Church

Much to Learn, Much More to Unlearn

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Those who are on a quest for an infallible church will be sorely disappointed, for there is no such thing.

Often, we here at Steps to Life are criticized for calling ourselves historic Seventh-day Adventists and not believing all that our pioneers believed. Ellen White, writing to the church in the official publication of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, The Review and Herald, at a time when most of the pioneer Adventist ministers were still alive, said, “We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn.” Ibid., July 26, 1892.

The Lord led William Miller and the Adventist pioneers to understand the heavenly sanctuary, the law of God, the Second Coming of Christ, the judgment, and many other things, but that does not mean there has been no growth since that time. The pioneer Adventists were still using calamine, mercury, and all manner of dangerous drugs, and many were still eating pork in the 1850s before light was given on the health reform. Many of them were still using tobacco in 1844. In fact, it is recorded that in 1850 when J. N. Loughborough went to a physician he was prescribed tobacco for a medicine. So, when we say we are historic Adventists, it does not mean we are exactly the way they were. We should have growth as time goes on and that involves learning new things and unlearning others.

“God and heaven alone are infallible. Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view, never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed.” Ibid.

There is no infallible church. I am happy to say that from my little research I have discovered that the Protestant churches in general have never claimed infallibility. The Roman Catholic Church alone makes that claim.

Ellen White never claimed infallibility for herself or even for the Bible. Now that comes as a shock to some Adventists, because there is a sense in which the Bible is infallible. She believed that if everybody would take the Bible and read it for himself or herself and study it, even if they did not have the opportunity to be where the word of God is preached, that not one soul would be lost. The Bible is an infallible guide to salvation, but it is not infallible in an absolute sense; neither is the Spirit of Prophecy nor does it claim to be. Let me give you some examples.

Speaking of the same event, in the Old Testament the Bible mentions that 24,000 people died in one day (Numbers 25:9), and in the New Testament, referring to the same event, it says that 23,000 died (I Corinthians 10:8). There are unbelievers who list all the contradictions of the Bible to discredit the message of salvation. At one time Ellen White referred to a sanitarium that had 40 beds. A physician went to that sanitarium and counted the beds. He then wrote to Ellen White telling her she was wrong; there were only 39. He was then tempted to conclude that the Spirit of Prophecy was not inspired because of her mistake in the count. Both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy use rounded numbers of which there are many illustrations.

As a sophomore at Walla Walla College, Walla Walla, Washington, U.S.A., and in my second year of Greek, we had an assignment to translate the whole book of Revelation verse by verse from Greek into English. Some students were surprised to find that Greek was not the apostle John’s native language but a second language. The book of Revelation was written while he was banished on the isle of Patmos. It was written in Greek because it was the language that most people could read. His native language was Aramaic, and because he was alone without a secretary, it was found that there were some grammatical mistakes in the Greek text. That bothered some people, although there is nothing wrong with the message he presented. Later, after he had been set free, he wrote the gospel of John. At that time he had access to a professional secretary, and the gospel is in well-written Greek.

Ellen White had only a second or third grade education, and in her original writings she made quite a few grammatical mistakes. Her husband James corrected them for her. Some people have a real problem with that. The message in the Spirit of Prophecy, just like in the Bible, if read, studied and followed, ensures that person will not be lost.

No one will come to the Day of Judgment and say to the Lord they were not given the right version and now they are lost. These incidental grammatical mistakes will not cause you to be lost. We need to understand this so we do not take extreme positions on inspiration as many Protestants have done. Some believe that the word of God, the Bible, is infallible in the original text and that all mistakes are due to copyist errors. Well, if you understand how the Spirit of Prophecy came, you understand the fallacy of that argument.

Referring to the “so called” infallible church, Ellen White says, “It is one of the leading doctrines of Romanism that the pope is the visible head of the universal church of Christ, invested with supreme authority over bishops and pastors in all parts of the world. More than this, the pope has arrogated [been given] the very titles of Deity. He styles himself ‘Lord God the Pope,’ assumes [has been declared] infallibility [unable to make a mistake], and demands that all men pay him homage. Thus the same claim urged by Satan in the wilderness of temptation is still urged by him through the Church of Rome, and vast numbers are ready to yield him homage.” The Great Controversy (1888), 50.

“Another step in papal assumption was taken, when, in the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII proclaimed the perfection of the Romish Church. Among the propositions which he put forth, was one declaring that the church had never erred (it is infallible) nor would it ever err, according to the Scriptures. But the Scripture proofs did not accompany the assertion.” Ibid., 57. There were no Scriptural proofs. Scripture does not teach infallibility of the pope or the church.

If the church was infallible, then the book of Galatians would never have had to be written. Paul had to rebuke Peter because of his faults (Galatians 2:11–14). How could Peter, who made many mistakes, pass on infallibility to his successors if it was something he did not have himself?

“The proud pontiff also claimed the power to depose emperors, and declared that no sentence which he pronounced could be reversed by anyone, but that it was his prerogative to reverse the decisions of all others.” Ibid. On what did the papacy base their claim for infallibility?

The Jews made their claim to infallibility and the infallibility of their organization on the basis of Jeremiah 31:35–37: “Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name): ‘If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.’ Thus says the Lord: ‘If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.’ ” That passage was used over and over again to prove that they were the true church, and because Jesus did not accept them, He could not be the Messiah.

The papacy made its claim to infallibility also based on an inspired statement in the words of Jesus Himself. In Matthew 16:17–19, it says, “ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ ”

The keys to the Kingdom of Heaven are the words of Jesus. Those words were written down by the apostles and have been recorded in the New Testament. When the gospel is preached, everybody gets bound and everybody gets loosed. Let me explain how it works.

You hear the gospel and accept it. You are bound to Christ with cords; bonds that will never be broken. “Laying up treasure in heaven will give nobility to the character; it will strengthen benevolence, encourage mercy; cultivate sympathy, brotherly kindness, and charity. It will unite the soul of man with Christ, by links that can never be broken.” The Review and Herald, September 18, 1888.

In fact, your relationship to Christ will be closer than angels that have never fallen. “Because we believe and act out that we are members of the Royal Family, children of the Heavenly King, bound to Jesus.” Mind, Character and Personality, vol. 1, 175.

But, you will also be loosed. If you accept the gospel, you will be loosed from the slavery of sin. You will be loosed from your guilt and released from the power of sin in your life. “So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Luke 13:16.

If you accept the gospel, you will be bound, and you will be loosed. But what if you hear the gospel and you reject it? You will also be bound. You will be bound with the cords of your sin so that you cannot get free. The Bible is very clear about this. But, you will also be loosed. If you reject the gospel, you will be released from any hope of everlasting life. Everyone that hears the gospel is bound and loosed.

But let’s look carefully at Matthew 16:18: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The Catholic Church claims this text as proof that their church is eternal—forever. I love the way that text is written, “the gates of Hades will never prevail against it.” The New Testament was written in human language. Hades is a word from Greek mythology. The Greeks did not understand the state of death and had been deceived just like the Egyptians. Ellen White stated that as soon as Adam and Eve sinned, the devil instructed his angels that they were to convince men that they had immortality. (See The Great Controversy, 534.) People had to be convinced that something within them still went on living after they died. The different nations had different names for it. In Egypt it was called Ra. It was the belief of immortality of the soul.

Hades was believed to be a place under the earth that is very hot where people go for punishment. During the last two hundred years before Jesus was born, the Jews had begun to study Greek Philosophy and Jesus used that very theory, wrecking it for them when He showed them that all their ideas about it were not going to work. The story He told was of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.

The idea was that when you died you went to Hades to be purified. It was a precursor to the theory of purgatory that came along later. If you were really bad, instead of going to Hades, then you could be cast clear down to Tartarus, which in Greek mythology was lower than Hades. It is interesting that the word Tartarus is used once in the New Testament. The apostle Peter says that God cast the angels that sinned down to Tartarus; in other words, a place lower than the grave, Hades. Hades was a place of the dead, so when the New Testament uses Hades, it is talking about the grave.

When it says the gates of Hades are not going to prevail against Christ’s church, it means the grave is not going to prevail against Christ’s church, because Jesus is coming back and all of His people will be set free from the grave. That is going to be exciting. Though you may die, it is just a temporary sleep, for if you are in Christ, you will be raised up again.

The Catholic Church claims this text to prove she is infallible. However, there is a condition that somehow people forget. The church is built on the rock. Though the Catholic Church claims to be built on Peter and Peter is the rock, there is a problem. The New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek language is like Spanish and German and French that have masculine and feminine words.

A masculine or feminine word must also have a masculine or feminine adjective. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I say to you that you are Petras [a stone, a Greek masculine word], and upon this Petra [a large boulder or rock, a feminine word] I will build My church.” The genders of the words do not agree. Petra is not the same word as Petras. The closest you could come to it in English would be: “I say unto you, you are Mr. Rock, and on this Mrs. Rock I will build My church.” Jesus did not mean that the church was built on Peter.

Peter himself recognized that. He said, “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.” I Peter 2:6–8.

Peter never taught that he was the rock on which the church was built. He taught that Jesus was that Rock. Paul also is very specific about this. He tells the people in Ephesus that they are members of the household of God; then describes the church: “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being [joined] fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” Ephesians 2:20, 21.

The church, built on the Rock, Jesus Christ, is the only one that will not fall, and the gates of Hades or the gates of the grave will not prevail against it.

Jesus said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24–27.

The church that is built on the Rock obeys the teachings, the words of Jesus. To the church claiming to be infallible based on a misunderstanding of Scripture, God says, “Another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ ” Revelation 14:8.

“He cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.’ And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.’ ” Revelation 18:2–4.

While the Christian world today is saying, “Let’s all get together,” God is saying, “Come out, because there is sin in the camp, and if you participate in the sin you are also going to participate in the plagues.”

God continually sends the church, through both the Old and New Testaments, a message of rebuke and reproof, appealing to them to forsake their sins and be saved. It is dangerous to be in a church that is in open sin, be aware of it, and get used to it so that it doesn’t bother you anymore. By supporting it with time, money and influence, you endorse the errors and share in its guilt.

Jesus says, “Come out!” It’s very interesting that in the Roman Catholic Bible, it says, “Go out.” In the Protestant Bible it says, “Come out.”

To participate in giving the last warning message to the world, you must understand that Babylon is fallen and what has caused her to fall.

“Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power—all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these. In amazement they hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her errors and sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent to her from heaven.” The Great Controversy, 606, 607.

Babylon falls because of her errors and sins. Now we’re not talking about a sin of stumbling or a sin that’s committed by mistake. These are not sins of ignorance or a sin of stumbling but because of open sin of which she refuses to repent and forsake. The true church is to be organized, but the organization is not the true church. The organized body of Christ is the church of God by profession, but character determines whether that profession is true or not.

Martin Luther, John Calvin and all of the reformers who were at one time staunch Roman Catholics had been taught that their church was the spouse of Christ; it was infallible. Finally, they figured out that with all that was happening it could not be the true church. Then who and what is the true church?

Ellen White quotes what Melanchthon said: “In the days of the Reformation, the gentle and pious Melancthon declared, ‘There is no other church than the assembly of those who have the word of God, and who are purified by it.’ ” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 237. A profession is not enough!

“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments.” The Upward Look, 315.

“From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.” The Acts of the Apostles, 11.

And then this shocking statement about Adventists: “Those who become confused in their understanding of the Word, who fail to see the meaning of antichrist, will surely place themselves on the side of antichrist.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 949.

“Those who keep God’s commandments, those who live not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, compose the church of the living God.” Ibid.

You see, the issue is not if you make a profession, because the true church not only makes a profession but they have a character that is in harmony with their profession.

[Bible texts quoted are NKJV translation.]

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

Lives of Unfaithfulness

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There are hundreds of millions of people in the world today, and have been in times past, who believe there is an infallible church. But, there is no such thing.

The first church I have studied about in history that believed this was the Jewish church. “The Jewish people cherished the idea that they were the favorites of heaven, and that they were always to be exalted as the church of God. They were the children of Abraham, they declared, and so firm did the foundation of their prosperity seem to them that they defied earth and heaven to dispossess them of their rights. But by lives of unfaithfulness they were preparing for the condemnation of heaven and for separation from God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 294.

The Jews were confident that they were the true church and always would be. They defied earth and heaven to deprive them of their rights. But heaven had a response to that kind of self-confidence and sent them a message and a messenger to shake them out of their self-complacency. You can read it from the Bible in a sermon that John the Baptist preached. This is what he said in Matthew 3:7–12: “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ ”

The Jews were the descendants of Abraham and claimed the right to the covenant that God made with Abraham (Genesis 17). God promised Abraham that He would be God to his children and that they would be His people and He promised to Abraham’s children special blessings.

Some people would say that there is a lot of sin in the church. But even though that is the case, the church is going to go through, because the Lord has promised us, through the prophet Jeremiah that the church is going to go through no matter how much sin is in it. “Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name): If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever. Thus says the Lord: ‘If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.’ ” Jeremiah 31:35–37.

And they would read that and they would say, “Do you see here what the prophet Jeremiah said? He said, ‘As long as the sun is in the sky and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, that long, the children of Israel are going to remain.’ ” So, is the sun still in the sky? Well, yes. Does the moon still come up at night? Well, yes. Are the stars still in the sky? Well, yes. Then if that is so, we are God’s people.

What they did not understand was, Who is the real Israel? I have been told, with great confidence by Adventist ministers, that the Jewish nation was God’s people right up until Matthew 23:38 and 39. This belief is contrary to the words of Jesus and the words of John the Baptist who told them not to even think they were Abraham’s children. It is no wonder so many Adventists have been deluded on this point, because many of our ministers have the very same delusion that the Jews had in the time of John the Baptist.

The Jewish leaders were so deluded that just before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, in 70 A.D.,

“The leaders of the opposing factions at times united to plunder and torture their wretched victims, and again they fell upon each other’s forces and slaughtered without mercy. Even the sanctity of the temple could not restrain their horrible ferocity. The worshipers were stricken down before the altar, and the sanctuary was polluted with the bodies of the slain. Yet in their blind and blasphemous presumption the instigators of this hellish work publicly declared that they had no fear that Jerusalem would be destroyed, for it was God’s own city.” The Great Controversy, 29.

Ellen White goes on to say that right until the time the Romans came in and slaughtered them all, plowed and totally destroyed the whole city, they thought that Jerusalem could not be destroyed because they were God’s people and Jerusalem was God’s city. Over a million people lost their lives because of that delusion. They really believed they were God’s people and could prove it from the Bible.

In the book, The Desire of Ages, 107, Mrs. White explains very clearly what John the Baptist, who, according to Jesus, there was not anyone born of women greater than him (Matthew 11:11), was talking about. He clearly defined who the church is and who the people of God really are.

“ ‘And now also,’ said the prophet, ‘the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire’ [Matthew 3:10]. Not by its name [Israel], but by its fruit, is the value of a tree determined. If the fruit is worthless, the name cannot save the tree from destruction.” John declared to the Jews that their standing before God was to be decided by their character and life and not whether they could trace their genealogy. John the Baptist taught that profession was worthless, and if their lives and characters were not in harmony with God’s law, they were not His people. That principle is still true today.

God had called the Jewish nation and their mission was to represent Him on the earth. However,

“The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth had become representatives of Satan.” Ibid., 36.

A very sober message was given to the church of today that in these last closing days of earth’s history ministers are going to have to give a message that is even straighter than that given by John the Baptist. One wonders how this can be possible when John the Baptist addressed the leaders of the Jewish church, calling them a bunch of poisonous snakes and not to even think they were children of Abraham. In other words, do not think that you are the church just because of your heritage.

Jesus said, “ ‘I know that you are Abraham’s descendants [according to the flesh] but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.’ They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father’ [the same argument they used with John the Baptist]. Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.’ Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.’ ” John 8:37–44.

Notice what Jesus is saying here. He first acknowledges that they are the physical descendants of Abraham, but He says, “You are not really the children of Abraham.” Why? “You do not have the same character or the same religious experience that Abraham had; you don’t have the same connection with God that Abraham had, so spiritually, you are not the children of Abraham at all. Your spiritual father is the devil.” This is the same thing that John the Baptist said. It is character that counts and not profession.

Ellen White explains this same concept:

“The Pharisees had declared themselves the children of Abraham. Jesus told them that this claim could be established only by doing the works of Abraham. The true children of Abraham would live, as he did, a life of obedience to God. They would not try to kill One who was speaking the truth that was given Him from God. In plotting against Christ, the rabbis were not doing the works of Abraham. A mere lineal descent from Abraham was of no value. Without a spiritual connection with him, which would be manifested in possessing the same spirit, and doing the same works, they were not his children.

“This principle bears with equal weight upon a question that has long agitated the Christian world—the question of apostolic succession.” The Desire of Ages, 466, 467.

Apostolic succession is the theological theory that God gave the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven to the apostle Peter, and he was the first bishop of Rome, passing the keys on to the next bishop of Rome, right on down to the two hundred and sixty-fifth one we have today. The theory goes that the bishop of Rome has authority over the church because the keys given to Peter have been passed on right to this present day.

“Descent from Abraham was proved, not by name and lineage, but by likeness of character. So the apostolic succession rests not upon the transmission of ecclesiastical authority, but upon spiritual relationship. A life actuated by the apostles’ spirit, the belief and teaching of the truth they taught, this is the true evidence of apostolic succession. This is what constitutes men the successors of the first teachers of the gospel.” Ibid., 467.

The successors of the first teachers of the gospel are the people who have the same spirit that they had, those who teach the same things that they taught. The Jews misunderstood who it was that truly represented Israel. They thought that by making a profession and joining their church, then you were part of Israel. But John the Baptist said no, a profession without a corresponding character is nothing.

If what was true then is still true now, then a true Seventh-day Adventist is not just somebody who makes a profession of the Adventist faith; it is somebody whose character backs up his or her profession. “God is honored, not so much by the great number, as by the character of those who serve Him. He appreciates moral worth. He draws the dividing line between those who bear His name by profession, and those whose character shows them to be His children.” The Signs of the Times, June 30, 1881. That is an interesting statement. Let us think that through.

It says that God “draws a dividing line.” Now this dividing line, by the way, is drawn through every church. Every professing Christian is either on one side or the other of this dividing line. On one side are those who bear His name by profession, and on the other side are those whose character shows them to be His children. Jesus is coming soon, and there are many people who have been deceived into thinking that by their profession they will be saved. We do not believe that. We believe that a character that is in harmony with it must back up the profession. The New Testament is full of instruction on this point. Look for example in the book of Titus. Paul wrote to the young minister about problems they were having with some people who were professing to be Christians. Notice the problem: “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” Titus 1:16.

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly [that is, without being intoxicated], righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11–14.

The message that the apostle preached was not a message that you could be saved by profession of faith alone when your character was out of harmony.

So who is Israel?

“But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God [those who make a profession]; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed [those whose character is in harmony with their profession].” Romans 9:6–8.

Let me repeat, God has drawn a dividing line in our church, and every single one of us who professes the Adventist faith is on one side or the other of that dividing line. Paul emphasizes this over and over again to the Roman church. “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Romans 2:28, 29.

Again, saying it about as plain as it can be said: “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” Romans 4:13–17.

If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham’s seed, you are Israel. That is what Paul said to the Galatians, in Galatians 3. If you have been baptized into Christ, if you belong to Christ, you are Abraham’s seed. You are Israel, and even if you can claim a genealogy that goes all the way back to Abraham, if you do not believe in Christ, you are not Abraham’s seed.

“Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7.

In Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 204, there is a statement that was written to Seventh-day Adventist physicians, but it applies to all of us. It says, “A profession of Christianity is not sufficient to constitute us Christians. We must each have the character manifest by our divine Pattern.”

There is a dividing line in the Adventist church. If you profess the Adventist faith, you are on one side or the other of the dividing line. On what side are you? The Christian religion is the most attractive and spiritual of all religions. The reason is that in the Christian religion Jesus Christ makes decisions in your behalf on the basis of your choice, the decisions that you make in your mind, and not just by going through some ritual.

If you want to follow Jesus, not just by profession but actually learn how to live His life, to become like Him, God will hear that, and He will answer that prayer. John said, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” I John 3:2.

It will be a terrible disaster to come to the Day of Judgment and find yourself on the wrong side of the great divide. Choose today the right side; Jesus is waiting to answer your plea for help to save you.

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

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

James White and Church Organization

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It was the year of 1863. The United States of America was in the deadly embrace of a civil war. The eyes of the world were directed towards this nation. Could Protestantism and Republicanism stand? Even in 1863, this nation had already fallen far from what she once was. That very year the prophet wrote, “The people of this nation have forsaken and forgotten God. They have chosen other gods and followed their own corrupt ways until God has turned from them. The inhabitants of the earth have trampled upon the law of God and broken His everlasting covenant.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 355, 356. But while the nations of this earth looked on with disgust and indignation at the atrocities of the civil war, the most important battle of the day was little known.

This battle was being fought and won in humble homes and churches, in little known offices and most of all in the hearts of men. By the year 1863 many major victories had already been won in this battle of establishing a people in the third angel’s message. The Bible doctrines that were her foundation were in place. Each belief had been dug from the Scriptures. Each had the living testimony of the messenger of the Lord in its support. In various states, conferences were being formed to stabilize the work and guard against fanaticism. But in this year, there were new heights to be scaled and new victories to be won.

On June 6, 1863, the “health vision” was given. In and of itself the message of God on health reform marks 1863 as a never to be forgotten year. Health reform is the right arm of the message. “It is as closely connected with the third angel’s message as the hand is with the body.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 69. For a people preparing for translation, the health reform was mandatory. “It is impossible for those who indulge in appetite to attain to Christian perfection.” Ibid., 22.

Yoked up with health reform was the vital matter of church organization which was finalized just two weeks before the vision on health. On May 20–23, 1863, the state conferences met and formed a general conference. John Byington served as chairman after the refusal of James of White. But that should deceive no one as to who was the driving force causing the formation of the General Conference. “Without James White’s dynamic leadership there would have been no organization of the Adventist Church in the 1860’s. For week after week, month by month, year after year, through the columns of the Review and Herald, he presented the importance of gospel order and led the members forward step by step toward his goal. A problem that he had to face was that he could see farther ahead than most of his brethren. And, of course, he was married to Ellen White, through whom God spoke directly to him on many occasions, counseling, encouraging, and stimulating his thinking.” James White, 164, by Virgil Robinson.

This man, James White, who brought about many victories for God’s cause: just what kind of a man was he? In our time we can only rely on pen pictures, as no one living was his personal acquaintance. This man, like Jesus’ disciples, had many natural abilities. However, as important as that is, we could never ascribe his success to that alone. Alexander the great, Napoleon and Nebuchadnazzer, all had many natural abilities, but James White’s abilities were surrendered to the use of God’s cause on earth. His wife, God’s prophet, “recognized the special talents God had given her husband. She wrote to him: ‘God has given you a good intellect—I might say a giant intellect . . . The cause of God cannot spare you without experiencing a great loss.’ ” Ibid. Later she wrote to her son, “Your father does the work of three men at all these meetings. I never saw a man work so energetically, so constantly as your father. God does give him more than mortal energy. If there is any place that is hard your father takes it.” Ibid.

In the 1990’s we are (or should be) well acquainted with the writings of Ellen White, the Lord’s special messenger. We know that those who read and study the testimonies from her pen become settled into the third angel’s message. But we are often unaware of the role James White played in the establishment of the remnant church. He ever had a great mission in mind, and was ever planning for its accomplishment. His mission was to cause the triumph of the third angel’s message over the powers of evil. His life was bound up in its welfare. When it prospered, he was comforted. But, when it languished, he sorrowed and went to work to heal it. He knew that for its final triumph, it must be a united body moving in perfect order against the powers of evil. For this cause, under God, he bent the powers of his “giant intellect.” Few men in God’s remnant church have ever had such a wonderful blend of executive ability combined with a profound theological knowledge of Biblical truth. But God saw that is what it would take to organize His church on earth.

With all that said, one would think those around him would see and appreciate his abilities. But history proves that this is seldom the case with anyone. We have only to remind ourselves of Paul, John the Baptist, Elijah, and Joseph to mention a few. The one, who with keen vision looks down the path and sees what course is needed, is usually derided by his contemporaries. It proved thus for James White. We should not be surprised, for our Lord and Master was scorned, and He was perfect. It was through His cruel humiliation that we were brought the blessing of salvation. And once again in the life experience of James White, we will see how the Lord turned scorn and derision into large blessings for his people.

This scorn and evil speaking played its role in bringing about the first General Conference meeting in May of 1863. When going through some bad experience we seldom grasp the full meaning of the promise, “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” 2 Corinthians 13:8. But, the historian of later years can look back and be amazed at the reality of the promise. As we will see by the story below, this is what happened with the rumors started against James White.

In 1862 and 1863, the work in Wisconsin was suffering from fanaticism. One of the leaders who was caught up in it was a Mr. T.M. Steward and his wife. They were claiming that Mrs. Steward had received visions. Because of this many sincere believers threw out all visions—including Ellen White’s. Others, in leadership positions, wanted to deny fellowship to new converts to the three angels’ messages until they had a chance to evaluate the prophetic gift and who consequently would not instantly state their belief in Ellen White’s visions. The Lord sent counsel to His people about the course to follow in this situation in Testimonies, vol. 1, 326–340 and 382–384.

Mr. Steward also opposed and criticized the idea of the organization of the believers. As is often the case, instead of attacking the message which cut across his ideas, he attacked the messenger—James White. The story is recorded in Ellen White: The Progressive Years, by Arthur White. It will be quoted here at length.

One way the great adversary sought to cripple the work of James White was in the circulation of rumors and falsehoods regarding his business integrity and honesty. Such criticism centered in northern Wisconsin, influenced by T.M. Steward. (See Testimonies, vol. 1, 311–323.) But criticisms were being heard from other areas where organization had been resisted. In early 1863 the Battle Creek church took steps to halt the malicious criticism. They recognized that James White’s reputation was not only of great value to him but also to “those who may be connected with the cause.” At a business meeting convened on Sunday, March 29, actions were taken to clear his name:

Resolved: That we, the church of Seventh-day Adventists of Battle Creek, deem it our duty to take measures to ascertain the grounds of the charges, complaints, and murmurs that are in circulation, that they may be sustained, and action taken accordingly, or may be proved to be groundless, and the envenomed mouth of calumny and slander be effectually stopped.

Resolved: That we appoint Brethren U. Smith, G.W. Amadon, and E.S. Walker, a committee to take this matter in charge.— RH, March 31, 1863.

The breadth of the proposed investigation is seen in the next action taken by the church:

Resolved: That we hereby earnestly request all those far and near who think they have any grounds of complaint against Elder White, all who have handed to him means that he has not appropriated as directed, all who think that he has wronged the aged, the widow, and the fatherless, or that he has not in all his dealings in temporal matters manifested the strictest integrity, probity, and uprightness, to immediately report their grievances, and the grounds upon which they base them, to Uriah Smith, chairman of the above named committee, that they may be received previous to the middle of May next.—Ibid.

Testimonials were solicited from all who had had dealings with James White since the beginning of his public ministry. These were to be laid before the coming General Conference session, called for late May.

In a last-page note in the next issue of the Review, White called attention to the action of the Battle Creek church. He stated:

The church deemed it necessary, for the good of the cause that there should be an investigation of our business career connected with the cause, and a printed report made. If flying reports be true, we should be separated from the cause. If an open and critical investigation proves them false, a printed report in the hands of the friends of the cause with which we have been connected may, in some instances at least, paralyze the tongue of slander.—Ibid., April 7, 1863.

He urged a prompt response “for the sake of the cause.”

The Call For A General Conference

The same issue of the Review carried the call for a meeting of the General Conference, at which it was hoped that church organization could be rounded out by binding the State conferences together in a unified body of believers across the land. The delegates were called to meet on Wednesday, May 20. The notice stated:

The several conference committees in the different States are requested to send delegates, or letters at their discretion. The brethren in those localities where there is no State conference can also be represented in the conference by delegates or letters.—Ibid.

On Wednesday afternoon, May 20, twenty ministers and laymen assembled in Battle Creek were ready to present their credentials. The conference moved into its work, in organizing the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, as noted elsewhere. (See Ellen G. White: The Early Years, 479–481.) The conference elected John Byington as president; Uriah Smith , secretary; and E.S. Walker, treasurer. James White was first unanimously elected to the presidency, but he thought it best to let another carry that responsibility. Byington would be joined by J.N. Andrews and G.W. Amadon, making an executive committee of three. The main thrust of the conference related to organization in both the State conferences and the General Conference.

Further Business of The Conference

The wording was brief, but the results were far-reaching. Actions were taken relating to the publication of charts for use in public proclamation of the message: a new prophetic chart, and one on the Ten Commandments (RH, May 26, 1863).

The General Conference took action regarding the survey of James White’s business integrity:

As no one had reported any grievances pertaining to the subject in hand, according to the request in the Review, the committee could only report that fact to the conference, and place in its hands the more than threescore and ten fervent testimonials which have been received on the other side, with the recommendation that, as it seemed that no one dared appear, to sustain the aforesaid reports, some action be taken by this conference to show the falsity of these reports, and vindicate before the world the character and course of Brother White. . . .

Resolved, That the committee employed by the Battle Creek church be empowered to act further in this matter in behalf of this conference, and prepare for publication a record of the action of the Battle Creek church relative to the accusations against Brother James White, and the substance of the responses received.—Ibid.

It was thought well to hold open the time for reports on White for another two months. The report finally appeared in the form of a forty-page pamphlet, which was circulated under the title “Vindication of the Business Career of Elder James White.” The introduction to the pamphlet, signed by the committee of three, declared that “no one has reported himself aggrieved.” It added:

His enemies have thus betrayed their utter want of confidence in the work they have been doing. Their silence has sealed their ignominy. Hereafter, in view of this fact, none will be willing to place themselves in the contemptible position of circulating such reports, except those whose enmity and prejudice overcome their convictions of right and reason,—Vindication of the Business Career of Elder James White, 3, 4.

The “Vindication” pamphlet consists of the signed statements of some seventy individuals who were well acquainted with White; many of these had had business dealings with him.

The conference was the first official General Conference session. It marked the completion of the organizational structure among Seventh-day Adventists. Attendance was such that meetings were held in the tent on the green across the street from the Review office. Uriah Smith, in his editorial report, declared:

Taking general view of this meeting as a religious gathering we hardly know what feature of the joyful occasion to notice first. We can say to the readers of the Review, think of everything good that has been written of every previous meeting, and apply it to this. All this would be true, and more than this.

Perhaps no previous meeting that we have ever enjoyed was characterized by such unity of feeling and harmony of sentiment. In all the important steps taken at this conference, in the organization of a General Conference, and the further perfecting of State conferences, defining the authority of each, and the important duties belonging to their various officers, there was not a dissenting voice, and we may reasonably doubt if there was even a dissenting thought. Such union, on such points, affords the strongest grounds of hope for the immediate advancement of the cause, and its future glorious prosperity and triumph.—RH, May 26, 1863.

This step in organization brought the church into a unified denominational structure in time to meet the emergencies of the military draft, and prepared to make advance steps as the health message came, through vision, two weeks after the session.

Taken from Ellen White: The Progressive Years, 30–33.

God turned the charges against James White into a blessing. This very situation showed the need for just such a conference. It seems that whenever the cause of God is marked with the promise of progress, the enemy of truth is on the ground to contend every inch of advance. Thus it was in the days of Moses, Jesus, Paul and Martin Luther.

Today the Lord can turn the apparent troubles in God’s work into blessings if we stay humble and obedient. We must watch and pray and keep our garments unspotted from the prevailing iniquity around us. Our lips must be firmly sealed against idle words and evil speaking. Otherwise, we could innocently fall into Satan’s snares and unknowingly be carrying out his plans. Thus it was with the disciples of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist lived a very austere life. The Pharisees secretly hated him. They “had not accepted the mission of the Baptist. They had pointed in scorn to his abstemious life, his simple habits, his coarse garments, and had declared him a fanatic. Because he denounced their hypocrisy, they had resisted his words, and had tried to stir up the people against him. The Spirit of God moved upon the hearts of these scorners, convicting them of sin; but they had rejected the counsel of God, and had declared that John was possessed of a devil . . . Although they had opposed the mission of the Baptist, they were now ready to court the friendship of his disciples, hoping to secure their co-operation against Jesus . . . They contrasted the austere piety of the Baptist with the course of Jesus in feasting with publicans and sinners . . . The disciples of John had not a clear understanding of Christ’s work; they thought there might be some foundation for the charges of the Pharisees.” Desire of Ages, 275, 276.

These poor men, without knowing what they were doing played into the hands of the Pharisees, who were Christ’s bitterest enemies. And they came and questioned Jesus about why He and His disciples did not fast as often as they and the Pharisees did. You can read the whole story in Desire of Ages, 272–280.

This accusing spirit repeats itself over and over again in the work of God. James White contended with it all his life, not only from his enemies, but often from his “best” of friends. Rumors are still floating around today of what a hard man he was. One wonders how many of those are founded upon even a shred of truth! But we can be sure, whatever is said about him, that God accepted his labors. Ellen White was shown in vision that he will be saved. We know that God’s grace was sufficient for him and that his weakness was submitted to God’s strength. “For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” Hebrews 12:3.

The End

by Gwen Reeves

New Testament Church Organization

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He [Jesus] who was the foundation of the ritual and economy of Israel would be looked upon as its enemy and destroyer.” The Desire of Ages, 111. The reason for this was that those who were in charge of the system viewed themselves as being the church, and they realized that if Jesus were to be accepted, many of them would lose their positions.

Today, there is a similar problem in the professed church of God; there are some inspired counsels we are willing to deal with but others that we are not. If many of the counsels of Ellen White were really advocated, they would be considered to be dangerous to the church, possibly even capable of destroying it. I do not believe, however, we will ever receive God’s blessing until we feed upon every word.

Principles of church organization affect every aspect of the church, from the youngest member on up to the General Conference. In the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, there is a great deal of information dealing with church organization that is written not only to those in leadership positions but to laymen as well.

Throughout history, whenever doctrine becomes corrupted, organization also becomes corrupt. In fact, in Revelation God is as concerned about false organization as He is about false doctrine. In the writings of Ellen White there is a great deal written about doctrine, but I also find hundreds of pages written about church organization which we are afraid to touch because if we even read the quotation, we will be accused of criticism. It is time, however, that we have the courage of John the Baptist, and with the spirit of love, humbly look at the things God has given to us. We must pray that He will help us to implement these things so that He can pour out His Spirit and finish the work He is seeking to do.

First Corinthians 1:2 tells us how the New Testament church is organized. “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.” The church at Corinth, identified by Paul, is not addressed as the church which is registered. It could be registered, but that is not the point. Nothing is said regarding their organization or where they meet. They may meet in some building and they are organized, but that is not the point. The church in Corinth are those people who are sanctified and called to be the saints of God. Now the church was to be organized, but the organization was not the church. The people were the church. These people could work in harmony because this is possible when God is in your heart. So they would meet and work together, send out missionaries and take up offerings, and do all those things which are necessary for God’s work to progress. But the church itself was the people. This is what the church has always been.

The Books of Heaven

In a special sense, the church are those people who are registered in the books of heaven. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” Hebrews 12:22, 23. The church, the true church of God, is composed of those people who are registered in the book of life in heaven.

Now this presents a very interesting situation. Who decides who is going to be a church member? Is it the pope who has the keys? If it is not the pope, is it the church board? Can they decide? What about the church body? Can we decide who is saved and who is not, whose name is written in heaven and whose is not?

Well, don’t we have anything to do? Oh, yes, we have something to do. We are called to recognize those whom God has registered in the books in heaven; and those whom He has registered there, we are to register here. He does not, however, follow our suit; we are to follow His, and there is a difference.

Let us suppose that God takes someone’s name off of the books in heaven and they are disfellowshipped. Are they still church members? No. But suppose their names remain in the books on earth. This is an interesting dilemma. The church is purified when the books on earth match the books in heaven. You see, God has given mankind no authority to decide who can be a member and who cannot be a member, but simply to recognize those whom He has accepted or rejected.

God has local congregations here on earth and we have organizations here to help organize the work, but the headquarters of your local church is in heaven, where only the sanctified are registered, not in some office in your state or some office in Maryland. Some people find this rather disconcerting, believing such a policy could lead to all kinds of trouble.

The Books on Earth

Just suppose that a coup took place in some local church or conference through politicking and some people, who were not inspired by the Lord, or filled with the Holy Spirit, took over through manipulation and because of their prejudices certain people were unjustly disfellowshipped. Would those who were disfellowshipped cease to be church members? Certainly not. Suppose, on the other hand, that people were allowed to come into the church who were never converted. Because their names were in the books on earth, would they, therefore, be church members? Not in any way, shape or form. God has never left His church to be manipulated and tampered with by the political whims of mankind. There is coming a time when He is going to turn and overturn the professed church that is called by His name. God’s true church remains the same as it has always—those people who are registered in the books of heaven.

“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them’ Matthew 18:20. Where Christ is, even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church.” Upward Look, 315.

When Paul was ordained, he was ordained to baptize and establish churches—the two together. According to inspiration, the same ordination that gives people the right to baptize gives them the right to establish churches. More and more, however, there are increasing restrictions controlling the starting of new churches.

I have been doing some studying on the history of Kansas. In 1903, Kansas had one hundred churches. The state has grown by almost a million people in the last fifty years, and during that period of time, we have gone from one hundred churches down to fifty-four.

Not only has God alone reserved the right to start and to recognize a church, but if you and I decide to go out and start a church apart from His will, no matter what conference committee may approve it, it will never be a church. “For the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church.” Ibid. [All emphasis supplied] If God’s presence is not the center of His church, it is not recognized by Him as His church whether or not it is recognized by a conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Called and Sanctified

In New Testament times, the church was those who were called and sanctified. Wherever Paul went and converted a few people, he organized them into a church, right then and there, without seeking any other permission. It was not up to the church in Jerusalem to give permission or to decide if they were a church, but to recognize the fact that they were. Now, of course, if a church apostatized or if a local member apostatized, it was also up to the church in Jerusalem to decide that, as these people are no longer keeping the commandments of God, they are no longer recognized by us as being one of God’s churches.

For us individually to receive the Holy Spirit, we must study the Bible, pray, overcome sin, and witness. For the church body to receive the Holy Spirit, they must, as a body, also have these four things present. Not only is it necessary for us as individuals to be winning others to Christ, but God’s design for His church is that every church should start new churches.

One of the things that must take place before God can pour out His blessing upon the church is not only a revival of primitive doctrine, but a revival of primitive organization. The New Testament churches had the freedom to go out and start new churches; but they were not just started and left to flounder by themselves, they were left with local organization. “And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’ So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” Acts 14:21–23.

Authority in the early church was to be earned because of a godly life, a knowledge of the Scriptures and the ability, that God had given to the individual; but never was it to come just by virtue of office. Today our church is almost being destroyed in some parts of this world because some have assumed the office of minister and decided that, because they have that office, they are the king of the local church. God never intended that office to be that of a king, but one of service.

Wolves Among the Sheep

“From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.” Acts 20:17. What elders were these that He called? These were the elders who had been appointed. Notice, it is elders plural, not the elder. “Therefore take heed to yourselves [this is the instruction he is giving to these elders] and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” Acts 20:28–31.

So he called the elders to guard the church from wolves. In a correlating passage to this in Testimonies, vol. 5, 77, Ellen White, writing of her own experience, says that she could scarcely keep from weeping when she saw the people who were taking charge of the church were people trained by Satan. Paul had the same concern, and the elders were called to protect the church from these wolves.

Now the questions is, suppose that a wolf came from Jerusalem. Were the elders to protect the church from that wolf? “Oh, no,” someone says, “not a local elder.” Turn with me to one of the most interesting passages in the New Testament in regard to this. “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.” Galatians 2:11–13. Paul stood up and rebuked Peter, but Paul was not happy about this because he was not the one who should have had to do the rebuking.

God had established a local leadership to protect the church. “Not from Peter,” someone might say, “he was from Jerusalem. He was one of the pillars; he knew Jesus personally. No, not from Peter. They were only Gentiles who had been newly converted to the faith. You do not expect them, these Gentile Galatians who had just come into the Christian church a few years ago, to stand up and rebuke Peter, who was from the Jerusalem church, who had been a Jew all his life, one of the pillars in the church, a follower of Jesus—not Peter! I mean, Paul was an apostle. He could do that.” But Paul was most unhappy that he had to do that. “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?” Galatians 3:1

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” Galatians 5:1. Someone might say, “That scripture is dealing with circumcision and all those things.” Circumcision was involved, and eating with Gentiles was involved, but that was not the issue! The issue in Galatians was that Peter had caused them to transgress and they were to stand in their freedom, even if it was Peter from Jerusalem who should come down and preach false theology.

Kingly Power

“But strange fire has been offered in the use of harsh words, in self-importance, in self-exaltation, in self-righteousness, in arbitrary authority, in domineering, in oppression, in restricting the liberty of God’s people, binding them about by your plans and rules, which God has not framed, neither have they come into His mind. All these things are strange fire, unacknowledged by God, and are a continual misrepresentation of His character.” Testimonies to Ministers, 357, 358.

The Lord established the church upon the Rock, Jesus Christ, and He is to be the head of the church. See Ephesians 1:22, 23. The issue in the days of Martin Luther was who was in charge of the church, the Lord or the pope. That was the issue in Wesley’s day and it was the issue in 1888. I have been amazed at how little Ellen White deals with doctrine in relationship to 1888. The problem with Jones and Waggoner was that they did not go through the “proper channels.” They were not approved by the “proper people.”

The following statements are from a letter that Ellen White wrote to Elder Butler. “God designs that men shall use their minds and consciences for themselves. He never designed that one man should become the shadow of another, and utter only another’s sentiments. But this error has been coming in among us, that a very few are to be mind, conscience, and judgment for all God’s workers. The foundation of Christianity is ‘Christ our Righteousness.’ ” 1888 Materials, 112. Do you want to know what Christ our Righteousness means? She tells us what it means. “Men are individually responsible to God and must act as God acts upon them, not as another human mind acts upon their mind.” Ibid. God is to decide what is right, not some human committee. God makes the rules, not some human rule book. The Bible is our creed. We always used to say: “We do not have a creed book; the Bible is our creed.”

“For if this method of indirect influence is kept up, souls can not be impressed and directed by the great I AM. They will, on the other hand, have their experience blended with another, and will be kept under a moral restraint, which allows no freedom of action or of choice . . . If we would be wise, and use diligently, prayerfully, and thankfully the means whereby light and blessings are to come to His people, then no voice nor power upon earth would have authority over us to say, ‘This shall not be.’ ” Ibid., 112, 113.

In the book Testimonies to Ministers, Ellen White wrote a great deal of material, to the leadership and ministry in general, after 1888. Much of this book is dealing with this very principle of church authority. Among other similar statements, she said, “The high-handed power that has been developed, as though position has made men god’s, makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear. It is a curse wherever and by whomever it is exercised.” Testimonies to Ministers, 361. “The spirit of domination is extending to the presidents of the conferences. If a man is sanguine of his own powers and seeks to exercise dominion over his brethren, feeling that he is invested with authority to make his will the ruling power, the best and only safe course is to remove him.” Ibid., 362. “Rule, rule has been their course of action. Satan has had an opportunity of representing himself.” Ibid., 363.

Our Source of Light

In the chapter “Under Which Banner?” she says, “Humanity is hailed as God.” Ibid., 365. She is talking to us dear friends. She says, “God will not vindicate any device whereby man shall in the slightest degree rule or oppress his fellowmen.” Ibid., 366. A curse is pronounced upon all who do this (Jeremiah 17:5).

“State conferences may depend upon the General Conference for light and knowledge and wisdom; but is it safe for them to do this? Battle Creek is not to be the center of God’s work. God alone can fill this place. When our people in the different places have their special convocations, teach them, for Christ’s sake and for their own soul’s sake, not to make flesh their arm. There is no power in men to read the hearts of their fellow men. The Lord is the only One upon whom we can with safety depend, and He is accessible in every place and to every church in the Union. Is the president of the General Conference to be the god of the people?” Ibid., 375. Following the counsel and teaching of these ideas does not make a person very popular, but we are told to do it.

Instead of teaching the truth God has commissioned to be taught, do you know what she says we have been taught? “For many years an education has been given to the people which places God second, and man first. The people have been taught that everything must be brought before the council of a few men in Battle Creek.” Testimonies to Ministers, 325. I want you to notice that this is a serious matter because it is breaking the first commandment. God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3. “Let me entreat our state conferences and our churches to cease putting their dependence upon men and making flesh their arm.” Ibid., 380. Today we have gone far beyond where they were in 1888.

“In reference to our conference, it is repeated o’er and o’er and o’er again, that it is the voice of God, and therefore everything must be referred to the Conference and have the conference voice in regard to permission or restriction or what shall be and what shall not be done in the various fields . . . We have heard enough, abundance, about that everything must go around in the regular way . . . He [God] wants every living soul that has a knowledge of the truth to come to their senses.” Spalding–Magan Collection, 163. “The Lord wants His Spirit to come in, He wants the Holy Ghost King.” Ibid., 166. Today we have come to the point, in many places, that if you even invite someone to come and speak in the pulpit, you have to get the permission of the local conference.

Fall Upon the Rock

God is looking for every one of us, from the General Conference president down, to be broken on the Rock. When Jesus is the King, unity, peace and love pervade. This does not do away with organization. It is the only thing that creates a workable organization. We still have offices, but when God’s plan is followed, no one is striving for office because everyone is striving to serve one another. See Matthew 20:25–28.

The message of Christ our Righteousness has to become practical. We need to exercise less and less control over one another and do more and more praying for one another. Let us not decide that God has given any one of us authority to tell everyone else how they are to serve God. God is calling for much more freedom in His church than we have been willing to allow. There is a place for order, a place for leadership, but dear friend, God is calling for us to be broken on the Rock, to be filled with the humility and the love of Jesus. Then we will find that once again the Holy Spirit will be King.

The End

by Marshall Grosboll

Who and What is the Church?

by

The subject of who and what is the church, is an exceedingly important subject. The most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to belong to God’s church.

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all people see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 3:8–10.

This tells us that there was a mystery hidden in the mind of God which no created beings understood. But Paul says, now this mystery is going to be made known. How?—by the church. If you belong to the church, God is going to reveal something through you to the beings all over the universe. There is a mystery that they have been wanting to know for a long time. They are going to find it out, through the church, through you. This seems inconceivable doesn’t it? Beings that have been alive for thousands and thousands of years, can learn something from you and me!

Abraham’s Covenant

The church is one of the most wonderful subjects in the Bible. We are going to go back to the book of Genesis to study about the church. After sin entered the world, gradually God unfolded to this world the doctrines of grace. The world rejected God and went into idolatry. Then God chose a certain person to preserve the knowledge of His law—His government. This person became a progenitor of Christ. The people of God, all the members of His church, for the next 2,000 years, looked back to this person as their spiritual father and to themselves as his children. In fact, to become a member of the church involves becoming this person’s child. This person’s name was Abraham, one of the most famous men that ever lived. God came to Abraham and said: “And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly . . . And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.” Genesis 17:2, 7.

God gave circumcision to Abraham as a sign of the covenant. God told him that anybody wanting to become part of his seed, had to be circumcised.

“In Him [that is Christ] you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” Colossians 2:11.

Ishmael & the Covenant

Any person in the world could come to Abraham and say, “We want to worship your God. We want to be part of your religion and your family.” They could become a part if they were circumcised. That represented the cutting away of sin from the life. When you became a member of the church you had to covenant that you were going to follow God and keep His commandments. When Israel left Egypt, that very same covenant was renewed to them. Exodus 19. Circumcision was an outward symbol of an inward experience. I want to ask you a pivotal question. What if you only had the outward symbol?—You had been circumcised but you did not have the inward spiritual experience that it represented. Were you a member of God’s church? Were you really part of the seed of Abraham? The Bible says that Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all that were born in his house and had them circumcised. Genesis 17:23–25.

Ishmael had the outward experience of circumcision. Was he part of Abraham’s seed? He was according to the flesh. But was he part of the spiritual seed? No. Abraham asked if Ishmael could be part of the seed, and God said that He was going to establish His covenant with the son of Sarah. “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” Genesis 17:21.

Ishmael was not really a part of the church, because he did not have the inward experience that circumcision represents. When you give your allegiance to God and you choose to serve Him, keep His laws, and put away sin, then you become part of God’s chosen people—His church. In Old Testament times anybody could do this from any nation. Ruth was not a descendant of Abraham, but of Lot. She was a Moabitess. Notice what Ruth decided, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” Ruth 1:16.

Ruth & the Church

Ruth was not a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh, but she wanted to have the same religion and belong to the same church. She was adopted in and became part of Abraham’s seed. “The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” Ruth 2:12.

The covenant people—those that entered into this covenant that Abraham and the Lord had made—said, “Yes, we want to forsake sin and follow God by keeping His commandments. We want to be part of Abraham’s family, of his seed.” They professed faith in God and obeyed His commandments; they became part of His professed people. Now here is a question. What if these covenant people did not abide by the conditions of the covenant? Remember, a covenant is an agreement between two parties. God made the offer and the conditions. Genesis 17. We can decide whether we want to be part of that offer—covenant, or not. What if I decide to be part of the covenant and then I do not follow through with my agreement with the Lord? I have the outward experience, but I do not continue to keep His commandments. I do not cut away sin from my life. This has been God’s problem for thousands of years. The prophets addressed it over and over again. Jeremiah tells God’s people what is going to be the end of this kind of thing. He said circumcise your heart and not just your flesh. In other words, you need to cut away sin from your life.

In Jesus’ day, the people who called themselves God’s people had not been faithful to the agreement. They said, “We are Abraham’s seed. We are the true church.” But to be part of the church, there are conditions. If you do not cut sin away from your life, you have broken your covenant with God. That was the problem in Jesus’ day. In fact, the people that professed to be the children of God were actually the children of the devil. You cannot be both, part of God and part of the devil, at the same time.

“We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half understand it. We do not half take it in. My heart trembles in me when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how poorly we are prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ. How the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God’s servants. That they may not be able to discern the precious truth.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 406.

John the Baptist’s Denial

If a person professes to be a child of God—you profess to be part of His church. God told Abraham, when you enter into this covenant you will be My people, I will be your God. In Jesus’ time, the people that professed to be the children of God, were not actually His children. They did not fulfill the covenant which was the condition for being the seed of Abraham. God sent a special messenger, John the Baptist, to give them a chance to turn around. These people said to John the Baptist, “Abraham is our father. We are his children, therefore, we are part of the true church. We are saved.” Notice what John the Baptist told them.

“And do not think to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” Matthew 3:9. What was John the Baptist telling them? They said, “We are Abraham’s children. He is our father. We are part of the true church.” And John the Baptist said, “Don’t you say that. Don’t say that Abraham is your father. Don’t say you are a member of the true church. Don’t say it.” Don’t even think it.

Then he said, “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:10. If the tree doesn’t bear good fruit, no matter what the name is, it won’t save the tree. You can say, “Oh, I’m a member of the true church.” But, that will not save you. It is the fruit—not the name that determines the destiny of the tree.

“John declared to the Jews that their standing before God was to be decided by their character and life. Profession was worthless. If their life and character were not in harmony with God’s law, they were not His people.” Desire of Ages, 107. [All emphasis supplied.]

That is plain talk. “If your life and character are not in harmony with God’s law, you are not a member of the church. You are not Abraham’s children. You are not God’s people. It is your character, the fruit of your life that determines membership, and not your name and not your profession.” John the Baptist said there is coming a great shaking and sifting among the Jews. He calls it a winnowing fan. There is going to be a separation soon, and the wheat is going to be gathered into the garner and the chaff is going to be burned up. That time of judgment and shaking came when Jesus came. When you follow the life of Jesus, you find out wherever He went His words and His acts aroused opposition and a great tumult. Jesus spoke about this same issue to the Jews in even stronger language than John the Baptist. Jesus acknowledged that they were the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh, but he denied that they were Abraham’s spiritual descendants.

Jesus’ & Abraham’s Children

” ‘I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.’ They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.’ ” John 8:37–39.

Jesus said, “If you were really Abraham’s children you would do the works of Abraham. You would have a character like Abraham.” What God is interested in is not our likeness in the flesh to somebody else, but it is the likeness in our minds and in our spirit.

” ‘But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.’ Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.’ ” John 8:40–44.

Jesus said to the Jews, “Your spiritual father is the devil. You are not the children of God. You are not part of God’s church at all. You are part of the synagogue of Satan. Your character proves it.” They were plotting to kill Him right then, and in addition to that they were lying.

Do you think people who heard talk that plain should be able to figure out who and what the church was? They didn’t. Even Christ’s own disciples took a long time to get this figured out. We human beings are so used to looking at the flesh, that often the spiritual truth in the Bible just bypasses us completely. The apostle Paul had to fight this same battle all over again.

Paul & Israel

“But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel.” Romans 9:6. Who is Israel?—God’s people. “They are not all Israel who are of Israel.”—They are not all Israel who profess to be Israel. They are not all God’s people who profess to be God’s people.

“Nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham: but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ ” Romans 9:7. Ishmael does not count, even though he had the outward sign of circumcision to prove he was a church member.

“Those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.” Romans 9:8. How much more plainly can you say it? Profession alone does not make anyone a child of God or a member of His church. Who really is a member of the church? It is not the children of the flesh, it is the children of the promise—those who have the spiritual qualifications.

“For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13. Paul teaches here that through righteousness by faith, the Gentiles have the same privileges as the Jews. It was God’s intention from the beginning that anyone could become part of the seed of Abraham, through faith. We saw this in the story of Ruth.

“For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” Romans 4:14–17. “The Israel of God are those who are converted.” Upward Look, 80.

John the Baptist said, “God is able of these stones [the Gentiles] to raise up children of Abraham.” Matthew 3:9. When a Gentile comes to Jesus and He puts His Holy Spirit in the mind, he then learns to keep God’s law just like Abraham did. When anyone has the same spiritual experience that Abraham had, he is accounted the seed of Abraham.

If Judah is the church, who would a church member be? He would be a Jew. If Israel is the church, a church member would be an Israelite or a Jew. Notice who Paul says is really a Jew. “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. [That is the one who makes a profession.] Nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh.” Romans 2:28. If that was the thing that did it, then Ishmael would have been a member of the church. But, Paul is very emphatic in the book of Galatians that Ishmael was not a member.

“But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Romans 2:29. It is not outward, it is inward. It is not in the letter, but in the spirit. Paul says, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7. Those are the only ones who are really part of the church.

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26–29. Jesus was a seed of Abraham and if I am a child of Christ, I am part of the seed of Abraham too.

The Church in Revelation 12

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. And she bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.” Revelation 12:1–5.

Who was the male child that was caught up to God and to His throne? It was Jesus. This is a symbolic prophecy about a woman that stood on the moon. This symbolic woman is a pure woman and is clothed with light. She is not a harlot woman. Who does a woman represent in Bible prophecy? A church. Paul said, “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. [He is talking to the church.] But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2, 3.

In Revelation 12 we have a pure woman, God’s church. She is pregnant, about to bare a child. This is talking about God’s church. What does it mean? We can find one answer in Galatians 4:19. Paul is writing to a church that was converted but they went into apostasy and now he is making this appeal to them: “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.” Galatians 4:19.

Men do not have babies in the flesh. He is talking to the church. He is talking about the spiritual nature of Christ. This is the mystery that we read about in our first text from Ephesians 3. The mystery is Christ formed in you, so that you think, talk, and act like He does. Paul describes this: “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27. If you want to be a member of this church that is talked about in Revelation 12, you must bring forth the spiritual character of Christ in your life. That is what New Testament religion is all about. The apostles were continually talking about it.

“Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” Revelation 12:6. Why did the woman have to flee into the wilderness? Because the professed church tried to destroy the real or true church. If you do not understand the difference between the real church and the professed church, you cannot understand Revelation 12:6. “Romanists have persisted in bringing against Protestants the charge of heresy and willful separation from the true church. But these accusations apply rather to themselves. They are the ones who laid down the banner of Christ and departed from ‘the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.’ Jude 3.” Great Controversy, 51.

“Through the agency of Romanism, Satan took the world captive. The professed church of God was swept into the ranks of this delusion, and for more than a thousand years the people of God [true church] suffered under the dragon’s ire.” Signs of the Times, November 1, 1899.

Who Left the Church?

In the church at Rome there was a departure from the truth and the majority of the people and their pastor decided they were going to worship God on Sunday. This was happening by the second century. It started with Easter. They were going to celebrate the resurrection every year. Then they said, we might as well do it every week.

But there were a few people in the Roman church that would not go along with it. What happens when there are a few people and they do not go along with what the majority of the church wants to do? Who gets their way, the minority or the majority? The majority decided that they were going to worship on Sunday. But there were a few people that said we must keep all the commandments of God. Can you stay a part of a church when you cannot even agree on which day to go to church? No, you cannot. That little group had to go somewhere else and get another pastor and building. What if they met one of their brethren on the street in Rome and this person said to them, “Oh, why did you leave the church?” What should they say? They should say, if they understand who the church is, “Why did you leave the church?” You see, the majority of the people had the building, the pastor, the organization, the money, everything—everything but the truth. If you leave the truth, you leave the church. So the majority of the people left the church, but, from a human point of view, it looked like they stayed in. From God’s point of view the majority were the ones that left. And the minority that were forced out were actually the ones that stayed in the church, because the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. I Timothy 3:15.

Jesus told the Jews: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” John 7:24. Righteous judgment is not always according to appearance. There was this tremendous controversy during the Dark Ages as to who the church was. The controversy has persisted to the present day. Many Protestants today understand “who and what the church is,” more according to Catholic theology than Protestant theology. Protestants teach that the Bible is the ultimate authority and the church is underneath it. A Roman Catholic says, “I believe in the authority of the Bible, but the authority of the church is above the authority of the Bible.” (That is the difference. If you want to live according to everything in the Bible, you have to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.)

The Reformers & the Church

John Wycliffe said: “The holy church is the congregation of the just men for whom Christ shed His blood.”

Martin Luther said: “The Pope, the bishops, the monks and the priests need not make a noise. We are the church. There is no other church than the assembly of those who have the Word of God and are purified by it.”

Melancthon made almost an exact statement to Martin Luther’s. It is quoted by Ellen White. “There is no other church than the assembly of those who have the Word of God and who are purified by it.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 237.

How is it that we find such a marked uniformity among the Waldensees and these Protestant Reformers? They had all been studying the same Book. They had found that the New Testament teaches what the church is. If we are Protestants, if we claim that we are going to base all of our religion on the Bible, should our understanding of who and what the church is be based from it also? We will here study a few texts that define who and what the church is.

“I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.” Colossians 1:24. The apostle Paul says that the church is Christ’s body. Paul has some very specific things to say about this body—the body of Christ.

Have you ever wondered how big the church is? Some people think that the church is located on several acres near the city of Rome. Some people think that the church is located in Maryland. Some people think that the church is located where they go to church. The church is a lot bigger than any of those places. “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:22, 23. Does this phrase “all in all” refer to merely this world? God says, “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” Jeremiah 23:24. The Lord fills heaven and earth. The church is His body, “the fullness of Him that fills all in all.” It is the biggest thing in the universe, “the fullness of Him that fills all in all,” not only in this world but also in heaven. There is only one church in this world and in heaven.

How many churches are there? “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling.” Ephesians 4:4. There is just one. It is “the fullness of Him that fills all in all.” How many heads does this body have? Just one. Ephesians 1:22, 23. There are beasts in the Bible that have seven heads, but Christ’s church does not have seven heads. He Himself is the only head of the body. This was a major controversy during the Reformation. Roman Catholic theologians had made two churches. They said there is an invisible church and Christ is the head of that; and there is a visible church and the Pope is the head of that. John Wycliffe said, “If there are two heads of the church, that is a monster.”

The Bride of Christ

Christ is the husband of the church. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish . . . For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:25–32.

The apostle Paul says that the church is bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. We are to be one with Him. What does this mean? “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two,’ he says, ‘shall become one flesh.’”

1 Corinthians 6:15–16. You cannot mistake what the apostle Paul is talking about here. Notice that in the next verse He uses the same verb. “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” To be a part of the church means to be joined to the Lord. What if I am not? If you get married and you go through all the process with the justice of the peace and get all the paperwork done, but immediately after you get married one of you moves to California and the other to Maine and you never see each other again, are they married? Not really. Any court would recognize that their marriage was not valid. They would not even need to get a divorce, that “marriage” could be annulled.

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Romans 8:9. If I do not have the Spirit of Christ, am I part of His body? No.

The Vine & the Branches

Jesus said: “You are the branches.” John 15:5. The church is God’s vineyard. It was described that way in Isaiah 5, and we are the branches united to the True Vine. Jesus talks about how necessary it is to have a vital relationship, otherwise if we just have an external relationship some day we will be cut off and the branch will die. Desire of Ages, 830. The branch has to bear fruit or it will be taken away.

The Good Shepherd & the Flock

This is one of the most beautiful illustrations in the Bible. It is found in John 10. Jesus talks of Himself as the Good Shepherd and His church as His sheepfold. He speaks of Himself as being this door and we must go through it to be part of His fold. The door represents His humanity, His life. When we live His life we are going through the door.

The Temple

“But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15. The church is the house or temple of God—the pillar and ground of the truth. Paul speaks about this spiritual house for God to dwell in through the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 2:22.

What is the Church?

We will now compare some definitions from inspiration with the condition of the Jewish church when Jesus came. Here are some definitions of what the church is.

  1. The church is the spiritual seed of Abraham.
  2. The church is God’s people.
  3. The church is the people who have entered into God’s covenant. (The sign of entering into God’s covenant, even in the Old Testament, was keeping the Sabbath.)
  4. The church is the body of Christ, joined to Him as one spirit.
  5. The church is God’s fold.
  6. The church is God’s grain field.
  7. The church is God’s vineyard.
  8. The church is God’s spiritual temple.
  9. The church is the faithful souls. “From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.” The Acts the of Apostles, 11.
  10. The church is “those that love God and keep His commandments.” Upward Look, 315.
  11. The church is God’s “city of refuge.” The Acts of the Apostles, 11. God has made a city of refuge for you, friend, and if you enter that city of refuge you will never suffer the second death, because Jesus will save you from it.
  12. The church is “God’s fortress . . . which He holds in a revolted world.” Ibid.

Were all the Jews God’s Church?

Now, let us look at the Jewish church in the time of Christ, at the leaders and most of the people.

  1. Were they the spiritual seed of Abraham? No. Matthew 3:9; John 8:39.
  2. Were they God’s people? No. John 8:42; Desire of Ages, 36.
  3. Had they entered into God’s covenant? No. John 8:34–42.
  4. Were they the body of Christ? Absolutely not. They were not joined to Christ, they were fighting Him the entire time He was here.
  5. Were they God’s fold? No they were not. Jesus said to the Jews, “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep.” John 10:26.
  6. Were they God’s vineyard? They had no vital connection with the true vine. They were like the fig tree that bore no fruit.
  7. Were they a spiritual building where the Spirit of God dwells? No, they were not. They became the agents of Satan. The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth had become the representatives of Satan. Desire of Ages, 36. They were not a spiritual building where the Spirit of God dwelt.
  8. Were they faithful souls? No, they were not. They were unfaithful souls. Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, 41.
  9. Did they love God and keep His commandments? They professed to, but did they really? No, they did not, they murdered Jesus and lied about Him; they did not love Him or keep His commandments. Matthew 15:3.

Some are Tares

For the sake of the whole universe being convinced as to who is faithful in their profession, God allows all who make a profession to be a part of the professed church—His chosen people. However, the parable of the wheat and the tares tells us that some who make a profession are tares. Jesus said the tares are the children of the devil. In the professed church, or the church militant as Ellen White sometimes calls it, there is a mixture of wheat and tares, a mixture of the children of God and the children of the devil. The tares are not a part of the body of Christ, they are not faithful souls, they are not part of the spiritual building, they have not gone though the door into the sheepfold, they do not love God, and they do not keep His commandments. But, they pretend, or profess, to do all these things, while in reality they are a part of the synagogue of Satan or the devil’s church. You cannot be a part of Christ and part of the devil at the same time (I Corinthians 10).

Now in addition to the tares, or children of the devil who are in the church, there are those who have once been converted but their spiritual experience has become tepid, or lukewarm. Their love for God is not wholehearted anymore, they have lost their first love. Now I have two questions for you. The first one is this: How do we relate to tares—children of the devil, who are in the church? People think that is an easy question and right away they say, well, the Bible says don’t pull them up. But, they have not read their Bible carefully enough. That statement, “don’t pull them up,” has a context. The Bible is very clear (see 1 Corinthians 5), that anyone who is living in open sin is to be put out of the church. However, if a person is false in their heart but they are making a profession, we cannot do anything about that. Those are the tares, the people who are making a profession. They are not living in open sin, they are not taking their brother to court, or using NLP, or lying, and openly doing those things that are contrary to the ten commandments, they are making a profession, but their heart is false. We cannot read that. Those are the tares. But they still are the children of the devil. Christ Object Lessons, 71.

I want you to notice something else Jesus said about the church which a lot of people have not noticed today. Look at Matthew 15. Jesus is talking about the tares in the church. You know He is talking about the tares because it says: “He answered and said, ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.’ ” Matthew 15:13.

Who are these plants that the Heavenly Father has not planted? These are the tares. Now, notice what He says about these tares that had gained control of the God’s professed church in Jesus’ day.

Let Them Alone

“Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” Matthew 15:14.

There were people in Jesus’ day, and they said, “Oh, these are the spiritual leaders. They have duly constituted church authority and they are the sons of Levi.” And Jesus told them that those spiritual leaders were blind spiritual leaders. They were not teaching the truth and if you followed them you would lose your eternal salvation. I hear people say, “I think we had better go and talk to these people.” But Jesus says, “Let them alone.” Do not go and talk to them or associate with them. Do not go and listen to them. If you do, you are going to be led somewhere you do not want to go and you are going to lose your soul. There are people today that have not studied this text and they are being led by blind leaders who are leading the blind, and they are leading them straight to hellfire and they do not even know it. Now that is plain talk, but that is what Jesus taught in Matthew 15.

A Little Leaven

Jesus warned His disciples: “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” Matthew 16:6. Then the disciples got into a discussion about that, and Jesus said to them: “How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 6:11, 12.

If you go and listen to someone preach doctrine that is not according to the Bible and if you keep going and listening, what is going to happen to you? Did you ever put a little yeast into some dough and let it sit there and watch what happens? It goes through the whole batch and soon, if you want to make unleavened bread, you are going to have to throw the whole batch out and start all over. The yeast will infect the whole batch. If you listen to a blind leader of the blind that is preaching or teaching, not according to the Bible, you are going to become infected with false teaching and will be ruined for the kingdom of Heaven. You will be led into the ditch. Look what Paul said about this in 1 Corinthians 5:7. Some people come and say, “I want to keep going to this church over here. I know the pastor isn’t preaching the truth but I have a lot of friends here. I will go to some camp meetings and other special revival meetings and stay alive spiritually.” Or another variation is, “I know that the messages there are not any different than those being preached in other churches.” But, pablum sermons will not get you ready to successfully go through the last days That is dangerous!

“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” 1 Corinthians 5:7. Paul says, purge out the old leaven. I want to warn you, I am doing this because of love for your soul. If you go and talk and have conferences with people who are blind leaders of the blind, you are going to become infected and not even know what has happened.

“God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go; for unless He sends us to those meetings, where error is forced home to the people by the power of the will, He will not keep us. The angels cease their watchful care over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and weakened by him and the power of his evil angels; and the light around us becomes contaminated with the darkness.” Early Writings, 125.

Here is a question for you. What is going to happen to the tares, the wolves in sheep’s clothing, those who have climbed over the wall into the sheepfold, those who do not have a vital connection to the true vine? Just like in the time of John the Baptist, there is going to be a shaking or purging in the church, and at the end, Jesus says there is going to be a separation. The angels are going to come and separate the tares from the wheat. John the Baptist said there would be a separation in the time of Christ—and there was a separation. There was a shaking and almost the entire Jewish church was shaken out. But, their church organization went right on. That is something that many people have not thought of and you need to think it through. Judaism still existed, but almost the entire group, or organization, was shaken out. I have to tell you the truth. According to prophecy, something very similar to this is going to happen to the Seventh-day Adventist Church before the end.

People say, “We are in the true church and we are going to be saved.” They do not know they are following blind leaders. This is what is going to happen, “How many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! . . . Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building.” Early Writings, 71. When the plagues fall then probation is over and it is too late to be saved.

“To the marriage supper of the Lamb will come many who have not on the wedding garment—the robe [Christ] purchased for them with His lifeblood. From lips that never make a mistake come the words, ‘Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?’ Matthew 22:12. Those [thus] addressed are speechless. They know that words would be useless. The truth, with its sanctifying power, has not been brought into the soul, and the tongue that once spoke so readily of the truth is now silent. The words are then spoken, ‘Take them out of My presence. They are not worthy to taste of My supper.’ (Compare with Luke 14:24.)

“As they are separated from the loyal ones, Christ looks upon them with deep sorrow. They occupied high positions of trust in God’s work, but they have not the life insurance policy that would have entitled them to eternal life. From the quivering lips of Christ come the mournful words of regret, ‘I loved them; I gave My life for them; but they persisted in rejecting My pleadings, and continued in sin. O that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.’ ” Upward Look, 301.

Oh, if you want to be part of the church, part of those that will be saved when Jesus comes, you must have the spiritual experience that makes you a part of His body, joined to Him as one spirit. You must have that vital connection with the True Vine. You must love God and obey His commandments. You must have the reality and not just the form. There is coming a time when the only people that will be left in the church will be holy people. Isaiah 4:3.

I want to be part of the real church when Jesus comes, not just someone that has made a profession and then falls out at the end. The profession is necessary. If you have the real thing you are not going to lie and say you do not have it, you are going to tell the truth and make a profession. I want to appeal to you, friend, to make that decision and come to Jesus and say, “Lord, I want to enter into the covenant. I want the real thing, more than just a profession. I want to be one of those faithful souls, one of those who loves God and keeps His commandments. I want to be a part of the body of Christ, ‘bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh,’ one of those who is joined to Him in one spirit.” I want to be part of the church not just by profession but in character.

The End

by John J. Grosboll

The Cords that Bind

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Jesus said that when the Lord comes, everybody in the world will be bound into bundles. “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?” But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, [Another version says, “at the time of the harvest.” A more accurate translation would be, “during the time of the harvest”] and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ” Matthew 13:24–30.

Notice, it says the tares are gathered together and they are bound. To bind anything, you need to have some kind of a cord or rope or something with which to bind them. Jesus explained what these cords were: “Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.’ He answered and said to them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’ ” Verses 36–43.

We read here that Jesus will send forth His angels to bind the tares in bundles and cast them into the fire before the wheat is gathered for the heavenly garner. This is surely not a physical binding but a mental or spiritual binding. But what are the cords that bind?

Binding the Tares

“Satan is busily at work in our crowded cities. His work is to be seen in the confusion, the strife and discord between labor and capital, and the hypocrisy that has come into the churches. That men may not take time to meditate, Satan leads them into a round of gayety and pleasure-seeking, of eating and drinking. He fills them with ambition to make an exhibition that will exalt self. Step by step, the world is reaching the conditions that existed in the days of Noah. Every conceivable crime is committed. The lust of the flesh, the pride of the eyes, the display of selfishness, the misuse of power, the cruelty, and the force used to cause men to unite with confederacies and unions—binding themselves up in bundles for the burning of the great fires of the last days—all these are the working of Satanic agencies. This round of crime and folly, men call life.” Evangelism, 26.

Notice the two things mentioned that bind them: confederacies and unions. Men are bound up in bundles by joining certain organizations. How does this happen? “In all our great cities there will be a binding up in bundles by the confederacies and unions formed. Men will rule other men and demand much of them. The lives of those who refuse to unite with these unions, will be in peril.

“The work of the people of God is to prepare for the events of the future, which will soon come upon them with blinding force. In the world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A few men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained in certain lines of business. Trades unions will be formed, and those who refuse to join these unions will be marked men. …

“These unions are one of the signs of the last days. Men are binding up in bundles ready to be burned. They may be church members, but while they belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue.” Maranatha, 182.

If you are a member of an organization that is breaking the law of God, you are a part of it, and when you give your time, money and influence to it, you will be acknowledged as guilty of the same sins if you stay in it. You will be bound in a bundle.

Very often somebody says, “I’m not doing it.” But you are a member of an organization that is doing it, and supporting what they are doing with your influence, time, and your money. And so, it says, “They cannot possibly keep the commandments of God, for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue.”

In Notebook Leaflets, 48, Ellen White has this to say about the subject: “I am instructed to say that in the future great watchfulness will be needed. There is to be among God’s people no spiritual stupidity. Evil spirits are actively engaged in seeking to control the minds of human beings.”

Notice the way evil spirits try to control the minds of human beings. She says, “Men are binding up in bundles, ready to be consumed by the fires of the last days. Those who discard Christ and His righteousness will accept the sophistry that is flooding the world. Christians are to be sober and vigilant, steadfastly resisting their adversary the devil, who is going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Men under the influence of evil spirits will work miracles.” Ibid.

We don’t understand how rapidly this work of binding people in bundles is going on. Once people are bound, it appears to them that they can never get loose. They say that they will lose their job and won’t have a way to make a living. Of course, they could decide that they are going to lose anything to gain eternal life and the Lord could provide for them. But you can see how it takes a tremendous amount of faith to get loose from this bundle once you have been bound.

“Can we not see how earnestly Satan is at work binding the tares in bundles, uniting the elements of his kingdom, that he may gain control of the world? This work of binding up the tares is going forward far more rapidly than we imagine. Satan is opposing every obstacle to the advancement of the truth. He is seeking to create diversity of opinion and to encourage worldliness and avarice. He works with the subtlety of the serpent and, when he sees it will do, with the ferocity of the lion. The ruin of souls is his only delight, their destruction his only employment; and shall we act as though we were paralyzed? Will those who profess to believe the truth listen to the temptations of the wily foe and allow themselves to become selfish and narrow, and their worldly interests to interfere with efforts for the salvation of souls?” Testimonies, vol. 5, 384.

Notice what Satan is introducing to bind people in bundles. Three things are mentioned. He is seeking to create diversity of opinion, to encourage worldliness—the love of the world, and avarice—a desire and craving to gain possessions. The devil tries to break down people’s barriers so their soul is weak, that without moral force, they can be overcome and then become polluted and debased and easily bound together in bundles.

“The matter is placed before us in the correct light. The question is asked, ‘And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God … Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing’ (II Corinthians 6:16, 17). What does this mean—the suggestions, the evil workings in the children of disobedience. You are not in any case to become contaminated with the spirit or influence of unbelievers. Be afraid of uniting or binding up in bundles with them. Be afraid of communicating the works connected with the Lord’s cause to those who have no part with God, or sympathy with those who love the truth of God.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 271, 272.

The devil seeks to get us bound up by being contaminated with the spirit or the influence of unbelievers. Of course, this Scripture (II Corinthians 6:14–16) is usually used to teach that as Christians we should not marry those that are not Christians, those that do not have the same faith. That is a true application of this Scripture, but it does not refer simply to a marriage covenant. When you are in close business relationships with a non-Adventist, disagreements can arise on whether or not to keep the establishment open on Saturday, when to close it on Friday or how to distribute the means that are made. An Adventist will want to pay tithe on his increase while a non-Adventist will generally not want to pay tithe on anything. When you are bound up with an unbeliever you are headed for trouble, and the Bible says not to do it.

In the book This Day With God, 163, it says, “The inhabitants of the world, under Satan’s leadership, are binding up in bundles ready to be burned. We have no time, not a moment, to lose. The judgments of God are in the land, and those who stand obstinate, unconvinced by the warnings God sends, will be bound up in bundles ready to be burned.”

We are not to bind ourselves with them. In Special Testimonies for Ministers and Gospel Workers, 10, Ellen White said, “Let not God’s people in any of our institutions sign a truce with the enemy of God and man.” She then quotes from II Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers.”

In our institutions there is a continual temptation to try to become more successful by uniting with the world. Ellen White wrote, “Christian consistency marked the course of Daniel and Joseph in all the actions of their lives. There are men binding in bundles by vows that will end in sacrificing conscience for professional success.” Pamphlet, 167.

Elder Burden was the principle leader that helped the Seventh-day Adventist church establish today what is called Loma Linda University. Ellen White wrote to him and Mrs. Burden: “How long will the Lord suffer oppression of the poor that rich men may hoard wealth? These men are heaping together treasures for the last days. Their money is placed where it does no one any good. To add to their millions, they rob the poor and the cries of the starving are no more to them than the barking of a dog. But the Lord marks every act of oppression. No cry of suffering is unheard by Him. Those who today are scheming to obtain more and more money, putting in operation plans that mean to the poor starvation, will in the last great day stand face to face with their deeds of oppression and injustice. Those who claim to be the children of God are in no case to bind up with the labor unions that are formed or that shall be formed. This the Lord forbids. Cannot those who study the prophecies see and understand what is before us. The transgressors of the law of God have taken sides with their leader, the general of rebellion. He understands how to devise his satanic schemes and through whom to work for the carrying out of them. He is striving to lead every soul to take sides with him, and under the influence of his temptations, thousands are binding themselves up in bundles, ready to be consumed by the fires of the last day. Those who yield to his temptation become in their turn tempters, standing among the ablest of his helpers.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, 78.

Most do not understand how the labor movement began. A few decades ago a Seventh-day Adventist minister who was a leader of the religious liberty department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, came to talk to ministers about this problem and the problems that they were facing, at that time, in the State of California where people were saying, in certain big cities, that if you want to get a job and earn a living here, you have to belong to a labor union. Sharing the problems they were dealing with, he told us how the modern labor movement got started. It was very interesting to hear the dates that he gave, compared with the statements that Ellen White wrote around the turn of the twentieth century. He told us that at the end of the nineteenth century a pope was elected in 1878 who continued in his office until 1903. In 1891, he wrote an encyclical that initiated the modern labor movement. Most people are unaware of the very close connections that the labor movement has had from its very inception with the Roman Catholic Church. Ellen White goes on to say to Elder Burden, “In the time of the harvest the Lord will say to His reapers, ‘Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into My barn’ (Matthew 13:30). God has a people on the earth who will see the evil of every phase of oppression, and will refuse to unite with the enemy in carrying out his plans.” Ibid., 79.

Are we going to become sanctified through the truth or are we going to become the subjects of Satan’s temptations? “Let all walk and work circumspectly, under the molding influence of the Holy Spirit. There is little wisdom in binding about the work in any line. God has not given His sanction to any branch of His work’s being bound about. But unbelief has strengthened, and those who have not been sanctified through the truth will be subjects of Satan’s temptations. They will be his most successful allies. … There are now those who will show just what they will do under temptation and in an emergency.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 19, 383. When you are under temptation and in an emergency, what will you do?

Concerning these people, “They cannot be depended upon. The Lord has given them great light, but they choose Barabbas rather than Christ. This is being enacted in our very midst. They crucify afresh the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. But the unsetting Sun of Righteousness is to shine forth, and those who have worked to counterwork what God has appointed will be gathered in bundles with the tares.” Ibid., 383.

There is always somebody to object, criticize and counterwork any time God is doing a work in the world. Those people guilty of this will be bound together in bundles. We all need to be very careful when we are analyzing and listening to somebody criticize something. If you are found criticizing something that God is in, then you are counterworking something that God is doing and are in a very dangerous situation.

Ellen White wrote a letter while she was in Australia, around 1892, to a gentleman that was a member of a secret society. There are many, many lodges, fraternities and secret societies of all kinds in the world today. These secret societies are another means by which people are bound in bundles. This man was a member of a Masonic Lodge. This is what she wrote to him: “I am anxious that you shall be a free man from the slavery of all bondage. You have been binding yourself in bundles with those who are an offense to God. Your brethren, or many of them, do not know that which you yourself and the Lord know—the inward workings of the association with which you are connected. You do not yourself know its character.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, 281.

Often times these organizations look very bland and mild on the outside, disguising the inner secret workings that go on within. Ellen White went on to say, “You are like a man intoxicated; every advancement perverts your senses.” Ibid.

That man finally freed himself from his association with the secret society. There are other people today who are members of these secret associations who will cut loose when the loud cry goes out. During the time of the latter rain, the people who want to be saved are going to cut loose from everything that keeps them from obeying the truth.

Today there are many obstacles that prevent people from obeying the truth. Some people refuse to obey because of their spouses; others hold back because of family connections. There are people who don’t obey the truth because of their business or connections with secret societies and labor unions. This connection makes them responsible to a degree for what is done by those associations in breaking the law of God.

As mentioned previously, when we come to the end of time, everybody is going to be bound. There is a big difference in the outcome, which depends upon the bundle in which you are bound. The parable says that the tares will be bound first, but later on, the wheat also will be bound.

Let us consider the cords and what it is that binds the wheat and holds it together. Some people believe that it is the church organization to which you belong.

In the book Early Writings, 88, 89, Ellen White wrote, “I saw the rapidity with which this delusion was spreading. [She was referring to spiritualism.] A train of cars was shown me, going with the speed of lightning. The angel bade me look carefully. I fixed my eyes upon the train. It seemed that the whole world was on board, that there could not be one left. Said the angel, ‘They are binding in bundles ready to burn.’ Then he showed me the conductor, who appeared like a stately, fair person, whom all the passengers looked up to and reverenced. I was perplexed and asked my attending angel who it was. He said, ‘It is Satan. He is the conductor in the form of an angel of light. He has taken the world captive. They are given over to strong delusions, to believe a lie, that they may be damned. This agent, the next highest in order to him, is the engineer, and other of his agents are employed in different offices as he may need them, and they are all going with lightning speed to perdition.’

“I asked the angel if there were none left. He bade me look in an opposite direction, and I saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway. All seemed to be firmly united, bound together by the truth, in bundles, or companies. Said the angel, ‘The third angel is binding, or sealing, them in bundles for the heavenly garner.’ This little company looked careworn, as if they had passed through severe trials and conflicts. And it appeared as if the sun had just risen from behind a cloud and shone upon their countenances, causing them to look triumphant, as if their victories were nearly won.”

The result of the Three Angels’ Messages ends in Revelation 14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” It is the third angel that binds the wheat into a separate bundle from the rest of the world.

“However much man may pervert the words of God, His purposes will be accomplished. Men may reject the truth, but it is the truth still. To us is committed the most solemn warning ever given to man; for us who are now upon the stage of action are reserved the most important scenes in this world’s history. Many who gave the first and second messages (Revelation 14:6–8) greatly desired to see this day which we see, and saw it not. And not all who now believe will remain to the coming of the Lord; some will sleep for a moment. The Master is binding the precious grain in bundles for the heavenly garner, while the wicked are gathering together as fagots for the fires of the last day. The church and the world are preparing for the last great contest, in which all must act a part. The kingdoms of the whole world are gathering their forces to the battle of the great day, when the wrath of God will be manifested against the nations that have made void His law.” The Review and Herald, January 27, 1885.

“The third angel’s message must go over the land, and awaken the people, and call their attention to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Another angel unites his voice with the third angel, and the earth is lighted with its glory. The light increases, and it shines out to all the nations of the earth. It is to go forth as a light that burneth. It will be attended with great power, until its golden beams have fallen upon every tongue, every people, and every nation upon the face of the whole earth. Let me ask you, What you are doing to prepare for this work? Are you building for eternity? You must remember that this angel represents the people that have this message to give to the world. Are you among that people? Do you really believe that this work in which we are engaged is truly the third angel’s message? If so, then you understand that we have a mighty work to do, and that we ought to be about it. We must sanctify ourselves by a strict obedience to the truth, placing ourselves in right relation to God and His work. As the truth goes forth, Satan intensifies his zeal to defeat its progress by presenting pleasing delusions. As we urge the truth, he urges his errors. He will stir up his agents, in view of the coming of the Lord, to go out and cry, ‘Lo! here is Christ, and lo! there is Christ.’ And here arises this superstition, and there arises that heresy. And tell me, what are we to do about it? I will tell you: we can become familiar with the Bible, and read what saith the Lord. Not only the ministers but all who love and fear God are to do the Master’s work; and that is to let the light that He has given you shine before all. Here are two companies; one of them is being bound in bundles to burn, the other is being bound by the cords of truth and love. Satan is binding his followers with the work of iniquity. Christ is binding together His people in love and faith in the keeping of His commandments. And this work will increase more and more, and Satan will work to divide and separate God’s people one from the other.” The Review and Herald, August 18, 1885.

The devil is trying to separate and divide God’s people. “Satan will work to divide and separate God’s people one from the other. And while he is doing this kind of work, be careful that none of you are found helping him. We want to put away our cold-heartedness, and let love, tender compassion, true courtesy, and the spirit of tenderness come into our midst. Here we are in the waiting time, in the day of God’s preparation. Here in this world we are to fit up for these great trials that are soon coming upon us. And yet some of us act as though we had a whole millennium before us in which to accomplish the work. But, says the text, ‘Watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is’ (Mark 13:33). And what Christ said to His disciples, I say unto you, ‘Take ye heed, watch and pray,’ that when the Master comes to reckon with His servants, you may receive from Him the crown of life laid up for the overcomer, and rejoice with Him in His kingdom.” Ibid.

In Ellen White’s day, the following was a prophecy of what was going to happen in the future, in our day. It is happening all around us. She says, “I see perplexities on every side. As character develops man and woman will take their position, for varied circumstances brought to bear upon them will cause them to reveal the spirit which prompts them to action. Every one will reveal the character of the bundle with which he is binding himself.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 995, 996.

Every bundle has its own character. We will reveal the character of the bundle with which we are being bound. If I intend to be in the kingdom of heaven but belong to an organization that is in open sin, I will have to cut loose from it before Jesus comes. The multitude of God’s people is still in Babylon, but before Jesus comes, the cry of Revelation 18:4 is going to go out, “Come out of her My people.” Babylon is in open sin and God’s people have to come out.

Two groups, both bound—one group ready to be burned. Jesus is coming for the heavenly garner that is bound about with the cord of truth. Make sure you choose the right bundle!

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

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

You are the Troubler of Israel

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Jesus was speaking to His disciples. They wanted to know when He would come again, and He told them that first there would be a time of great tribulation. It is most commonly referred to as the 1260 day period of tribulation. It is mentioned over and over again in the prophecies. See Revelation 11:3, Revelation 12:6, Revelation 13:5, and Daniel 7:25. Now this 1260 day/year prophecy happened during the new covenant—after the cross. For everything in the new covenant, there is a type in the old covenant, and there was a type for this. The old covenant type was during the time of Jezebel, Ahab and Elijah. We will study this time period.

The time period in the old covenant was 1260 days, just like in the new covenant. It is so important that it is mentioned twice in the New Testament. “I tell you truly many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heavens were shut up three years and six months.” Luke 4:25. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.” James 5:17. This gives the exact time—1260 days. During this time, there was a great famine throughout all the land, because there was no rain. Rain is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. No matter how well things may be going, if the Holy Spirit withdraws because of sin, there is a spiritual famine.

Before we study the time of Elijah, and how it relates to our day; notice this description of God’s professed people—His church, during the 1260 year period of tribulation in the new covenant. “These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass: I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels.’ ” Revelation 2:18–27.

This is the period of great tribulation, the 1260 years during the dark ages. What was the problem? “Jezebel” was the head of the church. Now let us look back to Elijah’s time. Who was the king? Ahab was the king, but who was in control of Ahab? Was the Holy Spirit in control of Ahab? No, Jezebel was in control of Ahab. Consequently, the professed church (Jezebel) was in control of the state (Ahab.) Jezebel was the leader of their church organization and she had ultimate control over the state and it produced a period of great tribulation for God’s people. What happened to anybody if they would not go along with the program of the church organization? Well, they got destroyed.

During this three years and six months, a man named Obadiah was able to save a hundred prophets, by putting fifty each, in a couple of caves and giving them bread and water. But it was a time of great tribulation and many of God’s true people were killed. A proper understanding of this story answers many questions and accusations that people are using today against God’s messengers. We will go over some points used against rebuke of sin, and let the experience of Elijah give us the answer.

What Would Elijah Say?

1. Did God by divine arrangement, denominate the children of Israel as His special denominated people?

Answer: Yes, He did.

2. Were they called by a divinely appointed name and were they God’s chosen people?

Answer: Yes, they were.

3. Was their church organization organized by divine appointment and therefore, was it God’s chosen and organized church? History gives the answer.

Answer: Yes, it was. However, when the leadership decided to try to fight and destroy God’s people, and to go contrary to the historic truths of the organization, you cannot say anymore that the leadership had divinely constituted authority. They were no longer to be followed. In fact, if you followed the authority of the “church leadership” you were separated from God.

4. Would you say that the authority of the leaders was duly authorized or constituted church authority?

Answer: No. Elijah did not say that. In Elijah’s day, Jezebel was the ultimate leader. She had a big organization; over eight-hundred associates that were leading out with her. But, Jezebel exercised an usurped authority.

5. Is it not wrong to have a school or church not under the authority of the system that originally had been set up by God himself?

Answer: Elijah would say just the opposite. If the church structure asks you to do something contrary to the word of God, it is wrong for you to allow yourself to be under their authority. At Steps to Life we tried to work with church organization, but we came in to existence as a separate independent ministry because we were asked to do something that was contrary to our conscience. That is how it was for Elijah’s ministry, and those little home churches, out in the desert that were faithful, had to flee for their lives. The ones that had not gotten killed were, no doubt, called all kinds of names because they were not going along with the program.

An Organization or a People

6. If you had a home church somewhere in Israel, that was not recognized, could that be part of the church, or would it of necessity be an offshoot?

Answer: If you were following the principles that Moses had given to the children of Israel, you could not be an offshoot, you were part of the original historic movement that God had set up.

7. Would you have to be part of the organization to be part of the chosen people? Someone might say, “Elijah is not even part of the church organization and these other people in the caves aren’t either. They are offshoots.”

Answer: No! You would not have to be part of the organization to be part of the chosen people. In fact, those that were part of the organization would eventually have to repent or reform; otherwise, they would cease to be God’s chosen people. The home churches, in the caves, that were not recognized, were the real people of God. Those were the seven-thousand that had not bowed the knee to Baal.

8. Elijah, you say things contrary to the organization, it is being critical and divisive or faultfinding—and that is wrong.

Answer: He would say, “If you say nothing there will never be a revival and a reformation.” Elijah said to Ahab, “I am not the one causing the trouble, you are the one causing the trouble because you are not obedient to the commandments of the Lord.” See I Kings 18:18. It is not the people that point out sin that are critical and divisive. It is the people that refuse to obey that are divisive.

9. You are a separationist because you have separated from the church organization.

Answer: Elijah would say, “You that stay with the organization are the separationists because you separated from obedience to the law of God.” The real separationists are people that are not obedient to the word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy. The people that stay with the message that God has given to His people, they are the true church.

Loyal to Whom?

10. Elijah, you are just not loyal to God’s people, to God’s movement, to His church. You have to be loyal, you can’t just split off like this and do God’s work all by yourself. God wants loyalty.

Answer: Elijah would say, “The people that have stayed loyal to the commandments of God, those are the people that are loyal, and I am loyal to the commandments of God. What are you doing?—worshipping idols, bowing down and breaking the second commandment—you are the one that is not loyal.” Loyalty is determined by whether we are obedient to the law of God or not, not whether we are obedient to an organization. Ahab said, “You are the problem.” Elijah said, “I am not the problem. You are the problem. Because you are breaking the commandments of God.” See 1 Kings 18:18. The people that are not loyal are ones that are disobedient to the commandments and the Spirit of Prophecy.

11. But Elijah, you have a church that is not recognized by the church organization and therefore you are making a new movement, a new church, a new organization.

Answer:“I am not making a new movement, I am faithful to the original movement that God established. You are the ones that made the new movement. I’m not, I’m faithful to the law of Moses. How did you get so mixed up? Everything you say that I am doing is what you are doing. I am just staying with the original movement. I am an historic Israelite, I am staying with the law of Moses. I am not going to worship Baal.”

12. Elijah you are pulling apart from God’s organization, that is not a good sign.

Answer: Elijah would say, “That is not true. The organization has pulled apart from the truth. That is what really happened. I am just staying with the original movement.”

13. Elijah, why are you turning from the church with reproach and disgust?

Answer: There is nothing the matter with being angry about sin. Sin caused Jesus to go to the cross. If you can sit by and watch people openly sin like they were doing during Elijah’s day, and it does not matter to you—there is a problem with you. What side of the great controversy are you on? Sin caused our Leader to go to the cross. To just watch is the same as saying, “Well, I guess Jesus will just have to go to the cross, it’s no concern to me.” That is what you are saying by your actions. Elijah could not do it. He came to the people that were in open sin with a stern rebuke.

Deception

14. Elijah, you are allowing Satan to deceive you because you are independent of the church organization. What would Elijah say about that?

Answer: “Well, it is just the opposite. The ones who are loyal to the church organization rather than to the Spirit of Prophecy, they are the ones who are deceived. The people that are deceived by Satan are the people that are loyal to a human organization in violation of the word of God. Numbers do not count. The offshoots can be the great majority. It is the law of God that tells you which side you are on.” The only ones in Elijah’s time that were not deceived by Satan were those that were independent of the church organization.

15. Elijah, you have separated from the organized body. What would Elijah say?

Answer: “I stayed with the original movement, but because almost the whole church was in apostasy, to be true and faithful and loyal to God, it was necessary for me to separate from the apostasy.” You see, in spiritual battles and wars, the reality of the situation can be completely opposite from the way it looks to the natural sight.

16. Elijah, you are charged with denouncing the failings of the church.

Answer: “Well, yes I have. I have denounced the apostasy, because if you don’t repent, you are going to lose your soul. You are going to lose eternal life. I have denounced the apostasy, because repentance and reformation of life is your only chance, so yes, I have done that.” That was not wrong for Elijah to denounce them. “Those whom God has chosen for an important work have ever been received with distrust and suspicion. Anciently, when Elijah was sent with a message from God to the people, they did not heed the warning. They thought him unnecessarily severe. They even thought that he must have lost his senses because he denounced them, the favored people of God, as sinners and their crimes as so aggravated that the judgments of God would awaken against them.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 261. Was he inspired with the Holy Spirit when he denounced apostasy? He was. That was the work of the Holy Spirit.

17. But, Elijah, you are dwelling on the failures and problems of God’s people. Preach love and unity, get people together, don’t dwell on the failures and the faults of God’s people.

Answer:“People want to get preached to about love and unity and they are walking straight to hellfire. That’s not love at all.” It is in the world today like it was in Elijah’s day. There are professed Seventh-day Adventists that have been told that you are just going to go on and sin until Jesus comes. Yes, it is true, people are going to go on and sin until Jesus comes and then they are going to get burned up. They do not want to hear that. Friend, unless we face our situation, we are lost.

18. Elijah, don’t worry so over the mistakes of the unconsecrated leaders, God will take care of His work.

Answer: “It is true, the Lord will take care of it all right, that is not the problem.” (Fortunately He had somebody around like Elijah that was willing to help Him.) “There is coming a day of judgment and God is going to come and people who are living in sin are going to get destroyed. The problem is, are they all going to lose their souls, or should I try to give them a warning message to give them a chance to turn around first, and be saved?” Elijah gave the message.

19. Oh, but Elijah, God is going to remedy the leader’s mistakes and guide His church into port. God is faithful that has promised.

Answer: Yes, it is true, God will surely remedy their mistakes, and if there is no repentance and reformation, He will destroy every single person and church organization that remains in sin. But He is trying to give people an opportunity to repent and reform so that the remedy does not involve their destruction. The ship that finally comes into port will be the ship that contains the true and faithful, and there will not be any sin on board.

Spiritual Warfare

20. Elijah, we have been told by Jezebel and the priests of Baal that you are dividing and fragmenting the church. And we just cannot cooperate with anybody that engages in anything so divisive and schismatic as this.

Answer: “We are in a spiritual war and it is time for you to stand up and be counted. Whose side are you on? Are you going to follow and obey the God of Israel and obey the Spirit of Prophecy? If not, you are the one that is dividing and fragmenting God’s people.” Jesus said, “He that confesses me before men, him will I confess before my Father and he that denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father.” Matthew 10:32,33. Are you so scared that everybody else might not stand with you that you are afraid to stand up and be counted? If everyone of God’s people would have stood up and been counted in Jezebel’s day, she could not have wreacked such havoc on God’s church.

21. Elijah, you are just an individual. You are alone and your individual judgment should submit to the authority of the church organization.

Answer: Elijah would have said, “My individual judgment submits to the authority of the word of God and you are in violation of the word of God. You are the one who needs to submit. I am already submitted to the word of God.” That is the Protestant position—that the authority of the church is underneath the authority of God’s word.

22. Elijah, don’t accuse and condemn and contend for your rights. Don’t try to have a home church. There is nothing worth contending for except the glory of God. Don’t do all that. What would Elijah say?

Answer: “There is a great spiritual war going on and I am on God’s side of the battle. What side of the battle are you on? Can you prove what side you are on?”

A Matter of Obedience

23. Elijah, you think that you are led directly by God, but He works through the leaders in the church.

Answer: Elijah would say, “Yes, it is true, when God says something, I obey. When God gives a commandment through His word, I obey. And that is how you can tell which side I’m on, and that is how you can tell which side you are on.” Someday the Lord is going to ask the disobedient a question. “Why did you disobey My law?” They will say, “Well, my church told me to.” How sick, how nauseating that is going to sound. Do not forget friends, Elijah is up there right now. God approved of what he did.

24. But Elijah, you must not be independent. God does not work that way. God works through church organization.

Answer: Who does God work through? “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” Acts 10:34, 35. God works with the person or people that fears Him enough to obey Him.

25. But you should not organize churches, or ordain ministers, or baptize people, without authorization of the church organization. You do not have a ministerial credentials card. Where does your authorization come from? Do you know what Elijah would have said?

Answer: “If God told you to do it in His word, the thing to do is to do it. If it is in the Bible, you are authorized.” It looked to Elijah that he was the only one left. It might look that way to you sometime. You may be accused of being unauthorized. Apparently, everybody else is on the opposing side. But, it does not matter if you are following the Word of the living God.

26. Elijah, there is no such thing as an individual like yourself, or these small groups in the caves, advocating something irrespective of the judgment of the church organization. God just doesn’t work that way.

Answer: But the trouble was that God was working that way. The issue in Elijah’s time was, were you going to be obedient to the word of God, or were you going to be obedient to the church organization. Every question you can ask about authorization, who can do what and who cannot do what, who is God working with, and all these questions, comes down to one basic question. Where is the authority coming from?

What is Destined to Triumph?

27. But Elijah, we are God’s chosen people. There will be no other church according to prophecy until the Messiah comes. And so we are destined to triumph. What would Elijah have said?

Answer: “Yes, you are God’s chosen people all right, but you can be divorced from being God’s chosen people.” The great majority of those people were divorced from the Lord hundreds of years before the Messiah came. “Yes,” Elijah would say, “there will be no other church according to prophecy, but the question is, who is the church?” The church were those little independent home churches in the caves, in the deserts, and in the mountains, that were fleeing for their lives. It is true, there was not going to be any other church. Who is the church? Who and what is destined to triumph? People love to say, just like they loved to say in Elijah’s day, “We are God’s chosen people and we are destined to triumph, we cannot be destroyed.” The truth is going to triumph. The three angels’ messages are going to triumph. The only question is, when it triumphs, am I going to be with it? If I am disobedient and disloyal to God by disobeying His word, I will not triumph with it. There will be people that will come right up to the end and call themselves Seventh-day Adventists that will be lost. You see, in Elijah’s time there were a lot of people that said “we are Israel,” but they still got destroyed. It is not your name that counts, it is whether you are obedient to the word of God and to His law. There are going to be a lot of people at the end of the world, they will have the right name, the right profession, maybe even the right theology; but their character is not in harmony with what they profess. How is it for you? Can you see through the mirage to spiritual reality and are you obedient to God’s word and His law? Oh, I hope that it may be that way for each one of you, because friends, very soon what happened in Elijah’s time is going to happen again. The worship of Baal is going on today. It is going to get destroyed at the end just like it did in Elijah’s day. We have to be with the people that obey God and keep His commandments, no matter what happens. If we do that, very soon when the truth triumphs, we will triumph with it.

The End

The Rending of the Kingdom

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For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord.” I Kings 11:4–6. The after effects of this tragic account are still plaguing us today.

Solomon—the wisest king that ever reigned over ancient Israel—in his old age went after strange idol gods. It is doubtful if there is anyone reading this article that has a brass or a stone god that is worshipped. Nevertheless, this story has great significance for modern Israel.

“The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.” I Kings 11:9–11.

Unfailing promises

Had not God given this promise, “Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever”? I Chronicles 22: 9, 10. [All emphasis supplied]

How could it be that in 1 Kings 11:11 the Word came to Solomon and said to him, “I’m going to tear the kingdom away from you”? How could both Words of the Lord be true?

God’s Word is true for all ages, for all people, for every person, for every institution, for every home, for every church. “And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” Jeremiah 18:9, 10. God has a book full of promises and warnings. The unfailing promises are given on condition of obedience, and warnings are given to the disobedient. The disobedient cannot claim the unfailing promises.

Solomon’s fall was silent and imperceptible. He did not realize that he was walking one step at a time down the path of rebellion against God. What were those silent and imperceptible steps?

The First Step

“Prominent among the primary causes that led Solomon into extravagance and oppression was his failure to maintain and foster the spirit of self-sacrifice.” Prophets and Kings, 61. This was the first step as he started walking down the road of apostasy and oppression.

Solomon was a genius. He built the temple for the Lord. But in this very thing he took a step that led him down the path of apostasy.

God had given to the tribes of Dan and Judah special skill in workmanship. In the wilderness tabernacle, it was the tribes of Judah and Dan that did the fine craftsmanship. Their descendants, even in Solomon’s day, inherited to a large degree the talents conferred on their forefathers. “For a time these men of Judah and Dan remained humble and unselfish; but gradually, almost imperceptibly, they lost their hold upon God and their desire to serve Him unselfishly. They asked higher wages for their services, because of their superior skill as workmen in the finer arts. In some instances their request was granted, but more often they found employment in the surrounding nations. In place of the noble spirit of self-sacrifice that had filled the hearts of their illustrious ancestors, they indulged in a spirit of covetousness.” Ibid., 62.

Solomon sought for a very skilled workman, an artisan, to build the temple. He found a man from another country named Huram. His mother was of the tribe of Dan. Huram was a descendant, on his mother’s side, of Aholiab. Hundreds of years before, God had given him special skill on the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness. His father was of the King of Tyre, and was not a worshipper of the true God. He was selfish. “Because of his unusual skill, Huram demanded large wages.” Ibid., 64. This demand was granted him.

“Gradually the wrong principles that he cherished came to be accepted by his associates. As they labored with him day after day, they yielded to the inclination to compare his wages with their own, and they began to lose sight of the holy character of their work. The spirit of self-denial left them, and in its place came the spirit of covetousness. The result was a demand for higher wages, which was granted.

“The baleful influences thus set in operation permeated all branches of the Lord’s service and extended throughout the kingdom. The high wages demanded and received gave to many an opportunity to indulge in luxury and extravagance. The poor were oppressed by the rich; the spirit of self-sacrifice was well nigh lost. In the far-reaching effects of these influences may be traced one of the principle causes of the terrible apostasy of him who was once numbered among the wisest of mortals.” Ibid. Have we repeated this today? Recently, administrators in the Adventist Health System were demanding high wages, similar to those in the world. Yes, we have been taking the same steps.

We are told in the Spirit of Prophecy; “continual giving starves covetousness.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 548. We should be giving of our lives, of our time, of our means, continually, to starve the covetousness out of our hearts.

The Second Step

The second step in Solomon’s apostasy was self-glorification, seeking, taking, and letting people give you glory that belongs only to God. “Another of the deviations from right principles that finally led to the downfall of Israel’s king was his yielding to the temptation to take to himself the glory that belongs to God alone.” Prophets and Kings, 65.

Solomon was once young and tender. When he prayed at the dedication of the temple he was humble. “Had Solomon continued in humility of mind to turn the attention of men from himself to the One who had given him wisdom and riches and honor, what a history might have been his! But while the pen of inspiration records his virtues, it also bears faithful witness to his downfall. Raised to a pinnacle of greatness and surrounded with the gifts of fortune, Solomon became dizzy, lost his balance, and fell. Constantly extolled by men of the world, he was at length unable to withstand the flattery offered him.” Ibid., 68.

“Man cannot show greater weakness than by allowing men to ascribe to him the honor for gifts that are Heaven-bestowed.” Ibid., 68. The Lord gives us one gift after another; the gift of mercy, of love, of forgiveness—the daily gifts that sustain our lives. We must give to God all the glory and credit.

The third Step

“The introduction of principles leading away from the spirit of sacrifice and tending toward self-glorification, was accompanied by yet another gross perversion of the divine plan for Israel. God had designed that His people should be the light of the world.” Prophets and Kings, 70. But Solomon lost his missionary spirit—that was the third step downward. He replaced it with a spirit of commercialism. “Placed at the head of a nation that had been set as a beacon light to the surrounding nations, Solomon should have used his God-given wisdom and power of influence in organizing and directing a great movement for the enlightenment of those who were ignorant of God and His truth. Thus multitudes would have been won to allegiance to the divine precepts, Israel would have been shielded from the evils practiced by the heathen, and the Lord of glory would have been greatly honored. But Solomon lost sight of this high purpose. He failed of improving his splendid opportunities for enlightening those who were continually passing through his territory or tarrying at the principal cities.” Ibid., 71. The Lord in His wisdom, placed Israel where the centers of travel from east to west, and north to south, went right through their nation. As travelers went through those cities, the Israelites could teach them of the God of heaven, and of His law. These travelers could take it back to their own nation, and the whole world would have known about God. In this way, God provided Solomon with a way to teach the nations without becoming corrupted by their idols.

“He failed of improving his splendid opportunities for enlightening those who were continually passing through his territory or tarrying at the principal cities . . . The missionary spirit that God had implanted in the heart of Solomon and in the hearts of all true Israelites was supplanted by a spirit of commercialism.” Ibid., 71. He figured out a way, by all those travelers passing through those cities, to make money from them. This was very displeasing to God.

Unholy Alliance

Solomon made an alliance with the nation of Egypt. God had forbidden this. “Satan knew the results that would attend obedience; and during the earlier years of Solomon’s reign—years glorious because of the wisdom, the beneficence, and the uprightness of the king—he sought to bring in influences that would insidiously undermine Solomon’s loyalty to principle and cause him to separate from God. That the enemy was successful in his effort, we know from the record: ‘Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the City of David.’ ” Ibid., 53.

“From a human point of view, this marriage, though contrary to the teachings of God’s law, seemed to prove a blessing; for Solomon’s heathen wife was converted and united with him in the worship of the true God.” Ibid. Then Solomon married many women—seven-hundred wives and three-hundred concubines. “More and more the king came to regard luxury, self-indulgence, and the favor of the world as indications of greatness. Beautiful and attractive women were brought from Egypt, Phoenicia, Edom, Moab, and from many other places. These women were numbered by hundreds. Their religion was idol worship, and they had been taught to practice cruel and degrading rites. Infatuated with their beauty, the king neglected his duties to God and to his kingdom.” Ibid., 56.

On the mountain facing the backside of the temple, Solomon built many piles of buildings to the gods of the other nations. Right in the shadow of the temple of the living God, under those trees, his heathen wives practiced degrading heathen rites. How could it ever happen? We need to be very wary of taking the first step in apostasy, because none of us know how low we can go.

Except for the Grace of God

When walking down the streets of Chicago, Dwight L. Moody came to a drunk man lying in the gutter. He got down on his knees and turned the drunk over. With tears streaming down his face he said: “Except for the grace of God, there lies Dwight L. Moody.” Do not look around and say, “Oh, how could they do it?” Friends, you and I can go straight to the bottom. We would be there right now except for the grace of God.

“From being one of the greatest kings that ever wielded a scepter, Solomon became a profligate, the tool and slave of others. His character, once noble and manly, became enervated and effeminate. His faith in the living God was supplanted by atheistic doubts. Unbelief marred his happiness, weakened his principles, and degraded his life. The justice and magnanimity of his early reign were changed to despotism and tyranny. Poor, frail human nature! God can do little for men who lose their sense of dependence upon Him.” Prophets and Kings, 58.

“By messages of reproof and by severe judgments, He sought to arouse the king to a realization of the sinfulness of his course. He removed His protecting care.” Prophets and Kings, 77.

Everything is for our benefit. Every trial that comes our way will help us. God could not talk to Solomon by blessings bestowed, so He talked to Solomon by blessings removed. “He removed His protecting care and permitted adversaries to harass and weaken the kingdom. The Lord stirred up an adversary.” Ibid., 77. Hadad the Edomite and Rezon lifted up their hand against the king. Praise the Lord, the trials did their mission of love. “For him at last the discipline of suffering had accomplished its work. Long had he been harassed by the fear of utter ruin because of inability to turn from folly.” Ibid., 77.

“None who have fallen need give up to despair. Aged men, once honored of God, may have defiled their souls, sacrificing virtue on the alter of lust; but if they repent, forsake sin, and turn to God, there is still hope for them.” Ibid., 84.

“Solomon’s repentance was sincere but, the harm that his example of evil-doing had wrought could not be undone . . . He could never hope to escape the blasting results of sin, he could never free his mind from all remembrance of the self-indulgent course he had been pursuing.” Ibid., 84. The seed was sown and there was a bitter harvest. While Solomon is enjoying eternal life—there will be many, that will be lost because of his influence. Can your mind take that in?

“And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.” I Kings 11:43.

Modern Israel and Idolatry

“Modern Israel are in greater danger of forgetting God and being led into idolatry than were His ancient people. Many idols are worshipped, even by professed Sabbathkeepers. God especially charged His ancient people to guard against idolatry, for if they should be led away from serving the living God, His curse would rest upon them, while if they would love Him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might, He would abundantly bless them in basket and in store, and would remove sickness from the midst of them.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 609.

Possessions: “Jesus immediately tears off his sense of security by referring to his idols, his possessions. He had other gods before the Lord, which were of greater value to him than eternal life. Supreme love to God was lacking. Thus it is with some who profess to believe the truth. They think they are perfect, think that there is no lack, when they are far from perfection and are cherishing idols which will shut them out of heaven.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 484.

Appetite: “They have other gods before the Lord. Their taste, their appetite, is their god.” Ibid., 486. Then there is pride of dress and love of money—anything that you worship and you love more than God, is an idol.

Rehoboam

Solomon slept with his fathers and Rehoboam, his son, went to Shechem to receive the kingdom. Solomon, because of his devotion for idolatrous luxury, had overtaxed the people. The people said to Rehoboam, “Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.” I Kings 12:4. Rehoboam sent them away for three days. He asked counsel of the old counselors that stood before his father. They said, “Give the people what they want and they will serve you for ever.”

That did not satisfy Rehoboam. “And the young men who were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins and now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” I Kings 12:10. “Their expressed determination to perpetuate and add to the oppression introduced during Solomon’s reign was in direct conflict with God’s plan for Israel, and gave the people ample occasion to doubt the sincerity of their motives.” Prophets and Kings, 90.

Those that had studied the Word of God, the true and faithful in Israel, knew that the Messiah was to come through Solomon. God had promised that Solomon’s throne would be established forever. But even though the promised Messiah was through this lineage, God had a different idea about the government than Rehoboam had. “The Lord did not allow Rehoboam to carry out the policy he had outlined. Among the tribes were many thousands who had become thoroughly aroused over the oppressive measures of Solomon’s reign, and these now felt that they could not do otherwise than rebel, against the house of David.” Ibid. “So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.” I Kings 12:19. Was that wicked? Friends, it is never wicked to rebel against sin. It is never wicked to protest against idolatry. It is always right to stand up for God’s law. The Bible says, “the cause was from the Lord.”

The Kingdom was rent

The kingdom was rent. The very throne that God established, He removed. The kingdom that had been established by God was rent. The throne, the people, that the Messiah was to come through, was rent. Whenever we enter into idolatry, the rending of the kingdom is sure to come.

“The high-handed power that has been developed, as though position has made men gods, makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear. It is a curse wherever and by whomsoever it is exercised.” Testimonies to Ministers, 362.

“This lording it over God’s heritage will create such a disgust of man’s jurisdiction that a state of insubordination will result . . . ‘All ye are brethren.’ This disposition to lord it over God’s heritage will cause a reaction unless these men change their course. When men who profess to serve God ignore His parental character and depart from honor and righteousness in dealing with their fellowmen, Satan exults, for he has inspired them with his attributes. They are following in the track of Romanism.” Ibid.

Friends, are we following any less today in the track of Romanism than in 1895? I think we are further down the path.

“When one who professes to be a representative of Christ engages in sharp dealing and in pressing men into hard places, those who are thus oppressed will either break every fetter of restraint or they will be led to regard God as a hard master.” Ibid., 363.

“In order to reign and become a power, they employ Satan’s methods to justify their own principles. They exalt themselves as men of superior judgment, and they have stood as representatives of God. These are false gods.” Ibid., 364.

Elijah came, but the ten tribes went deeper and deeper into apostasy until they were dispersed among the nations centuries before A. D. 34. By that time there was a small remnant left of the original nation. God still works upon the same plan. He will never harbor sin in any form.

“The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of life, He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. When a church proves unfaithful to the work of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities. But, if these in turn do not purify their lives from every wrong action, if they do not establish pure and holy principles in all their borders, then the Lord will grievously afflict and humble them and, unless they repent, will remove them from their place and make them a reproach.” Upward Look, 131.

God has not made any new plan to work upon. He’s working upon the same plan as He worked on then and as He works on now. When all was in apostasy, He had a church. He’s always had a remnant to serve Him, and it has always been His church. “The church is God’s fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of the church is treachery to Him who has bought mankind with the blood of His only-begotten Son. From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.” Acts of Apostles, 11. It does not say the invisible church on earth. It says the church on earth. That is a definition statement.

Some of those souls are Joseph, Caleb and Joshua, Elijah, Nehemiah, Ruth, Mordecai, Daniel, Paul, Wycliff, Huss, John Wesley, William Miller, James White, and many others. They are not invisible. Their work has stood the most visible of all time and eternity. God has always had them.

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

We don’t have God held hostage—not one of us here. He does not have to use us. He is not dependent on us. But He will use whomever humbles their soul before God, and lets Him purify their soul. May the Lord bless you.

The End

Hard Heart, part 3

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The effect of sin is to make the heart hard. The more a person sins, the harder the heart becomes. This is truth that the Bible expresses repeatedly. Jesus talked about it a lot. When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables, He said, “Because this people’s heart has become hard.” Ellen White says that men’s hearts today are harder than they were in the days of Christ. When you understand the cure for hardness of heart, you not only know what to do so that your marriage will not end in divorce, but you will know how to win souls to Christ.

I was studying to be a minister and after I had studied for a while and had my first district, I realized that I still did not know anything about what I was supposed to be doing. I knew a lot of history, had studied public speaking, biblical languages, sociology, and psychology, but I still did not know what I was doing. When I first went to work as a pastor, I was pastoring churches alone. I prayed and said, “Lord, You’re going to have to help me. I don’t know what I’m doing out here. I don’t know what to do.” And in His providence, I believe, the Lord sent to me a man who was a very experienced evangelist, and I had an opportunity to work with him on several occasions, sometimes for weeks at a time. He had won thousands of people to Christ and he taught me something that I have never forgotten. When we were out visiting he used to quote to me repeatedly. “You should not feel it your duty to introduce arguments upon the Sabbath question as you meet the people. If persons mention this subject, tell them that this is not your burden now. But when they surrender heart and mind and will to God, they are then prepared candidly to weigh evidence in regard to these solemn, testing truths.” Evangelism, 228. This evangelist would say that until a person had surrendered his heart, mind, and will to the Lord, he was not prepared to hear any doctrines.

There are millions of people in America today who believe that the seventh day is the Sabbath and are not keeping it. They know truth, why do they not follow it? Because they have not surrendered heart, mind, and will to the Lord. Their hearts are hard.

Reach the Heart

“God’s plan is first to reach the heart.” Ministry of Healing, 157. Their hearts are hard and God’s plan is first to reach the heart. When you understand this principle, it starts to make sense why Ellen White said that a Christian family could do more good than all the sermons that could be preached. When you walk into a home and there is no bickering, fighting, and hard-heartedness, but the people in that home express affection and sympathy toward each other and are courteous and kind, it is like the atmosphere of heaven. This is so powerful that Ellen White says the influence of a Christian family can do more good than all the sermons that can be preached because it reaches the heart, and “The truth expressed in living, unselfish deeds is the strongest argument for Christianity.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, 240.

Jesus spent more time healing than He spent preaching. Until the door to the heart is open, preaching does no good. “Even the most hard hearted and apparently sin-encased souls may be approached in this way and understand something of the mystery of godliness and become so charmed that they will not rest until they have a knowledge of Jesus Christ and His saving grace.” Counsels on Health, 537.

The most hard hearted can be reached by helping where they need help. Different people need different kinds of help. Everywhere, people are in distress. Now people may not think you are doing evangelism when you go to help people in distress, but that is the first step. Because until the door of the heart is open, anything else is of no avail.

If a person has surrendered his heart to Jesus, everything else is going to come along. Because if you have somebody’s heart, you have all of them. Helping people where they need help; when they are sick and when they are in distress, opens the door to their heart. It softens the heart.

Point Them to Calvary

Ellen White instructed, “The minister should come close to the trembling one, and point him to Calvary, lifting up a crucified and risen Saviour as the sinner’s only hope.” Review and Herald, May 31, 1892. Often times we come into contact with people and we do not realize their condition or the struggles of their mind. They feel discouraged and stuck in a rut of sin. They need to be pointed to Calvary. This is what will happen, “There are many whose hearts are as hard as the beaten highway, and apparently it is a useless effort to present the truth to them; but while logic may fail to move, and argument be worthless to convince, let the laborer for Christ come close to such in Christlike sympathy and compassion, and it may be that the love of Christ will subdue and melt the soul into tenderness and contrition.” Ibid.

Sin makes us hard-hearted. As long as we are living a life of sin, our heart is getting harder. But when a person comes to Calvary, something happens in the heart. Sin is seen in a different light. It does not look so wonderful anymore. It completely changes your mind about sin. Ellen White said that the cross of Christ is the theme around which all other truths cluster. The cross of Christ needs to be dwelt upon in every sermon. Why? Because our hearts are hard and if they are not melted, all the truth that we can preach and teach, will do no good. She said, quoting from the apostle Paul, “The world by wisdom, knew not God. Let the wayward and hard-hearted be led to the feet of Jesus; here they may learn precious lessons of love of their Creator and Redeemer, and hope will spring up.” Ibid.

Jesus’ own disciples were hard-hearted. Luke says their hearts were still hardened. Eventually they were cured except for Judas. Peter thought he knew his own heart, but he did not. He denied his Lord, a very hard-hearted thing to do. It cut Jesus to the heart to realize that Peter would do that to Him. After Peter denied Him, Jesus looked straight at Peter. If Jesus had been angry with him, Peter would have committed suicide. But he saw no anger, only love.

A Broken Heart?

One of the things that has to happen to the hard heart before that person can be taken to heaven is, his heart has to be broken. The Bible teaches that our hearts have to be broken or we cannot be saved. Jesus said, “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Matthew 21:44. Those are the two choices that every person must make. If you fall on the rock, your own hard heart will be broken, but if the rock falls on you, it will grind you to powder. When Peter ran out of the judgment hall back to Gethsemane, his heart was broken. “Then he went out and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75. Peter went right to the place where Jesus had prayed a few hours before, and he fell down, weeping. It was there that he was converted. He was cured from his hardness of heart and he never again was a boastful, arrogant person like he had been.

If we come to Calvary and understand what really happened, it will break our heart. The reason it will break our heart is because we are sinners. When your heart is broken, then it can become soft and tender; not hard-hearted anymore. Until your old heart is broken, you cannot receive a new heart.

“There is a sad lack of tenderness and sympathy among the servants of Christ. They do not love as brethren. They are harsh and dictatorial. Especially is their conduct toward the erring destitute of pity or compassion. Said the apostle, ‘Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.’ We shall surely be judged by our Heavenly Father in the same manner that we have judged others. ‘With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.’ ‘He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.’ Oh that these hard-hearted, exacting ones would fall upon the Rock and be broken, lest theirs be the terrible alternative, that the Rock shall fall upon them and grind them to powder.” Review and Herald, December 20, 1881. If I am harsh, dictatorial, or exacting, what is my problem? I am hard-hearted and I have to fall on the Rock and be broken so that I can become tender and sympathetic and receive a new heart.

Do Justly and Love Mercy

We need to cultivate mercy and the love of God among us as Adventists. One of the things that I am most concerned about in the Historic Adventist movement today is the way that we treat each other. I want us to think very seriously about our condition and realize that we may not be in as good a condition as we think. It is evident by the way that we treat each other in our homes and churches that we are not ready for heaven. The way we talk about one another, the way we act toward one another is not Christlike. We have to be changed in heart if we are going to heaven.

“We must deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God. We must let Christ into our hearts and homes. We must cultivate love, sympathy, and true courtesy one to another. The reason that there are so many hard-hearted men and women in the world is that generous affection has been regarded as weakness. If we would have tender hearts such as Jesus had when He was upon the earth and sanctified sympathy such as the angels have for erring mortals, we must cultivate the simple, unaffected affections of childhood, then we should be directed by heavenly principles which are refining and elevating in their tendency.” Signs of the Times, November 10, 1887.

A heart like the Pharisees had, Ellen White says, is the natural human condition because of sin. Have you received a new heart? That is what it means to be born again. When that happens, I am not so concerned about whether my wife makes me happy. I am not thinking of getting rid of her. I think completely opposite. My thinking is that I vowed before God to make this woman happy and I am going to be true and faithful to her and make her happy. What happens to me is not of the most consequence. The other person is of the most consequence because my heart is tender, sympathetic and I cannot stand to see that person hurt. When we can stand to see our spouses and our families and our church members hurt, that is proof there is something the matter with our heart. Jesus could not endure it. Ellen White says that He could not witness a wrong word or act without pain which showed in His countenance. He could not hurt anybody! Has your heart been changed? Have you fallen on the Rock and been broken?

If I Be Lifted Up

God was providing everything the Children of Israel in the wilderness needed, but they were hard in heart and were murmuring and complaining. So God gave them a bigger problem. He removed His protecting hand. Poisonous snakes in that wilderness began biting and Israelites started to die by the thousands. God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it up on a pole and to tell the Children of Israel, “If you will look at that serpent, you’ll be saved.” Jesus told Nicodemus that the serpent represented Jesus. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3: 14, 15. In the same way that they had to look at that serpent, Jesus said, the Son of Man had to be lifted up and if you will look at Him and keep looking at Him, and put your trust in Him, something will happen in your heart. It is a divine science that we cannot explain. The Bible says, “Look unto Me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other.”

What happens when a person comes to Calvary and starts to meditate on what it means? To most Christians today Calvary is just a story. They have a crucifix in their car, they have pictures in their homes of Christ on the cross, but they do not understand. Ellen White says that if we are going to be saved at last we must learn the lesson of penitence and contrition at the foot of the cross. We have to stay there long enough so that our heart gets changed, the old heart is broken, and we receive a new heart. We need to spend time studying the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes. It would be well for us to spend an hour a day, Ellen White says, studying His life, taking it point by point, especially the closing scenes.

What will happen if you do that? “Look alone to Jesus as your righteousness and your sacrifice. As you are justified by faith, the deadly sting of the serpent will be healed.” Sons and Daughters of God, 222. We have been stung by the serpent. The sting of sin makes the heart as hard as stone. People can be hurting all around and you do not know it. By familiarity with sin we become accustomed to it.

The Devil Wants to Destroy Your Family

The devil is trying in every way to destroy the church of God today, and the most effective way he has is to destroy the family. The way to save the church is to save the family. The way to destroy the church is to destroy the family. It is that simple. “No unpleasant words are spoken in heaven. There no unkind thoughts are cherished. There envy, evil surmising, hatred, and strife find no place. Perfect harmony pervades the heavenly court. Well does Satan know what heaven is, and what the influence of the angels is. His work is to bring into every family the cruel elements of self-will, harshness, selfishness. Thus he seeks to destroy the happiness of the family. He knows that the spirit governing in the home will be brought into the church. Let the father and mother always be guarded in their words and actions. The husband is to treat his wife, the mother of his children, with due respect, and the wife is to love and reverence her husband. How can she do this if he treats her like a servant, to be dictated to, ordered about, scolded, found fault with before the children? He is forcing her to dislike him and even to hate him.” Upward Look, 163.

The devil’s plan is to destroy the church. How does he do it? He destroys the home first and he gets us to treat each other in a hard-hearted way. And as we keep doing it, our hearts just become harder and harder. God’s plan is for me to come to the cross, and as I keep studying it day by day, the contrast between His heart and my heart becomes painful. It breaks my heart and when my heart is broken, then God can give me a new heart that is merciful, loving, sympathetic, and tender. A heart that cannot bear to see somebody in my family or in my church hurting. I have to go and try to help them if anybody is hurting. That is the way Jesus was. And when you have a heart like that, you are never asking the question, “Is my wife making me happy or not?” The question you are asking is, “Are my wife and children happy?” If they are not happy, what should I do so they will be happy?”

We will have the same care for people in the church. We will not be able to see people in the church hurting and not do anything. And what will that do to the church? You will start having brotherly love grow up in the church. We have a desperate need today in our churches for brotherly love. Our hearts are hard. They need to be broken and we need a new heart. Jesus wants to give me a new heart that is tender, merciful, loving, sympathetic, kind; a heart that is so tender that I cannot bear to see somebody in my family or my church hurting. When we get it, there will be all kinds of problems in our churches that will be solved. Pray earnestly and ask the Lord to give you that new heart, He has promised to do it!

The End

What Measure Ye Mete?

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We live in a moral universe. What does that mean? The word moral has to do with right and wrong, with justice and with equity. To live in a moral universe means that there are consequences for everything, and these consequences cannot be escaped. Jesus dwelt considerably on this subject, and it was a major subject of the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:1, 2, Jesus says, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” This is a very interesting statement. We know that it is true because the Majesty of heaven spoke it. Whatever I dish out to you, that is what is going to come back. You may not give it back to me, but whatever I measure out to you is coming back. This principle not only can have some scary consequences, it can be one of the most exciting things in the world. Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, “But I say to you, love your enemies.” If I give out love, even to my enemies, that is what is going to come back. Do you want people to bless you or curse you? “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Ibid. I want to examine this subject as it relates to many different situations in which we find ourselves.

Over the Same Ground

How many blessings have we passed to somebody today? Tomorrow the blessings are going to come back. How many curses have we passed out today? They are going to come back, too. If we have been free to condemn or discourage, we are told what will happen. “Everyone who has been free to condemn or discourage, will in his own experience be brought over the ground where he has caused others to pass; he will feel what they have suffered because of his want of sympathy and tenderness.” Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 136. If I have been free to condemn or discourage, what is going to happen? I am going to be brought over the same ground.

The same way that I have treated others is going to come back to me. “Oh,” somebody says, “but there are these people who are making so many mistakes. Don’t you think they ought to be corrected?” There is more than one way to correct somebody. The manner that we deal with people who make mistakes, is going to be dealt back to us. An opportunity always comes, for none of us are perfect. We all have to be corrected.

Ellen White stated, “Frequently the truth and facts are to be plainly spoken to the erring, to make them see and feel their error that they may reform. But this should ever be done with pitying tenderness, not with harshness or severity, but considering one’s own weakness, lest he also be tempted. When the one at fault sees and acknowledges his error, then, instead of grieving him, and seeking to make him feel more deeply, comfort should be given.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 93. When somebody recognizes they made a mistake, it is not right to grind it in and add to his burdens. If you have to correct somebody, have you figured out what you are going to do to comfort them when they realize they have made a mistake? People who have erred, and realize they have made a mistake, do not just need corrections, they need comfort. The way I dish it out is the way it is going to come back. When you understand that divine law, you think, “How am I going to deal with this situation? How I deal with this situation, sometime later I am going to be dealt with the same way.”

Ellen White told a woman, “When you see yourself the way God sees you, you’re going to recognize that you are never going to get in the kingdom of heaven unless you have a thorough conversion.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 138–139. That is a sharp rebuke. She went on to point out to this lady, that what she was doing to other people was going to come back. She contrasted the way this lady was dealing with other people with the way Jesus dealt with those that He came in contact with in this world. After saying this to the woman, she says, “Bear in mind that whatever measure you mete to others it shall be meted to you again.” She continues, “If you would do this, [then she mentions three character defects this lady had] you would be more cautious in your speech.” Ibid. Do we need to be more cautious in our speech? Moses one time spoke unadvisedly with his lips and as a result did not go into the Promised Land on that account. James 1:19, 20 says, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” The first thing Ellen White advised this lady was, “If you would realize that the way you measure out to others is going to come back to you, you would be more cautious in your speech.”

Resentment and Apologies

“Christ came into the world to bring all resistance and authority into subjection to Himself. But He did not claim obedience through the strength of argument or the voice of command; He went about doing good and teaching His followers the things which belonged to their peace. He stirred up no strife, He resented no personal injuries. ” Ibid.

Have you ever wondered how Jesus, when people were spitting on Him, slapping Him, beating Him, cursing at Him, and making base remarks about Him in ridicule and sneer, never responded with one contemptuous or reviling word? Do you know how He could do that? Because He had no resentment inside. “He resented no personal injuries, but met with meek submission the insults, the false accusations, and the cruel scourging of those who hated Him and condemned Him to death. Christ is our example. His life is a practical illustration of His divine teachings. His character is a living exhibition of the way to do good and overcome evil.” Ibid. If we have resentment inside, sooner or later, it is going to come out and then we will have made work, perhaps, for much apologies. The Lord wants to teach us how to live so that we will not have to make the apologies. If we are not harboring any resentment in our heart, those kinds of words do not come out and there is no apology to make.

How are you going to overcome evil? Jesus knew that what you put out comes back and so He just kept sowing and planting the good seed. Many of our problems are caused because we do not know ourselves very well. Inspiration says, “We know but little of our own hearts and have but little sense of our own need of the mercy of God.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 246. We do not understand our dire need of the mercy of God, and “this is why we cherish so little of that sweet compassion which Jesus manifested toward us and which we should manifest toward one another.” Ibid.

When we believe that there is somebody else who has some severe character defect, or has done or said something terrible that needs corrected, we need to always remember, that we ourselves are weak, sinful, and erring. We need to be careful that we do not pass judgment on somebody else who may not deserve even what we deserve.

Scene in a Council Meeting

In Matthew 7:3, Jesus talks about judging. He says, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”

This principle is something that can send you and other people toward hell or toward heaven. Whatever you measure out, is going to come back. The devil tempts us to find fault with others. Ellen White had a vision on this very problem, “Last night I was in a sleepless state much of the time. Many representations passed before me. One was a scene in a council meeting where several were present. One man arose and began finding fault with one of his brethren. I looked at the speaker’s garments, and saw that they were very undesirable.

“Another person arose, and began to state his grievance against a fellow laborer. His garments were of another pattern, and they, too, were undesirable. Still another, and another, arose, and uttered words of accusation and condemnation regarding the course of others.

“Everyone had some trouble to speak of, some fault to find with someone else. All were presenting the defects of Christians who are trying to do something in our world. [See these are all Adventists and they are all criticizing each other.] They declared repeatedly that certain ones were neglecting this or that or the other thing, and so on. There was not real order, no polite courtesy, in the meeting. In their anxiety to make others hear, speakers crowded in while others were still talking. Voices were raised, in an effort to make all hear above the din of confusion . . .

“After many had spoken, One of authority appeared, and repeated the words: ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged.’ . . . Christ Himself was present. An expression of painfulness came over His countenance as one after another would come forward, with uncouth dress, to expatiate upon the faults of various members of the church.

“Finally the heavenly Visitant arose. So intent were those present on criticizing their brethren, that it was with reluctance that they gave Him opportunity to speak. He declared that the spirit of criticism, of judging one another, was a source of weakness in the church today. Things are spoken that should never find utterance. Everyone who by word of mouth places an obstruction in the way of a fellow Christian has an account to settle with God.

“With earnest solemnity the Speaker declared: ‘The church is made of many minds, each of whom has an individuality. I gave My life in order that men and women, by divine grace, might blend in revealing a perfect pattern of My character, while at the same time retaining their individuality. No one has the right to destroy or submerge the individuality of any other human mind, by uttering words of criticism and faultfinding and condemnation.” Upward Look, 216

A Divine Law for God’s People

We should ask, “How many people have I blessed today by my speech?” Whatever you have said today, someday it is coming back because Jesus said, “With what measure you mete, it will be measured to you again.” Our eternal destiny is determined not by what we profess; it is character that determines it. As I measure out to others, it will be measured back to me. Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it to Me.” When I give bread, He will give to me the Bread of Life. When I give water, He will give to me the Water of Life. When I give to others clothing, He will give to me the garment of His own righteousness. When I visit those who are in prison, He promises to set me free from bondage in the prison house of sin. This is an eternal, divine law that always works, because God has ordained that this is the way the universe is going to operate.

Are you using this divine law so that you will be happy to receive what you measured out? How are you doing in regard to visiting? There should never be a time when a whole week has gone by since you have made your last Christian visit, contacting the sick, or those in prison, or those who are poor, or those who are orphans, or those who are widows, or those who are destitute, or those who are lame, physically or spiritually. There are people all around who are emotionally crippled who will never make it to the kingdom of heaven unless they get help. When you are walking up a mountain trail and there is a great big boulder in the path, you may be able to go over it, but a person on crutches cannot. Somebody needs to help him. Paul talks about the emotionally and spiritually crippled in Hebrews 12:13. He says, “Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated.”

How to Be Happy to Receive What You Give

In addition to broken homes there are those that come from mixed marriages. As a result of this, we have people who are spiritually and emotionally crippled. It is not an excuse that we do not help one because we cannot help all. I cannot help everybody in the world either, but I can help one, and then another and another.

If every family in your church is making Christian visits every week, you are going to have a church that comes alive. If you have people in your church and all they ever do is come to church once a week and then go home and dissect the sermon and the preacher, you are not going to have a living church. To have a living church, you have to have a working church. Even if you are not trained, you can still get started.

  1. Can you pray? Can you pray out loud?
  2. Can you be friendly?
  3. Can you express sympathy?

Do you know what it means to express sympathy? It means that you are sympathetic to the feelings of other people. You do not have to agree with their feelings, but you can be sympathetic. If you know how to express sympathy, if you know how to be friendly, and if you know how to pray, you can make a Christian visit. If you have a Bible and can read, you can do that, too.

Can He Hold Out

What could happen in Adventist churches if every family, every week, was making at least one Christian visit? Remember, as you measure it will be measured to you again. Sometimes the gospel net is cast out and it gathers in “every kind.” Some of the people who are brought into the church have been the most sinful in the world. That was the way it was in the time of the apostle Paul. (Read 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.) When some great sinner is brought into the church, do you know what happens very often? There is some saint who says something to the effect, “Well, I’m just not sure that he can hold out.” By our passing by on the other side and by our showing coldness and neglect to people who are great sinners; they get discouraged and are lost instead of being saved.

“Often the newly converted soul has fierce conflicts with established habits or with some special form of temptation. Being overcome by some master passion or tendency, he is guilty of indiscretion or actual wrong. The scripture says, ‘Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted’ . . . Unless we cultivate the precious plant of love, we are in danger of becoming narrow, unsympathetic, bigoted and critical, esteeming ourselves to be righteous when we are far from being approved by Christ. Some are uncourteous, abrupt, harsh, these do incalculable harm by their misrepresentation of the loving Saviour.” Pacific Union Recorder, April 10, 1902

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So what do you do if somebody comes into the church and they are battling with their old habits and trying to overcome, but they slip and they fall? Have you done these things?

  1. Have you felt a burden for the one you saw venturing into forbidden paths? Are you burdened for their soul’s salvation?
  2. Have you kindly admonished him?
  3. Have you wept for him? Do you really feel for him?
  4. Have you prayed with him and for him?
  5. Have you, by tender words and kindly acts, shown him that you love him?

Jesus says if we will forgive, then we will be forgiven. Do you want the Lord to forgive you? If the Lord does not forgive me, I am lost. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. If I want to receive a pardon from my heavenly Father, I must have a forgiving spirit.

As We Forgive

“We are not forgiven because we forgive, but as we forgive. The ground of all forgiveness is found in the unmerited love of God, but by our attitude toward others we show whether we have made that love our own. Wherefore Christ says, ‘With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.’ ” Christ’s Object Lessons, 251.

In Historic Adventism today, we are in dire need of a forgiving spirit. “This talking against others must be stopped among those who profess to be the children of God.” Review and Herald, April 26, 1892. What we do to others is going to come back to us again, and therefore, we should be careful how we treat one another.

“For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.” James 2:13. If I want God to be merciful to me, I must show mercy to others. When do you have an opportunity to show mercy to somebody? If somebody has done a perfect job, do you need to show them mercy? No. They need mercy when they have blown it. That is what mercy is all about. The next time somebody in your family or somebody where you work messes everything up, that is your chance to show mercy. If you are going to develop a merciful character, you are going to do it now before you get to heaven, because in heaven no one will need mercy.

Since anything that you measure out is going to come back to you, what should you give? Mercy is one thing and love is another. If you are busy giving love, demonstrating the love of God, it may not come back to you immediately, but it is going to come back. It is safe to bless people even if they are cursing you. It is safe to love people even if they are your enemies. It is safe to do something good to people, even if they hate you. It is safe to pray for people even if they despitefully use you and persecute you. “He who loves God must love his brother also.” 1 John 4:21.

“God will deal with us as we deal with one another.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, 93. If you have this sentence memorized in your mind, it will help you in your daily life in making decisions.
This principle, “as you measure so it will be measured unto you again” works in every relationship of life. Especially it works in the home and most especially it works in the marriage relation. If we could learn this principle, the great majority of these divorces could be avoided.

Victor Johnson

Ellen White makes an interesting statement about divorce and it has to do with this principle about measuring to others and getting the same thing back. It is about a man named Victor Johnson. “I was shown that Victor Johnson has truly loved his wife. She was dearer to him than any other one upon the earth. When the divorce was in progress his feelings were intense. He besought his wife to defer the matter. He promised amendment; he promised to not trouble her, but go away and reform. She [his wife] should have eagerly grasped even that feeble hope that it was possible that he might amend. And even if she had to suffer some time longer, given him another chance. There was an error in still pressing matters forward although those engaged in the matter thought they were taking the best course. Yet, they did not exercise the pitying love toward Victor that Jesus has shown them and they should have considered that ‘with what measure ye mete to others, it shall be measured to you again.’ ” Ellen White says she should have given him another chance. “You didn’t show him that same pitying love that Jesus has shown toward you. Remember, as you measure so it will be measured to you again. With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, 161. When you apply this law to your life, are you in line to receive a pardon of God? Are you in line to receive blessing and love and forgiveness? You need to keep praying, say, “Lord, help me to measure out what I would want somebody else someday to measure back to me.” The Lord has promised to work that miracle in your life.

The End