Daily Living

Peter’s Counsel to Parents, Part I : Western Normal Institute Address

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I am glad to see so many before me this morning. I desire that every one of you shall be so related to God that everything you do here shall be done as viewing Him who is invisible. You can keep your minds fixed upon God. Every one of you must individually form a character after the divine similitude.

A Choice

I do not know how many of you have made a profession of Christianity, but I trust that while you are here as students you will all give careful thought to this subject. You can choose whether you will have a hope that is confirmed in Jesus Christ, whether you will during your attendance at this school seek to prepare yourselves for the kingdom of God. In order to make it possible for you to have this advantage, Jesus Christ has given His precious life. If you do not avail yourselves of the privileges thus purchased for you, if through Christ you do not become partakers of the divine nature, you will in the day of final reckoning be found without excuse.

Schools Separate from the World

Why do we have schools separate from the schools of the world? It is that our youth may receive an education in right lines, that they may understand what is involved in the great sacrifice that has been made in behalf of fallen humanity. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And the believer in Christ becomes a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. As it has been presented to me, it is the purpose of our educational institutions to teach students how they may be partakers of the divine nature. This instruction is not to be passed by as of secondary importance. The value of the education received depends upon how the student relates himself to this subject.

In our behalf Christ has made a tremendous sacrifice. He laid aside His royal crown, He laid aside His royal robe, and came to this world, born of humble parentage. Many were not attracted by the humility of His life, and He was despised and rejected of men. He suffered persecution, until at length He was crucified and died a shameful death. What does this mean to us? He came as the Saviour of every sinner that will accept of the divine sacrifice. He united in Himself divinity and humanity, that He might be the connecting link between fallen man and the Father. But will men accept of the conditions? Who of you will become partakers of the divine nature? There should be no delay in accepting Christ.

Importance of Influence

You will be subject to temptations here. There are brought together here many of various ideas and temperaments. You have come from homes where you have received different molds of thought and education. Unless you are partakers of the divine nature, there is danger that you will lead one another to forgetfulness of God. It were better for you to have your right hand cut off than that you should lead one soul in a wrong direction. In your education, seek for those principles that will help you to form the best possible characters in this life, thus fitting yourselves for the future, eternal life.

Now I will read a portion of the first chapter of second Peter. Notice who are addressed: it is those who have obtained something: “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Character and Future Destiny

“The righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” this is our dependence. Through the merits of Jesus, you can be made clean and white in character, if you consecrate yourselves to Him, with a determined purpose that right here in this school you will live a Christian life. You are now forming characters that will determine your future destiny, for life or for death. If there are those here that have never taken hold of Christ by living faith, I entreat of you to do this at the earliest possible moment; for you will suffer great loss if you neglect this.

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you.” How, through your ignorance; through your acting like the world?—“Through the knowledge.” Now here is a knowledge that is worth more than silver or gold or precious stones. It is the “knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.”

Preparing the Children

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” Then if you are lost, you will be left without excuse. The time is coming when your parents, if they have purified their lives by obeying the truth, will come up to the gates of the city of God, and the gates will open before them. Are their children preparing to enter with them? If the parents have worked out their own salvation with fear and trembling, if they have in the fear of God tried to help their children, their work will be accepted. But perhaps their children have refused to be helped, and have chosen to follow their own inclinations. Will you not, as young people, act in harmony with the knowledge that you have received, and join the army of believers to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling?

Universal Call

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” Every one of you is called. Will you obey the call?

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” If you try to fulfill the Word, if you seek to do the will of God, you will have divine help.

Cultivation of Christian Principles

“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue”—a virtuous character—“and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance”—temperance in eating and in drinking—“and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity”—love.

“For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

“For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (11 Peter 1:1–11).

Eternal Life-insurance Policy

Here is a promise that is for every one of you. If you live on the plan of addition, adding grace to grace, you are growing up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and you may find in this promise an eternal life-insurance policy. This is a promise that will stand the test. It is worth far more than any life-insurance policy that can be purchased with money. It is a policy that has been provided by God Himself in giving His only beloved Son that through belief in Him, through accepting of His great sacrifice, you may obtain everlasting life. Having gained the victory, you may enter in through the gates of the city of God, and receive an immortal crown.

“Wherefore,” says the apostle, “I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” Our profession of Christianity will not save us. We must be Christlike.

Plan of Addition

I desire that everyone in this school should form a character after the divine similitude, that you shall live upon the plan of addition, adding grace to grace. As you do this, you will be helping someone else. You will be giving an example that will be a help to those that are around you. You cannot afford to lose your interest in the great life-insurance policy.

There are here in this school young people of various character. There are some here of a light and trifling disposition, some who give very little heed to where they are standing spiritually. But we desire you to become decidedly in earnest in regard to your soul’s salvation; for it means everything to you. And it means much to the school, how you shall conduct yourselves. If you will determine to lay aside all folly, all vanity, and all frivolity, you will thus be helping to elevate this school to the position that God would have it occupy. You cannot afford to follow the inclinations of your own unconverted minds, and not try to obtain the victory that has been made possible for you through the sacrifice of Christ. We trust that you may see the King in His beauty.

Challenge to Live Consistent Lives

You will doubtless have difficulties to meet, but these difficulties are allowed to come to you, that by overcoming them you may be strengthened to take up the work of God. There is missionary work to be done by everyone connected with this school. Through the grace of God, we are to reveal that we are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony. Will you not, by living consistent lives, show that you are living on the plan of addition?

I feel an intense desire that you shall put away all frivolity. Study your Bibles. Read over and over the wonderful lessons that Christ has given to animate you, to strengthen you, and to aid you in spiritual growth. Why, it is a wonderful thing to escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust; yet that is possible if you will comply with the conditions. It rests with you whether or not you will do it. You may have to face grave difficulties, but it is your privilege to be so grounded in the truth that not even the severest persecution can turn you aside from it.

Daily Faith Needed

What we need is a daily, living experience in the benefits to be derived by obedience to God. We are to encourage faith, to live by faith. This is our privilege, and if we do, then it is not in vain that Christ laid aside His kingly honors and came to this world to suffer and die. He will look upon the purchase of His blood, and will be satisfied. In that day the redeemed will cast their glittering crowns at the feet of their Saviour, and all heaven will ring with songs of praise. May we all be partakers of the divine nature, and be overcomers. I have tried to speak these words for your benefit, and now I will leave you to study this chapter for yourselves. May the blessing of the Lord rest upon you in the work you have to do is my desire and prayer.

(Manuscript 103, 1909. An address before the students and faculty of the Western Normal Institute, Lodi, California, November 7, 1909.)

The Talent of Time

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“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14.

The New Testament book of Philippians was written by Paul in 60-62 A.D. from a Roman prison. While on his second missionary journey, Paul established the Philippian church whose predominate members were Gentiles. He had a special love for these believers, a love which they reciprocated. Despite being in jail and unsure of his earthly future, Paul uses the time to write a letter to the Philippians—a book of joy through Christ.

Our Time Belongs to God

In the beginning God created man in His own image and placed them in a beautiful garden home. They were given authority over all other living creatures on earth. The first couple was happy in Eden until they disobeyed their Creator. This act allowed Satan to claim rulership of the earth. However, a plan had been devised to conquer the fallen angel. Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, came to pay the penalty of our sins, buying back, with his blood, the ownership of this world.

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I Corinthians 6:19, 20.

“Let us devote our time and our means to the service of God, that we may have His approbation and receive His reward.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 83.

Paul’s Perspective on the Past

Paul came from a very privileged family and was educated by the most influential of Jewish schools. However, his upbringing afforded him little. His life was centered on the persecution of Christians, and in doing so, he had been persecuting Christ. Paul could have looked at the past with regret, but, he looked at his past experiences with a desire to learn from them. “Whatever the mistakes or failures of the past, we may, with the help of God, rise above them. With the apostle we may say: ‘This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.’ Philippians 3:13.” The Ministry of Healing, 516.

Paul’s Perspective on the Present

Paul made a conscious decision to make the most of the present. He decided to reach “forth unto those things which are before.” He did not look back at his life with either pride or remorse; he chose to make the most of the time he had remaining to work for the Lord. He developed singleness of purpose to do what he could to better his character and share the gospel of Christ with what time and strength he had left. “Singleness of purpose, wholehearted devotion to God is the condition pointed out by the Savior’s words. Let the purpose be sincere and unwavering to discern the truth and to obey it at whatever the cost, and you will receive divine enlightenment. Real piety begins when all compromise with sin is at an end.” Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 91.

We, like Paul, must make the most of the time God has given us to develop characters that will glorify Christ. In doing this, our lives can be a wonderful witness of the power of a living Christ.

Paul’s Perspective on the Future

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14. Paul was in jail as he was writing this letter, a place of despair, doubt, fear, and anger. Yet, he looked at his present condition with hope and joy, for he knew well Who held the future. He knew that there was a hell to shun and a heaven to gain and so pressed toward the mark of the high calling of Jesus. Each of us, no matter what our current situation, can look forward to heaven and the wonderful reward that Christ has prepared for the faithful.

“It is the work that we do or do not do that tells with tremendous power upon our lives and destinies. God requires us to improve every opportunity for usefulness that is offered us. Neglect to do this is perilous to our spiritual growth. We have a great work to do. Let us not pass in idleness the precious hours that God has given us in which to perfect characters for heaven. We must not be inactive or slothful in this work, for we have not a moment to spend without a purpose or object. God will help us to overcome our wrongs if we will pray and believe on Him. We can be more than conquerors through Him who has loved us. When the short life in this world is ended, and we see as we are seen and know as we are known, how short in duration and how small will the things of this world appear to us in comparison with the glory of the better world!” Testimonies, vol. 3, 540.

Now is the time to perfect our characters for heaven. Now is the time to present Christ to a dying world. Like Paul, we must learn from the past and then forget it. Our thoughts need to be focused on Christ and His reward for the faithful. Living the present to the fullest for Christ, and looking to the future He has prepared for us, will make the present a glory to both ourselves and also those around us.

Improper Use of Time

Sleeping too long—“The bright morning hours are wasted by many in bed. These precious hours, once lost, are gone never to return; they are lost for time and for eternity. Only one hour lost each day, and what a waste of time in the course of a year! Let the slumberer think of this and pause to consider how he will give an account to God for lost opportunities.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 412. “This lifetime is too short to be squandered in vain and trifling diversion, in unprofitable visiting, in needless dressing for display, or in exciting amusements. We cannot afford to squander the time given us of God in which to bless others and in which to lay up for ourselves a treasure in heaven. We have none too much time for the discharge of necessary duties. … By neglecting these essential duties and conforming to the habits and customs of fashionable, worldly society, we do ourselves and our children a great wrong.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 146.

Acquirement of wealth—“That time is worse than lost to parents and children which is devoted to the acquirement of wealth, while mental improvement and moral culture are neglected. Earthly treasures must pass away; but nobility of character, moral worth, will endure forever. If the work of parents be well done, it will through eternity testify of their wisdom and faithfulness. Those who tax their purses and their ingenuity to the utmost to provide for their households costly apparel and dainty food, or to maintain them in ignorance of useful labor, will be repaid only by the pride, envy, willfulness, and disrespect of their spoiled children.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 69.

Justifying self—“If pride and selfishness were laid aside, five minutes would remove most difficulties. Angels have been grieved and God displeased by the hours which have been spent in justifying self. I saw that God will not bow down and listen to long justifications, and He does not want His servants to do so, and thus precious time be wasted that should be spent in showing transgressors the error of their ways and pulling souls out of the fire.” Early Writings, 119, 120.

Disorder and disorganization—“Washington, the nation’s statesman, was enabled to perform a great amount of business because he was thorough in preserving order and regularity. Every paper had its date and its place, and no time was lost in looking up what had been mislaid. Men of God must be diligent in study, earnest in the acquirement of knowledge, never wasting an hour. Through persevering exertion they may rise to almost any degree of eminence as Christians, as men of power and influence. But many will never attain superior rank in the pulpit or in business because of their unfixedness of purpose and the laxness of habits contracted in their youth. Careless inattention is seen in everything they undertake. A sudden impulse now and then is not sufficient to accomplish a reformation in these ease-loving, indolent ones; this is a work which requires patient continuance in well-doing. Men of business can be truly successful only by having regular hours for rising, for prayer, for meals, and for retirement. If order and regularity are essential in worldly business, how much more so in doing work for God.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 411, 412.

Self Seeking—“It is wrong to waste our time, wrong to waste our thoughts. We lose every moment that we devote to self-seeking. If every moment were valued and rightly employed, we should have time for everything that we need to do for ourselves or for the world. In the expenditure of money, in the use of time, strength, opportunities, let every Christian look to God for guidance. ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.’ James 1:5.” The Ministry of Healing, 208.

Lack of purpose or object—“It is the work that we do or do not do that tells with tremendous power upon our lives and destinies. God requires us to improve every opportunity for usefulness that is offered us. Neglect to do this is perilous to our spiritual growth. We have a great work to do. Let us not pass in idleness the precious hours that God has given us in which to perfect characters for heaven. We must not be inactive or slothful in this work, for we have not a moment to spend without a purpose or object. God will help us to overcome our wrongs if we will pray and believe on Him. We can be more than conquerors through Him who has loved us.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 540.

Selection of wrong subject matter upon which to converse—“Lack of wisdom in the selection of subjects of conversation has done much harm. The conversation should be upon spiritual and divine things; but it has been otherwise. If the association with Christian friends is chiefly devoted to the improvement of the mind and heart, there will be no after regrets, and they can look back on the interview with a pleasant satisfaction. But if the hours are spent in levity and vain talking, and the precious time is employed in dissecting the lives and character of others, the friendly intercourse will prove a source of evil, and your influence will be a savor of death unto death.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 186, 187.

Time is a valuable gift, one that we are called upon to account for, so how we use this gift is critical. “The value of time is beyond computation. Christ regarded every moment as precious, and it is thus that we should regard it. Life is too short to be trifled away. We have but a few days of probation in which to prepare for eternity. We have no time to waste, no time to devote to selfish pleasure, no time for the indulgence of sin. It is now that we are to form characters for the future, immortal life. It is now that we are to prepare for the searching judgment.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 342.

Strict accounting of our use of time—“Our time belongs to God. Every moment is His, and we are under the most solemn obligation to improve it to His glory. Of no talent He has given will He require a more strict account than of our time.” Ibid., 342.

Proper Use of Time

“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:14–16.

Find the best and wisest use of our time. “They are taught to appreciate the value of time, and to make the best and wisest use of it.” Sons and Daughters of God, 97. “God declares, ‘Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting,’ [Daniel 5:27]—wanting in a knowledge of practical business, wanting in a knowledge of how to make the best use of time, wanting in a knowledge of how to labor for Jesus.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 468.

There Should Be Time Spent in Planning

“As far as possible, it is well to consider what is to be accomplished through the day. Make a memorandum of the different duties that await your attention, and set apart a certain time for the doing of each duty.

“Let everything be done with thoroughness, neatness, and dispatch. … Give yourself a number of minutes to do the work, and do not stop to read papers and books that take your eye, but say to yourself, ‘No, I have just so many minutes in which to do my work, and I must accomplish my task in the given time.’ ” Sons and Daughters of God, 114.

“Let those who are naturally slow of movement seek to become active, quick, energetic, remembering the words of the apostle, ‘Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.’ [Romans 12:11.] … But if you are under the control of slow, dilatory movements, if your habits are of a lazy order, you will make a long job out of a short one; and it is the duty of those who are slow to reform and to become more expeditious. If they will, they can overcome their fussy, lingering habits. In washing dishes they may be careful and at the same time do quick work. Exercise the will to this end, and the hands will move with dispatch.” Child Guidance, 125. “It is the duty of every Christian to acquire habits of order, thoroughness, and dispatch. There is no excuse for slow bungling at work of any character. … The one who is slow and who works at a disadvantage should realize that these are faults to be corrected. He needs to exercise his mind in planning how to use the time so as to secure the best results. By tact and method, some will accomplish as much in five hours as others do in ten. … By their slow, dilatory ways they make much work out of very little. But all who will, may overcome these fussy, lingering habits. In their work let them have a definite aim. Decide how long a time is required for a given task, and then bend every effort toward accomplishing the work in the given time. The exercise of the will power will make the hands move deftly.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 344.

Gather and Use the Fragments of Time

“A few moments here and a few there, that might be frittered away in aimless talk; the morning hours so often wasted in bed; the time spent in traveling on trams or railway cars, or waiting at the station; the moments of waiting for meals, waiting for those who are tardy in keeping an appointment—if a book were kept at hand, and these fragments of time were improved in study, reading, or careful thought, what might not be accomplished. A resolute purpose, persistent industry, and careful economy of time, will enable men to acquire knowledge and mental discipline which will qualify them for almost any position of influence and usefulness.” Ibid., 343, 344. “Where there is an abundance of idleness, Satan works with his temptations to spoil life and character. If youth are not trained to useful labor, whether they be rich or poor, they are in peril; for Satan will find employment for them after his own order. The youth who are not barricaded with principle do not regard time as a precious treasure, a trust from God, for which every human being must give an account. Children should be educated to make the very best use of their time, to be helpful to father and mother, to be self-reliant. They should not be allowed to consider themselves above doing any kind of labor that is necessary. The value of time is beyond computation. Time squandered can never be recovered. … The improvement of wasted moments is a treasure.” Child Guidance, 123.

“He taught all to look upon themselves as endowed with precious talents, which if rightly employed would secure for them eternal riches. He weeded all vanity from life, and by His own example taught that every moment of time is fraught with eternal results; that it is to be cherished as a treasure, and to be employed for holy purposes.” The Desire of Ages, 91.

Time Spent in Labor is Noble

“Parents should devise ways and means for keeping their children usefully busy. Let the children be given little pieces of land to cultivate, that they may have something to give as a freewill offering.

“Allow them to help you in every way they can, and show them that you appreciate their help. Let them feel that they are a part of the family firm. Teach them to use their minds as much as possible, so to plan their work that they may do it quickly and thoroughly. Teach them to be prompt and energetic in their work, to economize time so that no minutes may be lost in their allotted hours of work.

“Let us teach the little ones to help us while their hands are small and their strength is slight. Let us impress upon their minds the fact that labor is noble, that it was ordained to man of heaven, that it was enjoined upon Adam in Eden, as an essential to the healthy development of mind and body. Let us teach them that innocent pleasure is never half so satisfying as when it follows active industry.” Child Guidance, 126, 127.

Understanding the importance of the above uses of our time, lays a good foundation for allowing us to make the most use of our time and allows us time to do the most critical things with our time.

Our Responsibility to the Work in the World

“My brethren, the Lord is coming, and we need to bend every energy to the accomplishment of the work before us. I appeal to you to give yourselves wholly to the work. Christ gave His time, His soul, His strength, to labor for the benefit and blessing of humanity.” Gospel Workers, 115. “Let us give while we have the power. Let us do while we have the strength. Let us work while it is day. Let us devote our time and our means to the service of God, that we may have His approbation, and receive His reward.” Counsels on Stewardship, 21.

“All the people of God should have an interest in His cause. … God requires those who have health and strength of body, to do what they can, and use their strength to His glory, for they are not their own. They are accountable to God for the use they make of their time and strength, which are granted them of Heaven.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 324.

“Now is our time to labor for the salvation of our fellow men. There are some who think that if they give money to the cause of Christ, this is all they are required to do; the precious time in which they might do personal service for Him passes unimproved. But it is the privilege and duty of all who have health and strength to render to God active service. All are to labor in winning souls to Christ. Donations of money cannot take the place of this. …

“Every moment is freighted with eternal consequences. We are to stand as minute men, ready for service at a moment’s notice.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 343.

“Sin and wickedness are rapidly increasing; and now we shall have to redeem the time by laboring all the more earnestly.” Counsels on Health, 556.

Our Responsibility to the work In the Church

“You may feel that others have done wrong, and I know as well as you do that a Christlike spirit has not been manifested in the church. But will this avail you in the judgment? Will two wrongs make one right? Though one, two, or three in the church have done wrong, this will not blot out or excuse your sin. Whatever course others may take, your work is to set your own heart in order. God has claims upon you which no circumstances should lead you to forget or neglect, for every soul is precious in His sight.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 349.

Our Responsibility to the work in the Home

“Parents should teach their children … that to do something which will honor God and bless humanity is worth striving for. Even in their early years they can be missionaries for God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 345.

“The great object which parents should seek to attain for their dear children should be the inward adorning. Parents cannot afford to allow visitors and strangers to claim their attention, and by robbing them of time, which is life’s great capital, make it impossible for them to give their children each day that patient instruction which they must have to give right direction to their developing minds.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 146.

Use Our Time for Character Development

“ Study to show thyself approved unto God.” 11 Timothy 2:15. “The life of God, which gives life to the world, is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons. By His word He stilled the sea and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God as He had spoken it to all the Old Testament writers. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ. It is our only source of power.

“This word does not repress activity. It opens before the conscientious searcher channels for activity. It does not leave men in uncertainty, without an object, but places before them the highest of all aims,—the winning of souls to Christ. It puts in the hand a lamp that lights the way to heaven. It tells of unsearchable riches, treasure beyond estimate.

“The word of God is the standard of character. In giving us this word, God has put us in possession of every truth essential to salvation.” Gospel Workers, 250.

Prayer and Communion with God

“Begin to pray for souls; come near to Christ, close to His bleeding side. Let a meek and quiet spirit adorn your lives, and let your earnest, broken, humble petitions ascend to Him for wisdom that you may have success in saving not only your own soul, but the souls of others.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 513.

“Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail of receiving the blessing of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried steps they press through the circle of Christ’s loving presence, pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their burdens they return to their work.

“These workers can never attain the highest success until they learn the secret of strength. They must give themselves time to think, to pray, to wait upon God for a renewal of physical, mental, and spiritual power. They need the uplifting influence of His Spirit. Receiving this, they will be quickened by fresh life. The wearied frame and tired brain will be refreshed, the burdened heart will be lightened.

“Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with Christ, to sit down in companionship with Him—this is our need. Happy will it be for the children of our homes and the students of our schools when parents and teachers shall learn in their own lives the precious experience pictured in these words from the Song of Songs: ‘As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, So is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, And His fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, And His banner over me was love.’ Song of Solomon 2:3, 4.” Education, 260, 261.

“The strength acquired in prayer to God, united with individual effort in training the mind to thoughtfulness and care-taking, prepares the person for daily duties and keeps the spirit in peace under all circumstances, however trying. The temptations to which we are daily exposed make prayer a necessity. In order that we may be kept by the power of God through faith, the desires of the mind should be continually ascending in silent prayer for help, for light, for strength, for knowledge.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 459.

Sabbath

“Let there be … no desecration of His holy time. The servant of God will call sacred that which the Lord calls sacred. Thus he will show that he has chosen the Lord as his leader. The Sabbath was made in Eden, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. God has placed it in our charge. Let us keep it pure and holy.” Medical Ministry, 215.

Exercise

“Mental effort without corresponding physical exercise calls an undue proportion of blood to the brain, and thus the circulation is unbalanced. The brain has too much blood, while the extremities have too little. The hours of study and recreation should be carefully regulated, and a portion of the time should be spent in physical labor.” My Life Today, 144.

“Words and actions and motives are recorded; but how little do these light, superficial heads and hard hearts realize that an angel of God stands writing down the manner in which their precious moments are employed.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 589, 590.

What would you do if someone deposited $86,400 into a bank account for you each day that carries no balance from one day to the next and cancels whatever amount you failed to spend by the end of the day? Of course you would withdraw every penny and use it as you saw fit! Each of us has an account like this. It is called “time.” Every day a deposit of 86,400 seconds goes into our account called “life.” We have the opportunity to invest every second for the glory of God or to waste it, never to regain the seconds lost. The clock is running… Go!

Janet Headrick has been associated with Steps to Life since 1991. She has been serving the ministry as office manager since October of 2007. She can be reached by email at: janetheadrick@stepstolife.org, or by phone at: 316-788-5559.

A Song in the Night

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It happened in 1829 to a young girl by the name of Susanna Foster. She had a younger sister by the name of Elisa who lived to be very old, and she also had some brothers, one of which was Steven Foster, a famous song writer from the last century. Susanna was a very promising musician and singer, but while she was still young she contracted tuberculosis, a disease of the lungs. She was seriously ill and was expected to die. Some of her friends stayed up all night with her not knowing at the time, that it would be her last. At 4:30 in the morning, she awoke and sang a song. Her voice was clear and crisp; however, a short time after, she died, never to sing again.

Her family mourned her loss. Steven Foster was so young when she died that he never really got to know his sister personally, but the memory of her song on the night she died lived on.

There are often discouraging experiences in life that we simply do not understand. Some years ago another young woman with two young daughters and a little baby boy died. After having a surgery for cancer, she went through a course of chemotherapy and then had some other treatments in an effort to help her get better. She did not get better; she got worse. When you are only 29 years old and you have two beautiful girls and one beautiful baby boy, the last thing you want to do is die.

In the Bible, there is a story about a man who was told that he was going to die. The prophet Isaiah came to Hezekiah and told him to get his house in order; he was given forewarning. Hezekiah did not want to die right then so he turned his face towards the wall and he said, “Lord, I do not want to die.”

Hezekiah pleaded with the Lord that he would live a little longer and not die and the Lord answered his prayer and told him he would lengthen his life another fifteen years. A very sad thing happened in those fifteen years. Hezekiah had a child by the name of Manasseh. Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings that Judah ever had, and it was Manasseh who was responsible for martyring Isaiah the prophet. Because of the influence of Manasseh, the children of Israel were taken into captivity.

This was the terrible consequence that resulted because Hezekiah did not die at the right time, at God’s appointed time.

Sometimes it is hard to accept God’s will when we do not understand. This young lady, 29 years old, did not want to die either, but her condition got worse. The last time I saw her she was at church. She was so sick by that time that she was in a wheelchair and on oxygen. Her husband, standing beside her, too sad for words, just gave a nod of recognition. No words were exchanged; it was just too sad to say anything. Unknown at that time that was the last time I would see her alive; a few days later she died. I visited her husband with his three children and felt the emptiness and the hollowness inside the home. The light of that house was not there; his crown of rejoicing was no longer there.

“Do not marvel at this: because the hour is coming, in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice, And they will come out; those who have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, unto the resurrection of condemnation.“ John 5:28–29.

This young lady had deteriorated so much that she had to be taken to a hospital. They all knew she was dying but still every effort was made to try and save her life and help her to stay a little longer. As the evening grew on, her husband decided to stay there with her all that night. In the afternoon she had asked him, ”Who are all these people in my room?” He looked around and said, “I don’t see anybody; there’s nobody here.” She was insistent that there was, that the room was full of bright shining beings, and they were all around her bed, and they were all around the room. He did not see anybody.

Pretty soon it was supper time. Surprisingly, for being in her condition, she ate a good supper and after supper they had a wonderful conversation together. They did not know then, but it would be their last conversation together, and then she went to sleep.

This lady had prayed to the Lord, “Lord, if I have to die, because this is so distasteful to me leaving my children, please let me die in my sleep.” The Lord that night answered her prayer, and she went to sleep. About 5:00 o’clock in the morning her husband, who was sleeping in a chair by her bed, woke up with a start and he felt her and saw that she was not breathing. Ten minutes before, the nurse had checked on her and had seen that everything was fine. The doctors tried to resuscitate her, but it was too late; she was gone. She was only 29 years old, leaving two beautiful girls, a two year old baby boy, and a loving husband. Who can understand?

Life is so uncertain. At every opportunity show the people in your family the affection that you ought, so that if something should happen and they are taken suddenly from you, you will have some pleasant memories of the way you talked to them, and the way you treated them.

A physician was working in his office when his wife stopped by on her way to do some business downtown. She had wanted some time with him but was brushed off because he was “too busy.” A few minutes later he got a telephone call. A policeman was on the other end of the line informing him that his wife had been involved in a serious car accident. A few minutes before, he had been impatient and “too busy.” Would those words be the last he would ever speak to her, words of impatience?

What if something happened to somebody whom you love? Would the last words you spoke to them be words that you would want to remember? Always make sure that your parting words are a pleasant exchange and never impatient or fretful. Life is uncertain and none of us know how long we have our loved ones with us. We need to take advantage of every opportunity to show love and sympathy and affection to those we love.

“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. 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. If we would have tender hearts, such as Jesus had when he was upon the earth, and sanctified sympathy, such as 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. We need to express love and affection in our homes so that our children don’t grow up to be hard-hearted.” The Review and Herald, June 22, 1886.

What kinds of words are we speaking with our spouse and with our children, with our brothers, with our sisters? If love and affection are not expressed in our homes, our children will grow up hard-hearted.

That Sunday morning I was on the way to the prison and needed to get all the sadness from my mind. The prisoners needed to be encouraged. I had been going to this jail for some time and I knew there would be between 15–25 inmates who would be there to sing songs and hear the gospel. Out of that jail ministry, there were people who had accepted Christ, some who had become Seventh-day Adventists, and I was going there to be an encouragement to them, to cheer them up. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I’m going away. I’m going to prepare a place for you, and I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, ye may be also.” John 14:1–3.

Promises like this we would share with the people in the prison, and tell them there will be no jails in heaven. If you are saved, you will not be in any jails in heaven. There will not be any hospitals in heaven either, and there will not be any trouble in heaven. The prisoners loved to hear about heaven and they loved to sing the song, “Power in the Blood.”

Jesus left us an example as he comforted his disciples when they were in trouble. You can read in 11 Corinthians in the first chapter how Paul also comforted people who were in all kinds of trouble. Many people, while behind bars, reach out for hope of a better life, and Christians should be able to comfort them and give them hope making the prison a very fruitful field for evangelism.

As I was on my way to the jail, I was preoccupied with thoughts about these children who had just lost their mother from cancer. I just could not shake it out of my mind as I went up into the cell block that morning. One of the prisoners, whom I knew quite well, recognized a different expression on my face at once and asked, “What’s the matter with you, preacher?”

My purpose for being there that day was to encourage these people and not to tell them my troubles. He had asked a direct question, so not to tell a lie, I told him about my friend whose wife had just died from cancer, that she was only 29 years old with three children, two older girls and a little baby boy, two years old, and now this little baby boy, when he grows up, will not even be able to remember his mother.

That whole cell block went quiet. Though I was only talking to this man who had asked me the question, everybody else was listening. I came right up to the bar that divided us, and he came right up to the bar also, and he looked up into my face and then he began to tell me the story of his life.

He said, I have two older sisters, and when I was two years old my mother died from cancer. She was only 29 years old. When my mother died, my father could not cope and as a result became an alcoholic. There was nobody to take care of the children so we were separated. My two sisters were raised somewhere else and I was taken to an orphanage.

This man had heard the Gospel presented a number of times with never a response, but now, now all of a sudden, I understood what had happened to this boy, what had happened to this man. He had grown up deprived of a mother to love him, without the special tender love of a family and no one to express that love and sympathy and affection that is so needed. With his mother, whom he never knew, dead, and his father an alcoholic as a result, he had become hard-hearted, and as he became a man he had gotten into trouble with the law and ended up in jail.

Never before had this man responded after hearing the Gospel, but this time his heart was touched. I had been given the key to his heart and he had told me the story of his life and was now ready to respond and receive hope and comfort.

“The Lord hath done great things for us; [whereof] we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves [with him].” Psalm 126:3–6.

With all the prisoners still listening even though I was just talking to this one man, I asked him if his mother was a Christian. He said that his sisters had told him that she had been a Bible believing Christian. Then I asked him if he would like to see his mother again someday, and he said, “Yes.” I commenced to tell him how that could happen. Someday Jesus is going to come back to this world; He is going to come back from heaven. The Bible says that every eye is going to see Him and when He comes back, He is going to look down on this world, and He is going to say, “Awake you that sleep in the dust, awake and sing.” Isaiah 26:19.

I told him that when Jesus comes in the clouds and says, “Awake, awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust and arise,” your mother is going to awake and come out of the grave, and she is going to look for you. If you surrender your heart and life to Jesus, you are going to be there. Your mother is going to look for you when she wakes up when Jesus comes.

By the way friend, when Jesus comes, is there anyone who is going to wake up and look for you? Are you going to be there? If you are there, then they are going to sing. It says in Isaiah, “Awake and sing, you that dwell in the dust.” Isaiah 26:19.

I believe one of the persons who will awake in the first resurrection and will look for me, is my father. My father died as a result of being hit by a car in April 2000. I remember when I was a small boy at home, over and over again I heard my father pray during family worship. He would ask the Lord that our family might be saved, without the loss of one. My father did not want anybody in his family to be lost. He continually worked for all people wherever he lived in the world to get the Gospel to them, but he always prayed that all his family would be saved.

Who is going to look for you? Are they going to sing? Are they going to have a song in the night because you are there?

In Isaiah 30:29 the Lord says that you are going to have a song in the night.

In Isaiah 21 it talks about the watchmen: “Watchmen, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning is coming, and also the night: if you will inquire, inquire: return, come.” Isaiah 21:11, 12.

The night of sin, friends, is almost over and the eternal morning is going to break very soon for the righteous. It will be eternal night for the wicked. So because the night of sin is about over and the morning is going to come soon, the watchman says, “If you return, inquire and come.”

The context of the verses in Isaiah 21 is the fall of Babylon. In Revelation 18, when Babylon falls, the morning is coming. That is one of the reasons why people are going to sing, because the night is over. They are going to have a song in the night because the night is just about over and the eternal morning is coming. With it, however, is also the night; eternal night for the wicked.

“Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times.” The Great Controversy, 464.

In order for the night of sin to end there must be a return to primitive godliness. As Jeremiah puts it, “Seek for the old paths.” Jeremiah 6:16.

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things [are] noble, whatever things [are] just, whatever things [are] pure, 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.” Philippians 4:8.

Come out from among them and be separate. God wants a peculiar people who reflect His image, a people who will return to primitive godliness, a people who will reject worldly ways and its entertainments, adornments, and lifestyles. God wants people who are not afraid to be known as Christians and turn away from harmful substances like alcohol, and delight in the Sabbath, the special day that God gave to man for rest and worship.

The worldly ways that have been allowed to fester in the church have caused confusion and strife. Proverbs 13:10 says, “By pride comes nothing but strife.”

The Lord is coming! He is going to end this night of sin and we are going to have a song. But the people who have the song are going to be the people who beforehand had an experience in primitive godliness.

Make sure you are among that group of people, the ones who have a song, ready to meet their Lord and Savior.

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

Old Flesh New Spirit

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There is a serious and very bothersome mistake, which is made by many persons.

That mistake is made in thinking that when they are converted, their old sinful flesh is blotted out.

In other words, they make the mistake of thinking that they are to be delivered from the flesh by having it taken away from them altogether.

Then, when they find that this is not so, when they find that the same old flesh, with its inclinations, its besetments, and its enticements, is still there, they are not prepared for it, and so become discouraged, and are ready to think that they never were converted at all.

And yet, if they would think a little, they ought to be able to see that that is all a mistake. Did you not have exactly the same body after you were converted that you had before? Was not that body composed of exactly the same material—the same flesh and bones and blood—after you were converted as that of which it was composed before? To these questions everybody will promptly say “Yes.” And plainly that is the truth.

And now there are further questions: Was not that flesh also of exactly the same quality as before? Was it not still human flesh, natural flesh, as certainly as it was before?—To this also everybody will say “Yes.”

Then also a still further question: It being the same flesh, and of the same quality,—it still being human flesh, natural flesh,—is it not also still just as certainly sinful flesh as it was before?

Just here is where creeps in the mistake of these many persons. To this last question they are inclined to think that the answer should be “No,” when it must be only a decided “Yes.” And this decided “Yes” must be maintained so long as we continue in this natural body.

And when it is decided and constantly maintained that the flesh of the converted person is still sinful flesh, and only sinful flesh, he is so thoroughly convinced that in his flesh dwells no good thing that he will never allow a shadow of confidence in the flesh. And this being so, his sole dependence is upon something other than the flesh, even upon the Holy Spirit of God; his source of strength and hope is altogether exclusive of the flesh, even in Jesus Christ only. And being everlastingly watchful, suspicious, and thoroughly distrustful of the flesh, he never can expect any good thing from that source, and so is prepared by the power of God to beat back and crush down without mercy every impulse or suggestion that may arise from it; and so does not fail, does not become discouraged, but goes on from victory to victory and from strength to strength.

Conversion, then, you see, does not put new flesh upon the old spirit; but a new Spirit within the old flesh. It does not propose to bring new flesh to the old mind; but a new mind to the old flesh. Deliverance and victory are not gained by having the human nature taken away; but by receiving the divine nature to subdue and have dominion over the human,—not by the taking away of the sinful flesh, but by the sending in of the sinless Spirit to conquer and condemn sin in the flesh.

The Scripture does not say, Let this flesh be upon you, which was also upon Christ; but it does say, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5.

The Scripture does not say, Be ye transformed by the renewing of your flesh; but it does say, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2. We shall be translated by the renewing of our flesh; but we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

The Lord Jesus took the same flesh and blood, the same human nature, that we have,—flesh just like our sinful flesh,—and because of sin, and by the power of the Spirit of God through the divine mind that was in him, “condemned sin in the flesh.” Romans 8:3. And therein is our deliverance (Romans 7:25), therein is our victory. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,” “A new heart will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you.” [Ezekiel 36:26, last part.]

Do not be discouraged at sight of sinfulness in the flesh. It is only in the light of the Spirit of God, and by the discernment of the mind of Christ, that you can see so much sinfulness in your flesh; and the more sinfulness you see in your flesh, the more of the Spirit of God you certainly have. This is a sure test. Then when you see sinfulness abundant in you, thank the Lord that you have so much of the Spirit of God that you can see so much of the sinfulness; and know of a surety that when sinfulness abounds, grace much more abounds in order that “as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Unbelieving Israel, not having the righteousness which is of faith, and so not appreciating the great sacrifice that the Heavenly Father has made, sought righteousness by virtue of the offering itself, and because of the merit of presenting the offering.

Thus was perverted every form of service, and everything which God had appointed to be the means of expression to a living faith, and which could not have any real meaning except by the living presence and power of Christ Himself in the life. And even this was not enough. For, not finding the peace and satisfaction of an accomplished righteousness in any of this, nor in all of it together, they heaped upon these things which the Lord had appointed for another purpose, but which they had perverted to purposes of their own invention,—they heaped upon these things ten thousand traditions, exactions, and hair-splitting distinctions of their own invention; and all, all, in a vain hope of attaining righteousness. For the rabbis taught what was practically a confession of despair, that “if but one person could only for one day keep the whole law and not offend in one point—nay, if but one person could but keep that one point of the law which affected the due observance of the Sabbath—then the troubles of Israel would be ended, and the Messiah at last would come.”—Farrar, “Life and Work of St. Paul,” 37. See also 36, 83. What could possibly more fittingly describe a dead formalism than does this? And yet for all this conscious dearth in their own lives, there was still enough supposed merit to cause them to count themselves so much better than other people that all others were but as dogs in comparison.

It is not so with those who are accounted righteous by the Lord upon a living faith freely exercised. For when the Lord counts a man righteous, he is actually righteous before God, and by this very fact is separated from all the people of the world. But this is not because of any excellence of his own, nor of the “merit” of anything that he has done. It is altogether because of the excellence of the Lord and of what He has done. And the man for whom this has been done, knows that in himself he is no better than anybody else; but rather in the light of the righteousness of God that is freely imparted to him, he, in the humility of true faith, willingly counts others better than himself. Philippians 2:3.

This giving themselves great credit for what they themselves had done, and counting themselves better than all other people upon the merit of what they had done—this were at once to land men fully in the complete self-righteousness of the Phariseeism. They counted themselves so much better than all other people that there could not possibly be any basis of comparison. It seemed to them a perfectly ruinous revolution to preach as the truth of God that “there is no respect of persons with God.” [Acts 10:34.]

And what of the actual life of such people, all this time? O, it was only a life of injustice and oppression, malice and envy, variance and emulation, backbiting and tale-bearing, hypocrisy and meanness; boasting of their great honour of the law, and through breaking the law dishonouring God; their hearts filled with murder, and the tongues crying loudly for blood of One of their brethren, yet they could not cross the threshold of a Roman tribunal “lest they should be defiled!” [John 10:28, last part.] Intense sticklers for the Sabbath; yet spending the holy day in spying treachery and conspiracy to murder.

What God thought and still thinks of all such ways as this, is shown plainly enough for our present purpose, in just two short passages of scripture. Here is His word to Israel—the ten tribes—while yet their day lingered: “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt-offerings and your meat-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” Amos 5:21-24.

And to Judah near the same time He said the same thing, in these words: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth; they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

“Wash ye, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:10-18.

The Lord Himself had appointed these feast days and solemn assemblies, these burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, and peace-offerings; but now He says He hates them and will not accept them. Their fine songs, sung by their trained choirs, and accompanied with instruments of music, making a grand display,—all this that they got off for wonderfully fine music, He called “noise,” and wanted it taken away.

He has never appointed any feast days, nor solemn assemblies, nor sacrifices, nor offerings, nor songs, for any such purpose as that for which these were being used. He had appointed all these as the means of worshipful expression of a living faith by which the Lord Himself should abide in the heart and work righteousness in the life, so that in righteousness they could judge the fatherless and plead for the widows; and so that judgment could run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Songs sung in the pomp and stylish intonation of a vain show, are but “noise;” while the simple expression, “Our Father,” flowing from a heart touched by the power of a true and living faith and “spoken in sincerity by human lips, is music” which enters into the inclining ear (Psalm 116:2) of the Heavenly Father, and brings divine blessing in power to the soul.

This and this alone is what He had appointed these things for; and never, never to be used in the hollow pretense of a dead formalism to answer in righteousness for the iniquity of a carnal heart. Nothing but the washing away of the sins by the blood of the Lamb of God, and the purifying of the heart by living faith—nothing but this could ever make these things acceptable to Him who appointed them.

Even this side of the cross of Christ, which itself should be the everlasting destruction of it, the same dead formalism, and empty profession, has exalted itself, and has been the bane of the profession of Christianity everywhere. Very soon, unconverted men crept into the church and exalted themselves in the place of Christ. Not finding the living presence of Christ in the heart by living faith, they have ever since sought to have the forms of Christianity supply the lack of His presence, which alone can give meaning and life to these forms.

In this system of perverseness, regeneration is through the form of baptism, and even this by a mere sprinkling of a few drops of water; the real presence of Christ is in the form of the Lord’s supper; the hope of salvation is in being connected with a form of the church. And so on throughout the whole list of the forms of Christianity. Not content with thus perverting the divinely appointed forms of Christianity, they have heaped upon this, ten thousand inventions of their own, in penance, pilgrimages, traditions, and hair-splitting distinctions.

And, as of old, and always with mere formalists, the life is simply and continually, the manifestation of the works of the flesh,—strife and contention; hypocrisy and iniquity; persecution, spying, treachery, and every evil work. This is the Papacy.

This evil spirit of a dead formalism, however, has spread itself far beyond the bounds of the organized Papacy. It is the bane of the profession of Christianity everywhere today; and even the profession of the Christianity of the third angel’s message has not entirely escaped it. It is to be the world-wide prevailing evil of the last days up to the very coming of the Lord in glory in the clouds of heaven.

For, “this know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” II Timothy 3:1-5.

This all-prevailing form of godliness without the power, and which even denies the power, is the dead formalism against which we are to fight the good fight of living faith. The living faith which is brought to the world in the third angel’s message is to save us from being swallowed up in this worldwide sea of a dead formalism.

How is it with you individually to-day? Is yours a dead formalism, or a living faith? Have you the form of godliness without the power? or have you by living faith the living presence and power of the living Saviour in the heart, giving divine meaning, life, and joy to all the forms of worship and of service which Christ has appointed; and working the works of God and manifesting the fruits of the Spirit in all the life?

Except as the means of finding Christ the living Saviour in the word, and the living faith of Him, even this word itself, can be turned to a dead formalism now as it was of old when He was on the earth. He said to them then (Revised Version), “Ye search the Scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of Me. And ye will not come to Me that ye may have life.” John 5:39, 40.

They thought to find eternal life in the Scriptures without Christ, that is, by doing it themselves. But “this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son,”—as we find Him in the Scriptures, and not in the words of the Scriptures without Him. For they are they that testify of Him. This is their object. Therefore, “he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” I John 5:11, 12.

“True godliness elevates the thoughts and actions; then the external forms of religion accord with the Christian’s internal purity; then those ceremonies required in the service of God are not meaningless rites, like those of the hypocritical Pharisees.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, 219.

©Copyright 1995 TEACH Services, Inc.

Used with Permission. www.teachservices.com

The Family of God

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David Pelzer was an abused child. He wrote about it in his book, A Child Called It, telling of his experiences from around the age of four until 12 years old. It became a New York Times best seller as was his second book, The Lost Boy, where it tells of his experiences up to about age 18.

The abuse this child suffered is incomprehensible. He lived in Sonoma County, California. The events in this book began in the early ‘70s. He was abused so severely by his mother, that Child Protective Services finally removed him from his home and placed him in a foster home. He says in his book, “There is not a doubt in my mind, that had I stayed with my biological mother much longer I would have definitely been killed.”

In the first chapter he tells about being sent out of the house when he was nine. He describes his feelings and the thoughts that flowed through his mind while walking down the sidewalk, not knowing where he would stay that night, not knowing where he would get anything to eat, not knowing anything, not knowing anybody. He described it this way: “I have no home. I am a member of no one’s family. I know deep inside that I do not now, nor will I ever, deserve any love, attention, or even recognition as a human being. I am a child called ‘it.’ I am all alone inside.”

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated instance. Throughout the United States, at present, there are millions of children like this with no home and no food, but not all of them are in as severe a case as he was.

As he walked down the street a long way from the home he was sent from, he sees homes where there are people who are laughing and he hears some of them listening to music. He tells what went through his mind when he heard and saw that. He says, “I wondered what it would be like to be welcomed in a home. I wondered what that would be like.”

He said, “I wish I was a real person.” When he was taken back to his parental home by the police department and was told he was at home the thought went through his mind, “Home? I have no home.”

Later, concerning foster children who have had the privilege to be adopted when the parents have developed attachments with the children, he said that to be adopted is the highest honor bestowed on a child who longs to become a member of a family.

The desire in this young boy’s heart was to be loved and to belong somewhere. He wanted to be a part of a family, and he didn’t have any. That desire, my friend, is the desire that God put into a human soul. That desire is not something that just developed or evolved; that is something that God put within you. Sin is the reason why so many have anxiety. They are in situations that are similar to David Pelzer’s.

When I talk to young people, I find that most are primarily interested in finding a life partner. They want to fall in love. They want to have a family. They want to be a family. In heaven there is nobody up there that does not belong to a family. Everybody belongs. Nobody is left out. There is nobody that has no place to go. That experience does not happen there. Lack of familial bond would not happen on this earth either, except for sin.

There is often a lot of talk about the second coming of Christ, and it is right that we should do that because, as Christians, we are pilgrims and strangers in this world. When Jesus comes, we are going to go home to our big family. We hope and pray that all of our family members here are going to be there with us.

Ellen White wrote, “Infinite love—how great it is! God made the world to enlarge heaven. He desires a larger family of created intelligences.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1081.

Why did God create this world? He wanted a larger family. He wanted you to be part of His family. Unfortunately, what is happening in this world is that the devil is trying to steal people from God’s family. He has been very successful. At the end of the world and after the millennium, the Lord is going to face the devil and the devil is going to have to face Him, and the Lord is going to ask the devil, Why have you robbed me of my subjects?

Ellen White tells us that the devil is not going to have anything to say.

My dear friend, if you are going to go home, where your real home and your real family are going to be, you need now to become part of God’s family, the royal family of God. Adam and Eve were initially part of an even larger part of the family, but because of sin they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. The plan of salvation was arranged so there would be a way to bring them and their children back.

Ellen White wrote, “He [God] created man [and woman] for happiness.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 290. There never would have been any unhappiness if we had not chosen to sin. Once man was cast out of the Garden of Eden, away from the protection of the evil one we found out what it is really like when you do not obey God and do His will. We find out there are all kinds of problems and we get into all kinds of trouble. One of those problems is the amount of abused and homeless children with no one to love them—no family.

The Bible says in 2nd Samuel 14:14, last part, that God “devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.” Jesus died so that through His merits you could be redeemed from the guilt and power of sin and be adopted back into the family of God. That is the essence of the plan of salvation.

Galatians 4:4, 5 states: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

That is what David Pelzer wanted so desperately. He tells how he was placed in several different foster homes, wondering if there would be anybody who would ever love him enough to adopt him and make him their child so he might have a family. It never happened.

Why is it that we need the adoption into the family of God? When Adam and Eve sinned, all of their children were born sons and daughters of the devil. You do not have to do anything to be lost. Everyone born is already lost, unless they are adopted. If you want to be a member of God’s family, not just a foster child but be adopted, consider the following:

Several Facts About the Family of God:
1    Who are God’s family here on this earth right now and how can one become part of it?

The Bible describes God’s family on this earth right now as His church. 1 Corinthians 12 is about the church. Verse 13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (the church)—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

When a person is baptized with water it is a symbol of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. When you get baptized by water, you become a member of the professed church. But when baptized of the Spirit, you become a member of the real church and your name is written down in heaven. This needs an explanation so nobody misunderstands. There will be millions of people that have been baptized with water but will not be in heaven. However, not a single person will be lost that has been baptized by the Holy Spirit.

The water baptism is only a symbol of the real thing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:13.) Ellen White explains it this way: “Through this simple act of believing God, the Holy Spirit has begotten a new life in your heart. You are as a child born into the family of God, and He loves you as He loves His Son.” Steps to Christ, 52. This is also explained by the story of the prodigal son. He did not have to be baptized before he could again be a member of his family. He repented of his lifestyle of sin. His heart had been changed by the Holy Spirit and he came to his father, who covered him with his own robe, symbolizing the robe of Christ’s righteousness.

2    Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, told them there was a condition to being adopted into God’s family. He said, “Therefore ‘come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty’ ” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

The unclean thing that has defiled our world is sin. The Lord says, I would like for you to be My son, My daughter, but you must separate yourself from sinful habits or I can’t trust to take you to heaven where all is pure.

3    You cannot be a star player. You have to be a team player. Romans 14:7 says, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.”

That is a powerful verse. To have harmony in the family there needs to be team effort. There are no stars, just team players. No one member lives to himself; everyone must be considerate of others.

The devil’s temptation is for each family member to be concerned only about themselves, having no regard of how their decisions affect the other people in the family. All self-serving people will be expelled from the family of God. In that family nobody lives to himself.

4    You can never be a member of both God’s family and the devil’s family.

1 Corinthians 10:21 states: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons.”

Notice that this verse does not say not to. It says you cannot. My dear friends, Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life, but they could not have access to both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Since they chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the human race has been eating from it ever since. We do not have access to the tree of life. Thus eventually we all die.

Friends, if it seems as if your prayers are not being answered and the Lord is not doing anything for you, check where you are sitting. Sometimes the reason for unanswered prayers is that you are praying to the Lord while sitting at the table of demons. The Lord is not going to answer your prayer while you are unwilling to leave the devil’s table.

5    “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:16, 17).

The Spirit of Prophecy states the following: “It is impossible for you to unite with those who are corrupt, and still remain pure.” The Review and Herald, January 2, 1900.

Notice it does not say you cannot unite, but if you do, it is impossible for you to remain pure.

6    What excluded Satan from the royal family? The devil started treating his Creator and his fellow angels in the wrong way and he had to be excluded from the kingdom of heaven. He started a war in heaven.

It says in James 3:13–16, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”

The devil became conceited and jealous of the Son of God. His self-seeking and envy disrupted the peace of heaven, causing other angels to be dissatisfied.

Do not think that it is not important how we treat other people in God’s family. It determines whether in the judgment we are allowed to stay in the family or not.

7    God gives people tests to see whether they are fitted to become members of the royal family.

When Jesus comes, His children, His family are going to be taken up to heaven and they will become members of what Ellen White calls the royal family. To remain part of the family, all must become fit to become members. All must not only be saved by the merit of Jesus, but also be fit. This being fitted has to do with the work of the Holy Spirit and is why Jesus said to Nicodemus that unless he was born of the Holy Spirit, there was no chance for him to be saved.

God allows us to be tested and if we fail the test He brings us around again to take the test again. By the way, I am very happy that when I have failed tests God does not give up on me and He allows retests.

If we understand that, we should thank God when we have trials and say, “Lord, help me to learn what I did not learn the last time. Please help me to learn this time what I am supposed to be learning from this trial.”

8    The members of God’s family must not be cold and unloving to others. They may have done many things and still be making all kinds of mistakes, but they must not be treated coldly. If they are part of the family, even if they have all kinds of defects yet, they must be treated with love and helped to overcome their defects. No one will overcome their defects while being given a discouraging cold shoulder.

9    It is impossible to get ready to go to heaven hibernating in a cave somewhere. All have to learn to be gracious and how to get along with the other people in God’s family. Those who do not learn that will not be going to heaven.

It is alarming to see the friction, fighting and strife that often exists among God’s professed people. It means that somebody somewhere in this church, in this family, is not yet ready to go to heaven.

Do not think that God has to have the church to save the world. He does not. One of the main reasons for the church is so that those preparing for heaven can learn how to get along with their brothers and sisters in the faith.

Just like the foster child, all of us want to belong. It is inherent to want a family. The ultimate joy is to be part of the family of God. However, to belong to His family, there are conditions to fulfill. God will never call anyone to enter heaven who will destroy the family or any family member.

Pray that you will be fitted to become part of the royal family in heaven.

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

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

The Mind Will Be Hypnotized

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No greater effort will be exerted by Satan in the last times than in the area of hypnotism. It is the most effective method of drawing men and women under his control and power. It is well known that some people are far more suggestible than others, and therefore much more vulnerable to hypnotic suggestion. It may well be that there are some so resistant to suggestion that no human being could hypnotize them. However, we must recognize that the master hypnotist, Satan, is able to hypnotize every single human being. There is only one way that we can have certainty that we will not be deceived by Satan, and that is by inviting Christ to take full control of our lives. Thus the Scripture says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5.

The mind of Christ could never be hypnotized by Satan, and therefore could not be deceived. If we invite Christ’s mind to be our mind, then that alone will preserve us from the hypnotic presentations of Satan. The servant of the Lord warned us:

“The experience of the past will be repeated. In the future Satan’s superstitions will assume new forms. Errors will be presented in a pleasing and flattering manner. False theories, clothed with garments of light, will be presented to God’s people. Thus Satan will try to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Most seducing influences will be exerted; minds will be hypnotized.” Maranatha, 59.

This passage is not talking about the world at large; it is talking about members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is fair to deduct that every individual on the face of this planet will be hypnotized by Satan with one group excluded—those whose names are written in the book of life.

In Satan’s last great effort, all are going to be deceived by his hypnotic influence and the influence of his representatives. Thus, there will be an apparent unison that will bring the world together to worship the Papacy, referred to as the beast power in Revelation 13.

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8.

Surely only mass hypnotism could lead the inhabitants of this world into one bond of worship. This brings together the Atheists and the Agnostics, the Animists, the Muslims, the Shintoists, the Taoists, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the Zoroastrians, the Protestants, the Catholics, and every non-committed person in the world. This will be the greatest mass-hypnotism of all ages. Sadly, myriads of those who once walked in the light of the Advent faith, but who have not surrendered their lives to Christ, will also be hypnotized at this point.

Almost ninety years ago Sister White sensed the great inroads of hypnotism in the Adventist Church: “This same hypnotic influence is seen working among our people today. Ever since my return to America a heavy burden has rested upon me. Everywhere I see the power of the enemy. Were it not for the armies of the Lord’s host, led by Michael, the destruction that Satan would be pleased to witness would come to the people of God. They would be discomfited and brought to shame. But the Lord will work for His people. He will not suffer them to be defeated.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 11, 248.

As the decades have passed, the intensification of Satan’s efforts to hypnotize have unquestionably led to more and more Adventists coming under his hypnotic spell. As men and women move more and more to the world, and less and less place their confidence in Christ, there are deep inroads of Spiritism in the church through the power of hypnosis.

As early as 1870, Sister White referred to the efforts of Satan to hypnotize God’s people. She remarked, “Some seem to have no power to keep their eyes open in meeting. Satan seems to mesmerize them when important truths are presented.” Review and Herald, March 29, 1870.

Thus the inroad of Spiritism into our church is not new.

Again during the first decade of this century, Sister White refers to the hypnotic influence exerted by Dr. Kellogg: “The men who sustain Dr. Kellogg are in a half-mesmerized condition, and do not understand the condition of the man. They honestly believe that he is to be trusted.” Arthur White, The Later Elmshaven Years 1905–1915, vol. 6, 72.

You may have wondered why it is that you can present the clearest, most unambiguous statement of the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy to men and women, and somehow they do not seem to be able to understand its meaning or its significance, or they are able to rationalize it away. Surely already so many have been hypnotized by Satan that they cannot perceive the certainty of God’s truth.

“Satan is waiting to steal a march upon everyone who allows himself to be deceived by his hypnotism. He begins to exert his power over them just as soon as they begin to investigate his theories.” Medical Ministry, 101, 102.

This statement indicates the danger of even exploring areas of error and apostasy. Satan is there to try to draw us into his trap by the use of hypnotism. Colin remembers three of his former friends or colleagues, all of whom decided that they would help people who had moved away from the truth and who had accepted the evangelical concepts of the New Theology. All three of them have joined the ranks of these evangelicals. Rather than helping the one who was deceived, they were themselves equally deceived. It is a wholly unsafe practice to dabble in the artifices of Satan. One has an obligation personally to investigate; but once error is detected, it is unsafe to continue such a study.

Predicting what would take place right at the end of time the servant of the Lord said, “This entering in of Satan through the sciences is well devised. Through the channel of phrenology, psychology, and mesmerism, he comes more directly to the people of this generation, and works with that power which is to characterize his efforts near the close of probation. The minds of thousands have thus been poisoned, and led into infidelity.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 351.

How important it is that we do not allow our minds to come under the control of others, for in so doing we are coming under the power of Satan.

“Satan often finds a powerful agency for evil in the power which one human mind is capable of exerting on another human mind. This influence is so seductive that the person who is being molded by it is often unconscious of its power. God has bidden me speak warning against this evil, that His servants may not come under the deceptive power of Satan. The enemy is a master worker, and if God’s people are not constantly led by the Spirit of God, they will be snared and taken.

“For thousands of years Satan has been experimenting upon the properties of the human mind, and he has learned to know it well. By his subtle workings in these last days, he is linking the human mind with his own, imbuing it with his thoughts; and he is doing this work in so deceptive a manner that those who accept his guidance know not that they are being led by him at his will. The great deceiver hopes so to confuse the minds of men and women, that none but his voice will be heard.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 352, 353.

On a number of occasions Ellen White wrote testimonies to physicians who were using hypnosis and other mind control techniques. She indicated the danger of these, and yet today there are some of our Seventh-day Adventist doctors who are routinely exercising an hypnotic influence over their patients all in the name of medicine.

In Medical Ministry she wrote as follows:

“Now, my brother, I consider you to be in positive peril. I present this because I know that you are in great danger of being seduced by Satan. We are living in a time when every phase of fanaticism will press its way in among believers and unbelievers. Satan will come in, speaking lies in hypocrisy. Everything that he can invent to deceive men and women will be brought forward.

“Just in proportion as men lose their sense of the need of vital religion, so they become filled with common, earthly ideas, which they exalt as wonderful knowledge. Physicians who lose their hold on Christ become filled with ideas of their own, which they look upon as some wonderful science, to be brought into the medical profession as something new and strange.” Medical Ministry, 114.

Some Seventh-day Adventists have thought nothing about going to a hypnotist to seek help in psychological problems, and even for various forms of child and marriage counseling. But such is the work of Satan. We are to have nothing to do with these practices.

Colin recalls talking on the telephone in 1974 to John Roth, whose life was almost destroyed by his attendance at a mind-control program. Mr. Roth was at the time, an orthodox Jew and in middle-management in an oil company. Wanting to improve his status in life, he accepted the recommendation of a friend to attend a Silva mind control program. Having paid several hundred dollars for the program, he eagerly attended. The first night a very well-presented man stood before them and explained that we only use approximately six percent of all the neurons we have during our lifetime and that this program was to help to expand dramatically the use of the neurons in our brain.

It all sounded very good and Mr. Roth couldn’t wait until the second day. On the second day, all those who were in attendance were asked to imagine that they had a counselor and to decide what kind of questions they would like to ask such a counselor. By the third night the instructor was not talking about an imagined counselor, he was talking about “your counselor.”

Being an Orthodox Jew, Mr. Roth was rather disturbed by this and called his friend who invited him over to his place and told him that this was the best part of the program; that he got such wonderful advice from his counselor. He then asked Mr. Roth, “What question would you like me to ask my counselor?” Mr. Roth almost off-handedly said, “Ask your counselor what I will be doing in twelve months time.” He watched his friend go into a trance-like state, no doubt built upon auto-hypnosis. After a while he was deeply concerned by the obvious agitation of his friend, and wondered what was taking place. Shortly afterward, his friend came out of the trance-like state and said, “I don’t know what happened. My counselor has been so kind and so helpful to me, but when I asked your question all he did was curse and swear.” This did not encourage Mr. Roth, but having paid so much money for the course he attended the fourth and fifth nights. Before the program was over, they had been led into levitation and astral projection (out-of-body experiences).

Almost immediately Mr. Roth became ill; in fact, so ill that he had to be admitted to the hospital. But there the doctors could find no physical problem. And yet, clearly, his vital forces were diminishing and they had to concede that he was dying. This, you can understand, brought great worry to himself and to his wife. One night they were visited by Christian friends. The friends were shocked to see the state of Mr. Roth and as they talked with the wife, she told them what had taken place and that they had associated this sickness with the program that he had attended. The Christian friends said, “There is one answer to this, but you may not like it, and that is to pray in the name of Jesus.”

Eventually she agreed and they went back to the bedside of Mr. Roth and asked if he would agree, which he did. So that night they prayed in the name of Christ that he would be released from the satanic power that was destroying his life. Virtually immediately, he began to recover. The physicians could give no explanation for his recovery any more than they could of his original illness. The Roths accepted Christianity and Mr. Roth became a major speaker around the United States telling people of his salvation from the satanic influence over his life.

No doubt, some way, somehow, the spirit that was the counselor of his friend, who had cursed and sworn when asked what Mr. Roth would be doing in twelve months time, realized what would take place.

In his book, The Seduction of Christianity, David Hunt quotes one of the world’s leading occult authorities and historians, Manly P. Hall, who declared, “There is abundant evidence that in many forms of modern thought—especially the so-called ‘prosperity psychology’ ‘will power building’ metaphysics and systems of ‘high-pressure’ salesmanship —black magic has merely passed through a metamorphosis, and although its name may be changed, its nature remains the same.” David Hunt, The Seduction of Christianity, 14.

More and more Seventh-day Adventists seek worldly help for their spiritual problems, which often are designated emotional problems. In reality, these stress and emotional issues are the symptoms of a lack of spiritual depth in the life. What men and women need much more than human counselors and psychologists is the power of the indwelling Christ in the life.

Colin well knows the simple means that Satan uses to hypnotize people. As an undergraduate student of the University of Sydney, he studied a little into the areas of suggestion and hypnosis. One night, in a group of Adventist youth, he was asked if he could hypnotize. Foolishly, he responded, “Of course,” never thinking that anything would take place. As he chose one of the young ladies and used the very simplest of techniques that had been explained in class, he was terrified by the fact that she soon entered a deep hypnotic state. Also, the young people watching from the darkness outside the window were terrified when they saw what took place. They came rushing into the room, urging Colin to bring the young lady out of the hypnotic state. Colin was uncertain of what to do, but in the end, given the command to wake up, she did wake up. He had to ask the forgiveness of the Lord and to make a commitment never to allow such a thing to happen again.

Most people unfamiliar with hypnosis believe it is an extraordinarily difficult art. But in reality it is simple and commonly used today in all sorts of aspects of life, including advertising, interpersonal relations and counseling.

If ever there was time when God’s people needed the mind of Christ, it is now. Hypnotism is surely the strongest avenue to lead men and women to be deceived by Spiritism. Indeed, the two are indivisibly linked one with the other. God’s people are called to keep clear of any form of hypnotism, mind control or human methods of handling the problems and issues of life.

Escaping the Corruption of the World – Claiming the Promises

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Peter’s second epistle opens with an incredible statement that on the surface seems simple and straightforward, but upon careful examination reveals a depth of spiritual insight that we may not fully understand until we receive the light of eternity.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as 

  1. His divine power
  2. has given to us
  3. all things
  4. that pertain to life and godliness,
  5. through the knowledge of Him
  6. who called us by glory and virtue,
  7. by which have been given to us
  8. exceedingly great and precious promises,
  9. that through these
  10. you may be partakers of the divine nature,
  11. having escaped the corruption
  12. that is in the world through lust.”
    2 Peter 1:2–4 NKJV

Let’s look at these verses phrase by phrase and try to gain at least a cursory understanding of the love the Lord has for us and the provisions that God has made for our salvation that Peter clearly understood and is attempting to share with the recipients of his second letter.

This letter was written “To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). Surely that includes today’s children of Israel—Modern Israel.

In commenting on Peter’s second epistle, Inspiration makes the following statement:

“The apostle presents before the believers the ladder of Christian progress, every step of which represents advancement in the knowledge of God, and in the climbing of which there is to be no standstill. Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity are the rounds of the ladder. We are saved by climbing round after round, mounting step after step, to the height of Christ’s ideal for us. Thus He is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” The Acts of the Apostles, 530.

Clearly the most notable aspect of Peter’s letter is Peter’s ladder, the ascension of which develops in us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. However, let’s examine closely what Peter wrote as an introduction to that wonderful key to salvation. In the opening lines of his letter, Peter actually states the result of our faithful climb before stating how to achieve those results.

In verse 3, Peter states that what we accomplish is done through “His divine power.” It isn’t perfectly clear if the antecedent of “His” is “God” or “Jesus our Lord,” as stated in verse 2, but it really doesn’t matter. Both entities are divine and both long for the salvation of mankind. As Jesus said in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one.”

Then Peter states that this power has given us some very precious gifts. We did nothing to deserve these gifts—else they would not be gifts. But what precious gifts they are: all things; but note that there is actually a qualifier for the “all things” that He has given us: it is indeed “all things” but only those things that pertain to life and godliness—not just some of the things that we need, but all things.

It is worthwhile to note, by the way, that twice in these verses, Peter notes the fact that the things we need for salvation are gifts. In verse 3 he tells us how we have been given these gifts: through divine power (which, you should remember, is infallible); and in verse 4 he confirms that it is through divine glory and virtue that we have been so lovingly gifted.

Then Peter explains how we obtain these things. Understand that a gift is not a gift until it is accepted by the receiver. Thus we obtain these gifts “through the knowledge of Him”—and note that it isn’t just anybody who has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, but it is “Him who has called us by glory and virtue.” And who is this “Him” who called us? Again, it doesn’t matter whether the antecedent is God or Christ.  Jesus made it clear in John 8:19 (“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also”) and 14:9 (“He who has seen Me has seen the Father”) that their characters are exactly identical, and to know one is to know the other. Obviously we acquire that knowledge through a continuing, consistent, and thorough study of His word—in all of its manifestations.

Then comes other gifts in verse 4: “exceedingly great and precious promises.” Surely our hearts thrill with gratitude when we recognize that the pathway to heaven is open to us through these promises. In case we have difficulty grasping the assurance of these promises, Paul confirmed their significance in Hebrews 6:17, 18 when he wrote, “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”

That hope exists because (1) God cannot lie; (2) He deems us as heirs of His promises; (3) those promises and His counsel are immutable and unchangeable; (4) and He confirmed those promises by an oath “in which it is impossible for God to lie.”

The harmony of the truths expressed by the different Bible writers can be overwhelming sometimes.

Then Peter gives us two incredible results of the working of those promises in our lives when we accept and act on them.

First we become partakers of the divine nature. Just as Christ combined His divinity with humanity through the mystery of the incarnation, we have the incredible privilege of combining our humanity with His divinity and thereby being partakers of the divine nature.

In explaining the assumption of humanity by divinity, Inspiration wrote: “The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ in human flesh is a mystery, ‘even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations’ (Colossians 1:26). It is the great and profound mystery of godliness. ‘The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14).” Selected Messages, Book 1, 246.

Then explaining the assumption of divinity by humanity, Inspiration wrote: “Genuine faith appropriates the righteousness of Christ, and the sinner is made an overcomer with Christ; for he is made a partaker of the divine nature, and thus divinity and humanity are combined.” Faith and Works, 94.

Second and equally incredible, we are thus enabled—or given the power—to escape the corruption that is in the world through unsanctified desire, a longing for that which is forbidden, or lust.

Peter continues here a theme expressed in his first epistle in which he warned the sojourners and pilgrims on the narrow way to “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).

After explaining the almost unbelievable results of a successful climb—the reality of being partakers of the divine nature—Peter then provides the progression necessary to achieve those results in verses 5 through 7—a passage that we are all familiar with:

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Peter 1:5–7).

By claiming and acting on the promises given us through the Word, we have assurance confirmed by the oath of God Himself that salvation is within our reach. We can escape the corruption of the world and we can manifest the character of Christ perfectly.

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

The Power of Christ’s Healing Love

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Have you ever been hurt to such a degree that you act and make decisions without considering the possible results or outcome? Many people, amazingly even Christians, have fallen into such predicaments. I recently met a young lady who found herself in such a situation. As I made my way down the hillside on the way home, I saw a young woman walking toward the main road and offered her a ride. We began chatting in the car and she told me she was on her way to the local Catholic Church. As it was the Sabbath day, I had expected her to say she was going to a Seventh-day Adventist Church, and we began to talk about the difference between the two religions. As the conversation progressed I learned that she had, at one time, been a Seventh-day Adventist but had renounced Adventism after a disappointment suffered at the hands of the church where she had been a member. Her grandmother had become sick and no one from the church where she was a member, and regular attendee, made the effort to go and visit her. As she related the story to me, I could see the hurt still reflected in her teary eyes and I could hear the pain and disappointment in her voice! This had been the turning point in her life, and as a result, she explained, her Sabbath was now Sunday, and she felt happy and accepted by her Catholic church family.

What Cecile experienced transcended pain, it was caused by a lack of Christ’s divine love on the part of her church, and as a consequence of their behavior she responded out of the depth of her hurt. She had chosen the path of alienation, separation and rejection in response to what she had received.

It is a human response to withhold our love and shut ourselves away from those who hurt us, when instead, we should base our behavior on that of our Lord Jesus. He, our example in all things, never withheld his affection and love even from those who offended or hurt him.

“To love as Christ loved means to manifest unselfishness at all times and in all places, by kind words and pleasant looks. These cost those who give them nothing, but they leave behind a fragrance that surrounds the soul. The effect can never be estimated. Not only are they a blessing to the receiver, but to the giver; for they react upon him. Genuine love is a precious attribute of heavenly origin, which increases in fragrance in proportion as it is dispensed to others.” Letters to Young Lovers, 16.

“Christ’s love is deep and earnest, flowing like an irrepressible stream to all who will accept it. There is no selfishness in His love. In this heaven-born love is an abiding principle in the heart, it will make itself known, not only to those we hold most dear in sacred relationship, but to all with whom we come in contact. It will lead us to bestow little acts of attention, to make concessions, to perform deeds of kindness, to speak tender, true, encouraging words. It will lead us to sympathize with those whose hearts hunger for sympathy.” Ibid., 17.

While we should not needlessly expose ourselves to danger, at the same time we should not withhold our love from our enemies or from those who hurt us. We must remember that it is divine to continue giving of ourselves and our love to those who have hurt us. To love as Christ loved, this is our challenge as Christians and as a church. In the words of William Penn, Founder of the State of Pennsylvania, we are reminded that, “Love is the hardest lesson in Christianity but, for that reason, it should be most our care to learn it.” The New Dictionary of Thought, 375.

We may direct our minds to Him who has suffered more hurt than any mortal has or will ever suffer, for “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” Isaiah 53:5. The Bible shows that “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:11. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:3. Incredibly, in spite of the hurt, wounds, pain, tears, rejection and lack of love that we as humans demonstrate to Jesus, our beloved Savior continues to remind us, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” Jeremiah 31:3.

It is no wonder George Matheson, the hymn writer, exclaimed, “O love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee.” It is no wonder Horatius Bonar penned these words, “O love of God, How strong and true! Eternal and yet ever new, uncomprehended and unbought, beyond all knowledge and all thought. O love of God, how deep and great, far deeper than man’s deepest hate; self-fed, self-kindled like the light, changeless, eternal, infinite. We read Thee best in Him who came to bear for us the cross of shame; sent by the Father from on high, our life to live, our death to die.”

Compared to the love God has shown us, our profession of Christianity and love for each other can only ever be a superficial and shallow representation. We must have Christ’s love reflected in us in order to share the hope of salvation with the world.

The Vulnerability of Love

True godly love is vulnerable and is always seeking for restoration and reconciliation. Yet, through the words of the English poet Martin Tupper, it can be seen that in spite of its vulnerability, “Love is the weapon which Omnipotence reserved to conquer rebel man when all the rest had failed. … There is not one human in a million, nor a thousand men in all earth’s huge quintillion whose clay heart is hardened against love.” Even while suffering on the cross Jesus demonstrated his Godly love and forgiveness in His prayer to His Father asking Him to forgive those who had bitterly hurt Him. He never stopped loving. He was able to continue loving in the face of hostility and antagonism because the love which he possessed, and which we as Christians should possess, is not earthly nor human, but God’s divine love shining through us. Human love is conditional, but the love of God survives in the face of rejection and allows us to continue loving even those who hurt us. “Love is of God. The unconverted heart cannot originate nor produce this plant of heavenly growth, which lives and flourishes only where Christ reigns.” Testimonies, vol 2, 135.

It is easy, as Christians, to use the excuse of having been hurt so badly and so often and draw into ourselves and forget about people as a way of dealing with challenges, instead of taking the example of Christ. Did Jesus stop loving those who had hurt him? The apostle Paul answers, “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another.” Romans 13:8. He further counsels, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21. The Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Antonius said, “It is the duty of men to love even those who injure them.” The New Dictionary of Thought, 375. Through the example Jesus gave us through His life on earth, we are shown that all men are entitled to our love, even those who are not our friends and those who hurt us.

Christ’s Principles of Love

We can examine two important aspects of Christlike love from the perspective of Jesus’ life. He suffered the most painful and humiliating treatment that could be inflicted on a human, and in spite of it all He was able to love His tormenters. In the first place His love builds a wall that surrounds the soul, and secondly His love has a healing power.

When we let the wall of Christ’s love surround our soul, it protects us from human pain and gives us the power to love and forgive those who hurt us. Speaking of this divine love, the wise man declares, “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” Song of Solomon 2:4. From the pen of inspiration we read that, “The souls of those who love Jesus will be surrounded with a pure, fragrant atmosphere.” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, 34.

Ellen White also tells us, “The activity of Satan’s army, the danger that surrounds the human soul, calls for the energies of every worker. But no compulsion shall be exercised. Man’s depravity is to be met by the love, the patience, the long-suffering of God.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 237. The love of God which surrounds the soul forms a bulwark, a defense which neutralizes Satan’s negative elements that bombard the soul, thus allowing us to find peace in Christ. “Everyone who truly loves God will have the spirit of Christ and a fervent love for his brethren. The more a person’s heart is in communion with God, and the more his affections are centered in Christ, the less will he be disturbed by the roughness and hardships he meets in this life.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 483, 484. This was the love that Christ lived and demonstrated in His time on earth. His divine love preserves the soul through the storms and crises that may arise on our spiritual journey, giving us the strength to face negative people and situations. It surrounds the soul as a wall of protection against human pain and damage allowing us to love the offender and pray as Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34. When this divine principle is implemented in our lives, it is impossible to seek revenge because it is a love that neutralizes every ugly, evil, and satanic thing which threatens the soul. Ellen White tells us, “The heart in which love rules will not be filled with passion or revenge, by injuries which pride and self-love would deem unbearable.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 168, 169. When we learn to love as Christ loved, we are strengthened through Him and able to respond with love to those whose hurtful deeds attack us in the Devil’s attempt at discouragement.

Love’s healing power kept Christ in health of body, mind and spirit even though, “There was never one who walked among men more cruelly slandered than the Son of man. He was derided and mocked because of His unswerving obedience to the principles of God’s holy law. They hated Him without a cause. Yet He stood calmly before His enemies, declaring that reproach is a part of the Christian’s legacy, counseling His followers how to meet the arrows of malice, bidding them not to faint under persecution.

While slander may blacken the reputation, it cannot stain the character. That is in God’s keeping. So long as we do not consent to sin, there is no power, whether human or satanic, that can bring a stain upon the soul. A man whose heart is stayed upon God is just the same in the hour of his most afflicting trials and most discouraging surroundings as when he was in prosperity, when the light and favor of God seemed to be upon him. His words, his motives, his actions, may be misrepresented and falsified, but he does not mind it, because he has greater interests at stake. Like Moses, he endures as ‘seeing him who is invisible.’ ” Reflecting Christ, 366.

Divine love has the power to preserve and heal the one who possesses it, and this is how Christ was preserved in spite of all the hurt and rejection he sustained while on earth. He was daily vitalized by this plant of heavenly origin by being in constant connection with His Father—the source of true love. Ellen White says, “Only the love that flows from the heart of Christ can heal. Only he in whom that love flows, even as the sap in the tree or the blood in the body, can restore the wounded soul.

“Love’s agencies have wonderful power, for they are divine. The soft answer that ‘turneth away wrath,’ the love that ‘suffereth long, and is kind,’ the charity that ‘covereth a multitude of sins’ (Proverbs 15:1; I Corinthians 13:4, R.V.; I Peter 4:8, R.V.)—would we learn the lesson, with what power for healing would our lives be gifted! How life would be transformed, and the earth become a very likeness and foretaste of heaven!” Education, 114.

God shows us that as we connect ourselves to him through surrender to Jesus Christ, we are endowed with divine love—the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This divine principle preserves and heals us from the evils that encompass our soul, keeping us focused on His love, and in turn allowing us to love even our enemies. This love towards our enemies and those who have hurt us also provides healing for them in the way David says: “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Psalm 23:3. “The law of the Lord [is] perfect, converting the soul.” Psalm 19:7. “The word employed, (converting) Meshibah, (Psalm 19:7) is used of restoring from disorder and decay, from sorrow and affliction, from death. The Law, by instructing men, restores them from moral blindness to the light which is theirs by nature, and, as a further consequence, in many cases, restores them from sin to righteousness.” Pulpit Commentary, vol. 8, 129.

When asked which of the commandments was the greatest, the Savior clearly showed us that the foundation of the law is love, saying, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37–40. Jesus also states in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” In the keeping of the commandments we connect to a continual supply of the medicine of God’s divine love.

In the words of Ellen White, “When the gospel is received in its purity and power, it is a cure for the maladies that originated in sin. The Sun of Righteousness arises, ‘with healing in His wings.’ Malachi 4:2. Not all this world bestows can heal a broken heart, or impart peace of mind, or remove care, or banish disease. Fame, genius, talent—all are powerless to gladden the sorrowful heart or to restore the wasted life. The life of God in the soul is man’s only hope.

“The love which Christ diffuses through the whole being is a vitalizing power. Every vital part—the brain, the heart, the nerves—it touches with healing. By it the highest energies of the being are roused to activity. It frees the soul from the guilt and sorrow, the anxiety and care, that crush the life forces. With it come serenity and composure. It implants in the soul, joy that nothing earthly can destroy,—joy in the Holy Spirit,—health-giving, life-giving joy.” Ministry of Healing, 115. Christ was constantly healed by the power of God’s love and when we surrender fully and completely to him, we too will receive the vitalizing energy that can heal us from the buffeting of man and demons.

Love’s Forgiveness

The principle of forgiveness is embedded in divine love and is fully exemplified by God the Father and Jesus Christ. God made a covenant with humanity in order to forgive us—the offenders. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. This covenant of forgiveness is possible only through divine love. No human being can ever, or will ever, forgive another human being without having first experienced the love of God. If we have not fully surrendered to Christ in acceptance of the love He offers, we are not able to follow His example and forgive those who have hurt or offended us. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” John 13:34. Consequently, what we see displayed by the brethren in church, at home, and at work is love controlled by our human limits; a love that flourishes until one is hurt and then changes into resentment, anger and bitterness. Divine love is a wall that protects us from the toxic elements of sin so that they cannot harm the soul and makes forgiveness a joy and a delight. “Love is the fruit that is borne on the Christian tree, the fruit that is as the leaves of the tree of life for the healing of the nations.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 187.

This love protects the soul no matter how deep the wound, and prevents us from displaying unchristlike qualities. As human beings it is to be expected that we sometimes feel pain and sadness, yet by demonstrating the love of Christ through tribulation, we become divine agents for positive spiritual change in the lives of fellow human beings. The Holy Spirit supervises this process of transformation, thus establishing reconciliation between man and God, as well as between man and man.

A New Commandment

In His words to the disciples Jesus says to us, “A new commandment I give unto you.” John 13:34. “Why was this called ‘a new commandment’? The disciples had not loved one another as Christ had loved them. They had not yet seen the fullness of the love that He was to reveal in man’s behalf. They were yet to see Him dying on the cross for their sins. Through His life and death they were to receive a new conception of love. The command to ‘love one another’ was to gain a new meaning in the light of His self-sacrifice. In the light shining from the cross of Calvary they were to read the meaning of the words, ‘As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.’ ” The Review and Herald, June 30, 1910.

In conclusion we read the words of the disciple, John,

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” I John 4:7–12.

Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at: 718-822-3900.

Satan’s Seven Fear

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“Satan trembled as he viewed his work. He was alone in meditation upon the past, the present, and his future plans. His mighty frame shook as with a tempest. An angel from Heaven was passing. He called him, and entreated an interview with Christ. This was granted him. He then related to the Son of God that he repented of his rebellion, and wished again the favor of God. He was willing to take the place God had previously assigned him, and be under his wise command. Christ wept at Satan’s woe, but told him, as the mind of God, that he could never be received into Heaven.”

The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, 29

Multitudes believe they are acting out their own desires while they are really only following the promptings and ideas that Satan has given them and they are held captive by him. The apostle Paul instructs the servants of God how to offer them hope to breaking free. “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Timothy 2:25, 26).

Parents today are unwittingly killing their own children. The Bible says, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee” (Isaiah 49:15). The generation we live in today is one where, indeed, a mother will abandon her baby. Because of this can we not see that the Spirit of God is leaving this earth? People are not so easily impressed by the Spirit of God as in past times. We are living in perilous times.

Many people are captives of the enemy of souls. The Bible says that Jesus came not only to set the captives free but to preach the acceptable year of deliverance (Isaiah 61).

Under this idea of captivity, the following are seven fears that Satan has, as outlined in the Spirit of Prophecy.

  1. Satan fears that he will lose a captive

In the book, In Heavenly Places, three of Satan’s fears are revealed, but we will take them one by one.

“If Satan sees that he is in danger of losing one soul, he will exert himself to the utmost to keep that one. And when the individual is aroused to his danger, and, with distress and fervor, looks to Jesus for strength, Satan fears that he will lose a captive and he calls a reinforcement of his angels to hedge in the poor soul, and form a wall of darkness around him, that heaven’s light may not reach him.” Ibid., 253.

This is why prayer is so important—praying for family and for those who are despitefully using us. Many people are captive in their thoughts and speaking the words of Satan. We must pray that individuals receive gospel light.

There is a promise in Isaiah for those who are trusting in Jesus. In Isaiah 49:25 we are told: “Even the captives of the mighty [devil] shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.”

Continuing, In Heavenly Places, Ellen White wrote: “Around every tempted soul there are angels of God, ready to lift up the standard of righteousness, if the tempted one will only show a spirit of resistance to evil. Each may be an overcomer. Christ has in our behalf withstood the fiercest temptations of the enemy.” Ibid.

We can take courage that Jesus has power to deliver the captives. We must pray that heavenly light will be shed upon the captives so that they may make a decision for gospel truth. Pray that they may have the opportunity to hear evidences of the gospel that they may be free from the captivity of Satan.

  1. Satan fears the strength and power of Christ

“But if the one in danger perseveres, and in his helplessness casts himself upon the merits of the blood of Christ, our Saviour listens to the earnest prayer of faith, and sends a reinforcement of those angels that excel in strength to deliver him. Satan cannot endure to have his powerful rival appealed to, for he fears and trembles before His strength and majesty.” Ibid.

This does not say this person feels strong in himself, but in his helplessness he calls out for help to the One who has trod this path before us. The Bible tells us in James 2:19 that the devil fears and trembles at His power. “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Satan fears Christ—he is no match for the Godhead.

  1. Satan fears the sound of fervent prayer

“At the sound of fervent prayer, Satan’s whole host trembles. … And when angels, all-powerful, clothed with the armory of heaven, come to the help of the fainting, pursued soul, Satan and his host fall back. … The great Commander in heaven and earth has limited Satan’s power.” Ibid.

Satan knows that fervent prayer and the power of God can cause powerful angels to come in and protect those that fear the Lord. Oh, how we need that protection. Remember that when one angel came from heaven, the earth shook and the evil angels fell back. We can claim this power. In Acts 16:25, 26 it says, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.”

These men were tortured and chained but they were praying and singing praises “… and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” Satan’s power was checked.

The spiritual application here is that you can open the prison house through the medium of prayer and belief in God. Singing these praises will find that in these seasons of refreshing, we may be set free from the prison house. Paul and Silas, upon praying and singing, were released and they are able to go at liberty. The power of the Holy Spirit will come in and do the work petitioned for in prayer. Evil angels fall back because they are fearful at the sound of fervent prayer.

  1. Satan fears the name of Jesus

“We cannot save ourselves from the tempter’s power; he has conquered humanity, and when we try to stand in our own strength, we shall become a prey to his devices; but ‘the name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe’ (Proverbs 18:19).” The Desire of Ages, 131.

“Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name.” Christ Triumphant, 219.

Remember, the name of the Lord is not just the name Jesus, but it is the character of God. We must pray in the name of Jesus and in the character of Jesus. We must do His will. He says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not My will. Some do seemingly good things but do not have the character of or a relationship with Jesus. It is imperative that we have faith and works combined.

  1. Satan fears the messages spoken by faithful preachers

Mark 16:17, 18 NKJV states: “And these signs shall follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Paul was not harmed when bitten by a serpent because he was doing the will of God. In Bible lands serpents were everywhere and always a danger. The Bible says that Satan fears the name of Jesus. When the word is spoken by faithful preachers, Satan tries to corrupt them morally and socially so their messages will become ineffective.

  1. Satan is also fearful of the faithful preaching of the Word

“Satan trembles when the voice of God speaks through His instruments, giving cautions and warnings, and rebuking sin.” The Review and Herald, June 20, 1882. How often do we hear messages of warnings today? Satan does not want messages of caution and warnings to be preached.

“As the birds are ready to catch up the seed from the wayside, so Satan is ready to catch away the seeds of divine truth from the soul. He fears that the word of God may awaken the careless, and take effect upon the hardened heart. Satan and his angels are in the assemblies where the gospel is preached. While angels of heaven endeavor to impress hearts with the word of God, the enemy is on the alert to make the Word of no effect.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 44.

The dilemma of distraction makes the word of God of no effect. People are often seen text messaging in church or in the middle of a study or their phone will ring. Some will distract individuals as the word is going forth and possibly the word which that person may verily need falls on inattentive ears.

Just as in the days of Noah, the word was there, but the people were distracted—they were eating and drinking, and being merry. In the present day it is the distractions of Facebook, Amazon Prime, Instagram, or the like. As in the days of Noah, these things keep the mind thinking of evil continually, leaving no time to think about God’s word. The people were busy then and they are also busy now. The dilemma of distraction is one of Satan’s means of trying to turn away the attention of the one who is moved to seek the Saviour.

“With an earnestness equaled only by his malice, he tries to thwart the work of the Spirit of God. While Christ is drawing the soul by His love, Satan tries to turn away the attention of the one who is moved to seek the Saviour. He engages the mind with worldly schemes. He excites criticism, or insinuates doubt and unbelief. The speaker’s choice of language or his manner may not please the hearers, and they dwell upon these defects. Thus the truth they need, and which God has graciously sent them, makes no lasting impression.” Ibid., 44, 45.

  1. Satan fears the true work of repentance, of revival and reformation among Seventh-day Adventists

The book The Great Controversy, must be distributed. We have been counseled to distribute this book widely so that people would understand the events coming upon the world. Unfortunately, it has been condensed into a booklet called The Great Hope. Every reference to the man of sin being the pope has been removed. Every reference to the reformers is gone. Every identifying mark of the beast has been removed. Every idea of the Sunday laws has been removed. All these identifying marks have been expunged, and this is called “the great hope!”

Has not the sin and the widening gap of apostasy become even greater under this error of revival and reformation? Satan loves a counterfeit. Even under the guise of revival and reformation, Satan can be working stealthily to cause us to compromise the preaching of the gospel and allow him to pluck away the power and impressions of the Holy Spirit that rest upon our heart. To allow even the idea of asking God for repentance, asking God to create in us a clean heart, seems a thing of the past. It seems like people do not want to do this anymore. Why? Because they would be out of harmony with the world and with the church.

To be in harmony with God in these days, whether you be old or young, would put you out of harmony with the world and, often, the church as well.

“There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 124.

Brothers and sisters, be careful of these calls to pray for the latter rain and for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, when there is no message for repentance. What power will answer the prayer for spiritual power when there is no call for repentance? Only Satan can answer that kind of prayer. And according to the book, Early Writings, 50, he will most certainly come if we do not understand the true work of repentance and enter into the Most Holy Place experience. If we do not understand that and we are asking for grace and power, even the Spirit of God, Satan will come and answer that prayer with all types of deceptions.

We have lost sight of the true gospel because the faithful ministers have become few. It is hard to find individuals who are preaching the straight truth that would save a soul. What would happen if people start reading the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy? “There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 124.

But if those hindrances are hidden, and we are preaching peace and safety, and there is no idea how to identify those hindrances and no call to remove them, then Satan has nothing to fear … absolutely nothing.

She continues: “If Satan had his way, there would never be another awakening, great or small, to the end of time. But we are not ignorant of his devices. It is possible to resist his power. When the way is prepared for the Spirit of God, the blessing will come.” Ibid.

What others do is not the issue, but only what we are doing. If we ask God for power, if we come to Him and ask for grace, He will send all of heaven to help us, to strengthen us, to give us the means, not only to preach the gospel but to make it so that the whole world can hear.

God can use those who pray and ask God for grace that there may be some type of revival and so it can be done in His name.

“Satan can no more hinder a shower of blessing from descending upon God’s people than he can close the windows of heaven that rain cannot come upon the earth. Wicked men and devils cannot hinder the work of God, or shut out His presence from the assemblies of His people, if they will, with subdued, contrite hearts, confess and put away their sins, and in faith claim His promises. Every temptation, every opposing influence, whether open or secret, may be successfully resisted, ‘not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts’ (Zechariah 4:6).” Ibid.

There is nothing Satan fears more than that we would, through faithful preachers and faithful preaching, through trusting in the name of Jesus and His mighty power, be removed from his captivity. He trembles at the thought that we be revived and reformed, not by shielding ourselves and putting up walls against repentance, but understanding the true work of repentance and reformation, so that we don’t see the reforms of the church as legalism, but as a manifestation of the love of God. We will not look at the law of God, the Ten Commandments as a burden but as a love letter, a letter of strength and assurance to us. We want to be kept unspotted from the world. We cannot do this by our own power but only through His grace. God said, “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2). He says you will not have any other god but Me. You will not lie or steal and you will keep my Sabbath day (verses 3, 16, 15, 8–11). All of these things then become promises of victory.

What if we don’t see our true condition and the need of prayer? What if we don’t recognize through our Laodicean blindness the promises of God available to strengthen us on one side or show us our true condition on the other? If we pray that our eyes be opened to have a deeper understanding of our true need, and pray to understand the truth and avoid the moral darkness that surrounds us and the evil that presses in around the world and the church members, we would have the victory that Satan is so fearful that we may gain.

We need to be a group of people who come together and pray for more grace and for more power as we see the day approaching.

Do you see your need? Do you see the power that is available over Satan and how ready God is to send angels and His Spirit and faithful ministers to help us understand His Word?

God, in His great mercy for us and through His understanding of our great need, has given us the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. What shall we do with these things, especially as we see the day of His coming approaching?

 John Cofer was a speaker at the Steps to Life camp meeting in 2013. He continues to serve in the Lord’s vineyard through his ministry, The Gospel of Truth (www.gospeloftruth.org).

The Wedding Garment

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When God looks at the Laodicean church of Revelation 3:15–18, He sees a people who are neither cold nor hot; they think they are rich and in need of nothing, but they make God sick. In fact, so much so that He will spue them out of His mouth. Their condition appears appalling but there is still hope for them if they buy “gold tried in the fire” and anoint their “eyes with eyesalve, that they may see” their need.

We are encouraged when we read in Revelation 19:7–9 that there is a small company within the Laodicean church who have heeded this counsel and availed themselves of the righteousness of Christ. It says, “and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints: And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

Every normal individual wants to wear good apparel to cover his or her body in a manner that is representative of Christian standards of morality. No Christian in his right mind would want to appear before God improperly dressed. Yet some are totally unaware of their wretched appearance and so blind that they are actually unaware that they are naked.

How could this be? God’s last day servant tells us how such a thing could take place. “The knowledge of our state as God views it, seems to be hidden from us. We see, but perceive not, we hear, but do not understand; and we rest as unconcerned as if the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, rested upon our sanctuary. We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be governed.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 84.

Christ advises us to take certain steps that will place upon us the proper clothing that will cover our nakedness. The problem is we do not see for we are blind because we have not surrendered our will to the Saviour. The fact is Christ does not live within the life. Such individuals do not possess His perfect character which He developed while on earth as a human being and which He offers to us as a free gift.

Our condition as God sees it is hidden from us so that we perceive it not. We hear His voice describing our condition, but we do not understand. Many are naked of God’s garments. They want God’s way but they want it their way. “When Adam and Eve sinned the covering of light, God’s clothing, disappeared. Perceiving they were naked they tried to fashion clothing for themselves from fig leaves and this is what the transgressor of God’s law has done ever since this time. They have worn the garments of their own devising, by works of their own they have tried to cover their sins, and make themselves acceptable with God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 311. God cannot accept us if we wear our own clothing, for our clothing reveals our nakedness. Without the divine clothing that God has provided for us, He cannot save us, for we are spiritually unclothed.

This is exactly why God could not save the Jewish nation when Jesus lived here on earth among them. “It was this that proved the ruin of the Jews, and it will prove the ruin of many souls in our own day. Thousands are making the same mistake as did the Pharisees whom Christ reproved at Matthew’s feast. Rather than give up some cherished idea, or discard some idol of opinion, many refuse the truth which comes down from the Father of light. They trust in self, and depend upon their own wisdom, and do not realize their spiritual poverty. They insist on being saved in some way by which they may perform some important work. When they see that there is no way of weaving self into the work, they reject the salvation provided.” The Desire of Ages, 280.

This is why God has declared of Laodicea that they are wretched, miserable, poor, and blind, and naked because they are following man’s divisive teachings instead of being clothed in obedience to God’s word.

God’s Clothing

Now it’s time for some vital questions. What is God’s clothing? How do we put it on and keep it clean? These questions must be answered, for we are about to enter the new earth and no one will go there if they are naked in God’s sight.

The clothing which is designed by God is spoken of as the robe of Christ’s righteousness, but many have overlooked the fact that Christ’s righteousness consists of two parts. One, the robe of Christ’s imputed righteousness, and the other, the wedding garment of imparted righteousness. Both garments must be worn to be acceptable in God’s sight and approved for heaven and some day sit with Christ on His throne.

This lovely gift from Christ when placed upon us provides us with forgiveness and justification before God because we are now covered with Christ’s righteousness, not our own righteousness which is but filthy rags. As we examine the fabric of this garment we find it to be imputed, meaning to be attributed vicariously. This simply means that the condition of the sinner is now assumed by another, which Christ called a born-again experience, for when we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness, we can then stand before God justified as though we had never sinned. This condition gives us a legal right to possess heaven because it legally satisfies the requirements of God’s eternal law.

Once the filthy garment has been exchanged for Christ’s robe of righteousness in the sinner’s life, he is now in a position to put on the second article, which is called the wedding garment. This is also a gift from Christ to the forgiven sinner and it is imparted to sanctify, to make holy, the person’s character. This is clearly explained in the chapters of Christ’s Object Lessons, beginning on page 307. Here we told that the article of clothing is called a garment, the robe of heaven, and as you examine the texture, it is referred to by Ellen White as our character. “It is in this life that we are to put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness. This is our only opportunity to form characters for the home which Christ has made ready for those who obey His commandments.” Ibid., 319. The moment we put this garment on we begin the sanctification process, which, if consistently followed daily by faith in Christ we shall be recognized in God’s sight as perfect, making us fit to live in heaven with Him.

Perhaps you have never thought of Christ’s righteousness as two separate garments, but note how Inspiration indicates that there are two garments, for it is always referred to as being in the plural. “He is waiting to strip them of their garments stained and polluted with sin, and to put upon them the white robes [plural] of righteousness.” Steps to Christ, 53.

“Only those who are clothed in the garments [that’s plural again] of His righteousness will be able to endure the glory of His presence when He shall appear with ‘power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30).” The Review and Herald, July 9, 1908. So in comparing the robe of light which surrounded the first sinless parents to the garments we must put on, Ellen White has stated in Christ’s Object Lessons, 310, “The robe of light was a symbol of their spiritual garments.”

Again speaking of Christ’s willingness to clothe the repentant sinner, we read in The Great Controversy, 415: “Christ could stoop to raise unnumbered multitudes from the abyss of ruin and clothe them with the spotless garments [plural] of His own righteousness.”

“Clothed in the glorious apparel of Christ’s righteousness, they have a place at the King’s feast. They have a right to join the blood-washed throng.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 315.

Did you catch that phrase apparel of Christ’s righteousness? Since Christ’s righteousness involves two garments we should be very careful to be sure that we are clothed with both garments, because He is coming soon and unexpectedly, and we must be appropriately attired to rise in glory with Him.

In Revelation 16:15 He tells us, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments [plural], lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Plainly is seen that the righteous garments which Christ provides are 1) the robe of justification which is imputed to the repentant sinner and, 2) the wedding garment of sanctification imparted to those forgiven and justified and willing to cooperate with Christ in the development of a Christ-like character.

“Righteousness within is testified to by righteousness without. He who is righteous within is not hard-hearted and unsympathetic, but day by day he grows into the image of Christ, going on from strength to strength. He who is being sanctified by the truth will be self-controlled, and will follow in the footsteps of Christ until grace is lost in glory.” The Review and Herald, June 4, 1895.

In clear words we are told: “The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven.” Ibid.

Oh what precious gifts God has made available to us, especially to those longing to be saved. We should be proclaiming this message of Christ’s righteousness and justification and sanctification everywhere we go, for this is indeed the third angel’s message.

“All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 92.

Christ’s righteousness, both justification and sanctification, are the clothing necessary to be worn by a candidate for heaven. This is God’s prescription for naked Laodicea and it is a prescription to be taken by the individual.

“The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved in groups. … He will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth. Everyone must be tested and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” The Great Controversy, 490.

Now when God says Laodicea, He means you and me, for we are the church. Let us carefully consider our individual spiritual condition, for the scriptures tell us that the majority within the church are unaware of their personal condition. Remember, we have all sinned. We must never forget what happened to our first parents who sinned.

“When sin entered, they [Adam and Eve] severed their connection with God, and the light that had encircled them departed. Naked and ashamed, they tried to supply the place of the heavenly garments by sewing together fig leaves for a covering.

“This is what the transgressors of God’s law have done ever since the day of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. … They have worn the garments of their own devising, by works of their own they have tried to cover their sins, and make themselves acceptable to God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 311.

God is permitting the shaking which is now taking place within the church to awaken the sleepers to their nakedness so that they put on the clothing that God is anxious to provide to enable them to stand before our God, fully clothed in the righteousness of Christ, justified and preparing unto perfection by the sanctification process. We are to be arrayed in the garments of heaven: “… in the fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Revelation 19:8).

There is no doubt that most everyone reading these words has experienced the effects of wearing the first garment where you have repented of your sins and have been forgiven and by faith, believed in Jesus Christ who has justified you before His Father as though you have never sinned. So there’s no doubting that you have received the imputed righteousness of Christ because you accepted Christ as your personal Savior. But what about this second garment which has to do with our character?

“It is the righteousness of Christ, His own unblemished character, that through faith is imparted [meaning, given] to all who receive Him as their personal Saviour.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 310. This imparted gift will transform our character, making our character Christ-like.

“Righteousness is holiness, likeness to God, and ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:16). It is conformity to the law of God, for ‘all Thy commandments are righteousness’ (Psalm 119:172), and ‘love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Romans 13:10). Righteousness is love, and love is the light and life of God. The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving Him.

“Not by painful struggles or wearisome toil, not by gift or sacrifice, is righteousness obtained; but it is freely given to every soul who hungers and thirsts to receive it. ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy, and eat, … without money and without price.’ ‘Their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord,’ and ‘This is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness’ (Isaiah 55:1; 54:17; Jeremiah 23:6).” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 18.

Character has to do with our moral constitution, our peculiarities, our qualities. If Christ is to conform our character to His character, we must therefore partake of His divine nature. In Selected Messages, Book 1, 374, it says, “In order that we may have the righteousness of Christ, we need daily to be transformed by the influence of the Spirit, to be a partaker of the divine nature.” And why is it so important to be a partaker of divine nature? Because by this power we can gain the victory over every sin.

“He [Christ] makes an end of the controlling power of sin in the heart, … for it is necessary that every believer should be delivered from pollution, as well as from the curse and condemnation of the law. … for Christ works within us, and His righteousness is upon us.” Ibid., 395.

Then these words: “Without this no soul will be entitled to heaven.” Ibid.

That should cause us to think. So the wedding garment when worn gives us Christ’s character and this means victory over every sin. This is why we must bring our character into conformity to Christ’s character so we can stop sinning before He comes. Sanctification is a gift of God to each one who will cooperate with Him. His character is to become our character. Without this garment no one will be fitted for heaven. So I ask you sincerely, are we permitting Christ to impart His pure, spotless character, His divine nature, to us?

Consider how sanctification is tailored to fit the individual. First, it is God’s gift. It is free for the asking. Secondly, it requires a hard, stern battle with self every day, through and by the grace of God. “Christ has given us no assurance that to attain perfection of character is an easy matter. A noble, all-around character is not inherited. It does not come to us by accident. A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; we form the character. It is formed by hard, stern battles with self. Conflict after conflict must be waged against hereditary tendencies. We shall have to examine ourselves closely, and allow not one unfavorable trait to remain uncorrected.

“Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character. If you come to this decision, you will certainly fail of obtaining everlasting life. The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you can not overcome. The real difficulty arises from the corruption of an unsanctified heart, and an unwillingness to submit to the control of God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 331.

We have a perfect right to the imputed righteousness. This garment of justification gives us a title to possess heaven, but in order to possess heaven we must also have a fitness for heaven, which is sanctification.

This is the difference between the Seventh-day Adventist church and all other Protestant churches. The other churches claim to have received the imputed righteousness, that is, they accepted Jesus. Therefore they are forgiven and they are justified. They’ve only put on the first garment. But the Laodicean church of Christ is to put on both garments. Not only are we to have a title to heaven, having received forgiveness and justification, but we are to put on a wedding garment tailored to each individual so that our humanity can be combined with divinity. Are you grasping this mighty wonder? For as it was experienced by Christ, so it may happen to you.

“Christ’s humanity was united with divinity, and in this strength He would bear all temptations that Satan could bring against Him, and yet keep His soul untainted by sin. And this power to overcome He would give to every son and daughter of Adam who would accept by faith the righteous attributes of His character.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 223.

Praise God! Can we comprehend such a gift? God giving us power, the same power He gave to His Son? We too can then live above sin if we will permit the sanctification process to develop within us a Christ-like character. When the imputed righteousness of Christ is received by the repentant sinner it is then possible for Christ to impart through the Holy Spirit His pure spotless character to the believer, thus placing the wedding garment upon Him. So it is that we become partakers of the divine nature which enables us to overcome just as Christ overcame, having developed a perfect Christ-like fitness for heaven.

But the problem of Laodicea is an alarming problem, for so many seem to be content with only the robe of forgiveness and justification, giving them a title to heaven. But friend, a title to heaven is worthless until we take possession of heaven, which involves obtaining a fitness for heaven, an experience gained only through the sanctification process. We all agree we have been born with a sinful nature, but given the wedding garment tailored to our perfection by divine nature, we can possess a power to overcome as Christ overcame.

Here’s where new theology and the truth differ. The new theology would have you believe that because you inherited a sinful nature you are going to sin till Jesus comes. This is a most dangerous and damnable teaching that is being promoted by the devil himself, but God gives us both the imputed and the imparted gift of righteousness so that the following statement can be fulfilled in our lives: “The obedience that Christ rendered God requires from human beings today.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 282.

Since His power of divinity is to be ours, a few words of caution are now in order.

“Let not God be dishonored by the declaration from human lips, ‘I am sinless; I am holy.’ Sanctified lips will never give utterance to such presumptuous words.” The Acts of the Apostles, 561.

“If we do not progress, if we do not place ourselves in an attitude to receive both the former and the latter rain, we shall lose our souls.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 306.

“The ripening of the grain represents the completion of the work of God’s grace in the soul. By the power of the Holy Spirit the moral image of God is to be perfected in the character. We are to be wholly transformed to the likeness of Christ.” Ibid., 506.

But, “Unless the early showers have done their work, the latter rain can bring no seed to perfection.” Ibid.

“As we seek God for the Holy Spirit, it will work in us meekness, humbleness of mind, a conscious dependence upon God for the perfecting latter rain.” The Faith I Live By, 334.

You see, the seeds of grain must have received the former rain to germinate and continue to mature. They must be watered by the latter rain until the characters are perfected in Christ’s likeness. It is encouraging to learn from Steps to Christ that such growth in Christ is as effortless and natural as the growth of flowers (see the chapter “Growing Up Into Christ”).

“Let no one despair of gaining the victory. Victory is sure when self is surrendered to God.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1095.

That tells me that I can do it and that you can do it. But we must depend on God and not on man’s word, for we must have heaven’s robes upon us to cover our nakedness.

“The Scriptures plainly show that the work of sanctification is progressive. When in conversion the sinner finds peace with God through the blood of the atonement, the Christian life has but just begun. Now he is to ‘go on unto perfection’ (Hebrews 6:1).” The Great Controversy, 470. Therefore, let us recognize that God has placed both justification and sanctification in their proper order. Both are of faith and both are necessary in God’s plan for saving man. Remember, the nakedness found in Laodicea is largely because of an improper understanding of justification and sanctification. The vast majority are satisfied with forgiveness and justification only. They feel no need of sanctification, of developing Christ-like characters.

May God help each of us to lay hold on and to put on the robes of justification and sanctification, for we cannot continue to hold on to one sin and be saved. Our commitment must be inclusive, absolute, and complete.

[All emphasis supplied.]

For more than fifty years, Lawrence Nelson served the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a church pastor, evangelist, and then in Conference, Union, and General Conference leadership. When God laid upon him the responsibility to “tell it like it is” to alert the people how the church was leading them into the worldwide ecumenical movement, he was forbidden to preach in any church within the Oregon Conference. Elder Nelson passed to his rest on April 18, 2012.