Daily Living

Sacrificing to Demons

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Sacrificing to the devil, knowingly or unknowingly, has been a recurring theme throughout history. One’s initial religious experiences often profoundly shape his understanding and actions. As described in various Bible passages, the challenges of God’s ancient people can shed light on our struggles today.

As Seventh-day Adventists, sacrificing to demons might seem archaic, but from the time of the ancient Israelites to modern-day times, the lure of worshiping false gods has persisted. The analogies drawn between past sacrificial rituals and contemporary behaviors are stark reminders of the dangers of spiritual complacency. So, how is it that Seventh-day Adventists continue to make sacrifices to the devil?

The following scriptures clearly show that the children of Israel worshiped false gods and sacrificed to demons:

“They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices made to the dead. … They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them; because they rebelled against His Spirit, so that he spoke rashly with his lips. They did not destroy the peoples, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them, but they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works; they served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.” Psalm 106:28, 32–38

“ ‘They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.’ ” Leviticus 17:7

“ ‘Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice.’ ” Exodus 34:15

“ ‘They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” ’ ” Exodus 32:8

Their idolatry led to ten of the tribes of Israel—the kingdom of or children of Israel, the northern kingdom—being taken into captivity. The two remaining tribes—Judah and Benjamin—made up the southern kingdom of Judah. When the separation occurred, Jeroboam was king over the children of Israel. Rehoboam was king over Judah and Benjamin. We read in 2 Chronicles 11 the things that Jeroboam and the children of Israel did that led to the breakup of Israel, and ultimately, their captivity.

“And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him [Rehoboam]. For the Levites left their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord. Then he [Jeroboam] appointed for himself priests for the high places, for the demons, and the calf idols which he had made.” Verses 13–15

The children of Israel thought they were worshiping an image. If you asked them, they would say, “We would never worship demons. See, this is just an image.” Just a hand-crafted calf? No, whether they recognized it or not, they were worshiping demons.

In Deuteronomy 31:16, the Lord tells Moses that after his death, the children of Israel would turn to idolatry and the worship of demons. Ezekiel predicted they would never entirely give up the idolatry they had followed in Egypt (Ezekiel 23:8). Paul gave this warning to the Jews, “Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:20

It is easy to look back at the past and clearly see the detours and failures of the children of Israel, patting ourselves—Seventh-day Adventists—on the back, believing that we would never do as they did.  And yet, perhaps in ignorance, we are.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God. We can have the salvation of God in our families, but we must believe it, live it, and have a continual, abiding faith and trust in God. We must subdue a hasty temper and control our words, and in this we shall gain great victories. Unless we control our words and temper, we are slaves to Satan. We are in subjection to him. He leads us captive. All jangling and unpleasant, impatient, fretful words are an offering presented to his satanic majesty.” Testimonies, Vol. 1, 310

While every word we say and every action we perform can be seen as a form of sacrifice to either divine or demonic forces, a hasty temper, unkind words spoken, and actions taken without thought or control can also be seen as a form of sacrifice to divine or demonic forces. One of our greatest challenges is being mindful of our speech. Do I speak jangling, unpleasant, impatient, fretful words? Then, I am presenting myself as a sacrifice to the devil and his satanic majesty. He accepts me into his kingdom and sneeringly tells the Lord of glory that I am not a child of God because I have proven it in the way I speak.

“And it is a costly offering, more costly than any sacrifice we can make for God, for it destroys the peace and happiness of whole families, destroys health, and is eventually the cause of forfeiting an eternal life of happiness.” Ibid.

People will forfeit eternal life because they are not aware of what and how they speak.

“The restraint which God’s word imposes upon us is for our own interest. It increases the happiness of our families and of all around us. It refines our taste, sanctifies our judgment, and brings peace of mind, and, in the end, everlasting life. Under this holy restraint, we shall increase in grace and humility, and it will become easy to speak right. The natural, passionate temper will be held in subjection. An indwelling Saviour will strengthen us every hour. Ministering angels will linger in our dwellings and with joy carry heavenward the tidings of our advance in the divine life, and the recording angel will make a cheerful, happy record.” Ibid.

Even personal reflections like those shared by early Adventist pioneers such as Ellen White can provoke deep introspection. The idea that our every word and action can be seen as a form of sacrifice to either divine or demonic forces challenges us to be more mindful of our speech and conduct.

The meticulous examination of various biblical references and supporting texts underscores the gravity of our words. Whether it be the caution against engaging in divisive gossip or the emphasis on speaking with grace and kindness, the overarching message is clear—our speech wields immense power, for good or ill.

The call to align our speech with the teachings of Christ, to emulate the angels in heaven, signifies a profound aspiration towards spiritual growth and refinement. It beckons us to strive for a higher standard of communication, one that reflects the values of love, grace, and empathy.

The journey towards ceasing to sacrifice to the devil is not an easy one. It requires introspection, prayer, and a conscious effort to align our words with the teachings of Christ. But the promise of divine assistance, the transformative power of grace, and the assurance of redemption offer hope and strength along this challenging path. May we all, through the grace of God, endeavor to speak words that uplift, heal, and bring glory to His name.

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

A Religious Justification for Man’s Inhumanity to Man

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Out of love for man, God created humans with free will so that they could either freely reciprocate their Creator’s love or choose their own path, away from God—the source of life. And man made a tragic choice. Since the first humans chose to live on their own terms without God, God was no longer at the center of human life; instead, it was human ego. We know that from that moment, humanity has used its free will in astonishing and horrifying ways, defiling the earth with continual, creative evil.

The Evolution of Iniquity and the Beginnings of Tyranny

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. The evil that resides in the human heart is most clearly manifested at the dawn of human history in the sons of rebellion: Cain, Lamech, and Nimrod—the first tyrants of humanity and builders of great civilizations. The state of humanity after the fall into sin can also be described using the philosophical concept of the state of nature, which is a “state of war,” espoused by Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century English philosopher. This is because the consequence of the idea of “I” is the “state of war”, which occurs because beyond the “I” there is also the “not-I.” According to Hobbes, the state of nature is a war of every man against every man, which directly results from the fact that every person is inherently selfish.

The Recreation of Man

Human nature is sinful, which means that we are born separated from God, inclining more towards evil than good. This does not mean that fallen, sinful human nature is incapable of doing good. However, even in the midst of committing a noble act, it remains a fallen and highly imperfect nature. Therefore, the only chance for a person to overcome their old nature is a solution beyond human capability. Salvation for humanity exists solely in the person of Jesus Christ. Only in God can man find true hope. Jesus Christ, who created man in Eden, can do it again. Salvation means the recreation of man. Only in Christ can we receive a new nature as children of God. The universal message of Jesus to humanity is: “You must be born again.” John 3:7

The Gospel and a Better World

The issue of the depravity of fallen human nature and the possibility of overcoming this condition should be understood in the context of salvation. If we were to believe in the earthly order that the condition of human nature is in a hopeless state and that man will always choose evil, we would be mistaken. It would mean reconciling ourselves to the evil of this world, passivity, and surrender. Therefore, being called by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel, we are also always morally obligated to not agree with the existing social injustice but to strive for the transformation of the world into a more just one.

The System of Enslavement

I believe that when addressing various forms of human oppression, one must start from the most general assumptions. This makes it easier for us to recognize the uncomfortable truth about our human condition. For the purpose of this article, which deals with one of the most challenging topics I’ve encountered, I will adopt the thesis that the human “self” believes it is superior to others because of possession. “I” am better than others because “I” possess power, fame, influence, money, wealth, education, and the like. Therefore, the more power and capital the ego possesses, the more privileged it feels. The problem is that access to power and capital is limited, which means that my “self” can possess more only at the expense of another “self.” This particular characteristic of human nature seems to be the psychological basis of all systems of exploitation and inequality among people. I do not deny the right to property, to personal possession. After all, the right to property is the foundation and guarantee of civil independence. Nevertheless, in a psychological context, it is possession that establishes and shapes the ego. This is an immutable law of human nature. At the same time, man does not have to be a hostage to this law, but through God’s grace, can submit his ego to a higher law, which states: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39. Therefore, the unassailable limit of the “self’s” exercise of the right to property is human harm and exploitation.

The Satanic System of Slavery

Satan is the father of lies, murder, and slavery. He became the first tyrant inspiring fallen humanity to all manner of lawlessness and wickedness. Slavery is morally the most abhorrent crime of humanity, as it deprives one human being of their humanity and their dignity as a person created in the image and likeness of God. If a person is dehumanized and reduced to an object, the owner can do as they please with their property and face no consequences within such a social system. If we understand what fallen human nature is, it is obvious that the phenomenon of slavery reaches back to the beginnings of fallen humanity. Notice that Satan—who rebelled against the rule of God and desired to be equal with the Most High (Isaiah 14:13, 14)—rules over his subjects as the worst of tyrants, offering his followers only eternal slavery.

The World of the Bible

The world of the Bible is not our world; the oldest books of the Bible are about 3,400 years old, and the New Testament books are about 1,900 years old. It is a gap we must reckon with. The world in which the Bible was written was tyrannical and inhumane. In biblical times, slavery was a widespread phenomenon. It was an integral part of the culture, and people accepted it as a normal aspect of society. Slavery was not considered a moral evil. From our perspective, it is very difficult to comprehend. As I wrote this article, I kept asking myself why the authors of the Bible did not call for the abolition of slavery. But as I continued to delve into this topic, I came to the realization that my approach must be flawed. So where does the error lie? The mistake lies in taking the words of the Bible literally, without considering the historical and cultural context. Not everything the Bible says about social issues is universally true, timeless, and unchanging. However, everything the Bible says about faith and salvation is universally true, timeless, and unchanging. We must keep in mind that the biblical truth about social issues is a truth of the time in which it was written. The Bible, in its fragments concerning the issue of slavery, indeed does not condemn slavery, but at the same time, it does not mean that the Bible supports slavery or declares it a moral good. The Bible simply regulates the issue of slavery in the times when slavery was prevalent. Primarily, this is because for centuries the Christian church did not question the political system of the Roman Empire or the social structure and institutions of that time.

Transformation versus Revolution

The change in social conditions was not supposed to occur through revolution. The reason is the example of Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is not of this world. The kingdom of God, which Jesus preached, is like yeast (Matthew 13:33), which internally transforms earthly reality without the use of violence. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, initially small and unassuming, but eventually revealing its power and magnificence (Matthew 13:31, 32). At the same time, it is not hard to understand, throughout history, examples such as the Donatists in the 4th century AD, who liberated slaves, canceled debts of the poor, and administered justice; the Waldensians in the Pyrenees or the Hussites in the territory of the present Czech Republic, who defended themselves with swords against crusades organized by the papacy; the French Huguenots or the Reformed Evangelicals in the Netherlands fighting against the tyranny of Catholic rulers; or abolitionists who took up arms. In general, the history of Christianity provides countless examples of fighting for social justice and defending faith and life in accordance with one’s conscience.

The Letter and the Spirit

Primitive readings of the Bible, solely based on a literal interpretation, lead to the preservation and cementation of oppressive social structures. Regarding slavery and, for example, the subordination of women, the truth is that the Bible upholds both of these oppressive structures at a literal level. However, at a higher level, which is the level of the Spirit rather than the letter, the level of principles rather than rules, the Bible criticizes both of these oppressive social structures. In the Holy Scriptures, there are great principles, the highest and brightest revealed truths and principles, which go beyond the advice given to specific people in specific times on specific social matters. All human beings are created in the image and likeness of God and therefore are worthy of equal respect, and all human beings share in the divine mandate to exercise authority over the earth created by God (Genesis 1:28). All human beings are loved by God (John 3:16). Ultimately, the greatest commandment regulating the relationship between one human being and another is: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39. These great principles of the kingdom of God completely negate any possibility of justifying slavery or claiming that as human beings—Christians—we are only equal in spiritual matters, not in earthly ones. Unfortunately, it is possible to focus so much on the letter of Scripture throughout one’s life that one completely overlooks the spirit of Scripture.

The Catholic position

If we assume that the Christian church could do nothing about slavery in its early centuries, from the time of the Edict of Theodosius making Catholicism the official religion of the Roman Empire onward, that is not entirely true. During the reign of medieval popes, the institution of slavery was not overturned. There were some changes towards humanitarianism, but in principle, the institution of slavery was not threatened. Only the classical Roman view of a slave as a speaking tool was rejected. Unlike the Romans, a slave owner could not simply kill or starve them. In the Roman Catholic Church, “practically until the 20th century, the doctrine was preached that slavery was in accordance with natural law and divine law. Therefore, the Roman Catholic Church defended the institution of slavery to the very end, even after the victory of abolitionism. Indeed, popes such as Eugenius IV, Pius II, Sixtus IV, Gregor XIV, and Urban VIII condemned the unworthy treatment of slaves, cruelty, or abuses against them, but they never condemned slavery itself.”

The Protestant Position

How did John Calvin, whose theology was embraced in countries like the Netherlands and influenced the Anglican Church, react to the issue of slavery? Calvin fundamentally viewed slavery negatively because he believed it was contrary to the created order, but he accepted regulations regarding slavery in the Bible. Calvin stated that the image of God present in every person does not in any way justify slavery. Importantly, Calvin spoke about slavery more in the context of the declining serfdom in Western European countries than the system of slavery practiced by the Spaniards and Portuguese in Africa and the newly discovered American continent. The Synod of Dordrecht, which took place in 1618 in the Netherlands, was one of the most important events for Reformed evangelicalism. It also deliberated on the issue of slavery. Ultimately, it neither endorsed nor prohibited slavery. However, the synod’s resolutions recommended that baptized slaves be freed. Nevertheless, actual practice varied. Unfortunately, it is true that Catholics and part of the Protestants have committed injustices and atrocities against their fellow human beings by enslaving the inhabitants of Africa and America. Confirmation of this is the approximately 350-year history of slavery practiced between certain European countries, Africa, and America.

The Age of Discovery

The new and even more tragic chapter in the history of slavery was opened by the far-reaching maritime expeditions of Europeans. This was the era of the conquest of the New World and the resulting prosperity for selected European maritime powers. At whose expense? At the expense of slave labor, suffering, blood, tears, and the deaths of millions of enslaved Africans and indigenous peoples, women, children, and men. Starting from the 16th century and lasting until the 19th century, for about 350 years, over 11 million slaves were transported to America—formerly inhabitants of Africa, of whom approximately 9.6 million survived the journey. How is it possible that such a crime against humanity was committed in the history of mankind? How could Western nations, calling themselves Christians, perpetrate such atrocities, completely contradicting the principles of the gospel? What ideology could lie at the root of this crime? It is the utterly depraved nature of humanity, driven mad by greed and the desire to possess more and more. Racism is a symptom of the sickness of humanity. Greed came first. To justify the enslavement of some people by others, a demonic belief is necessary that people are not equal by nature in terms of their rights. Then it is only necessary to formalize such an attitude in a written doctrine. Who can write such a doctrine that will become binding law? The power that combines religious and political authority is best suited for this—the papacy.

Doctrine of Discovery

According to Catholic defenders of the Roman Catholic Church, the brutal violence, extreme exploitation, rapes, and cruelty accompanying the modern history of slavery do not burden the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, but only those who committed these sins. The attitude of Catholic defenders regarding the issue of slavery is, in reality, a distortion of history. The Doctrine of Discovery was presented in a series of papal declarations at the end of the 15th century, at the beginning of the Age of Exploration. These declarations, referred to by the papacy as “bulls,” provided European maritime powers with a religious, moral, political, and legal mandate to conquer non-Christian countries, peoples, and sovereign nations. The Doctrine of Discovery also allowed for the enslavement or extermination of conquered populations. Historically, it is supported by three bulls—Dum Diversas (1452), Romanus Pontifex (1455), and Inter Caetera (1493)—in which popes allowed Catholic rulers to take pagans into “perpetual slavery.” When we delve into these papal documents and understand that during those times the Roman Catholic Church was an undisputed religious and political power that kings and emperors of Europe had to reckon with, and then compare it to how the maritime powers of Europe implemented these papal documents, one conclusion becomes apparent: the papal Doctrine of Discovery contained in these three documents is the religious-political basis of all the harm inflicted upon millions of indigenous inhabitants of Africa and America. These papal documents provided religious justification for genocidal, racist actions. Indigenous peoples could be enslaved and murdered not only because of their ethnic origin but primarily because they did not know Christ. It is astonishing that the Doctrine of Discovery was invoked by both Catholic and Protestant European nations as well as the United States to justify their imperial policies. For instance, in the historically Protestant country like the U.S., the landmark 1823 Supreme Court decision Johnson v. McIntosh was justified based on, believe it or not, a document over 300 years old—the Inter Caetera papal bull.

Consequences

The consequences of the papal documents from the 15th century include the suffering and ultimately the death of millions of slaves working for their white masters over the approximately 350 years of slavery, the extermination of indigenous populations in both Americas, the cultural genocide of Native Americans, racial segregation in the U.S. and South Africa, racist housing policies in the U.S., deep economic inequalities, as well as the crimes of church-run residential schools in Canada. They also include symbolic political gestures masking the lack of real compensatory actions by the governments of the U.S. or Canada, and above all, the stigma of colonial-racist mentality in parts of Western societies. These consequences are visible in post-colonial and post-slavery societies to this day.

The Abolition of Slavery

Our world looked vastly different just 200 years ago. It was a world where the majority of people lived in systems of enslavement. They couldn’t choose where or how they wanted to live. They mainly worked in agriculture. No one paid them for twelve hours of work. If they didn’t meet their daily quota, they were beaten. They died young. They were part of a global economy based on forced labor. At the beginning of the 19th century, over three-quarters of humanity lived in various forms of slavery and servitude. In this context, it is astounding how quickly the end of slavery came. By the end of the 19th century, slavery, at least formally, was banned almost everywhere. Christian abolitionism, which had a distinctly Protestant character, defeated slavery in just 50 years. The victory of freedom over slavery began with twelve devout Protestants who met on May 22, 1787, in London to put an end to the system of slavery. Many radical Protestants joined the greatest civil movement in human history: the movement to abolish the slave trade and destroy the institution of slavery itself. However, that is a different story, perhaps for another article.

Endnotes:

  1. Kaute, Filozofia liberalizmu. Main ideas and their consequences in the modern world, ideology, doctrines and movement of modern liberalism, publishing house UMCS, Lublin 2004, p. 60
  2. biblia.info.pl/blog/jak-spisano-biblie/, accessibility: 05.12.2024
  3. Tomasiewicz, Amfetamina ludu, czyli Trzecie Królestwo, Nowy Obywatel No. 23, p. 86
  4. Giles, The Biblical Argument for Slavery: Can the Bible Mislead? A Case Study in Hermeneutics, Evangelical Quarterly 66/1994, p. 16
  5. Chmielewski, Do Rzeczy, No.16/2024, https://dorzeczy.pl/opinie/574203/chmielewski-kosciol-i-niewolnictwo.html, accessibility: 05.14.2024
  6. Majewski, Rozstania z doktryną, Tygodnik Powszechny, No. 38/2020, www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/rozstania-z-doktryna-164830, accessibility: 05.14.2024
  7. Kayayan, Calvin on Slavery: Providence and Social Ethics in the 16th Century, www.koersjournal.org.za/index.php/koers/article/view/2119/2374, accessibility: 05.15.2024
  8. https://ewangelicy.pl/2019/09/05/badzcie-posluszni-swoim-panom-luteranie-przepraszaja-za-400-lat-niewolnictwa/, accessibility: 15.2024
  9. Eltis, The Volume and Structure of the Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Reassessment, “William and Mary Quarterly” 2001, Vol. 58, No. 1, in: A. Hochschild, Pogrzebać kajdany, Wołowiec 2016, p. 45
  10. Chmielewski, Do Rzeczy, No.16/2024, https://dorzeczy.pl/opinie/574203/chmielewski-kosciol-i-niewolnictwo.html, accessibility: 05.16.2024
  11. Sporniak, Kościół odcina się od doktryny odkrycia, No. 15/2023, www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/kosciol-odcina-sie-od-doktryny-odkrycia-182959, accessibility: 05.16.2024
  12. Wilkin, Za zbrodnie na rdzennej ludności Kanady odpowiadają zarówno państwo, jak i katolickie oraz protestanckie szkoły, published 13 July 2021, https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2021/07/13/za-zbrodnie-na-rdzennej-ludnosci-kanady-odpowiadaja-zarowno-panstwo-jak-i-katolickie-oraz-protestanckie-szkoly/, accessibility: 05.16.2024
  13. S. Jenkinson, What the Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery Means for Indian Country, published 9 April 2023, www.governing.com/context/what-the-repudiation-of-the-doctrine-of-discovery-means-for-indian-country, accessibility: 03.21.2024
  14. Hochschild, Pogrzebać kajdany, Wołowiec 2016, pp. 14, 15

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

Little Things That Aren’t Little

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Many years ago, I participated in a Sabbath School class discussion on 2 Peter 3:9.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

The question was asked, “Do you believe that God is omnipotent?” Everyone said, “Yes.” The next question was, “Do you believe that God’s will is omnipotent?” I immediately knew where this conversation was going. Yes, God’s will is omnipotent. The text says that God is not willing that any should perish. So, if God is omnipotent, and if His will is omnipotent, and if He is unwilling that any should perish, then that would mean that God will make a way to save everyone. Universalism is “the doctrine of universal reconciliation—the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God.” (Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_universalism). Many in the class, myself included, stated that there are other Bible scriptures that do not support that conclusion.

Peter is not the only apostle whose New Testament words are used by Universalists to support their doctrine.

“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” 1 John 2:2

“Who [God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:4

The truth is, God does desire that all of mankind would be saved. To this end, Jesus Christ gave His life to pay the penalty that sinful man could not pay on his own. God wants everyone to be in heaven. Why is it then that millions—billions—will be lost?

“Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” Song of Solomon 2:15

Many of the people who will be lost are not murderers, bank robbers, or criminals. Sin entered this world with a bite from a piece of fruit—a small window of doubt that led to disobedience to God’s expressed will. In fact, when Eve brought the fruit to Adam, he decided that God was too loving for something so small as a bite from a piece of fruit to be unforgiveable. But Luke records Jesus’ words, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10. It will be the little things that will trip up many people.

“The Lord did not prove Adam and Eve in a large matter. The test given them was the smallest that could have been devised. Had it been a large test, then men and women whose hearts incline to evil would excuse themselves by saying, ‘This is a trivial matter, and God is not so particular about little things,’ and there would be constant transgression in things looked upon as small, and which pass unrebuked among men. But the Lord has made it very evident that sin, in any degree, is offensive to Him.” The Signs of the Times, October 29, 1885

The test that Adam failed was little, but sometimes things that seem to be not very important too often have the biggest consequences.

Let’s look at a few examples of the importance of little things.

It Just Takes One

Early in the 1990s, there was a series of mysterious deaths around the city of Boston. What made them so mysterious was that many of these people were in good health. In particular, there was a healthy, 76-year-old woman with no medical issues who just died without explanation. An investigation found that she had died of a vitamin D overdose—vitamin D intoxication, as it is called today. Authorities were very perplexed, because overdosing on vitamin D almost never happens.

Historically, those who typically died from vitamin D intoxication were explorers in either the Arctic or Antarctica. Their food was whatever they could kill in the area, and they would eat every part of the animal, including the organ meats. So, if you shot a polar bear and ate every part of the bear, specifically its liver, you could die from vitamin D intoxication because a polar bear’s liver contains enough vitamin D to kill you. However, this 76-year-old lady, and others in Boston, had not recently traveled to the Arctic or Antarctica, nor had any of them shot a polar bear and eaten its liver. So, authorities turned to a physician who was a vitamin D researcher. He asked for samples of the milk that these people had been drinking.

Milk, straight from the cow, does not contain vitamin D. But the processed milk bought from a local grocery store contains 400 IU (international units) of vitamin D in an 8-ounce serving. This is such a small dose of vitamin D that a person can drink a lot of milk without the fear of being harmed. After testing the milk samples, the researcher found that there were variable amounts of vitamin D in the different milk samples. Some of the milk samples had 250,000 IU per quart (the most common dosage of vitamin D prescribed today is 5,000 IU per day minimum).

The researcher went to the plant where the milk was processed. Milk is generally processed in 250-gallon vats. A small amount of vitamin D was added to these vats by a plant employee. He found that this employee was careless. Before adding vitamin D to the milk, he was to dilute it first, but didn’t. Because of the actions of one person, and a small amount of undiluted vitamin D, a healthy 76-year-old woman died, along with a little child and others.

Size Does Matter

A few years ago, a British airliner took off from London heading out over the Atlantic Ocean. After reaching cruising altitude, the pilot released his seat belt and stood up to stretch. At that precise moment, the pilot-side windshield blew out. Cruising altitude for a commercial airliner is 33,000–42,000 feet, so a breach anywhere in the plane would cause a catastrophic depressurization. Wind like a hurricane blew into the cockpit, grabbed the pilot, and shoved him out through the now-open windshield.

The copilot was still buckled in his seat, but he lunged forward grabbing the pilot’s feet before he was completely ejected. He yelled for help, and several people came into the cockpit to help save the pilot. The wind was so strong that they were unable to pull the pilot back into the cockpit, but they held onto him with all their strength. The copilot radioed a mayday back to London and informed them he needed to immediately return to London for an emergency landing. Air traffic control responded that they would clear the air space and a runway so that he could come straight in. The copilot returned to London, landed the plane, and the pilot’s life was saved.

An investigation was immediately opened to determine what caused the windshield to fail. They found that the plane had been in for maintenance the day before and that a new windshield had been installed. During the replacement of the windshield, the maintenance technician did not have the manufacturer-specified screws, but he did have screws that were very similar in size, so he had used these rather than taking the time to obtain the correct screws. You really couldn’t tell there was a difference between the two types of screws, and everything fit together (or so it seemed); but I’m sure that if you asked that pilot, he would tell you that not using the manufacturer-specified screws made a big difference.

The Smallest Thing Can Have the Biggest Consequence

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. At 46,000 feet above the Atlantic, 73 seconds into the launch, the spacecraft exploded and disintegrated. After an extensive investigation, it was determined that the explosion occurred due to the failure of the primary and secondary “redundant O-ring seals in a joint in the shuttle’s right solid rocket booster.” The O-ring seal is a circular gasket that should have sealed the right rocket booster, but the gasket—affected by the cold temperatures overnight—had become stiff reducing its ability to properly seal the joint.

(Sources: wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster; priceonomics.com/the-space-shuttle-challenger-explosion-and-the-o)

What Price to Do Right

Have you ever studied the Sabbath with someone and they say, “Well, as long as I keep one day out of seven, I don’t think it matters which day.” A few years ago, I was contacted by a man—I will call him Jim—who said he and his wife had been watching the Steps to Life television program for years, and they wanted to become Seventh-day Adventists. So my wife and I began Bible studies with them and their two teenage children.

After two or three visits, Jim told us that he worked at a local aircraft company on second shift. His workday ended at 10:00 p.m. Now that he would be a Seventh-day Adventist, he asked if he could still work until 10:00 on Friday nights. I told Jim that working on the Sabbath, even for a short space of time, would be a violation of God’s law. The Bible says, “from evening until evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.” Leviticus 23:32. Jim asked me to explain when is evening. “At evening when the sun sets.” Mark 1:32, first part. However, I told him that there were other people in his same situation for whom I had written letters to the aircraft companies on their behalf, and that the companies had given them Sabbath off from sundown Friday night to sundown Sabbath night. These individuals were allowed to work extra hours on Sundays or other arrangements had been made so that they could work their full hours, without having to work on the Sabbath. I told Jim I would be willing to write such a letter on his behalf.

Jim’s family had a very nice home and very nice automobiles; they had a lot of nice things. However, most of it wasn’t yet paid for, and it was necessary for both he and his wife to work full-time jobs to meet their obligations. The family decided that they did not want to take the risk that Jim might lose his job over the Sabbath, and they ended the Bible studies.

Sadly, this is not an isolated case. “Please give me a dispensation so I can do this. It’s just a few hours. It seems like such a small thing.” But is it? Human reasoning seeks the path of least resistance, the least amount of risk. I want to do what is right, but do I really have to give up something to do it?

My father was the credit manager for a local community hospital in Washington state. His boss, the business manager, wanted regularity in the work schedule, and he made a rule that everyone would work from 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday. My father went to the business manager to ask to be off from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. He explained that he was willing to work extra on Sunday or extra hours on the other workdays, or whatever schedule the business manager might want to arrange for him. However, the manager was unwilling to make the allowance for him, and he told my father he would have to find another job, so my father began looking. A day or so later, the business manager realized that my father was serious, and that he would actually find another job. So he arranged for my father to work—during the winter months—from 9:00 to 12:00 every Friday and then work four or five hours on Sunday to make up his time.

Are You Committed?

I had a problem of my own keeping the Sabbath. No matter how I tried, I always seemed to be late getting ready for the Sabbath by just a few minutes. For years I struggled with this. Eventually, I had to ask myself, Am I always going to be late? I realized that I could be late or I could be early, either way the choice was mine. Making the decision to be early provides time for mishaps or troubles to be resolved, and now I am always ready for the Sabbath before the sun goes down.

Little Things Seem Unimportant, but a Little Thing Can Change Everything

Just moments before departure, the crew master of the Titanic was replaced. He left the ship, but unfortunately for the passengers and crew, he took with him, forgotten in his pocket, the key to the locker where the binoculars were kept. Had he handed off the key to the new crew master, it’s possible that the iceberg would have been spotted sooner, giving the ship much-needed time to steer away from it. (Source: intellectualtakeout.org/2017/07/10-small-events-that-changed-the-course-of-history.)

The story of Lot is an amazing Bible story. Lot lived in Sodom. Because of the wicked and sexually-charged lifestyle in Sodom, Lot decided that he needed to do something to protect strangers who ventured to the city. It became his custom to sit at the city gate every evening, and if travelers passed by, he would invite them to his house.

The Bible records that one night two strangers came to the city gate. Lot extended the hospitality of his home for the night, but they said that they would find shelter in the city. Lot pressed upon them that they really needed to come to his house. So, they did, and in doing so, they saved Lot’s life and the lives of his two daughters. However, they—angels disguised as men—weren’t able to save everyone in his family, but not because they didn’t have the power to save them. If the angels had been able to find even ten people in Sodom willing to be saved, the entire city would have been spared. And this, you see, is God’s problem: He offers salvation and makes it possible for every single person in the world to be saved, but only a few accept His offer.

We Cannot See What God Sees

Human beings look on the outside. If we can see it, touch it, smell it, taste it, hear it, then we can believe it. However, this outward focus makes us unable to perceive what we cannot physically discern and, consequently, we make many erroneous judgments. One of these is in estimating a person’s value based on the kind of work he or she does, the culture that he or she comes from, the church he or she attends, his or her gender, or the color of his or her skin. Many people do very important things, but society casts them as of little value because what they do does not appear important when looked upon from an outward perspective only.

One major example of this error in judgment occurs with regard to women. Society today generally asserts that if a woman wants to be important, she must obtain a college education, cultivate a career, seek out positions that hold the greatest worldly importance and influence. The position and work that God gave to Eve and to all her female posterity after her—that of being a wife and mother—is of the greatest importance of all. Society states that motherhood is not a job, and consequently, women who work from sunup to sundown in keeping the home and raising the children are valued far below a female executive making a six-figure salary.

“The mother seldom appreciates her own work, and frequently sets so low an estimate upon her labor that she regards it as domestic drudgery. She goes through the same round day after day, week after week, with no special marked results. She cannot tell, at the close of the day, the many little things she has accomplished. Placed beside her husband’s achievement, she feels that she has done nothing worth mentioning.

“The father frequently comes in with a self-satisfied air, and proudly recounts what he has accomplished through the day. His remarks show that now he must be waited upon by the mother, for she has not done much except take care of the children, cook the meals, and keep the house in order. She has not acted the merchant, bought nor sold; she has not acted the farmer, in tilling the soil; she has not acted the mechanic—therefore she has done nothing to make her weary. He criticizes and censures and dictates as though he was the lord of creation. And this is all the more trying to the wife and mother, because she has become very weary at her post of duty during the day, and yet she cannot see what she has done, and is really disheartened.

“Could the veil be withdrawn, and father and mother see as God sees the work of the day, and see how His infinite eye compares the work of the one with that of the other, they would be astonished at the heavenly revelation. The father would view his labors in a more modest light, while the mother would have new courage and energy to pursue her labor with wisdom, perseverance, and patience. Now she knows its value. While the father has been dealing with the things which must perish and pass away, the mother has been dealing with developing minds and character, working not only for time but for eternity. Her work, if done faithfully in God, will be immortalized.” The Signs of the Times, September 13, 1877

Day by day

You and I are building a character. What we repeatedly do, whether it be our thoughts, words, or actions, becomes a habit, and it is these habits that make up our characters. There are many pastors and churches that talk as though a good character is not that important. Yet, character is so important to Jesus that He went to the cross so that He could restore in us the image [character] of God. We aren’t talking about a physical image—fingers, hands, feet, legs, and all the other physical parts of the body. Character is developed in the heart and mind of a person by the in-working of the Holy Spirit. We will receive a new body when Jesus comes, but receiving a new heart and mind happens here and now. A right character is the only thing we take with us to the next life (Christ’s Object Lessons, 332). “Our characters are now forming for eternity. Here on earth we are training for heaven.” Testimonies, Vol. 6, 268. We can’t take it if we don’t already have it. When we see Jesus, coming in the clouds of glory, we will already have a character fit for heaven, or we will never have one at all.

Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12. So, when I see Jesus, my character will either be fit for heaven, or it won’t.

“The beautiful, well-balanced symmetrical character is developed by individual acts of duty. The character is formed by the conscientious attention to the little things of life, courteous acts of kindness, unselfish deeds of charity. Kind words make the life beautiful and noble; for in them is the spirit that pervades heaven.” The Signs of the Times, December 12, 1878

Character is Perfected by the Little Things

“True love is not a strong, fiery, impetuous passion. On the contrary, it is calm and deep in its nature. It looks beyond mere externals and is attracted by qualities alone. It is wise and discriminating, and its devotion is real and abiding. God tests and proves us by the common occurrences of life. It is the little things which reveal the chapters of the heart. It is the little attentions, the numerous small incidents and simple courtesies of life, that make up the sum of life’s happiness; and it is the neglect of kindly, encouraging, affectionate words, and the little courtesies of life, which help compose the sum of life’s wretchedness. It will be found at last that the denial of self for the good and happiness of those around us constitutes a large share of the life record in heaven. And the fact will also be revealed that the care of self, irrespective of the good and happiness of others, is not beneath the notice of our heavenly Father.” Testimonies, Vol. 2, 133, 134

God uses the everyday things to test us. Our characters are not shaped by one momentous event, but by the many day-in-and-day-out things that we encounter and our responses to them. It is these small tests that strengthen our character to meet the greater tests. Some people have never learned how to handle, or just don’t care about, the small things. If a task is big enough and worth their time, they will commit themselves whole-heartedly to its completion, but those little things, the feeling is that they are just so small. With or without them, they would make no difference. But, remember the pilot hanging out of the cockpit window at 33,000 feet? That small, very specific screw made a huge difference to him, and the small things will make a significant difference to us as we develop a character that reflects the character of Christ.

Remember Daniel and the three worthies? They committed to follow God’s diet even in their captivity in Babylon. Not such a big thing. But do you suppose that their faithfulness in this smaller matter—and many others, I imagine, throughout their lives—prepared the way for their decision to stand faithful on the Plain of Dura, to risk the fiery furnace? For Daniel to continue faithfully to raise his eyes and voice in prayer, praising God, despite the risk of being thrown into the lions’ den?

What you and I consider little is not necessarily what God thinks is little. How does God measure what is small and what is great? Remember the widow with her two mites (Luke 21:1–4)? As Jesus watched the rich putting money in the treasury, He saw this poor woman place her two mites in as well. Small as the gift was, He told His disciples that she had given the greater gift. The rich gave gifts, but there was no sacrifice for them in doing so. But with this woman, these two mites were all she had. She sacrificed her all to help further God’s work. It is not the size of the gift or even the giving of a gift, but rather the motive of the heart that gives it. This is how character is determined.

We need to ask for the spiritual discernment we need so that we can examine ourselves and with clarity see if there is any little thing that prevents us from having a character that will pass the judgment.

“Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith.” 2 Corinthians 13:5

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

Disinterested Benevolence

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There is a phrase one encounters in reading the Spirit of Prophecy that might fall somewhat curiously on the ears when first encountered. Continued reading and study will help you to gain a fairly good understanding of the concept expressed in the phrase, and the more one comes to understand it, the more you may realize that you don’t practice it as much as you should.

It was one of several concepts presented in the Spirit of Prophecy that, although perhaps understood in a shallow way by the world, has a depth of meaning that the inspired writings of Ellen G. White make unmistakably clear.

One such concept is “presumption.” You could probably ask a dozen strangers to explain presumption for you and not one would state that it is Satan’s counterfeit of faith. Yet that aspect of the word is explored and explained in great detail in inspired writings.

The phrase that might initially provoke a bit of puzzlement is “disinterested benevolence.” If you are a long-term Seventh-day Adventist, the phrase is undoubtedly familiar to you and probably well understood. However, when initially encountered, its full meaning might be a bit of an enigma. It isn’t too hard to understand either “disinterested” or “benevolence,” but, putting the two together might cause a bit of puzzlement.

However, its relative frequent appearance in the Spirit of Prophecy and the significance placed on it in inspired writings, should provoke deep study to ferret out its broader meaning and help determine why such emphasis is placed on it in divine counsel.

Let’s start our study by reading a few quotes that contain the phrase.

Speaking of Christ, it reads, “His life was without selfish interest, but ever marked with disinterested benevolence.” Early Writings, 268

If Christ is to be our example in all things, it seems self-evident that disinterested benevolence is a character trait that all of His followers need to possess. And this passage also makes it clear that disinterested benevolence is the opposite of selfish interest, and thus we begin to understand the phrase: selfish interest on one hand … disinterested benevolence on the other.

“I saw that it is in the providence of God that widows and orphans, the blind, the deaf, the lame, and persons afflicted in a variety of ways, have been placed in close Christian relationship to His church; it is to prove His people and develop their true character.” Testimonies, Vol. 3, 511

This is why the poor will always be with us—to prove God’s people and develop their true character.

“Angels of God are watching to see how we treat these persons who need our sympathy, love, and disinterested benevolence. This is God’s test of our character. If we have the true religion of the Bible we shall feel that a debt of love, kindness, and interest is due to Christ in behalf of His brethren; and we can do no less than to show our gratitude for His immeasurable love to us while we were sinners unworthy of His grace, by having a deep interest and unselfish love for those who are our brethren and who are less fortunate than ourselves.” Ibid.

This passage places disinterested benevolence on an equal standing with sympathy and love, thereby indicating how important it is as an aspect of Christian character. It should also give us a little more depth to our understanding by revealing that it involves a “deep interest and unselfish love” for those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

In continuing to search for the phrase in inspired writings, it is interesting to note that, although the exact phrase occurs only once in The Desire of Ages, the concept is a recurring theme and is described as a character trait that served as one of the reasons for Christ’s rejection by the established church in His day.

“Jesus had now given three years of public labor to the world. His example of self-denial and disinterested benevolence was before them. His life of purity, of suffering and devotion, was known to all. Yet this short period of three years was as long as the world could endure the presence of its Redeemer.” Op. Cit., 541. He was simply too good for the world to tolerate!

We see in this passage, however, that disinterested benevolence involves self-denial. That is confirmed in another passage in inspired writings. Written to an Elder Hull in 1863, he initially acknowledged that it was just counsel, but he later protested against it and eventually left the faith.

“God’s people will be sifted, even as corn is sifted in a sieve, until all the chaff is separated from the pure kernels of grain. We are to look to Christ for an example and imitate the humble pattern. You do not feel reconciled to the discipline you need and do not exercise and practice that self-denial which Christ requires of those who are truly heirs of salvation. Those who are engaged in the work of saving souls are coworkers with Christ. His was a work of disinterested benevolence, of constant self-sacrifice. Those who have had so great a sacrifice made for them that they might become partakers of His heavenly grace should in their turn sacrifice and deny self to aid in the great work of bringing others to the knowledge of the truth. Self-interest should be laid aside; selfish desires and self-comfort should not now stand in the way of God’s work in saving souls.” Testimonies, Vol. 1, 431

Self-interest, selfish desires, and self-comfort—avoiding these character traits is directly contrary to the human heart, which is naturally motivated by selfish, self-serving interests. To state it differently, these three traits are common to the natural heart—and are so from birth!

In addressing this aspect of human nature, Inspiration states this:

“There exists in the hearts of many an element of selfishness which clings to them like the leprosy. They have so long consulted their own wishes, their own pleasure and convenience, that they do not feel that others have claims upon them. Their thoughts, plans, and efforts are for themselves. They live for self, and do not cultivate disinterested benevolence, which if exercised, would increase and strengthen until it would be their delight to live for others’ good. This selfishness must be seen and overcome, for it is a grievous sin in the sight of God. They need to exercise a more special interest for humanity; and in thus doing, they would bring their souls into closer connection with Christ, and would be imbued with His Spirit, so that they would cleave to Him with so firm a tenacity that nothing could separate them from His love.” In Heavenly Places, 232

The prime example of disinterested benevolence in Scripture is the classic story of the Good Samaritan. In an in-depth analysis of this event, there is a two-part series in The Signs of the Times, July 16 and 23, 1894, in which Mrs. White explores the many lessons to be learned from this story.

“After Christ had shown up the cruelty and selfishness manifested by the representatives of the nation [the priest and the Levite who had passed by on the other side], he brought forward the Samaritan, who was despised, hated, and cursed by the Jews, and set him before them as one who possessed attributes of character far superior to those possessed by those who claimed exalted righteousness. The Samaritan manifested the pity and love that the priest and Levite gave no evidence of possessing. He gave a demonstration that he had a heart that could feel for suffering humanity, that he had nobility of soul to show mercy to one whom he knew not, that his love was of the right quality, flowing out in disinterested benevolence, and making him treat the wounded stranger as he would desire to be treated were he placed in similar circumstances.”

And then she adds, “Everyone who claims to be a child of God should note every detail of this lesson.” Ibid., July 23, 1894

If there is ever a time when our interests should be outwardly directed and when every detail of this lesson should be understood and practiced, it is now as we see ever more clearly, that the Lord’s coming is drawing nearer each day. We must commit to utilizing every opportunity to practice a bit of disinterested benevolence and to spread abroad the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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

How to be Ready in an Emergency

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One day last fall, I earnestly prayed to the Lord that somehow we could be ready to survive yet another winter in Maine with its onslaught of heavy snow, wind, rain, and ice. We had heard that the upcoming winter would be very severe. The leaves began to fall in late August, and it had rained day after day for months, only leaving a short window of time to accomplish all the outdoor tasks that would have taken all summer to do. I must redeem the time lost. I know that combining my efforts with God’s supervision, I can accomplish much.

This has also reminded me to continue to ask the Lord to help us survive the winter of perilous and overwhelming events of these last days. The end time events are so rapidly unfolding all around us—floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and every manner of turmoil and destruction—that we can scarcely keep up. Inspiration tells us that last day events will happen rapidly. The last hours of Earth’s history are upon us, and the events that are rapidly approaching will try our souls in ways that we cannot even now imagine. We must continue to plead with the Lord, putting all our faith in Him to make us ready to meet every emergency that is to come.

As that old hymn says, “Can we look up and say, this is our Lord? Are we ready for Jesus to come?” We can be, friends, yes, we can be. The Lord presents every possible avenue for heart and soul readiness with Bible study, prayer, and working to save others. Only with our focus continually on Jesus will we make it through to the kingdom. If we do all we can do, and if we will be all that we can be in Jesus, we can know beyond all certainty, Satan will lose the war, and we will win the crown.

“The faith of Asa was put to a severe test when ‘Zerah, the Ethiopian with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots,’ invaded his kingdom. 2 Chronicles 14:9. In this crisis, Asa did not put his trust in the ‘fenced cities in Judah’ that he had built with ‘walls, and towers, grates, and bars,’ nor in the ‘mighty men of valor’ in his carefully-trained army. Verses 6–9. The king’s trust was in Jehovah in whose name marvelous deliverances had been wrought in behalf of Israel of old. Setting his forces in battle array, he sought the help of God.

“The opposing armies now stood face to face. It was a time of test and trial to those who served the Lord. Had every sin been confessed? Had the men of Judah placed their full confidence in God’s power to deliver? Such thoughts as these were in the minds of the leaders. From every human viewpoint the vast host of Egypt would sweep everything before it. But in time of peace, Asa had not given himself to amusement and pleasure; he had been preparing for any emergency. He had an army trained for conflict; he had endeavored to lead his people to make their peace with God. And now, although his forces were fewer in number than the enemy, his faith in the One whom he had made his trust did not weaken.

“Having sought the Lord in the days of prosperity, the king could now rely upon Him in the day of adversity. His petitions showed that he was not a stranger to God’s wonderful power. ‘It is nothing with Thee to help,’ he pleaded, ‘whether with many or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on Thee, and in Thy name go against this multitude. Oh Lord, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee.’ Verse 11.” Prophets and Kings, 110, 111

There is but one way to face the coming events, for “Satan is constantly alluring away from faithfulness and thoroughness in the essential works of preparedness for the great event that will try every person’s soul. …

“[But] heavenly angels are at work constantly to draw human beings, the living agents, to look to Jesus, to contemplate and meditate upon Jesus, that they may, in viewing the perfection of Christ, be impressed with the imperfections of their characters. …

“Talk as Christ talked. Work as Christ worked. We must look to Christ and live. Catching sight of His loveliness, we long to practice the virtues and righteousness of Christ. It is by beholding Christ that we become changed into His image, and by renouncing self, giving our hearts up wholly to Jesus for His Spirit to refine, ennoble, and elevate, we will be in close connection with the future world, bathed in the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. We rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. …

“… He urges us by the love we bear to Him to keep His commandments. He does this, not to urge us to do impossible things, but because He knows what it means to keep His Father’s commandments. He wants every soul that heareth His invitation to say the same to others, and to receive His richest gifts, for He knows that in keeping the commandments of God, we are not brought into servile bondage, but are made free through the blood of Jesus Christ.

“Tell it to others with pen and voice, with piety, with humility, with love, representing the character of Christ.” To Be Like Jesus, 259

This, friends, is how to be ready.

The Hidden Ingredient that Brings Peace

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“ ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’ ”  Matthew 11:28–30

Why are people troubled, heavy-laden? Why is there no rest for their spirit? The Bible tells us very clearly what the problem is.

“ ‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’ ” Isaiah 48:22

“But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” Isaiah 57:20

“The way of peace they have not known.” Romans 3:17

The wicked live like a troubled sea and they are unable to find peace and rest. They may search for it, but they do not find it.

Someone might say, “Oh, I’m not wicked; this doesn’t apply to me.” But are we sure? How can we be sure? We may think we are not wicked, but how does the Bible define wickedness?

David tells us that: “Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.” Psalm 119:53 Forsaking or breaking the law of God is sin. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” 1 John 3:4. So those who break the law of God are called the wicked.

To those who have forsaken His law, the Lord Himself says, “If a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.” Ezekiel 18:21

On the other hand, if a person does not turn from His sins, if he continues to forsake and break the law, the Bible says he is a wicked person and he practices wickedness or lawlessness.

So, just how much of the world is wicked?

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” 1 John 5:19

“There is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10

If the Lord does not come—because of the wickedness in this world—to redeem His children, the world would eventually self-destruct. The Bible says very clearly that wickedness will ultimately destroy itself and all sinners. “Wickedness overthrows the sinner.” Proverbs 13:6

All pagan religions teach that man must, in some way, pay a price for his wickedness to finally have peace in his spirit. This is the reason people lie on beds of spikes or walk on hot coals, climb stairs on their knees or beat themselves with whips, sacrifice animals and even children in the name of the gods of wood and stone who cannot see nor hear.

Perfect Peace

The Bible tells me something completely different regarding how the price for my wickedness is to be paid. “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Verses 23, 24

Justification is a gift from God. I might think that I can pay the price for my sins, but that price is eternal death. So, if I want to live, then someone else must pay the price for me—and that is what Jesus did on the cross. “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” Verses 27, 28

This does not mean the law is done away with. “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” Verse 31. “If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven. And whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.’ ” Romans 4:2–8

Contrary to what all the false religions in the world teach—that is all the pagan and non-Christian religions in the world—the Bible and the Christian religion teaches that having the wickedness and sin taken out of our lives, is by a gift—a miracle—of God. That gift is through the God-man, Christ Jesus, who offered Himself as a sacrifice to purify me from my sins, to take them completely out of my life (1 Corinthians 15:3).

What happens when I put my faith and trust in Him, and surrender my life to Him? “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. Friends, God wants to give you peace.

God’s peace will give you rest in your spirit. So many people cannot sleep at night. They are restless and fatigued because the wicked are like a troubled sea. They simply cannot rest because there is no real peace in their lives. They search. They try. They fill their lives with all sorts of exciting pleasures. They immerse themselves in the many different things that the world has to offer, but as long as they are breaking the law of God, they will not find the peace and rest for their soul that every human being in his or her deepest consciousness really wants. Do you want peace and rest in your mind and soul? There is only one Person who can give it to you.

The book of Acts tells us that Peter had that perfect peace:

“Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.

“Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying ‘Arise quickly!’ and his chains fell off his hands.

“Then the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and tie on your sandals’; and so he did. And he said to him, ‘Put on your garment and follow me.’

“So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

“When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

“And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.’ ” Acts 12:5–11

If you were sentenced to be executed tomorrow, would you peacefully sleep all night tonight? Peter had, in his mind and heart, the perfect peace and rest that God gives, even if it meant dying tomorrow. If you surrender your life and everything you have to Him, you can have that same peace. Just as God delivered Peter from prison and his jailers, God will deliver you from the prison house of sin; He will remove your guilt, and give you His peace.

But more than justification, more than giving you peace and rest from the guilt of your past sins, God wants to change your life. He wants to give you the power, through the Holy Spirit, to live a new life. This is the process of being born again—the receiving of the Holy Spirit inside to change our sinful desires and replace them with the desire to only do the will of God. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Romans 6:1, 2

“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Verse 6. In giving your life to Christ, surrendering completely to Him, you are set free from the bondage of sin.

“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. … For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Verses 11, 12, 14

Not under the law? Sin has no dominion over you? A person might think that they do not need to keep the law. But is that what Paul is saying?

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourself slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. …

“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Verses 15–18; 22, 23

If I am walking after the Spirit, then I am no longer under condemnation because the Holy Spirit works a miracle of righteousness in my life, enabling me to keep God’s law. “The righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:4

However, there are people who say they cannot keep God’s law, and Paul tells us why. “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Verses 5, 6

If I am spiritually minded, if the Holy Spirit has come into my life, if I have been born again, if I walk after the Spirit and not after the lusts and desires of my sinful nature, then I will have peace. In fact, it is the only way to have peace. But if I am not converted, if I am carnally minded, if I am living according to the flesh, then I am breaking the law of God and will never find peace unless I determine to allow the Holy Spirit into my life. That is what the Bible says. Why?

“The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” Verse 7. The carnal mind is unconverted and is not subject to the law of God. It cannot obey because it does not want to obey. So if someone says, “I cannot obey the law of God,” they are telling the truth, and it is pointless to argue with them.

When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, He will make it possible for you to do what you were not able to do before you were born again. In fact, this is the acid test as to whether or not a person is truly converted or not.

Am I a Christian—Christlike—in my life or is it just a name I claim? Have I really been born again? Do I live according to the law of God? Is God’s peace and His gift of eternal life really mine? If the Holy Spirit is in my life, I cannot go on living a life of sin, because as soon as I break the law of God, I quench the Spirit’s voice in my conscience. The Holy Spirit cannot lead and direct and guide my life anymore if I continue in sin, because I have gone directly contrary to what He is impressing upon my mind. I will have no peace because, as long as I remain unconverted, I have no hope for salvation. (Read carefully Romans 8:1–14.)

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “ ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ ” John 3:5

When you are born of the Holy Spirit, Paul says the Spirit gives you the power to keep the law of God. “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:4

He continues, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 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. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die [you will not have eternal life]; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Verses 8–13

Notice that the Holy Spirit gives me the power to turn away from my sinful nature and to live according to the law of God.

False Peace

There are millions of people in the world today who believe that they are going to heaven. Because they have a form of godliness—they call themselves Christians, go to church, do good deeds, make donations, pay tithe—they believe that they have met the requirements for heaven. And surely, the Scriptures tell us that all these things will be part of the life fully surrendered to the in-working of the Holy Spirit. But friends, a checklist of tasks will not see us through to heaven. While they may outwardly appear to be Christians, it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, giving them the power to put to death the deeds of the body and to live according to the law of God, that they, and we, have the hope of eternal life with Jesus Christ, the Father, and all the host of heaven. If we are not living according to the law of God, then we have proof that the Holy Spirit is not in control of our lives. The power of godliness is the power to change lives, and only the Holy Spirit can do this for us.

Paul said that a person who receives the Holy Spirit will find peace. The Bible predicts that in the last days there will be multitudes of people who will have a false peace. They will think that they are saved when they are not. They will have a form of godliness, but will deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5).

A Movement for Peace

In the last days, there will be a great international peace movement that will be based on false promises.

“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it.

“Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

“But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” Micah 4:1–5

“… Everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,” walking in the name of his god—not in the name of the God of Jacob.

Other scriptures regarding this false religious peace movement can be found in Isaiah and Revelation. Paul says, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3

Why will they not escape? They are spreading a peace and safety message, but this message is not based on obedience to the law of God, but rather on a lie of the antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2). The antichrist spreads the idea that you can be saved while you are breaking the law of God. But remember, breaking the law of God is sin (1 John 3:4).

God Will Have a People

The Bible also predicts that God will have a people. They are clearly defined in the book of Revelation as being those who keep His commandments—those who are obedient to His law. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12

There is no true, lasting peace without the power that the Holy Spirit gives you to keep God’s law in your life. Do you want peace? Do you want to be part of God’s faithful remnant people, to be a part of the saints who in the last days will join with those who have gone before, to be taken out of this world when Jesus returns?

The choice is yours, friend. The world lies in wickedness and becomes more wicked with each passing day. But there will be a people who keep God’s commandments, and He is returning to take them out of this world to live with Him forever. To be among that people, you must, today, surrender your life, heart, and soul to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, and accept the Holy Spirit into your heart to be transformed into the image of Christ.

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

Confession. When?

by

Let’s begin with the big question: How are a person’s sins forgiven?

The basic principle regarding the forgiveness of sins is that to be forgiven, we must be willing to forgive (Matthew 6:14, 15).

Say someone has done a terrible thing against me, and I decide that it is just so awful that there is no way I can forgive them. I might say, “You don’t understand how bad this was. I just can’t forgive them.”

Jesus left us an example so that we would know what to do under such a circumstance. After the soldiers had driven the nails through His hands and feet, after they had raised the cross to savagely drop into the hole prepared for it, did Jesus say, “This is just too much. I cannot possibly forgive them for this, the crown of thorns, the torture and humiliation. I just can’t.”?

No. With tears streaming down His bloodied face, His body consumed with pain, His heart crying out for each and every person who stood beneath the cross as well as those throughout all time, He pleaded, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Regardless of how bad the hurts, the wrongs, and the harm that our fellow humans may do to us or we may do to them, I am confident that we will experience nothing in this world that is worse than what Jesus experienced in His life—in the judgment hall, as He watched Peter’s betrayal, and as He hung on Calvary’s cross—suspended between heaven and earth to pay a price we could not pay. And yet, He pled for the souls of the very ones who rejected Him and caused Him so much pain.

So, to be forgiven, we must be willing to forgive those who have wronged us no matter how serious the wrong may be. But we also must repent from our own sins if we want to be forgiven.

The Jews believed that if something disastrous happened to a person, it meant that he was a terrible sinner and God had sent this disastrous thing as punishment for his sins. Even today, a person might be sick with cancer and someone will say, “I wonder what they did wrong?” This belief is recorded in John 9. We find the story of a man blind from birth, and when the disciples saw the man, they asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Verse 2. But Jesus’ response, found in verse 3, was clear: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” Consider what Jesus’ words imply. The man was blind his entire life until the day came when Jesus gave him sight, and in doing so, the glory of God was revealed to, in, and through him—a wonderful thought to consider.

We see this same principle in the book of Job. The Lord tried to teach the human race through the story of Job not to assume someone is a terrible sinner just because some disaster happened to them. We read in Job that the Lord called him, “blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” Job 1:1

The Lord gave Satan the opportunity to bring all kinds of hardships, disasters, and sorrow to Job, and when Job’s friends came to “comfort” him, the theme of their conversation was, “Job, you must have been or done something very bad, otherwise these terrible tragedies would not have befallen you.” But the Lord said that Job was a righteous man and none of these troubles came because he was a great sinner.

We find a similar circumstance in Luke 13. The Jews were wondering about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Jesus’ response was, “ ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you, no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.’ ” Verses 2, 3

Or what of the 18 who died when the tower in Siloam fell and killed them. “ ‘Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’ ” Verses 4, 5

Jesus is saying, “If you want to be saved, you must repent.”

“Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19

In Acts 26, we find Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus. In his speech to King Agrippa, he said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God and do works befitting repentance.” Verses 19, 20. Everywhere Paul went, he preached the need for repentance.

Speaking to the people in Athens, Paul says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30

Repentance is to be sorry for sin, so sorry that we will quit sinning. Repentance requires sorrow for sin, but it also requires a turning away from it. If I lie, then I must be sorry for the lie, I must go to those I lied to and tell the truth and make amends, I must confess to God and ask for forgiveness for the lie, and then I must not lie again.

The English word repentance is derived from the Greek word metanoia (verb=metanoew). The word is formed from two words meta which means “after” or “change” and noew which means “to think” suggesting the meaning “afterthought” or “a change of mind.” Before repentance we think that sin is wonderful, but after repentance the mind is changed so that we can see just how terrible sin is.

Repentance is the first step in having our sins forgiven, but what leads us to repent? “Or do you despise the riches or the goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” Romans 2:4. How does the goodness of God lead us to repentance? “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3. When a person goes to the cross, he or she is able to see what sin is really like, to see what it really does. It took the death of Jesus to save us from sin, our sin.

Have you spent any time thinking about Jesus on the cross, thinking about what it meant that He was willing to and why He did go? As you ponder it, see it in your mind’s eye—the beating, the crown of thorns, the nails piercing His feet and hands, the blood flowing down His body—your mind begins to change; sin doesn’t seem so wonderful when you stand at the foot of the cross, when you gaze up at your crucified Lord, when you hear Him say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This is where the conversion of men’s hearts and minds takes place. Here is where we see the true heinousness of sin.

How can man’s natural love for sin be taken out of his heart and replaced with a sanctified hatred for it? “The preaching of the cross is to us that are saved the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18. To those who are lost, the cross is foolishness. But to the saved, it is the power of God to change lives so that repentance can take place.

“No repentance is genuine that does not work reformation.” The Desire of Ages, 555. Genuine repentance means living a life of righteousness rather than one of sinfulness, and results in a reformation in the life. Sorrow for sin cannot be forced, but if you will spend time in your devotions at the cross, your mind and life, your opinions and feelings about sin, and all sinful behavior will be changed. “The cross speaks life, and not death, to the soul that believes in Jesus. Welcome the precious life-giving rays that shine from the cross of Calvary.” In Heavenly Places, 52

The next step in genuine repentance is confession. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13. We all need mercy, but we will not be given mercy until we first confess and forsake our sins.

“Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

What a wonderful promise! God stands behind every promise that He has made. Our problem is not that God does not forgive. The problem is that we do not confess. Without confession, there is no forgiveness.

When I became a minister, I preached for many years, but did not preach on confession. I thought that it was so simple, everybody knew it. I had learned 1 John 1:9 when I was a child and have known it for as long as I can remember. And I thought that other Christians knew it, too, so I never preached about it.

But after a number of years, I began to realize that there were people who had been Christians, Seventh-day Adventists, for many years, who had never confessed their sins. They felt that because they had been Christians for so long, they just didn’t need to do it anymore.

I knew a man, not that long ago, who had been a Christian for over 50 years. He and a relative had a very sharp difference of opinion on something and it resulted in some not-so-kind words between them. The man thought that maybe he ought to confess it, but instead he said, “Well, I guess I just won’t be able to go to heaven, because I can’t confess it.” This man would rather risk eternal life than to confess a sin. How many Christians are there in the world today who are willing to leave their sins unconfessed and lose eternal life?

The Bible and Inspiration explain in great detail how important it is to confess our sins if we want to be forgiven. Remember, without forgiveness we will not reach heaven, and we cannot be forgiven if we do not confess our sins.

Let me start with a quotation from an article on child training. I have often wondered if one of the reasons adult Christians find it so difficult to confess their sins is because they were not taught as children to do it.

“Children are to be taught to be respectful to their parents and to one another. Thus they learn to be respectful to God. They are to be taught to appreciate the abilities God has given them, and to remember that Christ’s love for them calls for the surrender of all to Him. They are to be taught to do right because it is right; to control self, to be kind, loving, and gentle; to forget self in the effort to help others.

“Parents, do all in your power to keep disagreements out of the home circle. If the children quarrel remind them that God has said, ‘Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.’ Teach them never to let the sun go down on angry feelings or sin unconfessed.” The Signs of the Times, April 23, 1902

What wonderful counsel! Never to let the sun go down on our anger without confession. Every day, as the sun begins its descent below the skyline, we should all ask ourselves the question, “Have I sinned against anyone today that I need to confess?” This is a principle that we should early teach our children.

“At eventide when the children would gather together before going to bed, we would talk over the happenings of the day. Possibly during the day one of the children had said, ‘Mother, someone has done thus and so to me.’ I had replied that when we all come together in the evening, we could talk it over. When evening came, they had all had time for reflection, and they did not feel inclined to bring charges against one another. They would say, ‘Mother, I have done thus and so,’ and the tears would start from their eyes, as they would add, ‘I feel as though I would like to have you ask the Lord to forgive me. I believe He will.’ And then we would bow in prayer, and confess the sins of the day, and pray for forgiveness.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 7, 270. This was Mrs. White’s practice with her children. This is how to raise a child to be a Christian.

We should never go to bed and go to sleep with an unconfessed sin. What if I have a sin that I have left unconfessed for months, maybe even years? What if it is a very serious sin? The good news of the gospel is that big and little sins alike can be forgiven. Whatever sin is in your life, Jesus wants to forgive it and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

The following is an excerpt from a letter Mrs. White wrote to a woman who had been living as a mistress, living in the sin of adultery, for a long time.

“I again address you not to fail in this time which is the crisis of your life, to take the only right course left for you to take. The stronghold of sin is in the will. Put your will on God’s side of the question; place yourself no longer in the position of a sinner, a harlot. You may not see clearly how you will obtain deliverance from the sins which have been cherished and strengthened with repetition. The only way is to confess your sins, forsake them, and believe that Jesus will pardon you.

“Your deliverance is to be found in Christ, and in Him alone. Your temper and your pride must die, and Christ live in you, else you are still in the bondage of sin and iniquity. You must humble your heart before God, and Jesus will pity and save you. …

“You have been living in adultery so long that sin does not appear heinous to you. You love sin. If now you want to leave sin, you must forever renounce it. … You must not hide or excuse your sins, but you must arise and make haste to confess your sins, and save your soul by seeking the forgiveness of your sins.” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce, 140, 141

This is a letter written to an old man in a similar circumstance. “The sands of your life are nearly run out, and now if you will come to God just as you are, without one plea but that He has died to save the chiefest of sinners, you will find pardon, even in this the eleventh hour. Man must cooperate with God. Christ did not die to have the power to cover transgression unrepented of and unconfessed. Not all sins are to be confessed publicly, but some are to be confessed alone to God and the parties that have been injured.” Ibid., 133

Ministers find it difficult to confess their sins because they are supposed to be “men of the cloth.” People don’t think of them as sinners. Therefore, they don’t think of themselves as sinners either.

This statement is from a letter written to the General Conference Committee and the Medical Missionary Board on August 11, 1902. “Dear Brethren: A wonderful work could have been done for the vast company gathered in Battle Creek at the General Conference of 1901, if the leaders of our work had taken themselves in hand. Had thorough work been done at this conference; had there been, as God designed there should be, a breaking up of the fallow ground of the heart by the men who had been bearing responsibilities; had they, in humility of soul, led out in the work of confession and consecration, giving evidence that they received the counsels and warnings sent by the Lord to correct their mistakes, there would have been [one] of the greatest revivals that there has been since the day of Pentecost.

“But the work that all heaven was waiting to do as soon as men prepared the way was not done. For the leaders in the work closed and bolted the door against the Spirit’s entrance. There was a stopping short of entire surrender to God. Hearts that might have been purified from error were strengthened in wrongdoing. The doors were barred against the heavenly current that would have swept away all evil. Men left their sins unconfessed. They built themselves up in their wrongdoing and said to the Spirit of God, ‘Go thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season, I will call for thee.’

“The Lord calls for the close self-examination to be made now that was not made at the last General Conference when He was waiting to be gracious. The present is our sowing time for eternity. We must reap the fruit of the evil seed we sow, unless we repent the sowing, and ask for forgiveness for the mistakes we have made.” The Kress Collection, 95

“Those who, given opportunity to repent and reform, pass over the ground without humbling the hearts before God, without doing faithful work in putting away that which He reproves, will become hardened against the council of the Lord Jesus.” Battle Creek Letters (1928), 56

“If a brother does you a wrong, you are not to retaliate by doing him a wrong. If you have done him a wrong, you must go to him, and ask him to forgive you. You must not let an injury to your brother remain unrepented of, and unforgiven, for even one night.” The Review and Herald, August 14, 1888

It doesn’t matter who you are or what your position is, if you have made mistakes, if you have sinned, those sins must be confessed. As soon as it is brought to your knowledge that you have done something wrong, the heart must be humbled, and you must confess it, or you will be lost. Unconfessed sin is unforgiven sin.

When the devil sinned, he tried to justify himself. When Adam and Eve sinned, they tried to justify themselves. This is common among the unrepentant. Mistakes are made and rather than repent, the natural human tendency is to justify, with a prideful heart seeking to prove itself right. But genuine repentance does not seek to justify sin; instead, with a humbled heart, it confesses its mistakes. This is one of the primary ways you can know if you have truly repented or not.

“There are those who are supposed to be excellent men, but they have some flaw in their character which, under special temptation becomes as a dead fly in the ointment. The whole character will be perverted by one unconfessed sin.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 13, 190

All excuses for sin are in vain and they will be in vain in the Day of Judgment. To be saved, we must have a Christlike character, but if we have one unconfessed sin, our whole character will be perverted, unfit for heaven.

“What souls are there here who will have their sins unforgiven and their names blotted out of the book of life? We do not know what we are doing. If we have unclean hands we cannot enter heaven.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 158. There is only one way that we are able to enter heaven—if we make a full and complete confession of all our sins.

“All sin unrepented of and unconfessed, will remain upon the books of record. It will not be blotted out. It will not go beforehand to Judgment, to be canceled by the atoning blood of Jesus. The accumulated sins of every individual will be written with absolute accuracy and the penetrating light of God’s law will try every secret of darkness. …

“The day of final settlements is just before us.” The Review and Herald, March 27, 1888

Some might say that we should love people, have compassion for people, that we shouldn’t be too hard on people. If they confess, it could cause a lot of trouble in their home or work or school, so we shouldn’t push them to do something that would cause trouble and unhappiness in their lives.

We all will have to face the Day of Judgment. The truth is, unconfessed, unforsaken sins will not be forgiven, they will not be blotted out of heaven’s books of record, so we must confess our wrongdoings now, or we, along with all the wicked of the world, will confess them before the universe at the end of the millennium.

“… Errors and unconfessed sins stand registered in heaven and will not be blotted out until [we comply] with the instructions, the directions in the word of God: ‘Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.’ ” Testimonies, Vol. 4, 241

When I was 19 years old, I heard an elderly minister preach about when he became a Christian. Before he became a Christian, he had been a traveling salesman. He worked a specific region of the United States. On many occasions, he had lied in order to help sell his product.

He went through his records and began writing letters of confession to his customers. When he was finished, he had written 726 letters, but his conscience was clear.

Can you imagine it, going to bed tonight, closing your eyes, and falling asleep with a clear conscience? You cannot comprehend how hard it is to confess until you decide to do it. It takes backbone, but it is wonderful when it is done and you know that your conscience is clear.

“Whatever the character of your sin, confess it. If it is against God only, confess only to Him. If you have wronged or offended others, confess also to them, and the blessing of the Lord will rest upon you. In this way you die to self, and Christ is formed within. Thus you may establish yourself in the confidence of your brethren, and may be a help and blessing to them.” The Review and Herald, December 16, 1890

We have two choices: confession or cover up. For those who find it difficult to confess, the Holy Spirit will bring back to us, again and again, our sins and errors until we confess.

“If when the Lord reveals your errors you do not repent or make confession, His providence will bring you over the ground again and again. You will be left to make mistakes of a similar character, you will continue to lack wisdom, and will call sin righteousness, and righteousness sin. The multitude of deceptions that will prevail in these last days will encircle you, and you will change leaders, and not know that you have done so. …

“The Lord reads every secret of the heart. He knows all things. You may now close the book of your remembrance, in order to escape confessing your sins: but when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, you cannot close them. The recording angel has testified that which is true. All that you have tried to conceal and forget is registered, and will be read to you when it is too late for wrongs to be righted. Then you will be overwhelmed with despair. O, it is a terrible thing that so many are trifling with eternal interests, closing the heart against any course of action which shall involve confession!” Ibid.

The question must now be asked, “Are there any sins you still must confess?” If the answer is yes, then begin now, for your soul is in peril. Whatever the Lord brings to your remembrance, confess it and your record will be clean, and when Jesus comes, your garment of character will be spotless and you will be able to go home with Him.

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

The Biggest Lie

by

Smoking is not bad for you. Cigarettes are good for your health (cigarette manufacturers said cigarettes were no more addictive than Twinkies or tea even after studies proved the link between smoking and cancer).1

We only want to provide defensive weapons to Cuba (said the Soviet Union, but they really intended to plant nuclear missiles on the island).3

The Piltdown Man is the evolutionary missing link (Decades later it was proven to be an orangutan jaw grafted onto a human skull).2

Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (a lie that launched the Iraq War costing $2.4 trillion, and thousands of American and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives).1

There is no famine or actual starvation, nor is there likely to be (Known as the 1932 Holodomor, Stalin’s effort to wipe out private farms in Ukraine resulting in the starvation deaths of three to four million people).1

You can keep your insurance and your doctor (Misleading statement regarding the Affordable Care Act).6

The Fox Sisters and mysterious knockings (In 1848, three teenage sisters perpetrated a hoax which resulted in the creation of modern-day spiritualism.)7

I cannot tell a lie (a story made up by George Washington’s biographer).3

Nobody intends to build a wall (said Walter Ulbricht, former leader of East Germany, two months before they built the Berlin Wall).3

The Jews are the enemy of all classes of German society (propaganda that led to the deaths of more than 6,000,000 Jews).2

Anna Anderson was Anastasia Romanov (DNA testing has proven that Anastasia was killed with her family in 1918.)3

If you swallow a watermelon seed, a plant will grow inside you (There’s not enough oxygen in the gastrointestinal tract for it to germinate, and science says it’s impossible).4

If you swallow chewing gum, it will stay in your stomach for months, even years, and cause stomach problems (gum moves through the digestive system just like any other food).4

The Earth is flat (a belief put forth by the Catholic monk Cosmas and propagated by the Catholic Church. First Copernicus and then Galileo challenged the belief stating that the earth is round—it is actually an oblate spheroid, not exactly round. Galileo was branded a heretic and sent to the Inquisition, but was later cleared.)5

The theory of the “big lie” states that no matter how big the lie is—or more precisely, because it is so big—people will believe it if you repeat it enough. This is extremely prevalent today in the media, politics, education, religion, pretty much every facet of life.

Throughout the history of man there has been one lie after another that too often has resulted in division, suffering, oppression, and death.

But there is one lie—the biggest lie of all—that alone has brought so much devastation to individual lives, to nations, and to nature.

“Thou shall not surely die.”

Satan’s lie to Eve was one of misrepresentation. “You won’t die.” And because once she’d eaten from the fruit and didn’t drop dead on the spot, she chose to believe that Satan must be telling the truth and that God had lied. And that is the biggest tragedy of this lie—unbelief in God and, ultimately, disobedience—a tragedy that has affected the entire world and everything that is in it.

But when God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree or they would die, He meant something else entirely. Physical death would come as a consequence of sin and their disobedience, but the greater issue was how man would be changed. He would no longer be perfect, pure, and innocent, and his nature became selfish, corrupt, and desperately wicked. This new nature would be the driving force that would cause almost all of mankind, throughout all this world’s history, to not only die here, but to die for all eternity.

Satan intended that man would sin and then eat of the tree of life, thereby becoming immortal sinners. But God prevented this by casting Adam and Eve out of Eden and setting angels to guard the entrance to the garden and the way to the tree of life.

“I am bidden to warn all who make untruthful statements that they are serving him who has been a liar from the beginning. Let us be on our guard against untruthfulness, which grows upon him who practices it. I say to all, Make truth your girdle. Be true to your faith. Put away all prevarication and exaggeration. Never make a false statement. For the sake of your own soul and the souls of others, be true in your utterances. Never speak or act a lie. Truth alone will bear to be repeated. A firm adherence to truth is essential to the formation of Christian character. ‘Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.’

“He who utters untruths sells his soul in a cheap market. His falsehoods may seem to serve in emergencies. He may make business advancement because he gains by falsehood what he could not gain by fair dealing. But he finally reaches the place where he can trust no one. Himself a falsifier, he has no confidence in the word of others.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 20, 31

Man thinks of lies in degrees and argues that there can be acceptable justification to lie.

We may chuckle at the scenario when the wife asks her husband if her dress flatters her figure and his response is that she looks beautiful, when in fact, the dress does not compliment her at all. He might feel that if he tells her the truth, her feelings would be hurt, and it is admirable that a husband does not wish to hurt his wife. But how do you think she will feel if she goes out in the dress, and a friend tells her it’s not her best look? She will realize that her husband lied to her, causing her to question if there is real trust in their relationship, and then she is hurt just the same and perhaps even more.

Someone might argue that in this world where sin causes so many bad things to happen, that maybe it’s okay in some situations to lie—to save a life, or to steal to help their own or another’s circumstances, to spare a hurt, to provide hope to a dying patient, to obtain a better position, to get a better job, to hide a past indiscretion, to rule the world.

The thing about lying—or violating any of God’s law—is that it becomes easier, once we’ve done it, to find a justifiable reason to do it again and again and … you see where it leads; because that’s our nature. True love, for both God and our fellow man, will, with tenderness and compassion, always tell the truth, because to do otherwise carries eternal consequences for others as well as for ourselves. God does not intend for us to break His law to do something that seems right.

“Never speak a lie.” Medical Ministry, 38

“Let us never, by a word or act, or by silence, testify to a lie. If all, under every circumstance, would speak the truth when the truth ought to be spoken, what a different world this would be.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 20, 30

“He [Jesus] teaches that the exact truth should be the law of speech.” Sons and Daughters of God, 64

“Never was there a time when truth and righteousness should be so highly exalted by those who are in God’s service as the present.” The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters, 256

“When a falsehood is uttered, the heavenly angels turn away in sorrow, grieved that Christ’s heritage should so dishonor Him. One falsehood spoken prepares the way for another. The Lord desires all to adhere strictly to the truth, to be straightforward in every transaction. Never tell a lie, because thus you hurt your own soul, and disgrace yourself in your own eyes.” The Review and Herald, January 12, 1911

“Truthfulness and integrity are attributes of God, and he who possesses these qualities possesses a power that is invincible.

“Never prevaricate; never tell an untruth in precept or in example. … Be straight and undeviating. Even a slight prevarication should not be allowed.

“The Saviour has a deep contempt for all deception. …

“Lying lips are an abomination to Him. He declares that into the holy city ‘there shall in no wise enter … anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.’ ” My Life Today, 331

I do not find, in either Scripture or the Spirit of Prophecy, that we are given the instruction “Do not lie, except … .” We are safe only as we hold fast to the belief that it is better to keep, in all respects, the law of God, no matter the circumstances.

“God requires us to be faithful in the smallest details of life—to guard our words, our spirit, and our actions. To do this, we need to acquire perfect self-control, and this will demand of us constant, ceaseless watchfulness. …

“… Study the Guide Book, and with a serious mind seek to know its requirements, and to do them—should they make practical its injunctions—what a transformation would there be in the conduct and conversation! . . . Every relation in life, every position of responsibility, every affection and habit, every emotion of the mind, is to be brought to the great standard of righteousness, the commandments of God, which are exceeding broad. We must have simplicity of heart that we may understand, and willingness of mind to practice, all the teachings of God’s word.” Sons and Daughters of God, 285

Sources:

1 saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/05/8-historys-destructive-lies

2 history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/10-biggest-lies-in-history

3 factinate.com/things/45-true-facts-biggest-lies-history

4 theimpactnews.com/tilt/2021/03/10-biggest-lies-in-history

5 solarmythology.com/galileo/flatearth

6 politifact.com/obama-like-health-care-keep

7 history.com/news/ghost-hoax-spiritualism-fox-sisters

Judy Rebarchek is the managing editor of the LandMarks magazine. She may be contacted by email at: judyrebarchek@stepstolife.org

Our Violent World

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The subject of the growing and increasing violence all over the world today is dealt with extensively in Bible prophecy. For example, Paul writes: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” 2 Timothy 3:1–5. Paul continues that evil men and seducers will become worse and worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves.

In reading about the condition of the world in the days of Noah as described in Genesis 6:11, we find that “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”

Jesus described the last days of this world to His disciples, saying, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:37–39. Violence was prevalent all over the world in the days of Noah.

The world also was a violent place during the time of the city of Sodom. The Bible records the following account of sexual assault in the days of Sodom:

“Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, ‘Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.’ And they said, ‘No, but we will spend the night in the open square.’ But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

“Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.’ So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, and said, ‘Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.’ And they said, ‘Stand back!’ Then they said, ‘This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.’ So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.” Genesis 19:1–11.

The next day, God sent fire from heaven and Sodom and Gomorrah were burned to the ground.

Jesus talked about Sodom, too. “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:28–30

The day and age we live in is as violent and sinful as it was before the flood and again at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Statistics show that in 2021, 2.55 million acts of violence were committed in the United States. Let’s look at some of the causes of violence today in America.

Substance abuse—the use of mind-altering drugs—is one of the main causes. There are several reasons why drug use is associated with violent behavior.

First of all, drugs, such as alcohol, have the effect of anesthetizing the higher control centers in the brain, damaging a person’s ability to make calm, rational judgments. Roughly 50 percent of the victims and perpetrators of assault violence are under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol is also strongly associated with domestic violence.

A second reason that the use of mind-altering drugs is associated with violence is because addicts commit crimes to obtain money to buy the drugs.

Third, confrontations occur among those who are involved in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of these drugs, because millions or even billions of dollars are involved.

The Bible strictly prohibits the use of mind-altering drugs for pleasure. There are many texts in both the Old and New Testaments that address the use of alcohol and drugs, but let’s look at just two.

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” Proverbs 20:1

“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18

The Greek word asotia, which is the word translated as “excess” or “dissipation,” depending on which version of the Bible a person is reading, means “unsavedness, wastefulness, wantonness, profligacy, or prodigality.”

The King James Version translates asotia as “excess,” but this Greek word has never meant “excess.” The New King James Version translates asotia as “dissipation” and is a much more accurate translation of the word. Paul is saying that if a person drinks wine and other alcoholic beverages, then he can do so to the point of wantonness and becoming utterly corrupted, beyond all hope, beyond saving. Harsh, but true words.

The Greek Lexicon translates the word nepho as “to be sober.” But it also can be translated “not intoxicated” or “to abstain from wine.” People seem to get stuck on the word drunk and in so doing, they excuse themselves from the consequences found in the Bible.

Someone will say, “I don’t intend to get falling-down drunk. I’m not going to commit a mortal sin. I’m just going to get a little buzzed.” The tragic last words, I’m sure, of every man and woman who is now addicted to alcohol and whose lives and those of their families have been ruined. It may be true that one man can drink a couple of drinks and go home. But too many in this world drink until they are unable to function normally.

Alcohol is absorbed very rapidly into the blood stream, so from the very first swallow, you are a little bit drunk, and with each subsequent swallow, you become increasingly drunk. A drinker may only have had two or three sips, but even this limited amount of alcohol consumption will have a damaging effect on the judgment center of the brain, and affect his ability to make sound judgments. Those who choose to drink liberally until they are in a completely drunken state will be unable to think clearly, see clearly, or to control their bodies.

The Bible says that the drunkard will not inherit the kingdom. Drunkard can be translated as “drinker.” It is not necessary for a person to drink to excess to be prohibited from entering the kingdom. Choosing to be a drinker when God has given the admonition not to drink alcoholic beverages, has made drinking no less of an idol to the “casual” drinker than it would be to the drunkard.

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19–21

As with any sin, the first step—that first drink—starts a person down a path that makes it easier to continue to drink. We really have no idea, from one person to the next, how much a person can drink before they are drunk and no longer in control of their faculties and bodies.

If you want to go to heaven, then drinking alcoholic beverages, according to these verses, is a sin that needs to be repented of and forsaken. In heaven, there are no drinking establishments nor liquor stores, and there will be no drunkards. If you are really serious about having eternal life, you will give up those things which the Bible expressly prohibits and ask the Lord to show you the truth and how to live it.

If all the peoples of the world would live as Christ lived, there would be a natural decrease in violence in society.

Another cause of the increase in the violence that we see today is the result of the callous disregard for human life to a degree that we have never before seen. Seemingly normal, sane people are participating in extreme acts of violence. Why?

There is a Bible principle that can clearly explain this tremendous increase in crime, and it is this: It is a law of the human mind that by beholding, by looking at something or allowing something to have a continual influence over our minds, we become changed into the image, into the character likeness, of that which we behold (see Patriarchs and Prophets, 91).

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

But what happens if what we are looking at—consuming, listening to, reading, following—is not the glory of the Lord?

All around us, the world is filled with sinful enticements. The most attractive, alluring forms can be found in the entertainment industry—television, radio, movies, music, social media, internet, to name a few. We see God’s law broken in sinful acts of violence performed in movies and television programs—shootings, stabbings, physical assaults, sexual abuse, kidnapping. Actors and actresses “pretending” to be people and things they are not, using the Lord’s name in vain, smoking, drinking, immodestly dressed, and promoting adultery, fornication, and promiscuity. We cannot hear the voice of the Holy Spirit while listening to music with its rhythm that so disturbs the natural cadence of the body, throwing the central nervous system into chaos as the artist also spews violent words describing murder, bigotry, abuse, drug and alcohol use, promiscuity, and other sinful acts.

Fewer than 15 percent of American homes had a television in 1950. By 1990, 93 percent of American homes had a television set. Within that period, the annual number of murders in America increased from 7,942 to 21,860. The murder rate more than doubled.

Consider what happens to infants and small children who are unable to judge whom they should look to as a role model. Research today shows that watching television, especially violent scenes, is most dangerous to the very young. Infants at 14 months of age will imitate behaviors they see on television.

American children today, ages two to five years, are watching over 27 hours of television per week. Remember, they cannot distinguish between fact and fantasy, even when they are being coached. Television exposure has been demonstrated to significantly increase children’s aggressiveness by 160 percent in two years, according to one study.

A 1982 report found that, as a result of watching television on a regular basis, children “may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.” It also found that it made the children more fearful of the world around them.

A review performed in 2010 found that youth, ages 12–17, who play video games, exhibited “increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, and decreased empathy and prosocial behavior.”

What, then, does television do to teenagers? Here are the results:

  1. decreased interest in reading;
  2. decreased interest in learning;
  3. development of poor health habits;
  4. development of poor or immoral attitudes;
  5. increased sexual activity, with the first sexual encounter occurring at a younger age.

A study done in 2002 regarding the causal link between TV and aggressive behavior found: “Even after making statistical allowances for factors such as psychiatric disorders, economic status, and prior violent acts, … they found that those who watched one to three hours of TV per day were about 60% more likely to get in a serious fight, threaten someone, or use a weapon to commit a crime than those who watched less than an hour a day. More than three hours of TV more than doubled the risk.”

Tragically, extensively watching violence on television, children become numb to the horror of violence. They begin to accept violence as a way to solve problems. They will imitate the violence they see on television and will identify with the television characters. Television has a powerful influence in developing children’s value systems and shaping their behavior.

It has been estimated that the evil effects of television viewing are responsible for half of the current number of homicides, rapes, and assaults in the United States. If we did not have television in our society, we could expect that we would be having at least 10,000 fewer homicides, 70,000 fewer rapes, and 700,000 fewer injurious assaults every year.

A study was conducted from 1977–1979, with 557 participating six to ten-year-old children from five countries. Its purpose was to examine the “longitudinal relationship between early exposure to TV violence and adult aggressive behavior for both males and females.” A follow-up study was conducted in the late 1990s involving 329 of the original participants who were, at that time, between the ages of 20–25. So, what did this study find? When exposed to TV violence in early childhood, aggressive behavior was predicted in both males and females and the test subjects identified with the aggressive TV characters. Research indicates that although exposure to media violence may have short-term effects on adults, its negative impact on children is long-lasting.

The internet and social media are just as addictive as television. Violence and pornography are available 24/7 on the worldwide web. People troll these medias in search of victims on a day-to-day basis, to rape, rob, or kidnap. Child pornography is readily available on the internet.

Games involving war, murder, robbery, as well as games that simply take up your time—time that could be spent in Bible study, witnessing, and prayer—are prevalent.

Sources: washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/04/17/is-tv-to-blame-for-violence; apa.org/topics/video-games/violence-harmful-effects; drugabusestatistics.org/drug-related-crime-statistics; aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for Families/FFF-Guide/Children and TV Violence; science.org/content/article/does-tv-make-us-violent; apa.org/pi/prevent-violence/resources/tv-violence

Friend, it is a law of the human mind that by beholding we will be changed. We cannot escape it. Our Creator made us that way. What we behold, what we look at, goes into our minds and is stored in our memory banks. The sum total of what we have been watching becomes part of our characters.

The Bible has a great deal to say about what we should and should not listen to and watch.

“The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: ‘Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’ He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil: He will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, his water will be sure.” Isaiah 33:14–16

Isaiah is speaking about the last days, the days in which we are living right now. He describes a people who will escape the terrible trouble that is coming upon this world and be saved. Unlike most of the people who will profess to be Christians yet will be breaking God’s law because they still find pleasure in sin, these people will be living a righteous life in harmony with God’s law. (See 1 John 3 and 1 John 5.)

If I am to be delivered in the last days, I must be living a righteous life. This includes removing anything that I might see or hear that would influence me away from this righteous life, anything that would cause me to speak words or do things that would make my profession a lie. God holds me, and you, responsible for what we see, where we go, and what we listen to. We must be as soldiers guarding the avenues to the soul—our eyes, ears, and mouth. We must choose to do what is right at all times. We cannot blame someone else because they have the television or radio on. If we are not vigilant about what we allow ourselves to come into contact with, then we will have to answer to the Lord in the day of judgment for what we have done.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:28

“Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:133

“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” Psalm 101:3, first part

If you are addicted to alcohol, you cannot go to the places where it is sold or even hang out with the people you used to drink with, if you want to remain free from it. In the same way, if you are addicted to television, the internet, or social media, the only way you are going to get free from them is to get that television out of your house, remove access to the internet and social media platforms from your phone and computers.

If you are looking at sin, if you are listening to sin, you will not be found guiltless in the day of judgment.

Philippians 4:8 tells us where our focus should be, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble [uplifting or honorable], whatever things are just [not sinful], whatever things are pure [pure in dress and language], whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

Friend, no one will see Jesus if they lack holiness of character. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14

Many people today spend too much time filling their minds and hearts with the attractions and enticements of this world and so little time in God’s word. And John tells us what will happen to these people when they continue to reject the pleading of the Holy Spirit.

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” John 12:40

He, meaning God, is looking for a people who study His word, obey His commandments, come to Him often in prayer, and who seek a transformation of character that will bring them face to face with Jesus and the Father on a soon-to-dawn morning. But for those who prefer the things of this world, continually rejecting His offer of salvation, He will harden their hearts, and the Spirit will leave them alone with their idols.

What decisions are you making? Each decision that you make right now will determine your eternal destiny. Are you seeking a righteous and holy life, obeying His commandments, keeping your mind pure and holy, filled with His word, and your body free from defilement? Make the right decision today.

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

Joy and Happiness, or Purgatory

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Are you happy? Do you have joy in your heart? A true Christian should be one of the happiest people in the world. “The happiest people in the world are those who trust in Jesus and gladly do His bidding.” Our Father Cares, 146

But if we, as Christians, are not happy, we should be asking, “What’s the matter with our religion?” We may have left many worldly things behind, but still have failed to acquire that which is spiritually necessary to take their place. We are not happy because we lack true Christianity.

Do you know why you were created? Too many people do not know the answer to that question, but Inspiration tells us that the human race was created for a special purpose.

“How great the love of God is! God made the world to enlarge heaven. He desired a larger family.” The Review and Herald, June 25, 1908

“Man was created to glorify his Maker.” The Signs of the Times, April 17, 1901

“He [God] desired that the earth should be filled with joy and peace. He created man for happiness, and He longs to fill human hearts with the peace of heaven.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 290

Man was created to glorify God and to experience happiness and the peace of heaven.

Even the framers of the Declaration of Independence were not ignorant when they determined that everyone has the right to engage in the pursuit of happiness. How then can happiness be successfully pursued? The religion of Christ produces the greatest joy that human beings can experience.

“Wherever the religion of Christ works, it will brighten and sweeten every detail of life with more than an earthly joy and a higher than earthly peace.” Sons and Daughters of God, 176

“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11. “When Adam and Eve were placed in the beautiful garden, they had everything for their happiness which they could desire.” The Story of Redemption, 24

Adam and Eve, while living in the garden of Eden, knew that God was the source of their joy and happiness. Fallen men are deceived on this point. They believe that Adam’s joy was in Eve and Eve’s joy was in Adam, that they were happy to be with each other; but they knew that all joy and happiness was found in God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

So, if we do not have happiness, the fault must be with our religion. So where do we go to find the greatest happiness?

“We must fall upon the Rock and be broken … . Self must be dethroned, pride must be humbled, if we would know the glory of the spiritual kingdom. …

“In the light of the Saviour’s life, the hearts of all … are revealed. … The gift of Christ reveals the Father’s heart. It testifies that the thoughts of God toward us are ‘thoughts of peace, and not of evil.’ Jeremiah 29:11. It declares that while God’s hatred of sin is as strong as death, His love for the sinner is stronger than death. Having undertaken our redemption, He will spare nothing, however dear, which is necessary to the completion of His work. No truth essential to our salvation is withheld, no miracle of mercy is neglected, no divine agency is left unemployed. Favor is heaped upon favor, gift upon gift. The whole treasury of heaven is open to those He seeks to save. Having collected the riches of the universe, and laid open the resources of infinite power, He gives them all into the hands of Christ, and says, All these are for man. Use these gifts to convince him that there is no love greater than Mine in earth or heaven. His greatest happiness will be found in loving Me.” The Desire of Ages, 57

Our greatest happiness will be the result of a love relationship with Jesus, our Creator and the true source of joy and happiness. It was through their relationship with the Father and Son and obedience to His law that Adam and Eve were to know happiness. Likewise, if we are connected to Him, we will have true joy and happiness.

“The law of God is the standard of character; it is the expression of the character of God Himself. It was given to Adam and Eve in Eden. God planted for them this beautiful garden, and supplied their every want. Was it too much to ask them to respond to all His love and care by obedience to His righteous law, which, if kept, would have secured to them happiness, peace, and joy forever?” The Bible Echo, July 29, 1895

However, if we do not have a love relationship with Jesus, then we will not know happiness.

“The sacrifice demanded by their transgression revealed to Adam and Eve the sacred character of the law of God; and they saw, as they had never seen before, the guilt of sin and its dire results. In their remorse and anguish, they pleaded that the penalty might not fall upon Him whose love had been the source of all their joy; rather let it descend upon them and their posterity.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 66

The world is filled with emptiness. Evil multiplies and in a vain attempt for relief from the emptiness and wickedness of this world and our own hearts, people search desperately for happiness. But the devil keeps them totally occupied with the things of this world. Some seek relief in a bottle, drug or other degenerative amusement.

The people of this world have a God-sized hole in their hearts and are trying to find happiness by filling it with the excitement that worldly things offer. But being excited is not the same thing as being happy.

To be truly happy, you need to know the Source of happiness and something about heaven. Mrs. White writes, “It was heaven to be in His [Jesus’] presence.” The Ministry of Healing, 18. Heaven is wherever Jesus is. Jesus perfectly fills that God-sized hole everyone keeps trying to fill, and when we allow Him into our hearts, then we have heaven here on earth, genuine happiness in our hearts. We think of heaven as a place somewhere up there, in outer space, and that is true. But what makes it heaven is that Jesus is there.

Until the disciples met Jesus they thought the same thing about heaven, just a place somewhere up in the sky. But after Jesus ascended to heaven, “What a source of joy to the disciples to know that they had such a Friend in heaven to plead in their behalf! Through the visible ascension of Christ all their views and contemplation of heaven are changed. Their minds had formerly dwelt upon it as a region of unlimited space, tenanted by spirits without substance. Now heaven was connected with the thought of Jesus, whom they had loved and reverenced above all others, with whom they had conversed and journeyed, whom they had handled, even in His resurrected body, who had spoken hope and comfort to their hearts, and who, while the words were upon His lips, had been taken up before their eyes, the tones of His voice coming back to them as the cloudy chariot of angels received Him: ‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’

“Heaven could no longer appear to them as an indefinite, incomprehensible space, filled with intangible spirits. They now looked upon it as their future home, where mansions were being prepared for them by their loving Redeemer. Prayer was clothed with a new interest, since it was a communion with their Saviour. With new and thrilling emotions and a firm confidence that their prayer would be answered, they gathered in the upper chamber to offer their petitions and to claim the promise of the Saviour, who had said, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive.’ ” Heaven, 67, 68

Heaven was real because Jesus is real, and Jesus is there.

Now the disciples had a gospel to proclaim—the good news of Jesus Christ. They talked about Jesus all the time, so much so that the people began to call them Christians. They preached about Christ in human form. They called Him a Man of sorrows and told about His humiliation and how He had been taken by wicked hands and crucified. They told how He had been raised from the dead, and how they had seen Him ascend into heaven. They said that He is in the presence of God as man’s advocate, and that He is coming again with power and great glory to take His people out of this world and to the place He is preparing for them. The gospel that they preached turned the world upside down, and it has never been the same since that time.

The disciples now understood what Adam and Eve had known at the beginning. Jesus is the real source of joy and happiness.

The Bible describes Jesus as “Chief among ten thousand” Song of Solomon 5:10, last part, and as “altogether lovely,” Verse 16. He is the Source of all true pleasure and satisfaction, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Author of every blessing, He is the Remedy for sin, and He is the One in whom our hope of eternal life is centered.

The reason why so many people are unhappy today is because they do not have a connection with the source of true happiness. Not only do people have a fuzzy idea today about Jesus, their Lord and Saviour, they also have an indistinct and deluded idea about God the Father.

“Many conceive of the Christian’s God as a being whose attribute is stern justice—one who is a severe judge, a harsh, exacting creditor. The Creator has been pictured as a being who is watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, that He may visit judgment upon them. In the minds of thousands, love and sympathy and tenderness are associated with the character of Christ, while God is regarded as the law-giver, inflexible, arbitrary, devoid of sympathy for the beings He has made.

“Never was there a greater error. Nature and revelation alike testify of God’s love. It is from Him that we receive every good gift. He is the source of life, of wisdom, and of joy. …

“God made man perfect and holy and happy; and the fair earth, as it came from the Creator’s hand, bore no blight of decay nor shadow of the curse. It is transgression of God’s law that has brought woe and death. … God cursed the ground for man’s sake. … The trials that make his life one of toil and care, were appointed for his good, as a part of the training needful in God’s plan for his uplifting from the ruin and degradation.” Bible Training School, November 1, 1908

Satan has worked tirelessly to create in man a fuzzy idea of who Jesus is and delude them about the character of God. He has put his own attributes upon God so that people are unable to distinguish between God’s character and Satan’s character. They see God as being uncaring, judgmental, and strict, believing instead, though without realizing it, that the devil is their benefactor because he tells them they can do whatever they please.

It is possible for every human being to have greater joy in their life than anything that the devil can give, and it is astonishing that there are so few Christians who have a clear understanding of this. “Whoever succors the poor, or sympathizes with the afflicted and oppressed, or befriends the orphan, is brought into closer relationship with the pitying Saviour. He who is the source of all blessing, has granted to men the privilege of becoming partakers of the divine nature, and in their turn, of diffusing blessings to their fellowmen. This is the highest honor, the greatest joy, which it is possible for God to bestow upon men. Those who thus become participants in labors of love are brought nearest to their Redeemer.” The Home Missionary, July 1, 1891

When your life becomes involved and centered in helping and blessing others, you will experience the greatest joy. If you are not involved in blessing your fellow man, then you will not experience God’s greatest joy. “He who refuses to become a laborer together with God, the man who for the sake of selfish indulgence ignores the wants of his fellowmen, is withholding from himself the richest blessings that God could give him.” Ibid.

Before sin entered the world, there was no unhappiness in the garden of Eden. Literally translated, the word Eden means “garden of delight, garden of bliss.”  There was constant joy, constant happiness. However, as a consequence of sin, many people are dissatisfied. All dissatisfaction and unhappiness is a result of sin, which has created so many troubles and problems to deal with today.

But in spite of sin, God wanted to show His people that if they would follow Him, they would have satisfaction and peace.

“In the arrangements for the education of the chosen people it is made manifest that a life centered in God is a life of completeness. Every want He has implanted, He provides to satisfy; every faculty imparted, He seeks to develop.” Education, 41

Because of sin, it may appear that some never find satisfaction or happiness, or that they struggle with some terrible sin or disease or loss. The Bible tells us that even if we choose to follow Jesus Christ, as a consequence of sin, we may lose or have to sacrifice things. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” Matthew 19:29. No matter what we are willing to sacrifice in this world to follow Jesus, He promises that we will be rewarded a hundredfold and gain eternal life.

“Whatever crosses they [God’s people] have been called to bear, whatever losses they have sustained, whatever persecution they have suffered, even to the loss of their temporal life, the children of God are amply recompensed.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 180

The reason that so many people are sad and discouraged is because they do not know Jesus nor the Father. “The life in which the fear of the Lord is cherished will not be a life of sadness and gloom. It is the absence of Christ that makes the countenance sad, and the life a pilgrimage of sighs.” Ibid., 162

“When the light of heaven shines upon the human agent, his countenance will express the joy of the Lord within. It is the absence of Christ from the soul that makes people sad and of a doubtful mind.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, 1144

Jesus told His disciples that He would be going away, and that they would be really sorrowful, but that He would return and their hearts would rejoice and they would experience joy that no one would be able to take from them.

There are many troubles and trials that we will go through in this world, but we can find joy in thinking about the future happiness that God has planned for us. A time is coming when all sorrow and sighing will cease. All disappointment and grief will be gone. In their place, we will experience joy, gladness and happiness beyond anything we can imagine now.

“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 35:10. Where is this place where we will no longer have to live in the dark, sinful world? Heaven—the place where Jesus is.

Our education for heaven occurs primarily in the home school. Unfortunately, too many homes are filled with sadness and little happiness.

“There must be no angry words spoken in the home, no seeds of coarse [rude], common talk sown in your children’s hearts, or they will have no confidence in you when you speak in meeting. God help us to have the peace of Christ in our hearts, that we may teach our children the way of life and peace! We may have a little heaven to go to heaven in, if Christ breathes upon us His Holy Spirit.” The Review and Herald, April 21, 1891

If my home is less like heaven and more like purgatory, a place of suffering and misery, will everyone in my home go to heaven? No. But if Christ breathes the Holy Spirit upon me and my family members, our home will become like heaven.

“Parents, make your home a little heaven on earth. You can do this, if you so choose. You can make home so pleasant and cheerful that it will be the most attractive place on earth to your children. Let them receive all the blessings of the household. You can so relate yourselves to God that His Spirit will abide in your home. Come close to the bleeding side of the Man of Calvary. Those who are partakers with Him in His sufferings will at last be partakers with Him in His glory.” Manuscript 77, 1902

“We must let Christ into our hearts and homes if we would walk in the light. Home should be made all that the name implies. It should be a little heaven upon the earth, a place where the affections are cultivated instead of being studiously repressed.” The Review and Herald, June 22, 1886

In heaven, the angels are companions to one another, their love for each other is often expressed, freely and openly. Today, there are many so-called Christians who claim to be ready for heaven, but in their homes love and affection are not freely, openly expressed.

Someone may say, Well, I just don’t love my spouse anymore. If that is your problem, then you don’t know Jesus. If you receive the Holy Spirit, the Lord will put love in your heart for the people in your family. But if you do not have love for the people in your family, then you must go to the Lord and ask to be converted, to receive the Holy Spirit, and to be changed, with a new heart. Without love for our family, which shows that we do not love God, we will not go to heaven. There are Adventists all over the country who have sad, unhappy homes, who are playing religion, pretending to be Christians, but who are not ready for Jesus to come.

If we receive the Holy Spirit, our homes will be filled with affection and sympathy, with love freely and openly expressed, making them a little heaven to go to while here on this earth. Is this how it is in your home?

“Our happiness depends upon this cultivation of love, sympathy, and polite courtesy to one another. The reason why there are so many hard-hearted men and women in our world, is because true affection has been regarded as weakness, and has been discouraged and repressed. The better part of the nature of those of this class was perverted and dwarfed in childhood; and unless rays of divine light can melt away their coldness and hard-hearted selfishness, the happiness of such is buried forever.” Ibid.

“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 sinful mortals, we must cultivate the sympathies of childhood, which are simplicity itself. Then we shall be refined, elevated, and directed by heavenly principles.” Ibid.

If our homes are not happy, that is absolute proof that not everyone in our home is ready to go to heaven. If you look at your home and it appears to be more like purgatory than heaven, then go to God and ask Him to send the Holy Spirit to convert you and your family. “Unless rays of divine light can melt away their coldness and hard-hearted selfishness, the happiness of such is buried forever.” Ibid.

Do you know Jesus? Are you trying to copy His character in your home with your loved ones so that your home will become a happy place? Go to God. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12, last part

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

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