they were being tested. Very often we are tested in every phase of life. One of the things that amazes me about God is how He works through such simple things.

This was a simple test. He said, Take your soldiers and bring them down to the water. I am going to test them. The people who get down on their knees and drink the water, put them all to one side. The people who walk down to the water, bring it up with their hand and lap like a dog, you put them in another group. So Gideon did that. (See Judges 7:4, 5.)

9,700 soldiers knelt down, leaving only 300 who did not. The Lord said, Take the 300. (See Verse 6.) This was such a great test of Gideon’s faith that the Lord knew he needed some more special help. So the Lord told him, Go down to the camp of the Midianites tonight and you will hear something.

When Gideon got down there, he heard these soldiers talking about a dream one of them had. In his dream a loaf of bread rolled down the mountain, hit a tent and destroyed it. The other soldier said, That is the sword of the Lord and Gideon. The Lord has given the Midianites into the hand of Gideon. When Gideon and his servant heard that, Gideon said, the voice of God is speaking through those Midianites. I know it. The Lord has delivered them into my hand, and I am going to do what the Lord said to do, and we are going to do it now! (See Verses 10–14.)

It is not enough to be without fear. 10,000 were without fear. If you are going to go through to the end, it is not enough to be fearless. What did those 300 men have that the others did not have?

Character Revealed

The simplest event of life reveals character. One of the differences was that the 300 had a sense of urgency. They said, God’s business has to be done now. It has to be our number one priority!

Do you have a sense of urgency? Would you be willing to go into the Time of Trouble right now, or do you want to wait for another generation? What is really top priority in your life? Do you think it is time to finish the work?

People write me, I believe in The Great Controversy, but I do not believe it is time yet to do what you are doing with it. I think we need to distribute The Desire of Ages and Steps to Christ all over the world first. Well, when do you think it will be time?

Others call, or write, “I am opposed to these newspaper ads because I do not think we should do it now.” Let me ask you, friend, when would you like the Loud Cry to occur? Some future generation? Is that what you are waiting for?

You see, the difference between the 300 and the others was the others were going to take their time to get a big drink of water, but the 300 said, This is urgent. We will get a little water on the way, but we are going now!

How Long Must God Wait

How long is God going to have to wait before there is a group of people who are willing to go into battle now? Concerning this battle recorded in Judges 7 and 8, Ellen White wrote, “The most complete system that men have ever devised, apart from the power and wisdom of God, will prove a failure, while the most unpromising methods will succeed when divinely appointed and entered upon with humility and faith.…He [God] is just as willing to work with the efforts of His people now and to accomplish great things through weak instrumentalities.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 554.

I am so happy for that statement. We are all weak, but the Lord said He is willing to work through weak instrumentalities and to do mighty things. “If they would cherish true humility, the Lord could do much more for His people.” Ibid., 553. Although that is a comment on Gideon, it also includes us.

If I would be humble and manifest faith, how much more would the Lord do? Mrs. White says that most of the time, the Lord cannot do for us what He wants to do. (See That I May Know Him, 227.)

Do You Not Want to Go Home?

Do you want your family, your local church, the other churches in your sisterhood of churches, to be in a condition where God can finish the work? I propose that we fast and pray and ask the Lord to help us come into a spiritual condition so He can do for us what He wants to do. What happened after this battle is going to happen again.

“No words can describe the terror of the surrounding nations when they learned what simple means had prevailed against the power of a bold, warlike people.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 553.

If God had done this through 30,000 people, they would not have felt such terror, but when those surrounding nations heard that 300 people had defeated and destroyed an army of 120,000, they knew that it was of God.

Character is What Counts!

What we are up against is not humanly possible either. But that does not matter because of the God we serve. You see, it is God’s work, and success does not depend on numbers. It never has! God can deliver by few as well as by many. It is the character that counts.

Sometimes when people have decided to keep the Sabbath for the first time, it seems like they are all alone; their family is against them; their employer is against them; their friends are against them; everybody they know seems to be against them. Many times I have told such people, “If you were the only person in the whole world who was keeping the Sabbath, it would still be right, and you would still be victorious. Study the story of Noah!”

We know from the story of Gideon, that success does not depend on numbers, and we know that God is going to finish His work in a way that is going to bring glory to Him, and not to us. I want to have the character of the 300. I know that I am not worthy, but it is not a matter of worth.

If you want to be part of this little group, say, “Lord, help me to follow directions. Help me to get my family and my church in order so You can work through us. Help us to have faith and just follow directions so we can have this character experience.”

Be Ye Holy in all Manner of Conversation

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“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13–16.

“The apostle Peter here gives instruction for believers to gird up the loins of their minds. We are to have special care over the thoughts of the mind. We are not to allow our minds to be diverted and allured by different things, because there is something more important for us. If we would allow the mind to take its natural turn, it might dwell upon unimportant things and we receive no benefit thereby.

“Here is presented before us the one great event—the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when the graves are to be opened and the dead be raised, and we are to be changed. This event should fill our mind and crowd out everything else. We want to make the most of the privileges and opportunities we have to prepare for the future immortal life.

“The truth of God has taken us out of the quarry of the world to fit us up for the heavenly temple of God. We may look upon one another and think, ‘There is a great work to be done for that brother and for that sister,’ but we may not take into consideration the work that is to be done for ourselves. And if Satan can get in among the people [and produce] a spirit of criticism, then he is satisfied, for a root of bitterness springs up in these [members] wherewith he will be satisfied. We are not all of the same character, but we are brought together in church capacity and we count ourselves as children of God, and we talk of having a home in the city of God.

“Our faith is that if we perfect a Christian character we shall be numbered as the family of God in the mansions that He has gone to prepare for us. Now, our heavenly father brings us together in church capacity that we may gain in knowledge and be fitting up for the community of heaven. ‘Well,’ some may say, ‘All I want is that everyone should see eye to eye.’ But there are those who want everyone to see just as they do. They do not consider that they have traits of character that must be changed. Then, what is the work before us in order to be ready to be among those who are waiting for their Lord to come in the clouds of heaven? It is for us to be in a position of humility before God. ‘Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’

“The Lord has not placed before one individual the trade of becoming a church tinker, but we want individually to feel that we have a responsibility before God to be a blessing to everyone with whom we associate. And we are to consider that every brother and sister is the purchase of the blood of Christ. Here we are, living stones out of the quarry, and we are to be chiseled and fitted for the new Jerusalem. Do not let any of us think that we are all right. As soon as we are taken out of the quarry, we have a work to do for ourselves. ‘The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh,’ and we want to be considering those things that will give us solidity of character. We do not want to have a high estimate of ourselves, but we want to esteem others better than ourselves. We want that our souls shall be uplifted to God every moment for help, for fear we shall fall. And while some are so diligent to look after others, they will forget the work there is for their own soul.

“We are to heed the exhortation of the apostle, that we are to be holy in all manner of conversation. And as we separate those things from us which will be a hindrance to our advancement, the Holy Spirit will come in. We want to be filled with the spirit of Jesus, and if you are not closely connected with Christ, then the thoughts of your mind will be upon unimportant things; but if you are connected with Jesus, you will just as surely be a channel of light as Jesus is light, for Jesus has said to His followers, ‘Ye are the light of the world.’

“Now, we are by living faith to keep our eyes fixed upon the Author and Finisher of our faith. ‘As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.’

“Before we become acquainted with Jesus, the conversation is upon the dress, and what shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and what shall we wear? And we find fault with one another. But as soon as we become acquainted with Christ, our conversation changes.

“Here we are, objects of His love. Has the change taken place in us? Namely, have we passed from death unto life? Have we died indeed to self? Have we fastened our hearts and affections upon the great God? He is all light and power.

“Every provision has been made for us that can be made by our precious Saviour, that we may have that abundant grace so that we may overcome every defect in our character. And we cannot afford to satisfy ourselves in this life, but we want the fullness that is in Jesus, and we must train ourselves to talk of those things which will bring to us peace and light. As we have our conversation upon heaven and heavenly things, the angels of God are all around us; and when we are, in our thoughts and with our hearts, drawing near to God, then He is drawing nigh to us. His love is in our hearts, and then we speak it from our lips.

“It is not only our duty to train our minds upon heavenly things, but we are to talk of these things, for it is our duty to bind about our mind, to gird up the loins of our mind, and say, ‘I will not think of these things.’ Then it is our duty to guard our conversation.

“We would think, from the shadow that many walk in, that they had no Saviour. But I want to speak to those, and say ‘Christ is risen! He is not in Joseph’s new tomb, but He has arisen and has ascended up on high to make intercession for us!’ We have a risen Saviour interceding for us, and we must walk in harmony with God. He is seeking to ‘purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.’ If we seek with all our hearts to be obedient children, conforming our will to the will of God, then the work can go forward in us without interruption. Let us not forget for one moment that we are living for the future immortal life, and let us put away from us everything like complaint and faultfinding. Let our words, our conversation, reveal to the world that we have a hope that is big with immortality.

“We want that His will shall be our will. We do not want that our will shall be such that it will control all that around us.…

“God wants us to go through the mill. Here this man’s sharp character must be burnished off, and here is one who has taken hold of the truth who has always been coarse in his conversation, and he must overcome that. This is the very thing the apostle means when he says, ‘You must overcome in order to have a home in heaven.’ Jesus must be in my whole work to transform my character. We must accept the truth as it is in Jesus, and then how kind will we be to one another, how courteous, for this was the work of my Master. We shall see the precious mold of Jesus upon the character, and when we learn the precious lessons He has for us to learn, we will be like Jesus. ‘Come unto Me,’ says He, ‘all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.’

“Here you are with your variances and differences. Now, ‘Come to Me,’ says He, ‘and learn of Me.’…”

Sermons and Talks, Book 1, 40–43.

Blessed is the Man

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“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.” Revelation 3:21.

The other evening as I was working at my computer, I became aware of something gently flickering in the darkness outside my window. When I turned the lights off, what I saw held me in wonder for quite some minutes. There is a laurel hedge at the bottom of our garden and each glossy leaf, as it was stirred in the breeze, was catching the light of the full moon. The effect was of hundreds of little silver lights flickering in the darkness. Suddenly I realized that this full moon was the Passover moon, and it was under this same moon that Christ knelt in Gethsemane. In His anguish, His face showed no beauty that we should desire Him, and His body knelt clutching the cold ground with no form or comeliness that would appeal to us. From His face there fell great drops of sweat consisting of blood.

Alone

For so much of His life Christ had thought of others, but on this night He prayed for Himself. “‘Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.’” Luke 22:42. At this point, His life was almost crushed from Him. He had asked for human company to support Him as He had supported them, but they slept. He bore this anguish alone. They had noted nothing more than that He had become “sorrowful and very heavy.” Matthew 26:37. “Not My will, but Thine, be done” was the cry of His heart. Three times He prayed this prayer, but each was preceded by the greatest struggle of His life; His own will in opposition to that of His father.

Above Him, did the olive leaves flicker with the same little silver lights in the moonlight? Was there beauty in nature even while our Saviour, on the ground beneath, fought the greatest of battles? “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame.…”

Do you even begin to understand this experience in your own life? It is not an experience that can be quietly and calmly undertaken, something to be ticked off as another victory over temptation—a clinical step on the Christian road. There may be times when we have overcome and we can look back on our lives with praise to God for victories won, but in each life there is the big problem, the one that keeps returning time and again. What about victory over this? The habits of a lifetime have wrapped their silken threads around us and to break free requires a different experience.

We Must Also Face Our Gethsemane

The Holy Spirit is working with each one of us and leading us to this point. This means we have to face our Gethsemane too. We have to face squarely our temptations, also.

What held Christ in submission to His Father’s will? He knew the purpose for His life; He knew the time on the clock of the Great Controversy—the prophecies that were to be fulfilled in Him, the salvation of the world that lay in those decisions. Is it any different for us? Do we know the time in which our struggles take place? Do we know the prophecies that are to be fulfilled in us? This last generation, us, today, who could be alive to see Jesus come, is the generation that the angels and the prophets have awaited through the years. The three great powers of heaven, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, have worked for this moment in time, a time when all the strands of all ages of prophecy and salvation history will be gathered together and an end can be made of sin.

The character of God has been maligned through many centuries. All heaven is looking to us. Will we do it? Or will the challenge have to pass to another generation to reveal the character of God before the universe and demonstrate the miracle of God’s power in the weakest of human lives? Does God ask the impossible? In this, potentially the greatest of earth’s history, where are we? Do we know what it means to call ourselves a follower of Christ? Are we overcomers with Christ?

What is Your Purpose?

Unless we see the greatness of our purpose and the time in which we live, all our thought patterns will not be strong enough or focused enough to see the temptation and the sin to which it leads, with all its consequences for God and for ourselves. We have the records of Bible characters to show us how they responded to God’s will. Daniel “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8. The three Hebrew young men “trusted in Him…and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.” Daniel 3:28. Ezra, who knew what it was to have the good hand of his God upon him, had “prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it.” Ezra 7:10. These men knew what rested on their lives, in their time.

One of the laws of life is that we have to yield our wishes, our desires, our lusts, and our toys, now, for the greater good of a godly character and an eternal outcome. We cannot live in both spheres at the same time. This is what it means to be a hypocrite, and the world recognizes this state very quickly. Jesus says to us, in these grand and awful times, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24. This involves the initial struggle and yielding to God, to be followed by a life of cross bearing.

Victory Today—More Battles Tomorrow

The devil does not leave us after the first great victory. He returns again and again, and we have to choose and choose and choose again—on rainy days, on sick days, on bad, hormonal days, and on pressurized days.

When our lives are still bound around with those threads of habit, and yet another fine thread continues to attach us to the world, our consciences can be confused. We argue in our hearts and the whole situation is unclear. Justifications for our actions come very readily to our minds, and often we act on those without another thought. Through the Holy Spirit, whose task it is to convict of sin, the day comes for each of us when we long to be clean and have done with the wrongdoing. As we take our courage and go before the Lord to ask for freedom from these shackles of confusion, the power and pleading of the Holy Spirit fills our hearts.

The big choice to be made cannot now be mistaken. There are many smaller choices each day, but when the crucial one comes, we recognize it. The Holy Spirit has shown us clearly what it is that must be denied. What will be our response? It is so easy to say what we will do when we are not in the struggle, but we must prepare our hearts to say a clear and strong NO. During the temptation there is just a little gap, enough to allow us to gather our thoughts and find the perspective we need to be able to say NO. God will not allow us to be overcome and swept away without the ability to choose. Even during this time the devil will try to send confusion of thought. It is at this time that we need to talk to the Lord earnestly and ask, is this the situation you want me to overcome; is this the time you want me to say NO; is this plan of action the one that will keep me out of sin; please make it clear for me, and please give me the power that you have promised. This is not a crisis to cope with alone in human will power, but the occasion to talk to the Lord, second by second, and follow His guidance. His power will not say that NO for you, but it will make it possible for you to walk away without a backward thought, or to throw it away, when you have made the firm and purposeful decision to say NO.

Cutting the Threads that Bind

This process is a cutting of one of the threads that binds us. It hurts. There may be clenched fists, tight shoulders, quickened shallow breathing, sweat breaking out into clammy hands. All of us, deep inside, want it just one more time, and we know we should say NO. But to say NO, talking to God all the time, and claiming verses of Scripture—”make not provision for the lusts of the flesh,” “whatsoever He saith unto you do it.” “let a man deny himself,” “he that overcometh shall inherit all things,” “blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” (See Romans 13:14; John 2:5; Luke 9:23; Revelation 21:7; James 1:12.) We may have only split seconds to think like this, but it is a time of intense mental activity between heaven and earth, between the will of God and our desires, between the Holy Spirit and our decision. “Not My will, but Thine, be done.” At these times the three great powers of heaven, and ministering angels are on our side, but we must make the decision for ourselves. That is the dignity of humankind. We have a choice.

When the choice is made and our heart rests, after the activity, on the side of the Lord, what a peace is ours—and quietness, humility, and exhaustion, too. As we look back on the past few seconds, we know how easily we could have chosen the other way, the way that would have brought dishonor to God. But we have faced the “big one,” and we have overcome. Can you imagine the singing and the rejoicing in heaven? We forget that! Heaven and earth are very close at such times. We may experience tears, but heaven sings!

That gap, for thinking time, is very small, but this is one of the reasons that God shows us a healthier lifestyle, with more fresh fruit and vegetables, clear water to drink, exercise in the sunshine and fresh air. Good sleep is essential too. Can you respond quickly in times of drowsiness and lethargy? A clear mind, the health gifts of God’s creation and a will that we have given to God in advance and asked Him to strengthen, will divinely lengthen that split second gap and make our NO more firm. Every victory is one cord broken, and another habit pattern begun. We are one step nearer the Second Coming of Jesus and the vindication of His character, as the miracle of grace is seen by men and angels, and additional power is given to the Gospel words we speak.

When Jesus Comes—The Tempter’s Power is Broken

For now, the victory is won, but it is easy to relax too far. The devil will soon be back, and he will come again and again. This is the reason we must carry the cross of self-denial as long as we live in this world. But when Jesus comes, the power of the devil will be gone forever. The burden will be lifted from us, and we will not have to make those constant choices. It is then that we shall be able to sing of deliverance, the song of Moses and the Lamb. It will be a song that the angels cannot sing; it will be uniquely ours. Will you make that decision today? The decision that you will meet the “big one” when the next temptation comes, and that you will take up your cross and follow the Saviour until He comes?

“‘Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.’” James 1:12.

I See

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David the Psalmist says, “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalm 139:14. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, created by a God who is infinite in goodness.

One of the most wonderful gifts we have received is the ability to see. The eyes are a marvelous mystery to man. We cannot fully understand how they work.

Medical journals tell us about the eye: The photographic camera is patterned after it, but it is only a feeble approach to the eye itself. The sensitivity of the retina is adjusted to the intensity of the light, and the eye adjusts itself automatically to the varying amounts of light and to the distances near and far. It creates its own transparent skin to separate it from the outer world but to shut out no light. This covering will allow oxygen to pass through it and into the eye, but will not let it escape. It will allow carbon dioxide to escape, but will not allow it to enter. The eye imparts to the brain a perfect picture of everything in front of it with all of the vivid colors and teeming activities, and does it continuously so that the least motion is detected. These pictures are impressed upon the brain so vividly that the record of them remains as long as life lasts. The eye is an amazing thing!

The eye gives us the ability to see in color. God could have given us eyesight to see only in black and white. That would have been all right, but, oh, how much more wonderful is color! Color only comes by way of light. In other words, light produces color.

The Sight of Light

Is it necessary to have physical eyesight in this life to have physical life? Is eyesight necessary for spiritual life? The answer to both questions, interestingly enough, is that everyone who is blind is dependent upon those who see. This is true in the physical world as well as in the spiritual world.

What does God say is needful for us to have sight—physical sight or spiritual sight? “For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light.” Psalm 36:9. Light is necessary for sight.

What is God’s light that gives us sight? Psalm 119:105 tells us, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” God’s Word, if we choose to believe it, is a light that gives us sight.

There is no sight in unbelief. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world.” John 8:12. In John 1:14 we are told that “The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.…Jesus, the Light of the world, came to give sight to those who know they are blind and who desire to see. “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” John 9:39.

There are some people who believe they can see when, in fact, they cannot. Jesus came to open the eyes of those who know that they are blind. Is it not wonderful that as you read through God’s Word, a picture builds before you of what is necessary for our salvation? God’s Word, indeed, is light to those who believe it.

What actually brings condemnation to mankind? “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” John 3:19, 20.

Choosing Darkness

If we, and every human being in the world, are condemned at last, we will not be condemned because we chose darkness. We will be condemned because we did not choose the light. To reject light is to reject Him who is the light of the world. It does not get any simpler than that. The gospel is good news, because it is so simple that even the little ones can understand it, if it is rightly told to them.

Isaiah 59 gives us a tremendous description of how heaven looks at this world and what it sees. It is a description of our world in the dark. “Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.” Verses 9, 10.

That is a description of this world, spiritually speaking. It is a description of the world that lies in darkness; that is what sin brings. Sin shuts the light away. “We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us.…” Verses 11, 12.

Sin brings darkness. Darkness brings blindness. Blindness brings transgression. It is a cycle that continues from generation to generation to those who choose to love darkness rather than light.

When we combine Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,” with John 17:17, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth,” what we see is simply that God’s Word is light, that light equals truth, and that truth gives us sight into the reality of the eternal world.

Ah, to See!

This, too, is a cycle. It can be a cycle as much as sin, darkness, blindness are a cycle. We can choose to have light and truth and sight and reality. We can choose that because the gospel is an alternative to sin.

God has allowed the light of His grace to cover this world through the life and death of His Son, that He might bring the light to a darkened world. The gospel of Jesus Christ is light; it is salvation, and it is reality.

Psalm 34:8 tells us another truth about light. “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” Spiritual sight is not a profession, it is an experience. You can have a profession and be blind. You can have an experience and see.

Tasting is trusting, believing the Word. When we believe the Word, the Word becomes light to us. Then we can see where God wants us to walk.

To be satisfied with a profession or a form of godliness is to choose blindness. Let us look at what the blindness of the leaders in Israel, in Jesus’ day, caused them to do.

Out of Focus

What did they do in their blindness? “Howbeit,” Jesus said, “in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” “Making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”
Mark 7:7, 13.

They put men’s laws in the place of God’s laws. Only blindness will do that! Only darkness would attempt to do such a thing. They put tradition above God’s Word. Spiritual blindness distorts our priorities and puts things totally out of focus.

“Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?” Matthew 23:16–19.

Did they have distortion in regard to their priorities? Oh, yes, they were totally out of focus, and yet they proclaimed themselves to be the children of God, the chosen of God, the light of the world, but their priorities were all upside down. Is it any different in our day?

What Possesses You?

In our day, among professed Christians, men are satisfied with a profession of truth rather than a possession of truth. You and I will never walk through one of those tall gates into the city of God without allowing the truth to possess us. You can hold this truth and walk around with the Bible that has all this light in it; you can put it in your mind; you can memorize it, but if it never gets to your heart, if it never possesses you, you are in the darkness. Possessing truth will take you from darkness into light.

Men today are satisfied with merely professing the truth, not allowing the truth to possess them. Men are satisfied with hearing God’s Word rather than doing it. They are satisfied with following religious leaders more than with following Jesus. That is a sad thing.

I do not care who the man is, he is not Jesus. One of the great distortions of our day is that we find Christians who profess the truth, who are defending a name and a church more than the truth. Is that a distortion of priority? Yes, it is. When we start compromising the truth, while defending an organization or a church, we are in darkness.

The Invitation

The message to Laodicea brings us up to date, as it were, because we are in the midst of the period of Laodicea. Laodicea has some serious priority problems. Laodicea has some serious eyesight problems. Jesus says to Laodicea, “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:17.

Laodicea says, I can see. God says, You are blind. Whom are we to believe, our leaders or God, our own understanding or God’s understanding? Do we have needs? Yes, we have tremendous needs. The description says we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Those are not complimentary statements. Yet, we are patting ourselves on the back for all the wonderful progress we think we have made in regard to the Three Angels’ Messages. Something is wrong with this picture.

Jesus gives a solution, because Jesus always has a solution. He has a solution for every problem that you and I have, no matter what sin it is. In verse 18 He says, “‘I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. And white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.’” You notice that He never forces us—He invites us. The gospel is an invitation from God in heaven who loves us supremely and who is looking out for only our best, our highest good. He will not force our choice, but He will counsel us. He will woo us because He loves us. The “gold tried in the fire” is faith that works by love in the midst of the fire, the fire of temptation, the fire of trial. The white raiment is the wonderful righteousness of Jesus. Truly, to receive Jesus is to receive His righteousness, and it is in receiving His righteousness, imputed and imparted, that we become like Him. His name alone will not save us. His name alone will not transform us, but His righteousness will. Jesus wants us to see—not in black and white, but in color, in reality—the things, that without faith, we cannot see.

Working In Harmony

What is the eyesalve that He wants to give us to help us see? It is His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to see. “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.…” John 16:13. We have learned that truth is God’s Word, and God’s Word is light. This truth is reality, reality from the heavens of light. So He leads us into all truth, “for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.” Ibid.

One–Two–Three

The Holy Spirit always works in harmony with God’s Word, with God’s truth. They always go together, always! John 16:8 tells us that God wants us, through His Holy Spirit, to see three things clearly. “And when He is come, He will reprove [convince] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

First God wants us to clearly see what is sin. We have already seen that sin brings darkness, darkness brings blindness, and blindness brings sin. God wants the Holy Spirit to show us sin so we can understand what sin is, because He does not want us to be blind. Does that mean that He is going to show us sin in everybody else? No. He wants to help each of us to see our own sin so we will not be blind.

The second thing the Holy Spirit is to help us see clearly is righteousness. How is God going to show that to us? By His Holy Spirit, by His Word, and by His truth.

If we are separating ourselves from those, we cannot expect to see clearly. Even if we pray for the Holy Spirit, if we are not bringing our minds into contact with God’s will, we will not see clearly. There is always balance in salvation.

The third thing God wants us to see clearly is the judgment. He wants us to see that we will have to give a personal account to Him of what we have done in this earth. He wants everybody to understand that it is a personal account. We are not saved in groups. We are not saved in families. We are saved as individuals, and we will be judged as individuals. He wants us to understand our personal responsibility to Him.

Receiving Sight

How can a person, who recognizes that they are spiritually blind, receive their sight? We have alluded to it in some degree, but I want you to notice a few things. Let us look at a man who was physically blind, and then healed, and see what we can learn in regard to spiritual healing of our blindness.

“And they came to Jericho: and as He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; He calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto Him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. [I want to see. I want to see the color. I want to see what You made.] And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.” Mark 10:46–52.

Immediately he began to see! Immediately! What did he do after he could see? He “followed Jesus in the way.” Verse 52.

Are You Blind?

What can we learn about spiritual blindness in the physical healing of Bartimaeus? One thing about Bartimaeus, he knew that he was blind. That is number one. We have to recognize that we are blind. We have to know we are sick before we seek a physician. We must know and recognize that we are spiritually blind, that we need help.

Number two, as he cried out to Jesus, he believed that Jesus could heal him. When he cried out, the people said, Shhhh, shhhh. Shhhh, keep it quiet; do you not understand this is a man of God? What did Bartimaeus do? He cried out all the more!

Bartimaeus was determined. He wanted to see, and he knew and believed in his heart that Jesus could heal him. Nothing anybody said could change that faith. He was determined, and we must be determined if we want to see, spiritually. We must show God that we do want to see and that when we receive our spiritual sight, we will follow Him.

Taking Responsibility

I want you to notice, also, that Bartimaeus was being personally responsible. He did not ask anybody else to go to Jesus for him. His faith was laying hold of the Great Healer, personally. It must be personal; there is no proxy salvation! My wife cannot stand in for me, and I cannot stand in for her. It is personal. If we are going to see, then we must address Him personally.

Jesus said unto him, “Go thy way.” I know that he obeyed that command. How do I know? Because he was healed. He obeyed the command because he believed the word spoken to him.

Do we, when we confess our sins before God and in our heart forsake those sins, believe God when He says, I forgive you? We can, because He does. He is a God who is faithful, a God of His Word.

Notice in verse 51, Bartimaeus comes to Jesus. Is it evident that this man is blind? Yes. What does Jesus ask him when he comes over to Him? “What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” Why does Jesus ask such a question? Because He wants us to personally bring our needs to Him. He wants us to verbally tell Him what are our needs. Does He know what you need right now? Does He know your sickness? Yes, physical or spiritual, He knows all about you, but we are to come to Him by faith and let Him know our needs. That is the way that we regain our spiritual eyesight—just like Bartimaeus regained his physical eyesight.

Compromising the Light

Bartimaeus had spiritual eyesight before he regained his physical eyesight. We can have the same spiritual eyesight. God’s program does not change. He is not dealing with dispensational salvation. He does not do one thing one time and then say, this is how we are going to do it next time. It is always the same. He says, I never change. I am the same yesterday, today and forever. (See Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8.) How He saved Abraham is how He is going to save you and me—if we believe and allow Him to give us sight to see, because no one is walking through the gates into the Holy City without spiritual eyesight.

The light, we have already seen, is the most important factor to give us sight. Light and sight go together. A warning is given about compromising the light. This warning deals with losing our sight and how that could happen. “Yielding to temptation begins in permitting the mind to waver, to be inconstant in your trust in God. If we do not choose to give ourselves fully to God then we are in darkness. When we make any reserve we are leaving open a door through which Satan can enter to lead us astray by his temptations. He knows that if he can obscure our vision, so that the eye of faith cannot see God, there will be no barrier against sin.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 92. So we can lose our spiritual eyesight by compromising the light.

Mark 8:22–25 shows us that God wants us to see clearly, not dimly. “And He cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him. And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”

Through the Eyes of Jesus

That is what Jesus wants us to see. He wants us to see men clearly. He does not want us to see men as trees, as just objects to pass by. He wants us to see men in their needs, so we can be used of God to help them. It takes spiritual eyes to see men like that.

What will God’s people eventually see? “Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.” Isaiah 33:20.

The New Jerusalem is a city that shall never pass away, never come to an end. It is a city that the redeemed shall some day see on the horizon as they approach it with Jesus. Can you see it on the horizon? We are told that there is One waiting in the city. When Jesus comes the second time, He comes with every angel from that city. There is only One person left there. It is God the Father, all alone, waiting, waiting, waiting for you. Only spiritual eyes will see that wonderful city some day. I want to have those eyes, because someday I want to see that city, and I do not want to see it from the outside in the second resurrection. I want to see the city on the inside, nevermore to leave.

I Shall See the King

Paul says, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9. But there is more to see! “Thine eyes shall see the king in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”

Some day Jesus will be a reality to these human eyes. Some day, with our spiritual sight and His righteousness, we will be able not only to see the city but also to see the King. We are told in the inspired writings that some day Jesus is going to put a crown, personally, upon the head of every redeemed soul. (See The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 464.) That means you and me, if we choose to make our calling and election sure by allowing God to help us to see and to maintain our sight.

God would have us see clearly sin, righteousness, and judgment. May we each recognize our spiritual blindness and seek God’s healing hand.

Reaction and the Promises of God

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Jesus is going to come, and He will take the true and faithful home. As we watched the new millenium, as it has developed with all of the articles that were printed, the televised programs, and the debates that went on of the complex situations that could occur, it made us stop and think, did it not? Some of you did more than think. You began to react. Some of you put some water back. Some of you stored a little bit of food. Some of you stored a whole lot of food.

Preparing for the Worst

Something could have happened, and we were trying to make necessary preparations for this event that could change the whole world, as we know it. Some said such action showed a lack of faith. Oh, they said, we are not going to put anything back, we are just going to go for it. Then, when nothing happened, they probably strutted around and said, See, I told you so.

But I am telling you, it gave us food for thought. More than food for thought, it drove some of us into starting to do something about the time in which we live. We began to react. Let us consider reaction and the promises that God gives us.

Hebrews 9:28 says, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

Here is a promise that is sure. This is positive. This is better than any savings and loan bank. This is better than anything the world has to offer.

Are You Preparing for Jesus?

What is the key? For those who are looking for Him, He is going to appear the second time. Now that is a promise! The Bible is strong! There are promises about Jesus coming back, but we have to do more than just say an event is about to take place. Many of us made more preparation for the millennium than we are making for the coming of Jesus. As time counted down to the year 2000, we made great preparation. Means, time, and energy were spent in preparing. How much more important it is to prepare for Jesus’ soon coming!

He said, I am going to come back again, if you are looking for Me you will see Me. Oh, it is sad to say that the majority of the world really is not looking for Him to come. They are talking about it, but who will make the necessary preparation? There is preparation needed, by the way.

I love these promises in God’s Word. I cannot think of any subject that should be more appealing to Christians around the world today than the coming of Jesus. People should be getting excited when they think about how near it is. There are things happening all over the world that tell us Jesus is coming soon.

Promises! We live in a world of promises. Every individual has had people make promises to them. They promised you that they would do this. They promised you that they would do that. And you have made promises, have you not?

How Binding is a Promise?

Let us make this personal. You have made promises to family; you have made promises to friends; your friends have made promises to you. Practically total strangers have made promises to you. We promise to pay back money we are loaned, or we borrow something, and we promise to return it. When those kinds of promises are made, what does that do in your heart and in your life?

Jesus promises, “I will come again.” (See John 14:3.) What does that do for you? It has to be more than just reading that He is coming. What does it do in your life? What effect does it have on you?

There are people who have made promises to me that, if I was judging, I would say, because of past experience, they probably would not honor. But do you know what? It gave me a little bit of hope, even if they had failed me times before, that they would follow through with their promise.

So promises then, whether we give them or receive them, somehow lend a little glimmer of hope inside of us. We live in an hour when we need that hope, because there is no hope outside of Christ. There is nothing sure outside of Jesus Christ. (See That I May Know Him, 80.) If we have not made that choice, that decision to follow Jesus all the way, let me tell you dear friends, fence riding will not get it done.

Riding the Fence

The best fence riders, in my opinion, are in Adventism. Yet we are the ones who should not be fence riders. We know that we have to quit straddling the fence and get on one side or the other. We have to begin to make choices and decisions.

We are at a time of year when you hear people say that they made their New Year’s resolutions. They talk about it.—I think they really mean it right then.—I promise you that I am going to do better in school. I am going to watch my diet. I promise you, things are going to be different. I am going to quit drinking. I am going to quit smoking. I am going to quit doing this. I am going to change things around. I promise it is going to happen.

Hope Springs Forth

When you hear those words, hope automatically springs forth inside of you. It does! So when Jesus says, I am going to come back, we say, Man, there is some hope here.

What do we really understand about a promise? I do not claim to know about everything that is involved in a promise. I do know this ( it may not make any sense to you, but it makes sense to me, and believe it or not, I learned it from my mother). She defined a promise this way: A promise is a promise.

A promise is a promise! When it is said like that, it is a must that you do whatever it is you said you would do! Now it is not a Webster’s definition of what a promise is, but it was my mother’s. Sometimes that far outweighs old Webster, does it not? Do we really understand what is involved in promises and the possibilities and the circumstances and the things that could change to prevent your keeping a promise?

There once was a young lady who lay in a coma, in a hospital. She was in the Emergency Room; she had swallowed a large number of pills. If her stomach was not pumped quickly, and the medications put into her system, she would die.

She meant to take her own life. She wanted to die. But after she took the pills and she began to feel her body changing, she became afraid. She picked up the phone, before she became unconscious, and dialed 9-1-1. She said, I took some pills; I need help, then she passed out. The first thing they wanted to do at the hospital was to get rid of the pills that were causing the problem. Having your stomach pumped is not a pleasant experience. But it is a lot better than leaving that poison in the system and dying with it. She thought that taking pills would be the answer to her problems, the answer for a broken promise.

When she recovered, she was asked, Why did you do this thing? She looked up from the hospital bed and said, Because my boyfriend and I broke up. He promised that he would never leave me. He promised that we would be together. He promised me engagement. He promised me marriage, and now he is gone. That is why I did it!

Promises are important. Commitment is important. But you know, I have come to this conclusion, and I think you will also come to this conclusion,—I need more than just promises of family and friends and people that I know and love. It is nice to have those. But in our society today, with the world like it is, I need something stronger than that, because I have seen so many promises that have not been kept. I have seen so many broken commitments.

Everyone is Looking for a Cure

We have to look beyond the situations of life right now, and God is calling us to do that. Did you ever wonder why God gave us so many promises in His Word? Many people have tried to count them. Some say 2,500, and others say over 3,500. Why, in God’s Word, do we have all these promises? Do we really need them?

You will very seldom if ever, find an individual attempting suicide whose life is full of promise. It is when there is nothing there, nothing to live for, no hope anymore, that some individuals want to die.

Do you realize you are here to give hope to the world? This message of hope is to go unto the whole world. You are to give the message of righteousness by faith. You are to give the Third Angel’s Message to give people hope and encouragement, something for which to live. We need hope today.

Depression is a real thing. Someone who is depressed cannot see through the darkness of despair to a future of hope. They think there are no answers to a lot of the questions they have, that there is no place for them to go. They do not know what to do, so they get into a bigger dilemma. Why does God have so many promises? He gives us all of those Bible promises to lift us up.

The Hardness of the World

He knew that we would need encouragement. He knew that things would beset us if we walk in His footsteps. He said things are going to be tough. (See Matthew 5:11; John 15:20, 21.) He knew that we would need to be encouraged, because the world, as we read in inspiration, is going to rub hard against us. If you have not yet experienced that rubbing, that hardness of the world against you, you will. (See In Heavenly Places, 151.)

You should be sensing it right now. The world is getting ready to rub hard against those who love Jesus with all their hearts. You sense it; you see it; you know it. God’s Word has said it. I believe that God put the promises there to encourage me, and I know that He put them there to encourage you.

Some of the most precious promises I have ever read in God’s Word have to do with His Second Coming. He says He is going to come and restore us. I am going to put things back right, He says. That is what you want, is it not? You want things to be right; you want them to be like they are supposed to be.

Isaiah knew about this, and he wrote about these precious promises some 700 years before Christ. He wrote one of the most familiar passages that we, as Seventh-day Adventists, quote: “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.…” Isaiah 65:17. That means something is wrong with this earth.

Former Things Forgotten

Why would He re-create it if it was fine, if everything was all right? That sure slows the speculation and the theories that men are putting out nowadays that everything is all right. I am so thankful that He tells me that “the former [things] shall not be remembered, nor [even] come into mind.” Ibid.

Who would want them to come to mind? In the bliss of heaven, do you want to have to think about all the things that used to be? Absolutely not! Everything is joy and peace forever more in the presence of Jesus. Why a new heaven? Why a new earth? the Bible tells us in
2 Peter 3:9–13. It says this old world is going to be burned up, it is soon to dissolve. It is contaminated. It is diseased. There is something dreadfully wrong with it. And Jesus says He is going to create all things new. (See Revelation 21:5.) How wonderful that is!

Well, you ask, what is so good about the earth burning up? It is wonderful, because when the earth burns up, the enemy will be gone. Sin is going to be gone. There is not going to be a reminder of sin anymore. The old things are passed away, and everything has become new! (See 2 Corinthians 5:17.) Does that give hope? Yes, it does!

A New Earth

I know you do not like growing old. Do you know how I know that? Because I do not like it! We do not want to grow old, but it happens to everyone. We may adjust to it, because we cannot do anything else about it now, but I like the promise that I am going to have a new body. It gives me hope. It gives me encouragement. These Scriptures are specifically for God’s last day people. God is saying to us, and He is promising us, that these things are going to soon pass away. They are all going to be gone, and He is going to make all things new again, and when He does, He is doing it just for us. Thank you, Lord! Six-hundred years before Jesus came, the prophet Daniel received a dream, about the events that would take place. Recorded in Daniel 2 are the events in history all the way from Nebuchadnezzar to the end of the world. It says in verse 44, “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.” In the days of these kings, the God of heaven is going to take charge again. He is going to set up His kingdom. You will not be in the minority anymore; you are going to be in the majority. Is that good news? His kingdom is never going to be destroyed. It is going to last forever. There will be no enemy, no group that can overthrow it.

We live in a society today where we have to be careful about what is happening. All nations are getting ready to turn on each other. The Bible says there will be wars and rumors of wars before Jesus comes. (See Matthew 24:6.) We need encouragement right now when we realize these things are before us. We have to catch a vision of these things that are before us that enable us to maintain, by the Spirit of God, our walk with Him day by day. I am glad that these words were penned. How do you see this passage of Scripture? How do you see what Isaiah had to say about the earth burning up and all the sins and everything all gone? How do you see the vision of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar down to the end of the world? Do you see it as good news, or do you see it as bad news? I see it as good news.

The Lord is King

We see the events unfolding now, and they tell me one thing beyond a doubt, things cannot continue the way that they are. That means some changes will take place. How or what does that have to do with you? What does it have to do with me? It is going to have a lot to do with us. I am thankful that the Bible gives encouragement to me to say that God is going to sit on the throne. (See Revelation 4.)

Everything is going to be wonderful then. Zechariah 14:9 tells us simply that the Lord will be King over all the earth. We are talking about the universe here. The Lord is going to be in charge. “In that day shall there be one Lord.” There are too many false lords around today, too many false prophets, too many mixed messages that are going out, too many people who are confused, too many people who do not know what is truth and what is right, too many people trying to run things and rule things.

When God is back on the throne, no one is going to remove Him. I am thankful that God wanted us to know about His plan for the universe. He wants us to know these things, because it gives us hope today.

In fact, He gave us good instructions. There is a passage of Scripture I am sure you have put to memory. It says, “She shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21. Does that not encourage you? We know that Jesus has come! The world may not know it, but we know that He has come. We did not see it; we were not there, but by faith we know it. We know that He has come because of the promises of God’s Word! We have got to hold on to those promises; then we will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He came and that He lived a victorious life.

Saving His People

Do you know where Jesus is right now? Do you know what He is doing right now? John 14:1–3 tells us He has gone to His Father’s place to prepare a home for us, and He will return to take us there.

There are several things that He said were going to take place. As we read the Beatitudes of Matthew 5, He simply says the meek “shall inherit the earth.” (Verse 5.) The meek! It does not say the powerful. It does not say the rich. It does not say the educated. It does not say those with all the advantages. The meek are going to inherit something that has been made new and clean and right again. That is the inheritance that God wants for us. I am thankful for that.

Can You Hear Me, God?

Heaven seems a long way off at times. Sometimes it seems like our faith wanes a little bit, and we ask, is heaven a reality? Is it too far? Is God not big enough? Why does He not hear when I cry for help? Does He not understand what I am going through?

These are legitimate questions, especially for the non-believer. But even as a believer many of us go through times of doubt. When does heaven really begin? It begins, the people say, when Jesus comes. I am telling you it can begin right now, but, dear friends, instead of heaven, there seems to be a lot of hell going on in this earth.

That is what life seems to be like today. Many people, who do not know the Scriptures, who do not understand what happens when you die or what hell fire is, see the world getting worse, and they look around and say, This must be hell.

Christians, if you know your Bible, you understand better, but when is heaven to begin? Testimonies, vol. 7, 131, says it like this: “He will plane and polish the material for His temple, preparing each piece to fit closely to the other, that the building may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Heaven is to begin on this earth.”

Are you “material”? You can be if you want to be. It says that the material that inherits eternity has to have a little bit of planing. He is going to do a little polishing. When you talk about cleaning and polishing, dear friends, you are talking about things changing. You are going to fit somewhere in heaven, but you are not going to be there all by yourself. You would not want to be. He is taking every piece, that is you and me, and He is shaping us so that we fit closely together. That is His desire for us even now so that we might experience heaven here on this earth. Oh, what a challenge. That means we may have to make some changes. Have you acted today like you are in heaven?

Heaven Begins Right Here on Earth

If heaven begins here on this earth today, do we find that we have the peace that passeth all understanding? (See Philippians 4:7.) Do we find the faith and the love of Jesus, and all of the fruits of the Spirit, manifested in our lives today, as we deal with others? Here is the key! “When the Lord’s people are filled with meekness and tenderness, they will realize that His banner over them is love.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 131.

He is looking for a people who are meek, because the meek shall inherit the earth. Oh, how hardhearted we have become, because we live in a hard world. We are letting the world mold us, rather than us molding the world. That is why we become hardhearted. That is why we do not care about our brothers or sisters, or about the needs of others.

Jesus says that the meek are going to inherit the earth when the Lord’s people are filled with meekness and tenderness. Then they are going to realize that His banner over them, that which protects them, that which builds them up, that which finishes them off, is love. How wonderful that is! Do you sense it? Do you realize that His banner of love is over you? His protection is over you. He is taking care of you. He is meeting your needs every day of your life. What hope and encouragement that should give us.

There are people who think that one day Jesus is going to come, and they are going to say, I am ready. Really, without any kind of effort at all? You are going to have to do your part, and you must understand that. Testimonies, vol. 5, 345, says, “Character will be tested.…Each one has a personal battle to fight. Each must win his own way through struggles and discouragements. Those who decline the struggle lose the strength and joy of victory. No one, not even God, can carry us to heaven unless we make the necessary effort on our part.”

Is that not amazing? Every one of you has a character. The only way you can win a battle, the only way you can be a child of God, the only way you can enter into the kingdom, it says here, is to struggle through your own discouragements. We usually give up before it ever begins. We say, Well, if that is the way it is, I am out of here.

Struggle Through

When the discouragement comes, you must struggle through with God’s help. That is how you are going to win your place in heaven. That is how you are going to shine. That is how you are going to be tested to see whether you are good material for the kingdom. God is not taking any bad material. He is not taking any cracked material. He is not taking any kind of material that is not perfected. If we give ourselves totally to Him, He is going to finish that job.

If, by the grace of God, you get into the kingdom, you do not want some sin to come out there. It is not going to happen again, but you would not want it to, would you? You want forever peace and joy, do you not? Do you have some fight in you? Spiritual fight? When the battle rages and all around you seems to be lost, can you stand and fight? Can you go right to your knees and know that God is going to hear you? Then, when you get up off your knees, do you march forward like everything is done already? Is that not what God wants you to do? Yes, it is! That is why He gives you these promises. That is why He makes these promises to you.

You pray, and you believe, and you claim His promises, and you move on. If you do not have any fight left in you, if you decline the struggle, you are going to lose strength and the joy of victory.

Have you seen your family change, your own life change, and circumstances change that you thought were unchangeable? That is victory! You tasted that victory, and oh, it is good. It is wonderful! You love that victory. But Mrs. White says that if you lose that struggle, if you lose that spiritual fight, if you do not want to fight anymore and you are backing away from it, she says that you “lose the strength and [you lose] the joy of victory.” She goes on to say, “No one, not even God can carry us to heaven unless we make the necessary effort on our part.…Christ is our model; imitate Him, plant your feet in His steps.” Ibid. Is there victory? Put your feet by faith in the steps of the Master. Oh, dear friends, victory is going to be sweet.

Satan Uses the Indolent

There are going to be some people who are not safe to take to heaven. They can claim they belong to this group and that group and say they followed this one and they have done this, and they have gone to church, and they paid their tithe
and on and on.

“By withholding that which God has given us to use in His service, be it time or means or any other of His entrusted gifts, we work against Him. Satan uses the listless, the sleepy indolence of professed Christians to strengthen his forces and to win souls to his side.…We can never be saved in indolence and inactivity. There is no such thing as a truly converted person living a helpless, useless life. It is not possible for us to drift into heaven.…Those who refuse to co-operate with God on earth would not co-operate with Him in heaven. It would not be safe to take them to heaven.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 280.

Do we work against God? You know what you are doing. The Bible tells us that is a losing cause. (See Joshua 23:16; Deuteronomy 8:19.) Withholding anything which God has given us, whether it is time, means or any other entrusted gift or talent we have is working against God. (See Matthew 25:14–30.) Satan likes nothing better than to use professed Christians. The devil wants to enlist you into his service. Why? So he can laugh in the face of the Master, pointing out our failures as His failure.

Let me tell you, dear friend, we are a pathetic mess without Jesus. The sleepy, indolent, professed Christian, Satan puts on his side. We can never be saved in indolence and inactivity. We need to be active in the service of God, according to our age and ability. You can be active. Perhaps you cannot do anything physically, dear friends, but you can pray up a storm. I do not know anything more valuable. Prayer is the key. As long as we have our mind, we can pray. We may not be able to get out of the house. We may not be able to pass out books. We may not be able to give Bible studies, but we can be a prayer warrior. God says inactive people will not make it to the kingdom of God. (See My Life Today, 276.)

Cooperating with God

Dear friends, are you cooperating with God now? If you are fully cooperating with God right now, you are safe to take to heaven. If you are not, and you are rebelling against God, then you are not safe to take, and He will not take you into heaven.

Some of us have gone into the listless, lazy state, because we have passed the year 2000, and we just wonder how long it is going to be. Dear friends, do not worry about it! Just make sure that you are ready! Are you ready to meet Jesus right now? Have you really given Him your all? Have you really grasped His promises and know that they are sure and as steadfast as God Himself?

He said, “I will come again.” He says, I want to receive you unto Myself, so where I am ye may be also. (See John 14:3.) That sounds like He is almost pleading, does it not? What is there in this life that is holding you back? What is taking your time and your talents? What has lulled you into a sleepy state? Is it a brother? Is it a sister? Has something happened in your life? Now is the time to give it to God, get past it, and rededicate your life to Jesus.

If there are changes that need to be made, and we are not really grasping those pure promises of God, we do not realize that things are soon to pass away and everything, as we know it, has changed. The world is a different place today. These are very trying times in which we live, and evil will magnify, the closer we get to Jesus. Jesus says, He is coming. He will come again, and I cannot miss that. I do not want anything in my way that might cause me to miss that.

He knows your heart and your life. There is nothing this world can offer worth missing out on heaven. We cannot afford to miss the calling that God has on our lives. God has a calling on you, do not disappoint Him in that calling. He has people that only you can reach. He is trusting you to do it. He is trusting you and me to rightly represent Him. When we say, I am a Christian, I am a child of God; He is trusting us to represent Jesus to the world. Do they see Jesus in you? If not, let us make sure to grab hold of those promises today. This can be the most beautiful spiritual time of your life.

The Prodigal Son

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Do you need to know that God loves you? It is good to know that Sunday laws will very soon be passed in the United States. It is nice to have foreknowledge of what is coming, but what we really need to know is that God still loves us.

The impending conflict is right upon us, but not one of us are ever going to get through it unless we know the Father’s love. It is the only way that we can survive the prison cell. It is the only way that we can face the stake.

Letting Go

Luke 15:11, 12 states, “And He [Jesus] said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of the goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.”

Can you imagine the struggle this father went through? That was the most humiliating thing that a son could ask of his father—Give me what is mine, my inheritance, now.

The father knew what the consequences would be if he gave his son his inheritance. He knew what he was going to do with it. He knew the choices the son would make, but the father gave the son his inheritance.

In the book Christ’s Object Lessons, 198, Ellen White wrote: “The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, bring out in distinct lines God’s pitying love for those who are straying from Him. Although they have turned away from God, He does not leave them in their misery. He is full of kindness and tender pity toward all who are exposed to the temptations of the artful foe. In the parable of the prodigal son is presented the Lord’s dealing with those who have once known the Father’s love, but who have allowed the tempter to lead them captive at his will.”

Intrusions

Have you, as an historic Seventh-day Adventist, once known the Father’s love but now find yourself being led captive at the tempter’s will? Are you feeling miserable, wondering if God is going to allow you to remain in that misery? This parable is for you. It is for me. It is for those who have once known the Father’s love but who have allowed other things to get in the way.

You see, the young man allowed awful things to get in the way. That could be our temptation, but it could also be our temptation to allow good things to get in our way. We do good things thinking that will appease and bring our acceptance before God, but it will not. It only separates us from God. Good things are a result of the fruits of knowing the Father’s love; they are not the roots.

So the father, with an aching heart, gave to the boy his living, his inheritance. Verse 13 says, “And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” The young man went out and thought, “Boy, I am going to live it up now. This is the way to life, joy, happiness, and satisfaction.” No longer in the father’s house, he was rough and tough, thinking he would get away and have a good time.

The Rat Race Begins

For a while he did enjoy himself, or so he thought. The devil was tricking his mind. The devil was leading him along with a rope saying, Hey, if you just make this amount of money, or if you just get this or that, you are really going to be happy then. But he was not happy. He “wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.” Verses 13, 14.

Somehow the wages of sin, the pleasures, did not satisfy. Somehow the things that were supposed to fulfill and bring joy and happiness only wrapped him in cords from which he could not be set free. All that the devil had held out to give such contentment and satisfaction, only made him miserable, guilty, and despondent.

“What a picture here of the sinner’s state! Although surrounded with the blessings of his love, there is nothing that the sinner, bent on self-indulgence and sinful pleasure, desires so much as separation from God. Like the ungrateful son, he claims the good things of God as his right. He takes them as a matter of course, and makes no return of gratitude, renders no service of love.…Whatever the appearance may be, every life centered in self is squandered. Whoever attempts to live apart from God is wasting his substance. He is squandering the precious years, squandering the powers of mind and heart and soul, and working to make himself bankrupt for eternity. The man who separates from God that he may serve himself, is the slave of mammon. The mind that God created for the companionship of angels has become degraded to the service of that which is earthly and bestial.…If you have chosen such a life, you know that you are spending money for that which is not bread, and labor for that which satisfieth not. There come to you hours when you realize your degradation. Alone, in the far country, you feel your misery, and in despair you cry, ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Romans 7:24.” Ibid., 200, 201.

Destined to Misery

That is how this young man felt. Who could set him free from this body of death? Who could help him escape the thralldom of sin in which he had gotten himself? How could he be set free? Was it possible, or was he destined to a life of wretched misery? Was there hope for him? The young man did not see any hope for himself. He was a slave to the old man of sin.

Who could set him free from the body of that death? He did not know of anybody who could. But he kept trying to find somebody, something, that could set him free, somebody, somewhere that could provide the peace of mind for which he longed.

A Broken Heart

Several years ago, before my dad passed away of cancer, my older brother was involved with drugs. He was ruining his life with various pills, because he was trying to find peace of mind. He could not find it. He came into my parent’s home and threatened their lives. It was a horrible situation. Dad was coming to the end of his rope. He did not know how to be set free. He did not know how to deal with his son who wanted to kill him.

I thank God that I had the opportunity to talk with my parents in their home. My dad was almost in tears. This 65 year-old man, whom I have looked up to all of my life, said, “Bill, I do not know what to do. I do not know how to be set free from this. I am miserable. I do not know what to do with your brother. I do not know how to handle it.”

I looked at my dad and said, “Dad, three years ago I was in the same situation, but, Dad, I found that through the power of Jesus Christ, I could handle anything. And you can be set free! You can have peace in this situation.”

Three days later my dad, with this heavy weight upon his shoulders, went to his bedroom and kneeled down at his bedside, for what I believe to be the first time in 65 years. He said, “Jesus Christ, if You are there, as my son says You are, please set me free. Please deliver me from this burden.”

He told my sister that when he went to his knees, he felt like a huge sack of potatoes was on his back. And he said that, as he prayed, it fell off. The Father’s love had been following Dad for 65 years. The Father’s love is so intense!

Straight-Laced and Old-Fashioned

The prodigal in the Bible looked upon his dad as rigid. Dad was hard! Dad demanded of him certain things, and the young prodigal ran away, because he thought he wanted a happier life. But it was not happier!

Verse 15 says, “And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.” That is just the way we are, is it not? He tried to find every possible place to find peace and satisfaction, except going back home.

He had a lot of time to think of what a miserable existence he now had and what a mess he had made of his life. “And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.” Verse 16. The world is a cruel place.

Unutterable Longing

All the while, as the son is far away from his father’s house, trying to find contentment in the things of this world, somebody has an aching heart. Every morning that the son has been gone, someone is seen walking down the long lane to the main road. Every day he goes out to the main road and looks down that road, because he longs to see his son come home. He longs to see his boy.

Every day he returns to his house with an aching heart, to begin that day’s toil. He works with an aching heart; he eats with an aching heart; he lays down in bed at night with an aching heart and with a prayer, “Please, son, come home! Please come home!”

“The love of God still yearns over the one who has chosen to separate from Him, and He sets in operation influences to bring him [us] back to the Father’s house. The prodigal son in his wretchedness ‘came to himself.’ The deceptive power that Satan had exercised over him was broken. He saw that his suffering was the result of his own folly.” Ibid., 202. It was not someone else’s folly.

Placing Blame

How often, when we find ourselves in a bad situation, do we blame everybody else but ourselves? Well, if so-and-so had not done that, then I would not be in…As long as we are saying, somebody else made me do it, or it is her fault, or it is his fault, we will never go back to the Father’s house.

In Luke 15:17 it says, “And when he came to himself.…” The prodigal son finally realized that it was his own fault, he had done the action; it was his problem, and he had to resolve it with his father.

The psychology of today says, Well, your mom and dad allowed you to do such and such when you were a child, and now that you are grown up, your situation is their fault. No, it is not your parents’ fault! It is your fault! Until we are willing to acknowledge that it is our fault, we will never go back. The prodigal son came to himself. He realized that it was his problem, and then it was that he could head home.

“He saw that his suffering was the result of his own folly, and he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father.’ Miserable as he was, the prodigal found hope in the conviction of his father’s love. It was that love which was drawing him toward home. So it is the assurance of God’s love that constrains the sinner to return to God. ‘The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.’ Romans 2:4. A golden chain, the mercy and compassion of divine love, is passed around every imperiled soul.…The son determines to confess his guilt. He will go to his father…The young man turns from the swine herds and the husks, and sets his face toward home. Trembling with weakness and faint from hunger, he presses eagerly on his way. He has no covering to conceal his rags; but his misery has conquered pride, and he hurries on to beg a servant’s place where he was once a child.” Ibid., 202, 203.

Drop the Hammer

A lot of people, who were raised Seventh-day Adventists, view the writings of Ellen G. White as a hammer. She says do not do this and do not do that, but do you know what? The Spirit of Prophecy was given to help us come to ourselves, to show us where we have come short, so we will go to the Father’s house. Over and over again I marvel at the stories I have read of the gift of prophecy and how Ellen White dealt with people. She did not hammer them over the head.

  1. D. Faulkhead was a gentleman in Australia who worked for the publishing house. He was a high-ranking, thirty-second degree Mason, involved in the secret societies, and he was spending much time in these societies. Shortly after Ellen White arrived in Australia, in 1891, she was shown the experience of Mr. Faulkhead. She wrote it all out on paper and was about ready to send it to him when the Lord said, “Put it away.” A few months later she was shown another vision of Mr. Faulkhead and how he put very little money into the offering plate at church, but he put a lot of money into the Masons.

Mrs. White wrote it all down, and she was about to send it to Mr. Faulkhead, when a voice said, “Put it away and do not send it.” This went on for an entire year. Then toward the end of that year, a gentleman came to the publishing house, as Mr. Faulkhead was about to leave Adventism all together, and asked, “What would you do if Ellen White were given a vision about your life?”

Mr. Faulkhead said, “It had better be a strong one. It had better be a powerful vision or I will not accept it.”

The Secret Sign

Shortly after that Mr. Faulkhead and Ellen White got together and visited. And Mrs. White said, “You know, for the last year I have seen ten visions about your life, and now I will read some of them to you.” She began to read everything about his life, about how he was putting less money into the offering plate and putting more into the Masons, about how, in the Mason meetings, people were calling him Worshipful Master.

In the course of the conversation, Ellen White made a sign. N. D. Faulkhead was shocked. He looked at her and said, “Where did you learn that sign? Where did you see that sign?”

She said, “What are you talking about?

Mr. Faulkhead said, “That sign that you just gave was something that only the highest-ranking Masons know.”

Mrs. White continued her testimony, and after a short while, she made the sign again.

Mr. Faulkhead stopped her and again inquired where she had learned the sign.

“That was the sign that the angel showed me,” she replied.

As a result of Ellen White knowing that sign, which only the angel of God could have shown her because no woman was allowed to have that high of a rank in Masonry, and because of her testimony, N. D. Faulkhead became a follower of Christ again, and he remained a Seventh-day Adventist for the rest of his life. (See Ellen G. White Volume 4, The Australian Years1891–1900, by Arthur L. White, 1983, 49–54.)

So what was the purpose of the Spirit of Prophecy? It was to bring Mr. Faulkhead to himself, to help him recognize where he was going and where God wanted him to be.

A Rebuke From God

Another gentleman, a rather famous evangelist named M. E. Cornell, worked with J. N. Loughborough in San Francisco, California, holding evangelistic meetings. While they were holding the meetings, they were separated from their families.

Mr. Cornell began to be a bit too familiar with some of the women at the meetings. J. N. Loughborough said, “You know what you are doing is not right. You have a great influence here. If you do not stop being so familiar with the ladies, you are going to destroy your influence.”

Mr. Cornell said, “Leave me alone, Loughborough. I am going to do what I want to do.”

The situation got so bad that the church in San Francisco was going to have a business meeting to get rid of Mr. Cornell. Just before the business meeting, Mr. Cornell received a letter in the mail from Ellen White in which she told him that he was being too familiar with the ladies, that the Holy Spirit had revealed to her that his activities had to stop or he would go deep into sin and walk no more with the people of God.

As J. N. Loughborough went to the meeting that night, he was met by a man by the name of M. E. Cornell, but this was not the same man that he had known before. This man was broken, because Ellen White, with the power of the Holy Spirit, had spoken to him. He came to himself, and he was saved for the Advent message and for the gospel. (See Ellen G. White Volume 2,The Progressive Years 1862–1876, by Arthur L. White, 1986, 363–366.)

A Verbal Death

A young watchmaker in Switzerland become a Seventh-day Adventist, but one day he did something inadvertently and some of the older folks in the church in Switzerland chastised him verbally. They were pretty tough on him, and as a result, he left the church. He did not want to have anything to do with the old folks who were so rough on him.

He became an apprentice to a watchmaker with a flourishing business. In one year he was going to have his own shop and make a lot of money. But he was doing things that he knew he should not be doing. He was working on the Sabbath and getting involved in other things that he knew were wrong.

It just so happened that one day Ellen White’s watch broke. It was sent to this young watchmaker to be fixed. The night before Ellen White was to pick up her watch, she had a vision of this young watchmaker. She saw how he had been unkindly treated by the older people in the church in Switzerland. She saw the path that his life had taken, and she saw how he had walked away from Seventh-day Adventism.

The next morning, when she went into the watchmaker’s shop, she picked up her watch from the young man, and then she looked at him and said, “You know, I have seen you before.”

The young man looked astonished and said, “I have never seen you. Where did you see me?”

Ellen White said, “I saw you in vision last night. I saw how those older folks had treated you so rudely in that church, and I saw how you left keeping the Sabbath. I saw how you left off from following Christ. I saw it all,” and she continued, “Now, I am not going to leave this shop until we kneel together on this floor and you rededicate your life to Christ.”

Why did Ellen White give that message to that young man? So he could come to himself, rededicate himself to Christ and become a Seventh-day Adventist again. (See Ellen G. White in Europe 1885–1887, by D. A. Delafield, 1975, 233.)

The purpose of the Spirit of Prophecy is to bring us to ourselves, to realize our need to return to the Father’s house.

A Heart of Compassion

So the young prodigal heads for home. “Little did the gay, thoughtless youth, as he went out from his father’s gate, dream of the ache and longing left in that father’s heart. When he danced and feasted with his wild companions, little did he think of the shadow that had fallen on his home. And now as with weary and painful steps he pursues the homeward way, he knows not that one is watching for his return. But while he is yet ‘a great way off’ the father discerns his form. Love is of quick sight. Not even the degradation of the years of sin can conceal the son from the father’s eyes. He ‘had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck’ in a long, clinging, tender embrace.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 203.

I am thankful it did not say that when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him coming and turned and went back to his house. It says that his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. “And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.” Luke 15:21.

I do not think the father heard a word his son said. We are told, “But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.” Verses 22, 23.

When we start taking steps toward the Father’s house, He comes yearning, running to us. “The father will permit no contemptuous eye to mock at his son’s misery and tatters. He takes from his own shoulders the broad, rich mantle, and wraps it around the son’s wasted form, and the youth sobs out his repentance, saying, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight.…’” Ibid., 203, 204.

Come Home

Have you been running from the Father’s house and right now feel pretty miserable? Do you feel that you have to get yourself a little bit better before you can return? You just have to clean up a few more things and then you will be ready to go back to the Father’s house, is that how you feel? If you wait until you get everything in order, you will never get there. You will never get back to the Father’s house.

“Do not listen to the enemy’s suggestion to stay away from Christ until you have made yourself better; until you are good enough to come to God. If you wait until then, you will never come.” Ibid., 205, 206. The fact that we feel miserable, hopeless, discouraged, or guilty is the very reason why we need to run in haste to the Father’s house. “When Satan points to your filthy garments repeat the promise of Jesus, ‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.’ John 6:37. Tell the enemy that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Make the prayer of David your own, ‘Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.’ Psalm 51:7.

“Arise and; go to your Father. He will meet you a great way off. If you take even one step toward Him in repentance, He will hasten to enfold you in His arms of infinite love. His ear is open to the cry of the contrite soul. The very first reaching out of the heart after God is known to Him. Never a prayer is offered, however faltering, never a tear is shed, however secret, never a sincere desire after God is cherished, however feeble, but the Spirit of God goes forth to meet it. Even before the prayer is uttered or the yearning of the heart made known, grace from Christ goes forth to meet the grace that is working upon the human soul.

“Your heavenly Father will take from you the garments defiled by sin. In the beautiful parabolic prophecy of Zechariah, the high priest Joshua, standing clothed in filthy garments before the angel of the Lord, represents the sinner. And the word is spoken by the Lord, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him.…[and as they did, He said] Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.…’” Ibid., 206.

So, brothers and sisters, if we would take one step toward the Father’s house today in repentance, He will come running to us today. He loves us today. Our case is not hopeless. If you are being drawn to Him, you have not committed the unpardonable sin, and you can find joy. You can find peace today, if you choose to return to the Father’s house.

The Consecrated Way, Part I – Peter’s Ladder

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The Christian life is never on an even plain. If you are a Christian and you are walking on the level, there is something wrong with you. You must always be climbing in the development of Christian character. If you are not climbing, you are automatically going downhill. This article is designed to afford us the opportunity to do some climbing—a ladder, Peter’s ladder.

“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:1-4.

The Path to the Foot of Peter’s Ladder

I believe the Lord expects each and every one of us to climb that ladder in our development of Christian character. If there is any hope of us developing a character like that of our Lord Jesus Christ, such as Peter talks about, this is the process. Apparently there were some who had obtained that precious faith.

It is necessary for us to apply that which the Lord has given us in His Word so that we can become more and more like Him. Why do we go to church Sabbath after Sabbath? It is not to fellowship; it is not to be entertained; it is to learn the prescription that God has for us that moves us out of a sinful nature into a divine nature. There is a process that is necessary for us to go through so that we can indeed reflect the image of Jesus in our lives. That is why we go, so we might be able to glean some word, some help along that pathway to the kingdom of heaven.

There are several things that come to our attention in this passage. Notice verse three says, “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.”

Divine Power

Divine power, from which we may partake, is there. It is ready, and available for us. The Lord does not expect us to accomplish something that is impossible for us to do. He only asks us to accomplish that which is possible. If it is possible to accomplish divine principles, then He is going to give us the power to accomplish divine principles.

Our problem is that, much of the time, we try to accomplish divine principles in our own human strength. We cannot do it. It does not work. It takes divine power to accomplish divine principles. And so, He has given us that power. How do we grab hold of that divine power? It is through faith; faith that will allow us to do what God says to do.

All too often we find ourselves listening to the voice of the deceiver, paying attention to what he says and do nothing about the things that pertain to life and godliness that have been outlined for us. That divine power is ours, and it is backed by divine promises. Verse four tells us that divine promises allow us to come into the presence of God and to become a partaker of the divine nature.

That holds quite a challenge, coupled with the incentive that there is the possibility, through divine power, that we can become a partaker of the divine nature. I do not know how many of us can grasp that kind of challenge, that we do not just have divine power to live a natural life, but we have divine power that helps us to become partakers of the divine nature. That is what Peter is trying to convey to us.

If, somehow, that could just sink into our consciousness, I believe it would make a tremendous difference in the lives of Christians today. We can indeed become partakers of the divine nature. All of this, of course, is for the purpose of helping us climb the ladder, step by step, round by round, to lead us into an experience with our God and allow us to, as Peter says, escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust,” through desire.

“Giving All Diligence”

That is what is before us in this work. Verse 5 says: “And beside this,” or in addition to this, (in addition to the divine power that is given to us so that we can become a partaker of these precious promises, and then the divine nature,) “giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.…”

We need to have faith in order to step up on the ladder. The first round is virtue, but we need to have faith to get there, for “without faith it is impossible,” the Bible says, “to please Him.” Verse 6.

What is diligence? I want to share with you what I found in Webster’s Dictionary. It has two definitions. The first definition is “persevering application,” and the second is “the attention and care legally expected or required of a person.”

“And beside this, giving all diligence [persevering application and attention and care legally expected or required of a person], add to your faith virtue.” In Christianity at large, we hear a lot of talk about love, grace, and believing today, but we hear too little of what God actually expects of us. According to what Peter is conveying, there is a legal responsibility resting upon each one of us as Christians.

A Binding Legal Agreement

When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, it places us in a legal agreement with God. Do you know what the theological word for that legal agreement is called? It is called a covenant. God has made a new covenant with His people, a new legal agreement, if you please. He expects something of us and it does not take us too long, as we begin to read the Bible, to discover that God not only expects, but requires something of us.

In the book of Genesis, chapter three, you discover the fact that God has requirements upon His people that are based upon legal aspects. The Lord made, if you please, a legal agreement with Adam and Eve concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was a covenant. The cost of breaking that covenant, or that legal agreement, was death.

In reality, that same agreement is given to each one of us—obey and live. The Ten Commandments are the basis of obedience that God requires of us; they are the covenant. The covenant was ratified or sealed, with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to keep them.

The question we need to ask ourselves is, Are we really taking God seriously? Are we making a persevering application into our lives of these requirements, or do we make excuses instead? The apostle admonishes us to make persevering application to the “things that pertain unto life and godliness,…giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.…” 2 Peter 1:3-5.

A Measure of Faith

Here again is a word that we have heard, that we are familiar with to a degree, but what does it really mean? What is virtue? Going again to Daniel Webster we read, “Virtue, conformity to a standard of right, morality; a particular moral excellence.” So what is Peter telling us? He is saying that the first thing that is necessary is faith, but you do not stop there. You add to it. Without faith, we cannot go any further. Without faith, we cannot climb any higher on the ladder of Christian character perfection.

Faith is essential. Faith grows. How much blood did you have when you were first born? All the blood you have now? No. I do not know the pint capacity of an infant, but I know as an adult it is normally about 13 pints. But you do not have 13 pints of blood as an infant.

When a person is born of the Spirit, a measure of faith is present. At first this measure is a small amount. When faith is exercised, it will grow. Just as the physical body grows. Faith grows as we exercise it and as we come more and more into conformity with what is right.

Of course, the standard of right is the Ten Commandments, the divine principles of God. Divine principles, accomplished by divine power, through divine promises. Do not let anybody ever tell you that you do not need to, or that you cannot, keep the Ten Commandments. Only Christianity in a state of apostasy would ever make such a statement, and it is for sure that the Bible does not teach such a thing.

Everywhere we look in the Bible, we find that we are to give diligence to the Words of God. As Verse 5 said, we are to “add to your [our] faith” a conformity to a standard of right. There are many examples we could look at in the writings of Inspiration to gather some direction concerning this matter of conformity to a standard of right.

Moral Excellence

One example is the life of Daniel. Certainly his was a supreme example of moral excellence, and because of his consecration to the God of heaven, he served as the Prime Minister of Babylon through several changes of government. That only happened to Daniel because of his conformity to the standard of right.

Then, of course, there was Joseph. Kidnapped, sold as a slave into Egypt, being made to do things that were strange to him, he was willing to do what he could to please God. Rather than taking the attitude that it was all God’s fault, Joseph had virtue. A lot of times we excuse ourselves by saying, Well, God put me there; God caused all of this, so why should I worry about it? Why do I not just go with the flow?

You were never called to go with the flow. You were called of faith to virtue. We so often hear of Joseph and Daniel, but there have been men all through the ages who have added virtue to their faith. We can read about them in Hebrews 11.

One we do not hear too much about is King Asa. This man’s life was nearly as exemplary as Daniel’s or Joseph’s, but the Bible does say in 1 Kings 15:11, 14, that “Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father.… [And] Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.” What was it that prompted such a testimony to be written about Asa?

Would you not like Inspiration to record that about your life, that your life was perfect all the days of your life? I believe, in Asa’s life, that it was basically the result of climbing Peter’s ladder.

Prompted to do Right

2 Chronicles gives us an insight into what prompted Asa to do right.

“And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you. Now, for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them. And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, or to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.” 2 Chronicles 15:1-7.

These words had a great impact upon Asa’s life. He began to see that the Lord had great plans for him and for His people. “And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.” Ibid., Verse 8.

There were many areas around him that he influenced by the change. There are some people, who are in administrative positions, who can make change possible through their administration. There are others who can make change by their influence. Asa made change by seeing that all the idols were taken away.

As Asa followed the Words of Inspiration, change began to take place. The question we need to ask ourselves today is, Does that apply to us individually? Of course, it does. But, you may say, I may not be able to make such a large impact as Asa did in removing all the idols of the land of Judah and Benjamin, so why should I try? You have been given divine promises, coupled with divine power, so that you can become a partaker of the divine nature. That rests with us individually.

Learning From Someone Else’s Experience

Asa made a change. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Does that apply to us, then? Can what took place in Asa’s life happen in my life, if I follow the same direction that Asa did? Of course! God, in His great mercy, has left lessons for us who are living right down in the end of time.

Lessons were given by the lives of these people who lived in distant times, and the Lord expects us to study those lives and make application to our own life. He expects us to study them and learn. Paul evidently had anticipated the fact that some would make various forms of excuses to justify not following the counsel. So he goes on to say, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” Verses 12, 13.

The Lord is not playing games with us. There are some very serious issues at stake. Those issues become more and more serious as we near the end of time, because the deception level raises significantly as well.

2 Chronicles 15:8 tells us that one of the important aspects of Asa’s reform, apart from tearing down the groves and the idols, was the re-establishment of the altar of the Lord. Although he renewed, or rebuilt, that altar, as reform was taking place, they did not drive out the Canaanites. They were content to live in those conditions.

Ephraim became as corrupted as the Canaanites, and later, in the days of Hosea, things were so bad that even the Lord could not move them away from their apostasy. Finally the Lord said, Leave Ephraim alone, let him be joined to his idols. (See Hosea 4:17.) Sadly, as a result, in Revelation 7, the tribe of Ephraim is not listed, they are eternally lost.

Before this time, they were in a state of decline, but there were still many who were faithful within the boundaries of Ephraim. The testimony is that “they fell to him out of Israel in abundance.” Verse 9. Just like falling out of a tree, we might say. When we make a commitment like that of Asa—to put the idols of the land away that have been influencing our lives and renew the altar of the Lord, not only in family worship but also in private personal worship—the Lord is going to move for us.

Look again at verse 8. “And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.” Again, this is very important information for us, because I believe we are living in a time that parallels this stage of Israel very closely.

Scripture says, “…Believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.”

2 Chronicles 20:20. If we do not care about the Bible and about the Spirit of Prophecy, that special counsel the Lord has been pleased to give us in these last days; if we are content to ignore what this counsel says, we are going to slide back further, and further, and further, just like Israel did when they did not pay attention to the words of Inspiration that had been given to them.

The testimony of the Bible and of the Spirit of Prophecy is what we need to stand in the strength, the might, and the power of the Lord. If we allow anyone to influence us away from what we know is right, we are going to lose out on eternal life. It is just that simple, regardless of whether or not we believe in the Lord. Jesus says, “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do the things that I ask you to do?” (See Luke 6:46.)

Breaking the Shackles of Sin

Do you claim to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are there things that you are doing that you know are not in harmony with His will for you? Are you willing to change? Are you letting your husband or your wife hold you back from doing what you know you should? Are you letting your work or your friends hold you back? If you are, it is serious business. You are bound by the shackles of sin, and you need to break free.

That is just where the devil would hope that you would stay, but you do not have to remain there. Take that measure of faith that has been given to you. Step up to Peter’s ladder and place your foot on the first round of virtue—giving all diligence, step up on that round.

“The Lord demands uprightness in the smallest [matters] as well as the largest matters. Those who are accepted at last as members of the heavenly court will be men and women who here on earth have sought to carry out the Lord’s will in every particular, who have sought to put the impress of heaven upon their earthly labors.” Review and Herald, January 11, 1912. That should be the goal of every one of us in our walk.

“Ample provision has been made that the people of God may attain perfection of character.…Let every individual draw for himself from the inexhaustible source [divine power] “of all moral and intellectual power, in order that he may work the works of righteousness.…The Holy Spirit ever abides with him who is seeking for perfection of Christian character.” Ibid., November 30, 1897.

If you want perfection of Christian character, mark it down, the Holy Spirit is given so that it can become a reality. This is a promise given in Peter’s instruction to us in 2 Peter 1 . “The Holy Spirit ever abides with him who is seeking for perfection of Christian character.”

Are we looking for a greater abundance of the Holy Spirit, not just an abiding, but an outpouring? We all need to be looking for that outpouring. But we will never receive it until we are seeking for Christian perfection of character. The Holy Spirit will be falling, perhaps all around us. We can be right there in the pew, and it will miss us, and we will be as dry as the hills of Gilboa when we go out the door, while everybody else is soaking wet. That is sad!

Great and Precious Promises

“According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:3, 4.

This is God’s plan. We have stepped on the first round. We are going to climb the ladder as we deal with other issues that move us toward Christian perfection.

A Different Spirit

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The most terrible thing that could happen to us today, is if the blood of Christ on the cross was poured out in vain for us. It does not need to happen, but for the majority of the people in this world, the cross will have been in vain.

The apostle John reduces the teaching of the gospel to one Greek word, Pistos. In our English translations of the Bible, it is most commonly translated faith; in the gospel of John, it is very often translated believe.

Wonderful Things

Hebrews 11 is sometimes called the faith chapter. No one is going to the kingdom of heaven without faith. Verse 6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” It is impossible to please God without faith, and nobody is going to the kingdom of heaven without faith. If you have faith, wonderful things can happen to you, things that most people cannot even believe.

What are some of the wonderful things that can happen if you have faith? Verse 33 talks about people in the Old Testament: “Who through faith subdued kingdoms.” Do you know anybody in the Old Testament who, through faith, subdued a whole kingdom? How about Jonathan and his armour bearer? Two people subdued the whole kingdom of the Philistines! (See 1 Samuel 14.)

Hebrews 11:33 says, they “worked righteousness,” they “obtained promises.” The Bible is full of promises, but the promises do not do any good unless you believe them. When people who were blind, maimed, lame, or diseased came to Jesus to be healed, Jesus would often say, “According to your faith be it on you.” (See Matthew 9:29.) The Bible promises will not do you any good without faith, but if you have faith, you are going to receive the promise. If you do not have faith, you will not receive the promise. That is why the Bible is a dead book to so many people. They do not have faith, so they do not receive anything. They do not think that God is real or that religion is real.

Faith in Action

Verse 33 continues, “Obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions.” Do you know any place in the Old Testament where, because of faith, the mouths of lions were stopped? Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, and by faith the mouths of those lions were stopped. (See Daniel 6.) More examples of things that can happen if you have faith are given in verse 34: “quenched the violence of fire.” Did anyone in the Old Testament escape being burned to death because they had faith? The three Hebrew worthies certainly did! (See Daniel 3.)

There are many, many stories in the Old Testament about people who, by faith, “escaped the edge of the sword.” Just one would be Ehud, the second judge. (See Judges 3.)

Then it says in Hebrews 11:34, “…out of weakness were made strong.” Are you afraid, because you know that you are weak? Did you know that the more you are aware of your weakness, the stronger you can become? People who are weak, and who realize they are weak, will become strong when they look to the Lord. The Lord told Paul, “‘My strength is made perfect in weakness.’” 11 Corinthians 12:9. When you choose to put your trust in the Lord, the weaker you know you are, the stronger you are going to become.

The people of the world find that hard to believe. They cannot understand it, but that is what the Bible teaches. It says, they “became valiant in battle.” Hebrews 11:34. Oh, there are so many stories in the Bible about that, including the three mighty worthies or King David himself. Remember the story that King Saul told David? He said, “If you kill 100 Philistines, I will give you my daughter for a wife.” David said, “All right,” and he went out and killed 200. (See 1 Samuel 18.)

Hosts of Darkness will Flee

There are many stories in the Bible of people who turned to flight the armies of the aliens. When David met Goliath, he turned the entire army to flight. They started to run. (See I Samuel 17:38–52.) I want to tell you, if you have faith, the day is coming when all the hosts of darkness are going to be running from you, too, no matter how many there are. That is what faith is going to produce.

In this world, people become afraid; they say the forces against them are too many. But if you have faith, that does not matter. In fact, if you have faith, the less numbers you have, and the greater the number of enemies you have, the bigger the victory is going to be, because God never loses! Jesus is not only a Saviour, He is a General who has never lost a battle.

If you have faith in Him, you are on the winning side, and you can know that right now. They “became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Ibid. The trouble is, God cannot do very much for His children who do not have faith.

Claiming In Faith

Matthew 13:53–58 tells the story of Jesus being rejected in Nazareth. It says, in verse 58, “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Could they have seen wonderful things happen? They could have, but they did not have enough faith, so they did not see much.

That is the way with a lot of people’s religious experience. They say, Well, I do not see God doing very much in my life—and they do not. God is not doing much in their life, because they do not have much faith; they do not trust Him. Now, faith is not complicated. Faith is just trusting that if God says something, and if you believe it and follow the conditions, it will happen. You do not need to know how you are going to receive it. Mrs. White makes the statement that God has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing! (See The Ministry of Healing, 481.)

A Christian man I knew was in financial difficulty. We prayed together. He said, “Lord, it looks to me that this would be a way that my financial difficulties could be solved. You have told me that You have 1,000 ways to provide for me of which I know nothing. If this is not the way You have in mind, any other one of the 999 will be fine!”

When people put their trust in the Word, and start fulfilling the conditions, becoming obedient and trusting God, God starts working miracles in their lives.

A True Man of God

One of the great stories in Scripture is about a man called Caleb, who had this kind of faith. He was one of the twelve who were sent from the leaders of the tribes of the Children of Israel to search out the land of Canaan. They came back, it says, with a bunch of grapes so big that it took two men to carry it. (See Numbers 13.)

It was a wonderful place! In fact, today, they still dig the soil by the Red Sea and ship it all over the world, fertile soil that drained off from the land of Canaan. In ancient times it must have been one of the most fertile of all the countries in the world. It had a sub-tropical climate; you could grow most everything there. The climate was so health- giving that the descendants in that land had not degenerated as much as the rest of the people in the world. The men of Canaan must have been more than 12 feet tall.

The Israelite men saw these giants in Canaan, and they were afraid, because they did not have faith. They said, “Oh, there are giants there! We looked like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we cannot overcome them.” (See Numbers 13:33.)

A Different Report

The men were saying that the cities were strong and fortified and there were giants. Numbers 13:30 says, “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.’”

Now how did he know that? Nobody else knew it. Had he seen the giants? Yes, he had seen the giants, just as the others had. Had he seen the fortified cities? He had seen them. Did he know about all the difficulties that they were going to have? He knew just as much about it as the rest of them.

Well, then, why did he bring back such a different report? Because he had faith. He knew what everybody should have known. God had promised them this land. He had made that promise to Abraham, and He had renewed it to Isaac and to Jacob. He had worked miracles through Moses to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They had seen God desolate the land of Egypt. They had seen Him dry up the Red Sea so that they could walk through. They had seen all of those things. In fact, they had been living on miracle food and miracle water. They had experienced one miracle after another that God had worked to bring them to this land, and they should have known He was not going to leave them now.

Have you ever met somebody who said to you, “I have committed so many sins, I am not sure whether I can be saved or not”? That was exactly the situation with the ten spies! The Bible says, in Philippians 1:6, that the One who has begun a good work in you is going to finish it. I sometimes ask these people, who often are baptized members of the church, “Has God done anything good in your life?”

“Oh, yes,” they reply, and they start to tell me some good things that God has done for them.

I remind them that if God has done some good things in their life, that He who began a good work in their life is going to finish it. Do you believe that?

The Undefeated

Caleb knew that God would not work all those miracles to bring the people out of the land of Egypt and then just leave them in the wilderness. He knew that God was going to give them the land. Since he knew that, he said, “Let us go take it.”

This is a type of the last days. This earthly Canaan was an earthly type called the Promised Land. Has God promised us some land? Yes, the Bible says that the righteous, the meek, are going to inherit the earth. The whole thing!

Caleb said, “Let us go take it! The Lord has promised it to us.”

But the others said, “No, we are not ready. We cannot make it. We are too weak. They are stronger than we are.”

Remember, if you have faith, you are in the service of a General who has never lost a battle. Never! The fewer your numbers are, and the bigger the hosts of the enemy are, the bigger and the more dramatic the victory is going to be!

Let me also state the negative part of it. You cannot be part of the victory, or even part of the battle, unless you have faith, unless you trust in God.

Faith, the Bible says, comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (See Romans 10:17.) Are you studying your Bible every day so that your faith is growing? Do you have more faith now than you had at the end of last year? Is your faith growing, or are you one of the ten spies who say, “Life is so terrible, I just cannot make it”?

Caleb said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” Numbers 14:34 tells us what the people decided to do. They decided to accept the report of the majority and to reject the report of the minority. This is just one of the times in Holy Scripture where you find that the majority is not always right. In fact, in spiritual things, even in the church of God, the majority has been wrong more often than right.

Because they accepted the report of the majority, instead of the report of the minority, the Children of Israel had to stay in the wilderness for forty more years. “According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, 40 days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection [breach of promise].” Ibid.

A Terrible Disappointment

That was a terrible disappointment. In fact, they were so disappointed that when God told them that they could not go in to the Promised Land, they decided to go in anyway. Moses told them not to do it, but they tried anyway and were beaten back. (See Numbers 14:39–45.) Do you know, friend, that we are not going to go into the heavenly Canaan until God says it is time?

In God’s Time

This world is getting so bad; people wonder how long we are going to be here. We are going to be here, friends, until the Lord says it is time to go home. When will the Lord say that? He will say it when He has a people who have a spirit like Caleb.

What was Caleb’s spirit? “‘Because all these men [the ten spies] who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.’” Numbers 14:22–24.

Caleb had a spirit of faith. The Lord said he would go in to the land, and of that generation, there were only two who went in to the land. Caleb was one of them, and Joshua was the other. Why? Because they brought back a good report, and they said, We are able to go in.

Heaven is a Good Place

“But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land.’” Numbers 14:6–8. Friends, heaven is an exceedingly good place!

As you study your Bible, you will see that the land to which we are going, Heaven, is an exceedingly good land. If you or your loved ones are sick, when you get to that place, the Bible says, there will be no sickness. In Revelation 21:4, the Bible says there is no pain in that place. I have never yet visited a person in the hospital who has not enjoyed hearing that text. We are living in a world where there is all kinds of pain, all kinds of sickness, all kinds of trouble and weakness, but the Bible says there is coming a time when there will be no more pain.

The Bible also says, “There shall be no more death.” Ibid. You will never go to a funeral again, ever! There are no funeral parlors, no undertakers, no mortuaries, no cemeteries and no hospitals, because they do not need them! It is a good place, not just because of the negative things that will not be there, but the Bible says the redeemed of the Lord are going to return to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They will obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing will flee away. (See Isaiah 35:10.)

If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Do you want to go now, or do you want to wait 40 years?

Caleb and Joshua did not figure that they were strong enough, in their humanity, to conquer the people in the land of Canaan. They said, If the Lord delights in us, He will give it to us. It was not the Lord’s will for them to have to gain that land by force of arms. He had a much better plan in mind. He has a much better plan in mind for us, too.

Trials and Tribulations

As I travel around the world, I find that many of God’s people are exceedingly concerned about what we are going to do in the future.

The Bible says that there is coming a time of great tribulation on this world. It says that there is coming a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation, and many people are alarmed about this. (See Matthew 24:21.) A gentleman told me he could help me get some property in a country where nobody would know where I was. There are lots of people who want to go someplace where nobody will know where they are, so when the New World Order, or the great tribulation, or whatever, comes, they do not need to worry about it, because nobody will even know where they are.

Seeking Safety

You can never go to a place in this world where you are perfectly safe. Crime and criminals are everywhere.

In the early eighties, a couple from Australia was getting ready to retire. They looked over a map of the whole world, and they said, We are going to find a place to live where it is safe. They chose a little island that was unknown to most people. This island, at that time, had never been involved in a major war, and it was a peaceful island. “We are going to retire there, and we will be safe,” they said, and they did. The island, that they thought would be the safest place in the world, was in a group called the Falkland Islands. Argentina and Great Britain got into an argument over those islands within a few months after they moved there. There were bombers, fighters, ships, and troops all over that island within a few months after they arrived. They found out that the place that they thought would be the safest place in the world was not safe at all.

My dear friends, if you are looking for some cave, for some mountain hideaway, for someplace nobody else knows about, what you need, more than that place, is faith in God and trust in Jesus. You are a lot safer and better off in prison, if Jesus is with you, than in some cave without Him.

Hiding in Thee

Friends, you are never going to be able to find a perfectly safe place in this world. Perfect safety, in this world, is found only in Jesus. If you do not want to have a nervous breakdown, a heart attack, high blood pressure, or something else, because of all the uncertainties and of all the terrible things going on in this world, what you need more than anything else is faith and trust in Jesus.

God’s people are going to get through the times of trouble that are coming. The Bible says, “Come, My people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.” Isaiah 26:20-21.

Are there times of trouble coming? Yes, there are. The Bible tells us there is coming a time when God Himself is going to come to punish this world for the lawlessness down here, and it is going to be so bad that “The earth will no more cover her slain.” Ibid. It has never before been that bad.

I have seen pictures from World War II showing where they took bulldozers and dug huge mass graves. They did not even know who the skeletons and the people were. They just put thousands of people in these mass graves and buried them. It was terrible!

A time is coming, according to this prophecy, when God is going to come to punish the inhabitants
of this world for their lawlessness. It is going to be so bad, there will be so many people dying, that they will not be able to bury them. Psalm 91:7 says that “a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand.” That is not a figure of speech; that is what the Bible says. How are we going to be ready for it? The only way to be ready is to be protected by Christ and by His angels.

Oh, friend, do you and I have the different spirit that Caleb had? Notice what happened to Caleb and Joshua. They had faith, and the rest of God’s professed people did not. The people wanted to stone them. In fact, within a few minutes, they already had the stones in their hands. They were not just talking; they were ready to take action. They said, We are going to get rid of Caleb and Joshua, because they are going to lead us into a battle where we will all be killed, so it is better that we kill them first.

The Stoning System of Today

So they decided to stone them. Now that was just in the long ago, was it not? We would never ever stone somebody and take their life today. We do not believe in that do we? As I have studied the stoning system, I have realized that, from the divine point of view, you are actually better off if you are being stoned than if you are doing the stoning.

Look at Matthew 23:34, 35: “Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.”

A lot of people are like that still today. They are afraid that if you proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages openly, you are going to be killed, so you better not do it.

Jesus said to the Jews, Which of the prophets have ye not stoned? (See Acts 7:52.) It is very dangerous to be a spokesperson for God, to God’s professed people, because history indicates that you are likely to be killed. You are likely to be stoned. But we are living in a different age; we would not do something like that. We are a little more refined. Listen, we do the same thing; we just do it differently!

A long time ago Ellen White had a dream about the stoning system. The people involved in the stoning were Seventh-day Adventist ministers. This is the dream she had:

“I had a dream. I saw A [Dr. Kellogg] in close conversation with men and with ministers. He adroitly would make statements born of suspicion and imagination to draw them out, and then would gain expression from them. I saw him clap his hands over something very eagerly. I felt a pang of anguish at heart as I saw this going on. I saw in my dream yourself [probably Haskell] and B [Elder Butler] in conversation with him. You made statements to him which he seemed to grasp with avidity, and close his hand over something. I then saw him go to his room, and there upon the floor was a pile of stones systematically laid up, stone upon stone. He placed the additional stones on the pile and counted them up. Every stone had a name—some report gathered up—and every stone was numbered.

“The young man who often instructs me came and looked upon the pile of stones with grief and indignation, and inquired [of A] what he had and what he proposed to do with them. A [Dr. Kellogg] looked up with a sharp, gratified laugh. ‘These are mistakes of C [Elder White]. I am going to stone him with them, stone him to death.’ The young man said, ‘You are bringing back the stoning system, are you? You are worse than the ancient Pharisees. Who gave you this work to do? The Lord raised you up, the Lord entrusted you with a special work. The Lord has sustained you in a most remarkable manner, but it was not for you to degrade your powers for this kind of work. Satan is an accuser of the brethren.”

“I thought A seemed very defiant and determined. Said he, ‘C is trying to tear us to pieces. He is working against us, and to save our reputation and life, we must work against him. I shall use every stone to the last pebble here upon this floor to kill him. This is only self-defense, a disagreeable necessity.’

“And then said the young man solemnly, ‘What have you gained? Have you in the act righted your wrongs? Have you opened your heart to Jesus Christ, and does He sit there enthroned? Who occupies the citadel of the soul under this administration of the stoning system?

“‘You have a higher calling, a more important work. Leave all such work of gathering stones for the enemies of God’s law. You brethren must love one another, or you are not children of the day, but of darkness.’

“I then saw C engaged in a similar work, gathering stones, making a pile and ready to begin the stoning system. [They were going to stone each other, evidently.] Similar words were repeated to him with additional injunctions and I awoke.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 12,10, 11. (See also Ellen G. White, The Lonely Years, by Arthur L. White, 161, 162.)

Whose Child Are You?

You see, the stoning system is still here, we just do it differently. We find out the mistakes that somebody has made and then we use those mistakes to try to destroy them. Jesus said, You do not love each other. You are not My children. You are the children of the prince of darkness.

We profess to be His people; people in Numbers 14 professed to be God’s people, too. They wanted to stone Caleb for bringing a good report, for telling the truth. How is it? Are we really God’s children? If we are really God’s children we will demonstrate it by loving each other, by protecting each other, by taking care of each other, by having a regard for each other, by watching out for each other, by trying to help each other, by trying to help somebody get up when they make a mistake, instead of knocking them down farther.

Let us look at it again. It is too strong for me to say in my own words: “You brethren must love one another, or you are not children of the day, but of darkness.” Ibid.

Oh, my friend, as Jesus looks into your family, into your church, into the lives of His professed people all over the world, whose child does He see? Whose child are you? Are you one of the children of the day, or are you one of the children of darkness?

You demonstrate who you are by whether or not you love your brothers and sisters and by what spirit you have. What spirit do you have toward the Calebs in the church, the people who have faith and who want to go into the kingdom now? Are you stoning each other with your mistakes? You demonstrate whose child you are by your spirit, by whether or not you love your brothers or sisters or whether or not you want to stone them to death because of their mistakes.

Do You have the Right Spirit?

This is very important. It has everything to do with whether or not we are really going to go to the Promised Land or whether we are going to perish in the wilderness. There are a lot of professed Christians who are going to perish in the wilderness of this world and never go to heaven, because they do not have faith, and they do not have the right spirit. They do not love their brothers and sisters. They are ready to stone the people with whom they do not agree.

Can You Pass the Test?

I hope, when you read the story of Caleb, you will think it through and apply it to yourself. Do you have a spirit like Caleb, or not? Do you love your brothers and sisters, as well as your enemies? That is the test. Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount, If you love your own brethren, that does not count. Even the tax collectors, even the harlots, the ones considered the lowest people in their society, love their own friends. (See Matthew 5.) That is not the test.

The test is, do you love your brothers and sisters when they see something totally different than you do? When you know that they are wrong and you are right, do you still love them, or are you ready to stone them to death for their mistakes?

God cannot take people to heaven who do not have faith. You cannot please Him without faith. There are going to be some who are going to go in like Caleb. The Lord lengthened his life, after all the rest had died, he not only went in, he went in to some of those giants and he destroyed them and took over their land, just like the Lord promised he would be able to do. He was over 80 years old when that happened.

There are going to be some Calebs again. Of the great mass of professed Christians, Jesus made it very clear, not only in the gospels but also in the book of Revelation, that the great mass of the Christian world is not going to make it—not because they cannot be saved, but because they will not be saved in God’s appointed way, trusting and obeying Jesus.

Caleb was the kind of a person who said, Lord, if that is where we are going, I am going with You. If you are willing to go with the Lord, the Lord will go with you and take you to the Promised Land. It does not matter how many people oppose you; it does not even matter how many people are trying to stone you.

The fewer there are, the more enemies there are, the greater will be the victory! But you are going to have to have a spirit like Caleb. The Lord will work that miracle in your life. He will take out all the bitterness, the hatred, and all those negative emotions that have kept you enslaved. You can have it all! Just trust and obey, as did Caleb.

The Consecrated Way – Knowledge – Part II

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We are continuing on in our series entitled, “The Consecrated Way,” which is really a climb up Peter’s ladder. 2 Peter 1:3–5 says, “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.”

Gaining Knowledge

The second rung of Peter’s ladder, as we begin to reach toward heaven in our consecrated way, is knowledge. Last month we looked at the first rung of virtue, having been reinforced by faith. In the process of sanctified living there needs to be a continual process. One of the greatest dangers that Christians face is to reach a point in life where there is a sense of self-satisfaction—a sense of having arrived.

We see this even manifested in certain church doctrines, such as once saved always saved. Some churches teach that once you accept Jesus as your Saviour, that is all you need to do. But that is not correct, as far as the Bible is concerned. There is the walk. Indeed, there is the climb that takes place. Jesus addressed this in the Sermon on the Mount when He said that there is the narrow path. There is the uphill walk. He did not say that it was a broad road; He said it was a narrow, uphill path. (See Matthew 7:13, 14.)

That means that some effort needs to be put forth as we walk with Christ day by day, making those decisions that will establish us in the faith more than ever before. We need to walk in that respect and never come to a point where we are self-satisfied in our process of Christian living.

Having All the Answers

It is not like the world in terms of achievements and education. In the world of education, we think when you have received your Ph.D. that you have arrived; there is no higher level of education that you can reach.

I met a man one time who had five doctorate degrees. I was studying with some people who felt they had to call in some reinforcements, and this was the man they called.

My Bible students felt that, because of his level of education, he could answer all the questions. He told me he had decided that maybe he would go for an M. D., because he did not have one of those. He was attending Loma Linda University at that time. He said, “Some people collect stamps; I collect sheepskins [degrees].”

Never Stop

When you reach that level, do you think you have finally arrived?

Dear people, as far as the Christian process is concerned, we never stop learning. It is a continual process, learning more and more all the time. Indeed, throughout all eternity we will learn. A lot of people have the idea that when we arrive in heaven there will be a cloud, a harp, and a halo, and we will just sit around all day eating from the Tree of Life.

No! God has a better plan than that. We will continue to research and to learn the intricacies and to probe the wonders that God has created for us. And each one of those will share something more about the great God that we serve. We will be learning throughout all eternity.

“Having received the faith of the gospel, the next work of the believer is to add to his character virtue, and thus cleanse the heart and prepare the mind for the reception of the knowledge of God. This knowledge is the foundation of all true education and of all true service. It is the only real safeguard against temptation; and it is this alone that can make one like God in character.” Acts of the Apostles, 530, 531.

Learning to Know Him

We have discovered, in the past, that it has been helpful for us to define our terms so we are able to see the intent of what Peter is saying to us in this passage of Scripture. We have an idea of what the word knowledge means, but let us define it a little more carefully.

The Dictionary of New Testament Words says that this word, used by Peter, has a greater meaning than to just know something. It means exact or full knowledge, discernment, recognition; a greater participation by the knower in the object known, thus more powerfully influencing him. Knowing that definition, it is not surprising that Peter used this word in illustrating the growth of the Christian in character perfection. To be satisfied with anything less than exact or full knowledge about spiritual things is a sin.

There are too many who are satisfied with only a superficial knowledge, either as it comes from the preacher or as it comes from some other person. They will depend upon someone like that for their knowledge about the truths of God, and they make that the foundation of their faith. Indeed, if that is the case, they have already gotten off the track.

The Bible says, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” John 17:17. That leaves no room for human speculation, as we find going around today. The devil is a deceiver. If you do not know that, I am telling you that he is a deceiver, and he has been trying, for years, to undermine those truths that have been established by God in His Word.

At this late date in earth’s history, we cannot afford to listen to what false knowledge is proclaiming—a knowledge that, when examined in the light of the Word of God and of the Spirit of Prophecy, only leaves us chaff and no grain.

The Attack of Evolution

One of the attacks, one of the inroads that is being made against the Bible today is evolution. It has been sounding for a long, long time, but it is reaching a crescendo.

Evolutionists say man has been on this earth three million years plus, and that the universe is the result of a big bang. We find that these concepts of evolution are designed, by the deceiver of our souls, for only one reason: to strike right at the very heart of the Ten Commandment moral law—the Sabbath. Because if the earth took long eons of time to be created and to come into being, then what need is there of the Sabbath as the memorial of the rest that God took when it was all finished at the end of six days? We need to be very careful that we are not listening to the serpent, as did Eve, when we hear something that does not match up with the Word of God.

God’s Word is True

We can know that God’s Word is true, through prophecy, which establishes it without question. We can depend upon it. When we hear something strange that does not match up, we need to flee from it. The highest and supreme end of all knowledge, of course, is the knowledge of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, in John 17:3, “This is life eternal.” Evolution does not promise that. God’s Word does.

“This is life eternal,” Jesus said, “that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” The prophet Jeremiah declares, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23, 24. It appears to me that these are the things that we need to know.

In the book Ministry of Healing, 409, we are told, “Like our Saviour, we are in this world to do service for God. We are here to become like God in character, and by a life of service to reveal Him to the world. In order to be co-workers with God, in order to become like Him and to reveal His character, we must know Him aright. We must know Him as He reveals Himself.”

God’s Character Attributes

Going back to what we just read from Jeremiah, if we are to glory in anything, we should glory in the fact that knowing God is knowing His character attributes and those which He outlines are very specific here. Knowledge, the second rung of this ladder, is to lead us to know these character attributes of God: loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness.

I believe if there is anyone whom we could trust to tell us about the loving kindness of God, it would be the apostle John. John was called the beloved disciple, and he tells us in 1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” If you do not love, you do not know God, but if you love, then you know God. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” Verses 8–11.

That is pretty good counsel, don’t you think? This is the process of character development—learning about God, and then putting that knowledge into operation as we live day by day. You see, knowledge cannot be all theoretical. It also has to be practical. There is a great difference between the two.

Learning is not Knowing

A person who has theoretical knowledge has only heard or read or studied, but that is as far as it goes. We call them “armchair theologians.” To give a little clearer illustration of the theoretical, we could consider learning how to bake a loaf of bread, perhaps in a cooking class.

We can learn about all the different measurements of ingredients, about what a teaspoon is, a tablespoon, and a cup. We can learn about all the ingredients, whether the flour is bleached or whether it is whole grain. We can learn about the stove, about the manufacturer, and about the temperature settings. We can learn how to use the stove, and yet never bake a loaf of bread.

What profit is there in all of this? Absolutely nothing! Knowledge only becomes useful as it is put into operation, into practical use. You need to take the ingredients down off the shelf. You need to turn the stove to the proper temperature; you need to mix those ingredients together in the proper amounts; put it into the oven, and then you have results that are beneficial, not only to you, but to others as well.

All too often those who call themselves Christians today do not put their knowledge into practice. They still have the ingredients on the shelf. It does absolutely no good for them, or for others, to know that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16), unless we are taking that knowledge, utilizing it in our own life, and sharing it with others, sharing the loving kindness of God with those who do not know it. That is where real value is found.

Use It or Lose It

Knowledge becomes like manna that fell in the wilderness. If it was laid up, not used, it began to stink and to breed worms. Kind of an awesome thought when you think about knowledge that is not put into practice; it is totally useless! What am I saying in all of this? Just this, God expects something from you. He expects you to learn; He expects you to develop a knowledge of Him—that He is a God of love. And then He expects you to share that love with other people, following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ when He was on this earth.

“Taking humanity upon Him, Christ came to be one with humanity, and at the same time to reveal our heavenly Father to sinful human beings. He who had been in the presence of the Father from the beginning, He who was the express image of the invisible God, was alone able to reveal the character of the Deity to mankind. He was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh even as we are. . . . He shared the lot of men; yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was a stranger and sojourner on the earth—in the world, but not of the world; tempted and tried as men and women today are tempted and tried, yet living a life free from sin. Tender, compassionate, sympathetic, ever considerate of others, He represented the character of God, and was constantly engaged in service for God and man.” The Ministry of Healing, 422, 423. To engage in service is really to put into practical operation the knowledge that we learn.

A True Court of Justice

Another aspect, concerning the knowledge of God that Jeremiah talks about, is judgment. Psalm 9:16 says that “The Lord is known by the judgment which He executeth.” Revelation 16:7 says that the judgments of God are true and righteous.

Do you not wish that could be said of the courts of the land today? Part of the process of knowledge, concerning the great God of heaven, is that we know that He is the God who judges with equality. He is no respecter of persons, and we see this in the life of Jesus when He was here on this earth. He was not impressed with one person over another, like we are, so often, today.

He dealt fairly with everybody, Jew and Gentile. If we add to our faith virtue, and to our virtue knowledge, it is going to lead us to judge fairly among our fellow human beings, just as Jesus did, because we are learning of Him. If we are learning of Him, we are going to become like Him, for by beholding we will indeed become changed. (See 2 Corinthians 3:18.)

People will be blessed by our lives, because they will know that we have been with God. One of the great tragedies of Christianity is that there are those who say one thing, they have all the theory, but they do something different. There are probably more people who will be shut out of heaven because of this one factor than anything else.

Self-deceived Christians

I am sure you have all heard someone say, “Oh, I know about Christians. Do not get involved with them; they will rip you off every time.” I suppose we all have known people who have represented that kind of life. Then you could multiply that by the hundreds of people whom they have driven away from Christ because of it. What a terrible tragedy that is!

It is a double tragedy! Do you know why it is a double tragedy? There is a tragedy on both sides, not only for the perpetrator but for the one who has been perpetrated upon. The one who is the perpetrator is self-deceived. He does not have knowledge. He has an armchair knowledge; he does not understand what it means to be honest and true in all his dealings. And for the person who has suffered at his hands, it is a tragedy, because it becomes even more difficult for God to reach his heart again. It is like putting a steel band around the heart so that it cannot be penetrated. What a sad thing that is.

Are Christians perfect? No, they have their failings, but when people purport one thing while stabbing you in the back, that is quite another thing. I think we need to realize that we all are subject to failing. We need to behold Jesus, because by beholding Jesus we become changed, and we do not get involved in situations where judgment is perverted; where situations are taken advantage of; where discrimination is taking place and oppression is being exercised.

We are still faced with these problems today, and we need to get beyond that. God never perverts judgment. He does not say one thing and do another. His theory and His practice are always the same, and He expects that of every one of us. If we are learning of Him, if we are adding the only knowledge that is worthwhile, then our theory and our practice are going to match His.

The Righteousness of Christ

The last area to consider is our understanding of the knowledge of Christ’s righteousness. No knowledge of God would ever be complete without that part which reveals the righteousness of Jesus Christ, for it is the righteousness of Christ which is able to save man. It is the righteousness of Christ which can give power to stem the tide of evil that wants to flood over the life. It is the righteousness of Christ which can make a sinner acceptable to God, and it is the righteousness of Christ which fits us for a place at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

It is only the righteousness of Christ which, when properly understood, brings us to understand the law and the gospel. How thankful I am for the Spirit of Prophecy which has been given to us to convey the proper concept of the righteousness of Christ. These words of inspiration help us define those special areas of potential problems that we will be facing in the last days of this earth’s history.

There are those who, again, are trying to tear down this gift, trying to get it out of the church, supposing that somehow the philosophy of man can replace the words of inspiration with something better. But woe to the one who falls for such deceitful flatteries as this. You see, without the knowledge of the righteousness of Christ, in its full meaning, as it has been given through the words of inspiration, we are in trouble.

There is no such thing as once saved, always saved. There is no such thing as accepting Jesus and that is all you have to do. “The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved must have. It is the knowledge that works transformation of character.” The Ministry of Healing, 425. How important is knowledge? Knowledge is tremendously important, because it is the grease on the wheel that transforms our character, as it were.

Ignorance is Not Bliss

If you do not know, you are not going to do. It is just as simple as that. There are people who have the philosophy that ignorance is bliss, but the time is coming when bliss is going to burn awfully hot. Ignorance is not bliss! Ignorance will lead you straight to hell fire, because you will have a character that will not be fit for heaven.

The knowledge of God received, will recreate the soul in the image of God. It will impart to the whole being a spiritual power that is divine. Does this sound something like what Peter wrote? It gets awfully close, does it not? That is what righteousness is; it is spiritual power that is divine. We need it; we desire it; we seek for it, and indeed, the promise is, we shall find it.

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.” 2 Peter 1:4, 5.

This, dear people, is the ladder that God has called us to climb. It is a ladder where each rung, as we place our foot upon it, has transforming divine power to take the character that we possess and change it, modify it more and more and more, until we reflect the character of Christ in our lives.

May the Lord challenge us. May the Lord continue to bless us, as we climb that ladder.

To be continued . . .

The Seed – Part I

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Jesus talked a lot about seeds, and in this article, we will look at seeds, especially The Seed.

Jesus tells all humanity what their priority in this life should be. Jesus says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” Matthew 6:33. That should be the priority of every human being on the face of this earth, an earth that has been in turmoil and trouble for 6,000 years, because of sin.

Setting Priorities

Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” We must have both. We must have His righteousness in order to some day enter into His kingdom.

God says, Put that at the top of the list every day, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” It is the priority that God wants for us. We make out lists all the time. My wife is well known for lists. She will make lists, and the first thing on a list is the priority. She works herself down the list, and if the last things do not happen, it is all right.

I want to look with you at the first thing, the top of the list. That is what Jesus is saying: I want you to put this on the top of the list, Seek ye first the kingdom of God. It is a wonderful thing to be able to study the Word of God and see harmony coming through. That harmony is the result of divine Providence guiding in producing the Holy Bible. It is a tremendous work of God. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were seeking the kingdom of God. “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo, here! Or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20, 21.

Seeking the Kingdom of God

The Children of Israel in Jesus’ day, even in the midst of their apostasy, were seeking the kingdom of God, but they were looking in a direction other than God would have them look. They wanted something they could see, something they could feel, something with substance. They were looking for a physical kingdom on this earth. Jesus told them the kingdom of God was within them, and they did not want to hear that. It was totally opposite of the theology of the day.

Have you ever heard theology that is totally contrary to the Word of God? It is all around us in Christendom today. It was all around them in Jesus’ day also. God was revealing His kingdom in their midst, but they did not see it.

In John, we find an interview that Jesus had with one of the leaders of Israel. His name, we are told, was Nicodemus. He came to Jesus by night, because he did not want his peers to see him with Jesus. Jesus was not a popular figure, and interestingly enough, Jesus has never been a popular figure, even though it appears that He is, because He makes known the truth to people. Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus, words that reveal what is necessary in regard to the kingdom of God.

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

Jesus now said, Unless you are born again, you cannot even see the kingdom of God, let alone be in it. What did Jesus mean when He said be “born again?” What is the inference? Here is a mature man standing before Him, a man who was already born.

Putting on a New Nature

What is He telling Nicodemus? He is saying, You must have a whole new nature, before you are able to see the kingdom of God. Why is that necessary? God makes it very clear.

God uses Paul the apostle to tell us why it is necessary, and He is not just talking to the Jews. He is telling the Jews and the Gentiles—all humanity—why it is necessary to be born again.

“You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Ephesians 2:1–3.

You and I come into this world as every human being has since the fall of Adam, with a fallen nature, a nature that is not in harmony with God’s kingdom. It is totally out of harmony with His righteousness, and if we choose to retain that nature, God has left on record the consequence: “The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. That is not merely physical death; it is not being physically laid out in a cemetery because you died.

No, God is making it clear that there is a second death, a total extinction of life where you will never again be, and you will be as though you never were. So God says, in His mercy and in His compassion to all of us, You need to be born again. You need to have a new nature before you are able to even see My kingdom.

God says it even more clearly in 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10. He tells us why this nature, that is based on the flesh and not on the Spirit of God, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. He uses Paul again to make the issues clear to us. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”

What does it mean to be unrighteous? Paul defines unrighteousness: “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” It is just not going to happen. God does not want us in that context, but He does want us in His kingdom. For God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.

Being Born Again

Let us go back to Nicodemus’ response. He said, Wait a minute! How can a man that is old, be born again? And that is the question that we need to ask. How is it that we can be born again?

There is a lot of theology in Christendom today that will give you an answer, but it is not in harmony with God’s Word. They are dealing with being born again on an outward basis—what they can see, what they can feel, what they can do. What did Jesus tell the Pharisees when they demanded to know when the kingdom of God should come?

He pointed them to within themselves. If it happens at all, it is going to happen within you. To understand what it means to be born again, look at the first parable regarding seeds. When Jesus was growing up, before He left home to begin His ministry at the age of 30, He spent time in a garden. He planted seeds just like we do. He learned lessons from His experience in the garden, and that is why He shares with us these parables.

The Seed—The Power

“He said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?” He looked around in the society of men, in the nations, and in the kingdoms of men and He could find no comparison whatsoever. He could only find a comparison in the garden. “It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.” Mark 4:30–32. How small God’s kingdom has appeared to men in 6,000 years.

God tells us, in His Word, there will only be one kingdom. (See Daniel 2.) So this small beginning is going to eventually encompass the whole world with people who have been born again. With what does He compare the kingdom of God? A little seed that looks like nothing could ever grow from it.

“There is life in the seed, there is power in the soil; but unless an infinite power is exercised day and night, the seed will yield no returns. The showers of rain must be sent to give moisture to the thirsty fields, the sun must impart heat, the electricity must be conveyed to the buried seed. The life, which the Creator has implanted, He alone can call forth. Every seed grows, every plant develops, by the power of God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 63.

This does not happen apart from God in the physical world. When you plant that cucumber seed and the plant eventually emerges out of the ground and produces cucumbers, it is the direct result of God’s work.

Directly From God

Let us look at the parable in verses 26, 27 of Mark 4: “And He said, ‘So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.’” So what power produces the germination of that seed? It is God’s power.

Notice: “The germ in the seed grows by the unfolding of the life-principle which God has implanted. Its development depends upon no human power.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 77. If it grows, it grows as a result of God and of His power and of His intercession. It is His sun that shines warmth down. It is His water or rain that waters that plant. It is His air, that He has created for life, that gives life to that seed. All the three essentials are directly from God.

Are we talking about growing seeds in the garden, or are we talking about being born again? Are they synonymous?

“So it is with the kingdom of Christ. It is a new creation.” Ibid. This was not something hidden, before the days of Christ, from the Children of Israel. This was known to Nicodemus; it was not anything new. “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6.

It is My Spirit, My power that gives life, God says. It is only His power that can bring a new nature out of a fallen nature.

The Blessing of the Seed

Jesus tells us clearly that the seed is able to produce a new creation, acceptable in the kingdom of God. “Now the parable is this: [Jesus says] The seed is the word of God.” Luke 8:11. We hold the seed each time we hold our Bibles. God’s seed catalog describes the seed, describes what it will do, and also contains the seeds! The whole package is there. No mail order is necessary. He sent it to us. It was not even C.O.D.!

I want you to notice something very interesting. The seed that God has given to us, in this natural world, is most powerful. It has various abilities:

  1. A seed can produce a living thing. That little, dormant seed looks dead, but it can produce a living thing. It can produce a new creation. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
  2. Every seed that germinates, eventually grows up, and it also grows down. There is a balance in everything that God does. Working the kingdom of God in us, He works a balance. It will be inside first, within us, but it will eventually be seen outside in what we do, in the kind of person we are. Some drunk, in the gutter, who found a piece of the Word of God, or was invited to a mission to hear the Word of God, was changed completely. Were you to see that man a month later, you would not recognize that he was the same man. Why? Because he had allowed God to do something on the inside that eventually was revealed on the outside. Do you see that? The seed germinates down, puts its roots down, and the plant goes up. It is an inside/outside work that God wants to do, a balanced work.
  3. This seed can reproduce its own kind. It can produce a new life, but more than that, it can reproduce itself. A cucumber seed will reproduce itself. And interestingly enough, it will not reproduce anything else but its own kind.
  4. It can grow thousands of times its size in its lifetime. It is going to germinate. It is going to bear; it is going to bring up a blade, then the ear and then the full corn in the ear. It continues to grow and develop. Have you ever heard of indeterminate plants, especially among tomatoes? They just keep growing. This seed can actually reproduce itself thousands of times its size. A redwood tree seed is small, yet it produces a tree hundreds of feet in the air and many times around in diameter. Tremendous growth! God tells us our potential character development is limitless in regard to becoming more and more like Him. If we choose to receive the kingdom of God within us, by receiving the seed, which is the Word of God, our potential character development is limitless. We can grow and grow and never stop.
  5. The seed can produce roots that are actually powerful enough to break through rock, granite, anything. In the natural world, it is true. Brothers and sisters, it is also true in the spiritual world. This Word, allowed to have good ground, can make us more powerful than sin. It can give us power over sin, power over the great deceiver, and power over everything that is contrary to God. This seed has the power to do that!

I want you to notice that as it is in the physical, so it is in the spiritual. The three essential ingredients for a physical seed to grow, and which come only from God, are sunlight, water, and air.

You have sunshine—the righteousness of Christ, in the spiritual. You have water—the Spirit of God. Water is the latter rain, the former rain, the Spirit of God. And you have air—the grace of God. In Steps to Christ, 68, we are told that His grace encircles this earth just as much as the air we breathe.

What Can I Contribute?

They all come from God, in regards to the physical and to the spiritual. Those are necessary items for the growth of the seed. There is one more thing that is necessary however, if the seed is going to germinate, grow, and develop into a plant that bears fruit. God has not yet told us about this, and it has to do with you and me.

Jesus talks about seeds again in another parable. (See Matthew 13.) It is about a sower who went out and cast seed here and there. As he was sowing, some of the seed fell by the wayside. The wayside was a path that was trampled upon; people walked on it all the time. Seed fell there, and the birds came and took it away before it had time to do anything.

The second place the seed fell was on stony ground, on the rocks. The seed had enough soil to be able to germinate, to root down, to pop up, but when it got hot, the roots were not deep enough; the plant fell over and withered. It needed water, and it needed removal of stones to get the heat away from it.

The third place that the seed fell was into a bunch of thorns. You never want to plant a garden where there is a bunch of weeds. You want to take the weeds out and then plant the garden. But here you have seed falling in the midst of thorns, or weeds, and eventually being choked out. Even though two or three seeds germinated and grew, none of them lived. That should alarm us.

Another thing that should alarm us is where this is taking place. Where do people go to hear the Word of God spoken? In the church. This is not being spoken of in the world. Jesus is referring to those who would hear the Word of God, as His professed people, in His house. That should alarm us, because if it is true, if you took this literally, the percentage of those who respond correctly to the Word of God and have the kingdom of God growing within them is only 25 percent. That means that 75 percent reject it.

Should that alarm me sitting in a church? Oh, yes, it should cause me to examine myself, whether I am receiving the Word of God or whether I am just hearing it.

There is one thing the seed needs, which God does not give. If it does not have this, the seed will not germinate; it will not grow. “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Luke 8:15. Jesus does not speak, in this parable, about the sunshine, the water, and the air. Why? Because He knows that His heavenly Father will supply that to the seed. But for us to grow, it is necessary to have good ground. Having good ground is up to us. God has nothing to do with producing good ground or bad ground, thorny ground or stony ground. We have everything to do with the kind of ground into which God’s Word falls.

Jesus Gives the Answer

God wants to be practical. God wants us to understand what good ground is so we can produce good ground for the seed to grow and develop. Jesus gives us a clear representation of what it means to have good ground.

Revelation 3:20, helps us see what good ground means and what God is asking of us in regard to having good ground. “Behold,” Jesus says, “I stand at the door, and knock.” Where is He in regard to the door? When you are standing at a door and knocking, you are on the outside.

He is on the outside, but He is knocking, knocking that He might come inside. Remember, the kingdom of God begins within you, and the heavenly Gardener needs to be where the seed is, to allow that seed to develop and grow. So He is knocking, and He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Jesus is saying, the good ground is the person who hears His voice and responds to the point of opening their heart to Him.

Faith Opens the Door

Here is where we get real practical. How do we open our hearts to God? If we ever have that experience, we should know that we have to exercise faith to open our heart to God, and faith is something that God gives as a gift to every man who comes into this world. (See Romans 12:3.)

Jesus said, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6. So faith opens the door! If we are going to be a consistent good-ground hearer, the door must remain open.

To be continued . . .