Daily Living

The Consecrated Way – Part VII (Charity)

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Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” 2 Peter 1:5–7. The margin of many Bibles, tells us that the word meaning love is translated as charity.

We have been climbing Peter’s ladder, and we find ourselves now at the top rung. Some of the rungs along the way can be kind of slippery, we have found. They are evasive; we just cannot quite get a hold on them. But through perseverance to which God has called us, we can climb the ladder.

There are seven rungs in Peter’s ladder. With the ladder resting on the foundation of faith, we lift our foot up to the first rung of virtue,
and we begin to climb. This is not a casual climb. Jesus calls it the narrow way, which means that it is uphill; it is a difficult climb.

Although Peter’s ladder is a narrow ladder, not a broad ladder, it has a sure destination. When we reach the final rung in the ladder, we, with God’s help, have completed the climb to perfection.

Agape

Charity, the word that is translated here, is from the word agape. In the seventies and sixties, we heard a lot about agape almost to excess. It was almost to the point that people, when they heard the word agape, would shy away from it; they did not want to hear any more about agape. Even though we may feel burned out, it is something that we need to hear. It is essential for us. The word agape used in the New Testament reveals the different attitudes of God—the attitude toward His Son, His attitude toward the human race generally, and His attitude toward those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ particularly.

The word is also used to convey His will to His children concerning their attitude toward one another. Charity or love is an abstract, and the only way that we can define such a term is in the way it is performed or acted out. It is an emotion, and an emotion cannot be defined except as expression is given to it. Once it is expressed, then we can identify it.

Defined in Actions

1 Corinthians 13 tries to define agape. It gives a lot of illustrations concerning it, because it is only as it is acted out that we really understand this word charity or love. God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son. But this act of love is not the result of complacency or affection. It is not drawn out by any favoritism. It is an exercise of the divine will in a deliberate choice.

I do not believe for a moment that God enjoyed giving His Son to die. It was a deliberate choice, because there was a need. Love rises above the emotional feeling of making a decision based upon whether we like something or not. It is a matter of getting above that, seeing the need, and then making the choice to supply that need.

That is where God is. God rose above what He would have preferred, because He saw a need. When Jesus was here on this earth, He gave to us a perfect example of this kind of love. We still stand in awe wondering how it can be fulfilled in us. “Love your enemies,” Jesus instructed. (See Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35.) “No, Lord, I am not going to love my enemies. I hate them; I cannot stand them.” That is why they are enemies. Jesus loved His enemies.

Do good to those who despitefully use you. (See Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:28.) What was it that prompted Jesus to do good to those who despitefully used Him? Agape love. A deliberate choice, a choice that raised Him above every level of every other human being that ever walked the face of the earth. Jesus was never beholden to who He was humanly. He was beholden to what was right and true. If He had been beholden to who He was, He was a Jew. And Jews had a culture that did not like other people, especially the Gentiles. They hated them. Jesus rose above that and made deliberate choices contrary to every cultural line that ever existed. He displayed love to them in how He treated them and what He did for them.

He demonstrated the reality of i Corinthians 13. We wonder how such platitudes can ever be fulfilled in our lives. Can they? Absolutely, they can! “Love is patient, love is kind, [and] is not jealous; love does not brag [and] is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong [suffered], does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails . . . .”

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 NASB.

View From the Top

God’s law is love. (See Romans 13:8, 10.) God’s law will never fail and crumble, but the law of God will stand forever. Why? Because it is based on agape love. As we have been climbing the ladder of Christian character development, we find love is at the top. From the vantage point of the top rung, we are able to see from a heavenly viewpoint, if you please.

Did you ever place a ladder on the side of a building and start climbing it to try to see what is beyond? All you can see, as you are climbing, is the wall that you are climbing against. Your view is hindered; you are not able to see. But when you reach the top, then you are able to look around with a view and a vision that you cannot see as you are climbing.

This is what God wants for us. He wants us to climb the ladder. He wants us to always look up as we are climbing, not down. It is said that if you look down while you are climbing, you will get scared. Always look up! Once you reach the heavenly perspective of God’s love and you begin to see everything in that light, your life will be changed forever.

It is from this viewpoint that things concerning Christianity really begin to come into focus, because now we are able to see, not from our viewpoint, but from God’s viewpoint. We have been hindered all along the climb, because we have tried to see things from our viewpoint but never from God’s viewpoint. That is why we have the difficulties and the problems and the strifes and the troubles that we do, because we have never looked from God’s viewpoint.

Powerful Force

Love is the greatest and most powerful force in all the world. When all else fails, love will win, for God is love. (See 1 John 4:8, 16.) I want to share with you a quotation from The Acts of the Apostles that brings into focus where God would have us to be as a church: “The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men.” Ibid., 9.

Now how is that going to work? Is it going to work because we have the best mechanics, the best organization, the best logistical set-up so that programs and plans can be executed to get out the word? All those things are necessary, of course, but they are subservient to something else.

Mrs. White continues: “It [the church] was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory.” Ibid. Who are the members of the church? That is us! We may not have our names on a book, but if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we are a member of His church.

Is the picture coming into focus at all yet? I hope so. “The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to ‘the principalities and powers in heavenly places,’ the final and full display of the love of God. Ephesians 3:10.” Ibid.

God has a plan for every one of us. He wants each one of us to display to “‘the principalities and powers in heavenly places,’ the final and full display of the love of God.” He wants you to climb that ladder to the top rung, to step up on that rung, and to look and see what is out there. Then reveal the great, grand, glorious plan of God that has been interrupted by this reign of sin. God wants us to have a part in that.

Stand in Amazement

A father took his son up to the top of a high hill one day, trying to teach his son to appreciate the great, grand creation that God had created. He told his little son to look to the east, to the west, to the north and to the south as far as his eyes could see. Then he said to him, “Son, as far as you can see, that is as far as the love of God.”

The little boy, after gazing off into the distance in each direction, replied to his father, “Daddy, if God’s love is to the east and to the west and to the north and to the south as far as we can see, then we must be standing right in the middle of it!”

How true it is. There is no better place than to be right in the middle of God’s love. For that to happen, we have to know, to appreciate, and to want His love to be a part of our lives. Man hates; God loves. Man wounds, but God heals. Man destroys, but God builds up. His love is different; it is a love that we really do not deserve. That is why John tells us in 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love . . . .”

This word, behold, means to stand in amazement, in awe. There was no one who could stand more in amazement of the love of God than John, as he was known as a son of thunder, one who was a rabble-rouser. When that revelation of love came to John, he dropped everything and followed Jesus. He followed so completely that the night of the last supper he laid his head on Jesus’ breast. He was called The Beloved.

John knew what that love was all about. He took his responsibility very seriously and tried to convey that love when things began to unravel and fray within the church of God because they were living too worldly. Some had climbed the ladder a few rungs and decided that it required too much effort, or they were fearful of heights, so they came back down. They began to scrap around with one another, to entertain all kinds of false theologies.

John also wrote John 3:16: “God so loved the world . . . .” God did not consider Himself. God did not consider what it would cost Him. “God so loved.” As human beings we consider each issue as to whether or not it is going to cost us something.

We ask what the cost will be to us if we get involved—time, energy, emotion? If it is a drain, then we may not be interested. Let me tell you something. It was a drain on heaven for Jesus to come and to take human form. But God did not let that stop Him, because the principle of His love was so far above ours. He saw a need. He made a choice. In order to experience the fullness of God, we must experience in our own hearts His great love—the love that is as broad as the earth; the love that completely encircles the world; the love that reaches the lowest sinner.

The devil loves to remind us of our past. He loves to bring it up and to haunt us with it to the point of despair, so that we feel there is no hope for us, that God’s love is not enough to save us for the kingdom of heaven. We may think we have gone too far; we have done too much; we have been too bad, or that God’s love, centered in righteousness, cannot include us.

All God wants is for us to experience His wonderful love in our hearts. It has such a transforming power that it can change us, and it can bury our past. That is God’s desires for a people who will give the final display to the principalities and powers.

Think no Evil

“If we keep uppermost in our minds the unkind and unjust acts of others we shall find it impossible to love them as Christ has loved us; but if our thoughts dwell upon the wondrous love and pity of Christ for us, the same spirit will flow out to others. We should love and respect one another, notwithstanding the faults and imperfections that we cannot help seeing.” Steps to Christ, 121.

Do you have imperfections? I do. But by God’s grace, I am climbing the ladder. I would hope that in my own experience, as I am climbing Peter’s ladder, that I do not look at you and see only your imperfections. What God commands me to see in you is perfection through Christ.

There have been multitudes of people who have stopped climbing, after they have started up the ladder with Christ, because someone was there to point out their faults to them. Do you think that they were not aware of their faults? Oh, let me tell you, a lot of folks wear their faults on their sleeve, and they are very sensitive to their own character imperfections. They do not need to be reminded. What they need to be is encouraged.

That is what God’s love does for us. It encourages us so that we can help others to rise above those principalities and powers that are trying to draw them down. If we are reading 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, this is going to happen in our experience. It says in verse 5 that love thinks no evil.

Christ-like love places the most favorable construction on the motives and acts of others. That is what God’s love does for us. That will be our experience when we reach the top rung of the ladder. God’s love places us in the most favorable position possible before the entire universe.

Our sins God could hold up before the universe like laundry on a line, but the blood of Jesus washes our sins away, and the universe does not see them. What they see is what Jesus has done for us. They see His righteousness, His perfection. And so the love of God when it is truly operating in our hearts, is going to place everything in its most favorable position.

Love does not expose a person’s faults needlessly. Love does not listen eagerly to an unfavorable report, but rather tries to bring to mind the good qualities of others. And this is the attitude in the heart and mind of the Christian, which will usher him into and through the gates into the kingdom of heaven.

Perfection of Love

Who is greater than God? Nobody, no thing, nothing. This is because God is the ultimate in perfection of love. As we climb the ladder, claiming the divine promises, we become partakers of the divine nature. And the divine nature is a nature that always extends the hand of forgiveness. It erases all evil thoughts that we might have against our fellowmen.

God’s love will silence every gun that roars in war. It will cause us to pray, “Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” Love has the ability to stop quarrels in the church and in the home. By God’s grace, those in contention are shown what God’s plan is and are told about His love, so their hatred may be turned to love.

It is not something that is human. It is human to hate. It is godly to love. Our sins killed Jesus. And from a human standpoint, humanly speaking, we would hate the one who destroyed our offspring. But not so with God. “God so loved . . . that he gave,” that we might be redeemed.

Gift of Love

In the days of Cromwell (1599–1658 a.d.), a soldier was condemned to be executed. The time for his execution was set to take place when the evening curfew bell was rung. The soldier was engaged to be married to a beautiful, young lady. She went to Cromwell to plead for the life of the one that she loved more than anything else. But her words were in vain. So she went to the judge who had sentenced him, only to find the same, cold response.

The preparations were made for the execution to be carried out when the evening bell tolled. Everyone waited expectantly to hear the clang. The bell ringer, who was old and deaf, that evening made his way to the bell tower and grabbed the rope in his hand to toll the bell. As he pulled on the rope, there was no sound, but being deaf, he did not know. So he continued pulling the rope as he did each evening.

You see, the young lady had climbed the belfry stairs before the old man arrived, caught the clapper of the big bell in her hands, and held on, at the risk of her own life, as he pulled the rope. And so the bell did not ring.

When the young lady came down from the tower, wounded and bleeding, Cromwell was standing there demanding to know why the bell had not rung. She stepped forward and told her story again. She showed him her hands, bruised and torn; her sweet young face haggard with the pain and anguish. Cromwell was overwhelmed with a sense of pity, and his eyes moistened. He said to her, “Go, your lover lives. Curfew shall not ring tonight.”

Dear friends, when we were condemned to die, Christ’s great love compelled Him to intervene on our behalf. The Bible says “He [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: . . . and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5. All heaven now expects each one of us, when we behold this wonderful love, to respond to it with all our heart. God’s love, as it is revealed in His Son, will be found in the lives of His followers. They will do as He has done. They will follow His example, because He has made it all possible. Do not ever say that you cannot do it. Christ’s death on Calvary assures you that you can.

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 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. Wherefore 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.” 2 Peter 1:4–12.

Praise and Thanksgiving

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How important is it to give praise and thanksgiving to God? God required all Israel to gather together three times each year. (See Exodus 23:14–16.) The very essence and purpose of these gatherings was praise and thanksgiving for what God had done for them and for what He had promised to do for them in the future.

They were to remember all the good blessings that God had bestowed upon them in the past. It is a good thing for us to remember the goodness of God in our lives, too.

Ellen White wrote, “In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what the Lord has wrought, I am filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” Life’s Sketches of Ellen G. White, 196. Brothers and sisters, I would suggest to you that we have everything to fear if we forget—not only what God has done for us as a people, but also what God has done for us individually.

Again I ask, How important is thanksgiving and praise in the Christian life? We see a hint of its importance in this statement. Paul, in Colossians 2:6, 7, says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Receive Christ by Faith

There are three parts to these two verses. First it is very important, for our Christian experience, that we walk in the same manner as we receive Christ. How do we receive Christ?

In Romans 5:1, 2, we find how an individual receives Christ: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

We receive Him by faith; we are to walk then by faith. Paul says that we are to walk by faith and not by sight—not by our senses, not by our feelings, not by our own understanding, but by faith. (See 2 Corinthians 5:7.) We are also told that, “Faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. That is where our faith is to be anchored.

Obedience Establishes Faith

So first we receive Christ by faith, trusting His Word, and we are to walk even as we received Him. But then Colossians 2:7 continues: “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith.” How do you become “stablished in the faith”? How does your faith become established in God’s Word?

Jesus gives the parable of the man who built his house on the rock versus the man who built his house on sand in Luke 6. Notice verses 46–48:

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”

How are we established in the faith? By doing what God says. That is how, Jesus says, we are going to have a faith that is established on a rock. As Paul puts it, we are going to be “rooted and built up in him and stablished in the faith.” That happens when we choose to obey God. So we have faith that receives Christ. We have faith that walks with Christ. Obedience establishes the experience of faith.

Abound with Thanksgiving

Now we are going to see how important thanksgiving and praise are in the Christian life. Paul says, in Colossians 2:7, “abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Paul has just outlined three steps in the Christian experience.

We receive Christ by faith; we become established in Him by obedience, and we abound in that experience by thanksgiving. The word used here, abound, in the original Greek means super abound. The same word is used by Jesus in John 10:10: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.”

God wants to give us a more abundant experience in faith and obedience in Him. Such an experience will only come by way of thanksgiving. It will only come as we open the channel of our hearts and praise the God who is saving us from our sins. God wants us to super abound—not only in quantity but in quality of experience.

Thanksgiving and praise will give those fine aspects to our Christian experience. They will give us a quality experience, not just a religious experience. Faith receives Christ Jesus. Obedience establishes us in that faith with Him. Thanksgiving and praise increase that experience.

Again I ask the question, How important in the Christian life is thanksgiving and praise? How important is it to be thankful to God not only with our lips but with our hearts—not occasionally, but all the time?

Thankfulness Precedes Holiness

“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.” 2 Timothy 3:1, 2. Notice that the unholy attribute is preceded by the unthankful attribute.

We see that perilous times have come upon the earth, and we know that it is going to get worse in the world. But it can get better in our hearts if we have thanksgiving, if we have faith, if we have obedience.

What is the end result of a professed Christian who is not thankful to God from his/her heart? They are unholy in the sight of God, and that will lead to being satisfied with a form that denies the power. (Verse 5.)

We can deduce that if we can be unholy by being unthankful, then we can become holy by being thankful, with the addition of faith and obedience. Faith, faith that is linked with obedience that is linked with thankfulness, equates to holiness. We can also deduce that a faith that produces only external obedience, exempt of thankfulness, equals a form without the power and produces an unholy people. What does God mean when He talks about unholy versus holy? He is talking about incomplete versus complete. Holiness is wholeness for God. Unholiness would be a compromise with God.

God Commands Thankfulness

Thanksgiving is so important in the Christian life that God even commands thankfulness: “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. It is a part of God’s will for your life just as much as any part of God’s law is His will for your life. He wants us to give thanks in everything that is good, everything that falls into the context of Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.”

God wants us to learn to be thankful, thankful for the good things that He sends to us and to be constantly mindful of those things. And Paul said we would abound in our experience of faith and our obedience would super abound if we have the ingredients of thanksgiving and praise.

God wants us to give praise and thanksgiving; that is His will for us. Surely true, sincere thankfulness cannot be commanded, but it will come naturally as we enter into the experience of faith and as we recognize God’s goodness to us.

God wants us to know how important thankfulness is and how necessary it is to express thanks continually. Ephesians 5:20 says, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Not only are we to give thanks for all things, but we are to give thanks always. The question to which an answer is needed from the Word of God is, How can I learn to be thankful at all times for all things?

How to Begin

Psalm 100 outlines three things that will help us to begin to be thankful. “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he [is] God: [it is] he [that] hath made us, and not we ourselves; [we are] his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, [and] bless his name. For the Lord [is] good; his mercy [is] everlasting; and his truth [endureth] to all generations.”

Is there something to be thankful for? Yes, all the time, for everything that God is! Too often we do not think enough about the goodness of the Lord. Everything that He has done is good. Everything that He will ever do is good. He is mindful of us, and all He wants is good for us.

Not only is God good, but Romans 8:28 tells us that God is able to work everything out for good to them that love Him. Only a good God would do that.

“No tongue can express, no finite mind can conceive, the blessing that results from appreciating the goodness and love of God. Even on earth we may have joy as a wellspring, never failing, because fed by the streams that flow from the throne of God.” The Ministry of Healing, 253.

Secondly, Psalm 100:5 says, “The Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting.” Is that not a wonderful thing? “The Lord [is] merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” Psalm 103:8. His mercy is everlasting. That means that when we ask for and receive forgiveness from God, it is going to last forever. God forgives forever. That is such a wonderful thing that we need to praise God and be thankful to Him for such mercy.

Wonderful mercy of a wonderful God! In Lamentations 3:22, 23, we are told: “[It is of] the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. [They are] new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness.” If it were not for the mercy of God, Satan would blot us out of existence this very minute.

“‘Let the peace of God rule in your hearts; . . . and be ye thankful.’ Colossians 3:15. Forgetting our own difficulties and troubles, let us praise God for an opportunity to live for the glory of His name.” The Ministry of Healing, 253. I praise God for the opportunity to live for the glory of His name. “Let the fresh blessings of each new day awaken praise in our hearts for these tokens of His loving care. When you open your eyes in the morning, thank God that He has kept you through the night. Thank Him for His peace in your heart. Morning, noon, and night, let gratitude as sweet perfume ascend to heaven.” Ibid.

Is the Lord pleased with such thankfulness and praise that comes from our hearts? Yes, He appreciates it just as much as you and I would appreciate somebody appreciating us. God is that real; God is that gracious, and He is that touched with our responses to Him.

The last part of Psalm 100:5 says, “his truth [endureth] to all generations.” Forever and ever and ever. His truth endureth. We have every reason to be thankful for God’s truth. It is the only antidote for sin.

Jesus said, in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus wants to set us free from sin. In John 17:17 He says, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Sanctification only comes by way of God’s truth, as we allow it to take control of our lives, as we allow it to possess us.

That means we become set apart. We take on the very character of God. We regain the image of God that was lost because of sin. Such change only happens by way of God’s truth. We know that that truth is embodied in two things: His Son, Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” and His law. He says, “Thy law is the truth.” John 14:6; Psalm 119:142.

What will we not be doing if we are being thankful? Philippians 2:14 tells us: “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.” Is that possible? Yes, but it is only possible if we are praising and giving thanks to God. We cannot complain if we are being thankful. We cannot do both at the same time. Did you know that? Have you ever tried complaining and being thankful at the very same time? It is not possible!

You cannot be thankful if you are complaining. You cannot complain if you are thankful. Simple, isn’t it? All God wants is for us to be mindful of His goodness, His mercy, and His truth—and to be thankful and to give Him praise.

A Merry Heart

We do not see the word thankful in Proverbs 17:22, but it is inferred. It says, “A merry heart doeth good [like] a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” You cannot have a merry heart if you are not thankful.

Science has found that our immune systems are benefited or debilitated by our emotions. Thankfulness is one of the most positive emotions that God has given to us. We benefit not only our spiritual experience by thankfulness and praise to God, but we can benefit our physical well being also. God knew this long before science came to this conclusion.

“Nothing tends more to promote health of body and of soul than does a spirit of gratitude and praise. It is a positive duty to resist melancholy, discontented thoughts and feelings—as much a duty as it is to pray. If we are heaven-bound, how can we go as a band of mourners, groaning and complaining all along the way to our Father’s house?

“Those professed Christians who are constantly complaining, and who seem to think cheerfulness and happiness a sin, have not genuine religion.” The Ministry of Healing, 251.

This is not talking about being light and frivolous. It is talking about being joyful and at peace, with praise and thanksgiving in our hearts to God.

Just before Jesus returns and probation closes, God’s people will be seen as holy. “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11.

God says His people, just before Christ comes, are not only keeping His commandments (Revelation 14:12), but they are going to be a holy people before Him. To be a holy people, they must be a thankful people—people that give God praise.

God wants us to be thankful for His goodness, for His mercy, and for His truth. We will never be weary in being thankful for those things. The more we see of God and His goodness, the more thankful we will be and the more praise we will give to Him. It is just natural.

We have every reason to be thankful to God, but if we had no other reason for thankfulness than that God will save us from our sins, that would be enough. It is sin that keeps us from seeing Him. And the more we allow God to save us from our sins through His truth, the more praise and thanksgiving we will give to Him.

“Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.” 1 Chronicles 29:13.

In Everything Give Thanks

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—Praise God because He is powerful.

“Now these [are] thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.” Nehemiah 1:10.
“[Touching] the Almighty, we cannot find him out: [he is] excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.” Job 37:23.

— Praise God because of His righteousness.

“Thy righteousness [is] like the great mountains; thy judgments
[are] a great deep: O Lord,
thou preservest man and beast.” Psalm 36:6.

“The Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth.” Daniel 9:14.

— Praise God because He is able.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Ephesians 3:20.
“And God [is] able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all [things], may abound to every good work.” 11 Corinthians 9:8.

— Praise God because He is infinite.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.” Romans 11:33–36.

— Praise God because of His strength.

“God [is] my strength [and] power: and he maketh my way perfect.” 11 Samuel 22:33.
“The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, [wherewith] he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.” Psalm 93:1.

— Praise God because He is everlasting.

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his understanding.” Isaiah 40:28.

“. . . and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6.

Giving praise to the Lord is one of the best ways to express our thanks to God for His blessings, and yet how many of us do it on a regular basis? Yes, we normally go through our routine of thanking God for our food before we eat; sometimes we even thank Him for the clothes we wear and praise Him for the sunshine. Around the Thanksgiving holiday we may even list out our blessings and reflect on what God has done, but do we really “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually”? Hebrews 13:15.

Continual does not mean just once a year or even once a day for that matter. It implies that it is repeated without interruption. David said, in Psalm 34:1, “. . . his praise [shall] continually [be] in my mouth.” He also said, “At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.” Psalm 119:62. When is the last time we found ourselves up at midnight thanking the Lord? Later on in that same psalm David says, “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.” (Verse 164.) Do we stop seven times a day to praise God? Do we even stop once or twice to praise Him?

“Prayer is a duty and a necessity; but do we not neglect praise? Should we not oftener render thanksgiving to the Giver of all our blessings? We need to cultivate gratitude. We should frequently contemplate and recount the mercies of God, and laud and glorify His holy name, even when we are passing through sorrow and affliction. . . .” Selected Messages, Book 2, 268.

“We need to praise God much more than we do. We are to show that we have cause for rejoicing. ‘Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light’ (1 Peter 2:9). Are we doing this as fully as we should?” In Heavenly Places, 96.

“We need to praise God more ‘for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.’ Psalm 107:8. Our devotional exercises should not consist wholly in asking and receiving. Let us not be always thinking of our wants and never of the benefits we receive. We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks. We are the constant recipients of God’s mercies, and yet how little gratitude we express, how little we praise Him for what He has done for us.” Steps to Christ, 102.

Now that we know that we need to praise God, and praise Him continually, how do we do it? If you think that all praising God involves is whispering a prayer of thanks to Him in your closet,—think again! Praising God is an active thing! In other words, if you receive a blessing—tell someone about it!

Praise through Words

“The prophet, in words of glowing fervor, magnifies God in His created works: ‘When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?’ ‘O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!’ ‘I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvelous works.’ [Psalm 8:3, 9; 9:1.]” Testimonies, vol. 3, 377.

“My soul is filled with praise and thanksgiving to God from whom come all our mercies and blessings. The Lord is good, and His mercies endure forever. I will praise Him who is the light of my countenance and my God. He is the source of all efficiency and power. Why do we not praise Him by speaking words of hope and comfort to others? Why are our lips so silent? Speech is a gift of Heaven, and it should be used in sounding forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. . . .” That I May Know Him, 219.

“If we enjoy the love of God in our hearts, we will have something to say. From the treasure of our heart we will bring forth good things. We will render to God the fruit of our lips. Our words will be words of praise and thanksgiving.—Manuscript 74, 1897.” The Voice in Speech and Song, 149.

“The words to which God and the angels listen with delight are words of appreciation for the great gift that has been made to the world in the only-begotten Son of God. Every word of praise for the blessing of the light of truth . . . is written in the heavenly records. Every word that acknowledges the merciful kindness of our heavenly Father in giving Jesus to take away our sins, and to impute to us His righteousness, is recorded in the book of His remembrance.” Our High Calling, 168.

“When the blessed light of the Sun of Righteousness shines into our hearts, and we rest in peace and joy in the Lord, then let us praise the Lord; praise Him who is the health of our countenance and our God. Let us praise Him, not in words only, but by the consecration to Him of all that we are and all that we have.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 479.

Praise through Music

Under the rulership of King David, Israel had joyfully united in chanting hymns of praise to the Most High, in recognition of their entire dependence on Him for daily mercies. Their words of adoration are recorded in Psalm 65. Note verse 13: ” . . . they shout for joy, they also sing.” (See Prophets and Kings, 133, 134.)

The psalmist repeatedly encourages us to sing our praise to God. “All the inhabitants of heaven unite in praising God. Let us learn the song of the angels now, that we may sing it when we join their shining ranks. Let us say with the psalmist, ‘While I live, will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being’ (Psalm 146:2). ‘Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee’ (Psalm 67:5).” God’s Amazing Grace, 352.

“As you meet from Sabbath to Sabbath, you need no expensive organ in order to sing praises to Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Let the heart’s adoration be given ‘Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.’ [Revelation 1:5.]” General Conference Daily Bulletin, January 28, 1893.

“Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery [and] an instrument of ten strings.” Psalm 33:2. “Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.” Psalm 98:5, 6. “Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.” Psalm 150:3–6.

“Music should have beauty, pathos, and power. Let the voices be lifted in songs of praise and devotion. Call to your aid, if practicable, instrumental music, and let the glorious harmony ascend to God, an acceptable offering.” Evangelism, 505.

“Musical instruments were used in religious services in ancient times. The worshipers praise God upon the harp and cymbal, and music should have its place in our services. It will add to the interest. And . . . a praise meeting should be held, a simple service of thanksgiving to God.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 62.

Praise through Prayer

“Prayer means very much, and we should come to God offering up thanksgiving before him. ‘Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. . . . O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.’ [Psalm 95:2, 3, 6–8.]” Signs of the Times, September 10, 1894.

“David declares, ‘I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live’ (Psalm 116:1, 2). God’s goodness in hearing and answering prayer places us under heavy obligation to express our thanksgiving for the favors bestowed upon us. We should praise God much more than we do. The blessings received in answer to prayer should be promptly acknowledged. . . .” God’s Amazing Grace, 325.

“There must be a living connection with God in prayer, a living connection with God in songs of praise and thanksgiving.—Letter 96, 1898.” Evangelism, 498.

Praise through Testimony

“O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.” Psalm 105:1.

“In our devotional social meetings, our voices should express by prayer and praise our adoration of our heavenly Father, that all may know that we worship God in simplicity and truth, and in the beauty of holiness. Precious indeed in this world of sin and ignorance is the gift of speech, is the melody of the human voice, when devoted to the praises of Him who hath loved us, and hath given himself for us.” Christian Education, 131.

“To praise God in fulness and sincerity of heart is as much a duty as is prayer. We are to show to the world and to all the heavenly intelligences that we appreciate the wonderful love of God for fallen humanity, and that we are expecting larger and yet larger blessings from His infinite fulness. . . . After a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, our joy in the Lord and our efficiency in His service would be greatly increased by recounting His goodness and His wonderful works in behalf of His children. These exercises drive back the power of Satan. They expel the spirit of murmuring and complaint, and the tempter loses ground. They cultivate those attributes of character which will fit the dwellers on earth for the heavenly mansions. Such a testimony will have an influence upon others. No more effective means can be employed for winning souls to Christ.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 299, 300.

“The one appointed to conduct Sabbath services should . . . not always give so long a discourse that there will be no opportunity for those present to confess Christ. The sermon should frequently be short, so that the people may express their thanksgiving to God. Gratitude-offerings glorify the name of the Lord. In every assembly of the saints holy angels listen to the praise offered to Jehovah in testimony, song, and prayer.” Gospel Workers, 171.

Praise through Giving

“Those who fear Him [God] speak words of courage, of thankfulness, and of praise. . . . Such words make all heaven rejoice. Those who utter them may be poor in worldly possessions, but by faithfully giving to God the portion He claims, they acknowledge their indebtedness to Him. Self-serving does not make up the chapters of their life history. In love and gratitude, with songs of joy upon their lips, they bring their offerings to God, saying as did David, ‘Of Thine own we freely
give Thee.’” Review and Herald, January 5, 1897.

“Nothing has been withheld from us that God could give. So ample was the gift poured out to man, that there was nothing more which God could bestow. He is our best friend, our benefactor. Shall we not give evidence of our gratitude to him, not only by thanksgiving and praise, but by offerings to extend to others the knowledge of his great gift?” Ibid., December 2, 1890.

“The wise men have left us an example of what we should do. Jesus should be the object of our adoration, the recipient of our gifts. It is not man, but our Redeemer, that should be honored. To Him we should offer our praise and gifts and treasures; but instead of this, the world sets its treasures flowing in the channel of self-gratification, and to the honor of men. . . . few think of what they can do to show their love and gratitude to God for his great love and compassion upon them.” The Bible Echo, December 15, 1892.

“How many through selfish plans, rob God of the praise and the thanksgiving due to his holy name, because they would hold the goods lent them in trust, and fail to relieve the necessities of their brethren who are in poverty and distress.” Review and Herald, January 15, 1895.

Praise through Example

“Those who are partakers of Christ’s meekness, purity, and love, will be joyful in God, and will shed light and gladness upon all around them. The thought that Christ died to obtain for us the gift of everlasting life, is enough to call forth from our hearts the most sincere and fervent gratitude, and from our lips the most enthusiastic praise. God’s promises are rich, and full, and free. Whoever will, in the strength of Christ, comply with the conditions, may claim these promises, with all their wealth of blessing, as his own. And being thus abundantly supplied from the treasure-house of God, he may, in the journey of life, ‘walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing;’ [Colossians 1:10] by a godly example blessing his fellow-men, and honoring his Creator.” Ibid., September 20, 1881.

“The hour of prayer should not be neglected for any consideration. . . . At an early hour of the evening, when you can pray unhurriedly and understandingly, present your supplication, and raise your voices in happy, grateful praise. Let all who visit Christians see that the hour of prayer is the most sacred, the most precious, and the happiest hour of the day. Such an example will not be without effect.” Reflecting Christ, 183.

“What an example have the martyrs for Jesus left us in their lives of self-denial and sacrifice. . . . Those who were too timid to praise God vocally were not too timid to die for their Lord.” Review and Herald, December 2, 1875.

“‘Ye are my witnesses,’ says God, and God wants us by precept and example to represent Christ in our world. . . . You are to begin to work with the talent which God has lent you, and then [use] every gift there is to the praise of heaven.” Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 260.

Know Who God is

If we are going to develop a lifestyle of praise to God continually, we need to put things in perspective. We must realize who God is and who we are not. “Know ye that the Lord he [is] God: [it is] he [that] hath made us, and not we ourselves; [we are] his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3, 4. We need to recognize that all of the things we receive as blessings come from Him.

“I will call upon the Lord, [who is worthy] to be praised . . . .” Psalm 18:3. “God saves man through the blood of Christ alone, and man’s belief in, and allegiance to, Christ is salvation. It is no marvel to angels that the infinite sacrifice made by the Son of God was ample enough to bring salvation to a fallen race, but that this atoning sacrifice should have been made is a wonder to the universe. It is a mystery which angels desire to look into. The angels are amazed at the indifference and coldness manifested by those for whom so great a salvation has been provided. They look with grief and holy indignation upon those who do not seek to appreciate the unspeakable gift of God. Instead of offering adoration to God, finite men think themselves capable, without divine unction, of determining what is worthy of praise or blame in their fellow-men. But to be glorified by man is no glory. We should learn to value the praise of man at what it is worth. The Lord says, ‘Them that honor me I will honor.’ [1 Samuel 2:30.] Let every breath of praise, every word of exaltation, flow to him who is worthy, flow to Jesus, the Prince of life, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Elevate the cross of Christ. Elevate the Mediator. Lift up Jesus. In him is everything noble. Contemplate God in Christ. He is surrounded with angels, cherubim and seraphim continually behold him. Angelic voices day and night cry before him: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. . . . Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.’ ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.’ ‘Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before thee.’ [Revelation 4:8, 11; 5:12; 15:3, 4.]” Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889.

Giving praise to God helps us to understand just how awesome He really is! We should praise Him for how powerful He is. We should praise Him for how giving He is. We should praise Him for how loving He is. We should thank Him for all that He has done, is doing, and will do for us as His children.

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

New Year Resolutions

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“Although in one sense the first day of a new year is no more to God than any other day, yet he often puts into the heart of his children at that time a desire to begin the new year with good resolves,—perhaps with plans to carry out some worthy enterprise,—and with purposes to depart from the wrongs of the old year, and to live the new year with new determination.” The Youth’s Instructor, February 11, 1908.

“I never make new year’s resolutions anymore,” a friend told me. “I never keep them anyway.”

Regrettably I can remember all too many resolutions I have made and let slip away. But I believe new year’s resolutions are worth making. Let me tell you why.

Time for Assessment

First, when we change calendars, at the beginning of the new year, is an excellent time for reassessment. How did last year go? How did we grow—not just physically or materialistically but in our spiritual life, in character perfection? What percentage of our lives is producing something of value for God?

There are some examples in the Bible of people taking stock of their lives and determining or resolving to do better. For instance, Paul told the Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians 8:10, that they should be resolved or purposed to be ahead of where they were a year before. This would involve measuring where they were last year at this time and being sure that they have made progress during the ensuing 12 months. There is no indication that Paul told them to do this at the beginning of a new calendar year, but he referred to the year as a measuring unit.

Needed Change

Second, we all need to make changes in our lives. It is good, at times, to look honestly at our lives and determine to change some of the things that need changing. For example, it may be the time to rid our lives of a harmful habit that has been part of our lifestyle for some time. Or this may be the time to resolve to start daily Bible study. We may have tried this before with little success, but that should give us determination to fulfill the resolution this year.

In Genesis 28:20–22, Jacob made a resolution, or a vow, to give consistently and routinely to the Lord, specifying ten percent as his commitment. If we have not made such a commitment, this could be one of the changes we implement as part of our new year’s resolutions.

U-turns Allowed

Third, the beginning of a new year is an excellent time for mid-course corrections. In the back of my mother’s Bible is written a simple reminder: “God allows U-turns!” We may feel like failures in our attempted spiritual journey in the past, but there is no reason to continue down a road that is filled with sin and disappointment. We can turn around. We can make a fresh start.

God gives some wonderful promises to those, traveling down sinful paths, who are willing to make U-turns. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.” Jeremiah 18:8. “If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.” Ezekiel 18:21, 22.

What better time to resolve to follow a different path than when a clean calendar, a new year, is before us?

Fear of Failure

There are some that fear making any kind of resolution, or commitment, believing such to be a vow to the Lord. Their belief is based on counsel given in Ecclesiastes 5:4, 5. “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better [is it] that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” With that deliberation, our very first action as we consider our new year’s resolutions should be seeking guidance from God. We should ask Him to show us where we need to improve in the coming year; ask Him to guide us in setting our goals, and ask Him to help us to keep the resolutions we make. “For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” James 4:15.

We should not flippantly enter into resolutions, or we will be doomed for failure. But we should not look at failure as a destructive end. It should be to us an opportunity to learn, a lesson in the importance of strengthening our prayer life, a chance to develop a stronger faith. One of my favorite Biblical characters is the apostle Paul. Talk about failure! Throughout his life he was opposed, persecuted, shipwrecked, stoned and left for dead, deserted by trusted co-workers, slandered, and scorned. Sometimes it seems that projects to which he had devoted years were turning to dust before his eyes. But during one of his stints in prison, we can see, from a letter he wrote, an unwillingness to quit: “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. Paul did not claim, however, to be able to do this of his own accord. He reveals the source of his strength in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

If, during the last year, or years, you did not practice reliance on God as much as you should have, there is no time like this new year to make a resolution to change. Tell the Lord how you want the new year to be different for you. Spell out in your prayer some of the changes you would like to make, and ask Him to show you others that need to be made. Tell Him that you know you are going to need a lot of help to make these changes. Place yourself in His hands. Ask Him every day of the year to help you receive His strength, to give you a willing spirit to accept His wisdom and guidance as you incorporate in your life the changes you have resolved to make.

Now, you have a much better chance of a Happy New Year!

Anna Schultz writes from her home near Sedalia, Colorado.

As We Near the End of Time, Part I

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We are living in very serious times. We must have divine power in our lives, or we will be eternally lost. As I have studied in the Spirit of Prophecy lately, I have noticed over and over that Ellen White writes, “As we draw near the end,” and then she states some things that are going to happen “As we approach the close of time.”

As we near the end, Scripture tells us, “And these things happened to them for types [some translations say for examples, or ensamples] and it is written for our warning unto whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11. Paul is here writing about the children of Israel, especially their experience in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan, and he says that things happened to them there that were types. Now types do not mean anything unless there is an antitype. What is the antitype? The antitype is what is going to happen to God’s people in the end of time. It is written, Paul says, for our warning.

Warnings

Some people do not like warnings, but warnings keep us out of trouble. Inspiration writes, “The history of the wilderness life of Israel was chronicled for the benefit of the Israel of God to the close of time. . . . God would have His people in these days review with a humble heart and teachable spirit the trials through which ancient Israel passed, that they may be instructed in their preparation for the heavenly Canaan.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 293. I personally feel a great need for being instructed so that I can be prepared for the heavenly Canaan.

One of the things that we are instructed against in 1 Corinthians 10:8 is, “Neither commit fornication just as some of them committed fornication and fell one day 23,000.”

This story is first recorded in Numbers 25, but it is referred to over and over again in the Old Testament. Obviously it is an important lesson that God’s people need to understand. This story occurred as the children of Israel neared the end of their wilderness sojourn. They knew the 40 years were just about up—they were going into the Promised Land! It should have been the most exciting of all times, but instead, they had the following experience: “Israel dwelt in Shittim and the people began to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab. And the people were called to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and they bowed down to their gods, and Israel was joined to Baal Peor. [Baal Peor was the heathen religion, and associated with this heathen religion were temple prostitutes and all the trappings of the central practices that went along with heathenism.] The wrath of Jehovah glowed against Israel.” Numbers 25:1–3. How did this happen?

In the book Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 453–457, Ellen White goes into great detail about this story. Here are six points concerning this story that we need to keep clearly in mind:

  1. This sin happened just before they went into the Promised Land.
  2. The children of Israel were in very attractive surroundings. They were encamped on a high plain that had a tropical climate, and there was an abundance of acacia trees. On the western border of this plain was Jericho, with an abundance of palm trees.
  3. They were living a life of ease and inaction; they were at peace. Friend, if that is your situation, pay special attention to this story. Ellen White says that the devil is never more successful than when he comes to people in their idle hours, and in the Western World, especially in the United States, we have more spare time today than any previous generation. (See Messages to Young People, 214; The Adventist Home, 284.)
  4. This country was utterly defiled by Baal worship. It was a land polluted by vileness and licentiousness and the accompaniments of Baal worship.
  5. While they were at ease and inactive, with idolatry and the practices of idolatry around them, unconsciously they came into a condition where they fell prey to temptation.
  6. The people were not forced to sin, but they were seduced into sin.

Seduction

As I looked through the statements in Patriarchs and Prophets about how they were seduced and how the same thing can happen today, I found 17 points.

1 There was friendship with the heathen, idolatrous women. Some of these women, no doubt, were temple prostitutes for the Baal worship. At first it was only friendship. Do you realize that there will be many millions of people lost because of who their friends are? You cannot have a friend without that friendship having an effect on you. Who are your friends?

2 They entered into social entertainment with these heathen people, and it seemed perfectly innocent. Is that not so often the way sin is—at first it seems as though nothing is wrong. Many people will lose their soul because of their social life. Everyone needs some social outlet, but you need social outlet with people who fear God and who keep His Commandments.

3 In these social entertainments, they did what we do today—they prepared a big meal. There was feasting. A person who has just eaten a big meal is more susceptible to sensual temptation than a person who is fasting.

4 They not only had feasting, they were “beguiled with music,” Ellen White says, brought in by the Midianitish women. Patriarchs and Prophets, 454.

5 They also had dancing. (See Ibid.)

6 They were “allured by the beauty of heathen vestals,” that is, by the heathen women who were the temple prostitutes. Ibid. Ellen White says that their consciences were defiled by lewdness. (See Ibid.) We are living in a land today where, unless we are continually on guard, our consciences are defiled by lewdness. If you are a man, you cannot even go through the checkout counter in the grocery store without having to avert your eyes, or you will be looking on women who are not properly dressed; your conscience will be defiled by lewdness. You will be looking at things you should not be looking at, and after you have done that over time, you will say things that formerly you would not say; you will do things that you would not formerly do.

7 There was mirth in these festivities. (See Ibid.) Mirth is when people are laughing and joking and acting frivolously.

8 They also had a little wine to go along with everything else. When an alcoholic beverage is consumed, one of the first things affected is the cerebrum, the very front of the brain. That is where your inhibitions, your judgment, your conscience are located. These become anesthetized—your inhibitions are gone; your judgment is gone, and the limbic system of the brain takes over. That is the pain and pleasure center of the brain. Study what Ellen White says about the animal passions controlling the higher powers of the mind when alcoholic beverages are used. (See Counsels on Diet and Foods, 433.)

It was not long before the poison had spread like a deadly infection through the camp of Israel. The children of Israel, who would have conquered these people in battle, were overcome by seduction; they seemed infatuated. The apostasy became national, and the Lord instructed Moses that these people would have to be killed. (See Numbers 25:4,5.) Between 23,000 and 24,000 people were killed that day.

In commenting on this, Ellen White says, “Satan well knows the material with which he has to deal in the human heart. He knows—for he has studied with fiendish intensity for thousands of years the points most easily assailed in every character.” Friend, do you know what your weak point is? The devil does! She continues, “Through successive generations he has wrought to overthrow the strongest men, princes in Israel, by the same temptations that were so successful at Baal Peor. All along through the ages there are strewn wrecks of character that have been stranded upon the rocks of sensual indulgence. As we approach the close of time, as the people of God stand upon the borders of the heavenly Canaan, Satan will, as of old, redouble his efforts to prevent them from entering the goodly land. He lays his snares for every soul. It is not the ignorant and uncultured merely that need to be guarded; he will prepare his temptations for those in the highest positions, in the most holy office; if he can lead them to pollute their souls, he can through them destroy many. And he employs the same agents now as he employed three thousand years ago.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 457, 458.

“A long preparatory process, unknown to the world, goes on in the heart before the Christian commits open sin. The mind does not come down at once from purity and holiness to depravity, corruption, and crime. It takes time to degrade those formed in the image of God to the brutal or the satanic. By beholding we become changed. By the indulgence of impure thoughts man can so educate his mind that sin which he once loathed will become pleasant to him.” Ibid., 459. When you watch what you are not supposed to be watching, the result is that impure thoughts come into your mind, and as you keep watching the impure, you cannot get the thoughts out of your mind and eventually you are going to do it.

Seduction in our Day

Here are some things Ellen White mentions regarding our day:

  1. “We cannot walk the streets of our cities without encountering flaring notices of crime presented in some novel.” The Adventist Home, 406. What are you reading? Somebody says, “I am just reading that for entertainment.” Oh? Do you want entertainment to take you to eternal destruction? Different people have different temptations.
  2. She continues, “. . . notices of crime to be acted out at some theatre.” Ibid. We act out, in our theatres today, all of the famous crimes that have been committed in the world. We watch them enacted in the theatres, on the television, or on video over and over again. Does that have any effect on us? “By beholding we become changed.” Ibid., 330. That is a law of the mind.
  3. Ellen White writes about the periodicals and the magazines too. She says, “The course pursued by the base and vile is kept before the people in the periodicals of the day, and everything that can excite passion is brought before them in exciting stories.” My Life Today, 87. Every time a magazine is published, if a large circulation is desired, something must be included that will grab people so they just have to read it! You know what is in those magazines, and they are getting worse and worse. It is so bad that, if you go to a bookstore to buy something, you almost feel that you have to have a blinder on so that you can only look straight ahead and not see all of the stuff scattered all over the place. It is evil, and if you look at it, evil thoughts will be injected into your mind. Concerning these periodicals, she says, “They hear and read so much of debasing crime [there are magazines that specialize in that] that the once tender conscience, which would have recoiled with horror from such scenes, becomes hardened, and they dwell upon these things with greedy interest.” IbidAfter these things have been going on, and a person has been involved in such, they still cannot seem to figure out why their marriage becomes ruined. As a pastor I hear many heartbreaking stories, and I feel terrible about each situation, but most of the time there is very little that I can do. There was not much that Moses could do either; he just ordered the transgressors to be killed.
  4. The drama. That is the motion picture industry today.
  5. The opera.
  6. The masquerade. That is pantomime. That was the beginning, in Ellen White’s day, of the motion picture industry that we have today.
  7. The dance.
  8. The card table. This is a tool of the devil’s to get people going down the road to sensuality. If you do not understand what is wrong with card playing, or
    with a deck of cards, there is a book, written by a Protestant preacher, entitled, A Deck of Cards,
    [Charles F. Weigle, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1955.] that explains exactly what is in a card game and what the symbols represent. Card games have been used for centuries as a sensual device, and it is used in the practice of fornication, even today. You have heard of something called strip poker? That is exactly what it is; it is evil. Ellen White says that Satan uses the card table to “break down the barriers of principle and open the door to sensual indulgence.” The Adventist Home, 515.
  9. “In every gathering for pleasure, where pride is fostered or appetite indulged, where one is led to forget God and lose sight of eternal interests, there Satan is binding his chains about the soul.” Ibid. That is something well worth thinking through.

Unscriptural Marriages

There are some people who feel that they are immune to these things. They think the preacher is talking to somebody else, because these things are not their problem!

During the last few years there has been an increasing discussion among historic Adventists about the identity of Babylon and whether the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is part of it, and although that is not the subject of this study, it is definitely related to it.

I want to share a statement that Ellen White wrote to the General Conference President, G. I. Butler, in 1886: “We must as a people arouse and cleanse the camp of Israel. Licentiousness, unlawful intimacy, and unholy practices are coming in among us [Seventh-day Adventists] in a large degree; and ministers who are handling sacred things are guilty of sin in this respect. They are coveting their neighbors’ wives, and the seventh commandment is broken. We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage of every unclean and hateful bird; and will we be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the existing evil?” Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 380.

People have read that statement and then said, “I have read this statement, and I know what happened in the General Conference session in Toronto [Ontario, Canada] in 2000, so I believe that statement has now been fulfilled. I believe the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is in the ‘fallen sister’ category.”

If that is your criteria about who Babylon is, then friend, there are many historic Adventist churches who are also part of Babylon. First, they are led by ministers whose divorce and remarriage is not recognized in heaven; and second, they have members who are in the same category.

Remember what Ellen White said?

“All along through the ages there are strewn wrecks of character that have been stranded upon the rocks of sensual indulgence. As we approach the close of time, as the people of God stand upon the borders of the heavenly Canaan, Satan will, as of old, redouble his efforts to prevent them from entering the goodly land. He lays his snares for every soul.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 457.

Friend, he has his snares laid for you, and he has his snares laid for me. We are walking, as it were, through a mine-field. What are we going to do? We are up against somebody who has thousands of years of experience, and he knows our weak points in character and how to trip us up.

Babylon or Pharisee

There are two courses of action that are common in these situations. I have seen these two approaches taken almost universally, in both conference churches where I have been a member and in independent Adventist churches.

One course leads directly to sisterhood with Babylon. If, in your church, people can practice fornication and still be a member, you are part of Babylon already. It would be good to come out of that church. Historic Adventists say, “We are not going to do that; we will take the second course.” That course leads directly to Phariseeism. Some people go one way, some go the other way, and the devil gets you either way. From my past experience, I am more afraid of the Pharisees in Adventism than I am of the Babylonians in Adventism.

I know this is sensitive, but we need to study this business of unscriptural marriages which are found throughout Adventism, especially in the western countries. I want to make a special appeal to people who are not yet trapped in an unscriptural marriage, who are not living in sin, to listen to the advice that the apostle Paul gave to a young minister. “Do not lay hands on anyone hastily [this is referring to not ordaining deacons, elders, or ministers of whom you know nothing—do not ordain people too quickly] neither be a partaker of other men’s sins. Keep yourself pure.” 1 Timothy 5:22.

Share not Sin

My young friends, do not let the devil, or any of his agents, ever convince you that you are missing anything because you are not engaging in the temporary pleasures of sin. You are missing sorrow and grief, but you are not missing anything else. The Bible calls it the temporary pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25), but after the pleasure is the pain, the trouble, the sorrow and the grief. For a short period of pleasure, a person makes repentance for the rest of their lives.

The time to decide that you are not going to get in the devil’s trap is before you get in the trap! You see, there are some traps, especially for the young, that the devil can get you in that you will never get out of in this world, even if you repent. Paul said, do not be a sharer in other men’s sins (1 Timothy 5:22). Keep yourself pure. Do not commit fornication. The Scripture says, “If anyone destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him.” God will make good on His Word. “Those that do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:21.)

There was a man who fell into this trap, and he wrecked his life and a whole nation. He himself eventually left the way of sin that had damaged him, but the nation he had wrecked was taken captive by the heathen. His name was Solomon. Before you yield to the temptations of Satan, listen to what Solomon has to say: “The lips of a strange woman drip honey, and her palate is smoother than oil, but afterwards she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. . . . Remove your ways far from her and do not come near the door of her house lest you give to others your honor and your years to the cruel one [that is the devil] lest strangers be filled with your strength and thy toil be in the house of a stranger and you moan at the last when your flesh and body are consumed.” “Her house leads down to death. None that go to her return again. Her guests are in the depths of sheol.” Proverbs 5:3, 4, 8–11, 6.

Devil’s Trap

Oh friend, as we approach the end, the devil is going to do the same thing that he did with Israel just before they went into the Promised Land. Adventist preachers have never had so much trouble with this in the history of the church as they are having now. You do not want to be part of the 23,000 or 24,000 that went down. Those people, who were killed, not only lost their temporal life, they lost eternal life. They lost everything! There are multitudes today who are losing eternal life for a few moments of sensual pleasure. How stupid can we be!

The devil has a trap set for you. Many of the people I meet have already stepped into the trap. Let me tell you, it is a lot harder to get out of the trap than it is to just stay out of the trap in the first place. Pray that God will give you wisdom and guide your choices, so you are not caught in the devil’s snare.

Somebody may say, “I am already in an unscriptural marriage. Now what am I going to do?” Well, you are going to have trouble in this world, but you can be saved. We will study that in Part 11 of this article when we look at Babylon and at the Pharisees.

[All emphasis supplied. Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

To be continued . . .

Pastor Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life Ministry and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas.

As We Near the End of Time, Part II

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I need to share with you about something which I do not want to address, but which I must address. It concerns something that snared the children of Israel just before they entered the Promised Land. The Bible says, “And these happened to them for examples, and it is written for our warnings, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11. These things happened to them as types of things that would happen again at the end of the world.

One of the things that brought them to the position of committing fornication with the daughters of Moab was that they were “allured by the beauty of heathen vestals.” Their consciences were defiled by lewdness. (See Patriarchs and Prophets, 454.)

Defiled by Lewdness

I am going to go directly, very pointedly, to the subject at hand. The consciences of the children of Israel were defiled by lewdness—they were allured by the beauty of these heathen vessels. What was going on? After Adam and Eve had sinned, the Bible says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” Genesis 3:7. The Hebrew word used in this text for coverings, kahgoroth, means a loin covering. Loin coverings are still being made, and people are still wearing them. Just go anyplace where people are sunbathing or swimming and you will see men and women clothed in the loin covering.

When God came to the Garden, did Adam tell God that he was clothed, or did he tell God that he was naked? He was wearing the fig leaves, but what did he tell God? He said he was naked. Even he knew it. We live in the blindest generation. Let me put it very, very simply. People think when the Bible uses the word naked it means someone is not wearing any clothes. It does not mean that at all. In the Bible, a person was called naked if they did not have on sufficient clothing. Adam had the fig leaves on, but he knew that he was naked. God also knew he was naked. The Bible says that God clothed them. If God clothed them, it means they were naked before that.

Another literal definition of the Hebrew word kahgoroth is a belt. That is what Adam and Eve made, they made little belts. Such belts are still being made today. They are called mini-skirts. Those are the two most literal definitions of this Hebrew word. It is also translated as girdle or apron. Neither one of those would make you think you were fully dressed, would they?

An Outer Garment

In Bible times both men and women, before they went out in public, put on an outer garment, and that garment covered them from their shoulders to almost their ankles. If they did not have on this garment, they were called naked. When Isaiah 20 speaks of Isaiah walking about barefoot and naked among God’s people for three years, he was not talking about the prophet going about without any clothing. No, God never asked any prophet to do something obscene such as that. But Isaiah did not wear the outer tunic, and that was a sign that the children of Israel would be similarly dressed as they entered into captivity.

In John 21, when Peter was fishing about 300 feet from shore with the other disciples after the resurrection, Jesus appeared on the shore, and it says that Peter put on his outer garment and cast himself into the sea, because he was naked. (Verse 7.) That does not mean that he was fishing all night without any clothes on but that he did not have on his outer garment. He was not afraid for the Lord to see him with his clothing wet, because he swam in, but he did not want the Lord to see him without his outer garment on, being naked.

Immodesty

We need to understand what the Bible says about the subject of modesty. The next time you study Exodus 20, notice very carefully what it says in the last verse. And in Revelation an account of the seven last plagues is given, and right in the middle of the discussion the Creator of the universe issues a warning, a call to all of the peoples of this world, and He says, “I am coming like a thief. Watch and keep your garments lest you walk naked and they see your shame.” Revelation 16:15. If you understand what the word naked means in the Bible, you will realize that we have congregations full of naked people every Sabbath, according to the Bible definition; we have people coming into our churches everywhere, naked. But we do not understand what it means. We are so blind; we think it means you do not have on any clothes. That is not what the Bible is talking about. In the Bible, anyone who is clothed immodestly is called naked.

Sometimes we fall on our face before the Lord, and we ask for the Holy Spirit to come upon us, like Joshua, after the Israelites were defeated at Ai. Joshua fell on his face, and he said, “Lord, if you do not go with us, we cannot do anything.” The Lord said, “Get up, and go clean up the camp!” (See Joshua 7:6–15.) Friends, we need to get on our knees and ask the Lord to help us clean up our camp. God is not going to pour out the latter rain upon a naked people. God did not accept the fig leaves in Adam’s day—and those fig leaves were probably more modest than some of the fig leaves people wear today. He is not going to accept a kahgoroth now, because God does not change. This is one of the things that brought Israel into terrible apostasy. Ask the Lord to deliver you from the curse of nakedness that is afflicting professed Christians all over the world, especially in the western countries.

Sensual Indulgence

“All along through the ages there are strewn wrecks of character that have been stranded upon the rocks of sensual indulgence. As we approach the close of time, as the people of God stand upon the borders of the heavenly Canaan, Satan will, as of old, redouble his efforts to prevent them from entering the goodly land. He lays his snares for every soul.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 457.

The Bible says, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:37–39.

I used to read those verses and I would ask myself the question, What is Jesus talking about? Even as a boy I had gone to many weddings in Seventh-day Adventist churches, conducted by Seventh-day Adventist ministers. We ate every day, and we drank water and other healthful beverages every day. But what is the problem with the things that Jesus mentioned there? Ellen White comments on these verses in Matthew: “Very plainly Christ saw what the condition of society would be in the future. He saw that selfindulgence would control men and women. What of the marriage relation today? Is it not perverted and defiled, made even as it was in Noah’s day? Divorce after divorce is recorded in the daily papers. This is the marriage of which Christ speaks when He says that before the flood they were ‘marrying and giving in marriage.’ “Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 56.

“As it was in the days of Noah, every kind of evil is on the increase. Divorce and marriage is the order of the time.” Ibid., vol. 10, 261.

Marriage after Divorce

What we are studying is very sensitive material. With this subject, it is possible that people will get wrong impressions, and there are ditches on both sides of the road. We need to study this completely. We must be clear about what the Bible teaches, or we can go into the ditch on one side or the ditch on the other side. We can become part of Babylon, or we can become part of the Pharisees. The Bible says, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, like this it shall be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage until that day Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:26, 27.

After Ellen White quoted the verses from Matthew 24:37–39, she said, “How true a description this is of the condition of the world today. The daily papers are full of notices of divorce and marriage after divorce —the marriage condemned in the words of the Saviour.” Letter 153,1901 (unpublished). What was Jesus talking about in Matthew 24? Jesus was talking about marriage after divorce! Ellen White wrote to the general conference president and said: “We must, as a people, arouse and cleanse the camp of Israel. Licentiousness, unlawful intimacy,and unholy practices are coming in among us in a large degree; and ministers who are handling sacred things are guilty of sin in this respect. They are coveting their neighbors’ wives, and the seventh commandment is broken. We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful bird; and will we be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the existing evil?” Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 380.

So, you can be a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, even if you get divorced and remarried three, four, or five times. That is what Jesus was talking about happening in the last days, just like it happened in the days just before the flood. Ellen White says if we do not do something about this, if we just let it go and do not do anything about it, we will become a sister of Babylon. Do you want to become part of Babylon? Do you want your church to become part of Babylon?

She says, “The Lord is soon to come; there must be a refining, winnowing process in every church, for there are among us wicked men who do not love the truth. . . . Will the church arise and put on her beautiful garments?” Review and Herald, March 19, 1895.

She also said, “When God works so wondrously, man, the human agent, should become intelligent in regard to the machinery of his body, that this temple of God shall not be misused, and become the habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, 364, 365.

“Today the nominal churches are full of every foul spirit, the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. The work is becoming confusing because the converted and the unconverted have united in them.” Ibid., vol. 20, 252. Ellen White said to the general conference president, If we do not do something about this, we are going to become a sister of fallen Babylon. Babylon is a system that allows for the full development of sensuality, while at the same time condemning it.

If you read the public notices, the Pope is against divorce. The Catholic Church is against fornication, and they have lots of publications against it. They are against adultery. If you go to almost any Babylonian church, they will tell you that they are against divorce, fornication, and

adultery, but they allow it, just the same. You can be a member while doing all those things. Yes, they have a little trouble once in awhile. Somebody in the choir goes to bed with the organist, and then they have a little upheaval in the church. Things have to be ironed out, and there may be a switch with some people going to a church on the other side of town. Things like that happen all of the time. That is what happens in Babylon. And friends, I am sorry to tell you that it has come into Adventism, even into historic Adventism.

Unscriptural Marriage

There are people throughout Adventism who are unscripturally married. There are two ways that a person can be unscripturally married. One is if a Christian decides to marry a non-Christian. That is forbidden in the Bible. (See Deuteronomy 7:1–4; 2 Corinthians 6:14.) It is forbidden for a person who is in the faith to marry a person who is not in the faith.

Another example of an unscriptural marriage is a person whose wife or husband did not commit adultery against them, but they divorced and remarried someone else. (See Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11, 12; Luke 16:18.) That practice is the very essence of Babylon. There is a reason why, in the Scriptures, Babylon is referred to over and over and over again as a harlot, and that she commits fornication, because she administers the communicants committing fornication. She administers the whole process.

The Church Debates

When I was a young minister, Adventism was in the process of making the changes that have come to pass now. We used to have debates about whether you should be able to divorce your spouse when there is no adultery and go and marry someone else and stay in the church with nothing happening. This was a big debate when I was a young minister. Vehement arguments would occur in these debates. One time this debate came up among a group of seminary students in the Andrews University Field School of Evangelism. The teacher said, “We have studied that, but Romans 7 still says the same thing.”

We, as Seventh-day Adventists, used to believe and use Romans 7 as one of our proof texts that such things should not be allowed. “Do not be ignorant, brothers, for we know the law says that the law is lord over a man as long as he is alive. For the woman having a living husband, is bound by the law to that husband. But if the husband is dead, she is released from the law of the husband. Therefore, then, if the husband is alive, she shall be called an adulterous if she be [married] to another man. But if the husband is dead, she is free from the law so that she shall not be called an adulterous if she be [married] to another man.” Romans 7:1–3.

God’s Moral Standard

After the teacher read this text, there was still some arguing, but there was not much to say. The Scripture says, this is the way that it is. Ellen White says the same thing. She wrote to a physician one time, “Your ideas in regard to the marriage relation have been erroneous. Nothing but the violation of the marriage bed can either break or annul the marriage vow. . . . “Men are not at liberty to make a standard of law for themselves, to avoid God’s law and please their own inclination. They must come to God’s great moral standard of righteousness. . . . God gave only one cause why a wife should leave her husband, or the husband leave his wife, which was adultery. Let this ground be prayerfully considered.” “A woman may be legally divorced from her husband by the laws of the land and yet not divorced in the sight of God and according to the higher law. There is only one sin, which is adultery, which can place the husband or wife in a position where they can be free from the marriage vow in the sight of God. Although the laws of the land may grant a divorce, yet they are husband and wife still in the Bible light, according to the Laws of God.” The Adventist Home, 341, 342, 344.

This is a problem that the church has been wrestling with for a long time. The Catholic Church has also been wrestling with it for a long time. The conclusion is, if your spouse has not committed adultery against you and you divorce, or your spouse divorces, and you marry somebody else, you are committing adultery. Our ministers thought that through, and they said, “All right, that means that you are living in sin for the rest of your life.” So, there were many Adventists that came to the conclusion that these unscriptural marriages should be broken up, because these people are living in sin. They said that anybody who stayed in such a marriage, since he was constantly living in sin, should not be allowed to be a member of the church, let alone a teacher or a pastor, unless they separated.

Standards Relaxed

Over a period of several decades, this literal understanding was relaxed a little bit so that by the time I was a young man, growing up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a person who was unscripturally married was allowed to be a member of the church but was forbidden to be a pastor, minister, or leader in the church. I remember one of the first times I saw this happen in the church of which I was a member. A man, who was a leader in the church, left his wife and children and married another woman. He faced the potential of being disfellowshipped. So he moved to another state, was rebaptized, and became a leader in that church. Have you ever heard of that happening? That is the way it was in the 1950s or 1960s. By the time the 1980s arrived, instead of moving to another state, a person in such a situation just went to another church 20 to 30 miles away and started over again. Soon they were again teaching a Sabbath School class and taking up church leadership.

There has been an internal fight going on in the Adventist Church over what to do about these situations, because we have had the same thing develop in Adventism that happened with the Hebrew people just before they entered Canaan. This problem has gotten worse and worse. There are churches that say they have no one in the church that can meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 to hold the office of an elder or a deacon.

Approaching the Problem

How should the problem of unscripturally married individuals holding church office be approached? There are two common ways of dealing with this problem. One is that you talk against it, say you are against it, but let it happen. You allow the people to stay in the church as teachers and leaders, even ministers. That is what happens in Babylon, and Ellen White told the general conference president that, if we did not step up and do something, we would become a sister of Babylon.

The other way Seventh-day Adventists have approached this issue is to become very strict. Some, in Ellen White’s day, decided they were going to break up some of these unscriptural marriages so that these people quit living in sin. They became so strict in enforcing their ideas, that Ellen White accused them of becoming like the Pharisees. As you read the context, you see that she is talking about people who have been involved in sexual sins and unscriptural marriages. She said, “I am more pained than I can express to see so little aptitude and skill to save souls that are ensnared by Satan. I see such a cold Phariseeism, holding off at arm’s length the one who has been deluded by the adversary of souls, and then I think: What if Jesus treated us in this way? Is this spirit to grow among us? If so, my brethren must excuse me; I cannot labor with them. I will not be a party to this kind of labor.” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce, 242. That is a very strong statement in regard to what the church was doing.

The question that I suppose we have never yet answered in Adventism is this: Can we avoid becoming a sister of Babylon and at the same time avoid becoming Pharisees? You see, there is a ditch on both sides of the road. In my opinion, we have not succeeded yet. But when Jesus comes, would you want to be found a Pharisee even if you were not in Babylon? [All emphasis supplied. Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

To be continued . . .

As We Near the End of Time, Part III

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In this series we are studying about the fact that there is a ditch on both sides of the road of life on which we travel. One ditch is the ditch of Babylon. Ellen White wrote to then general conference president, G. I. Butler, stating that the ministers are “coveting their neighbors’ wives,” that there is fornication among us, and that if something is not done to cleanse the camp we are going to become a sister of Babylon. Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 380. That is one ditch. The Babylonian churches will all tell you they are against fornication, adultery, divorce and remarriage without biblical grounds, but even though they are against it, they tolerate it. There are many people in these churches who have the highest moral standards, but the churches are in the same predicament as are Adventists. The devil has worked in our society so that the churches have become corrupted and defiled through the fall and seduction of their members.

The other ditch, on the opposite side, takes the same position that the Pharisees took. They say, Get those people out of the camp, so the camp can be cleansed, and then the Lord will be able to use the rest of us to finish the work. Jesus got in trouble, because He offered salvation to the people in the church who were fallen and outcasts. He said, “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And you, seeing, did not repent later that you should believe in Him.” Matthew 21:32.

Remember the lady to whom Jesus offered salvation at the well? One of the reasons Jesus was crucified was because He went to the people in the church who had messed up—like this woman. Jesus told her, ” ‘You have said well that you do not have any husband, because you have had five husbands, and the one that you have now is not even your husband.’ ” (John 4:17, 18.) “You did not even go through the ceremony this time. You did not even sign the piece of paper; you just decided to give up.”

We are in a situation where there are unscriptural marriages throughout Adventism, even in the revival and reformation movement. This is something that we must study, even though it is delicate and sensitive.

A very sincere man once came to me and told me, “I divorced my wife, and I married the woman to whom I am married now. I know that I am unscripturally married. Now, here I am, and what do I do? I want to be saved! If you tell me that I have to leave my wife to be saved, I will do it.” That is not a desirable position for any pastor to be in, so you can understand that I have given this subject a great deal of study.

Understand Principles

How can the sinners in the church be saved without the church itself becoming part of Babylon? When can the church disfellowship sinners without the development of Phariseeism? Those are not the easiest questions to answer.

Seventh-day Adventists have an advantage over other churches in that we have the Spirit of Prophecy writings to help us come to wise decisions. What we want to understand is principles. If you have not read the book, Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce (The Ellen G. White Estate, 1989), you should. From the many private letters Ellen White wrote dealing with similar complicated situations that are now published in this book, principles are given for your understanding so you can make wise decisions.

Evil Results

Ellen White always warned people against unscriptural marriages. She taught, as does the Bible, that evil results would follow the people in unscriptural marriages for the rest of their lives. But after giving that warning, she said that when people go ahead and get involved in an unscriptural marriage, to leave them alone. That in no way condones what they have done, but there is not a single instance that I know of where she said to break up those people. (See Testimonies, vol. 4, 503–508.) I did not tell that man that he must divorce his second wife; I could not do that with a clear conscience. Mrs. White wrote concerning this exact thing.

People are married who have no right to be married—an unscriptural marriage. This is much more complicated than the person who has committed fornication or adultery. They can confess, say they are sorry, and stop. But in an unscriptural marriage, vows have been given for which there was no right to give. We should remember that a person in a situation like this has committed a grievous sin, and there is no salvation for any sinner if the sin is not confessed (to the individuals who have been wronged—in an unscriptural marriage there are always parties who have been wronged and hurt) with complete repentance. Mrs. White wrote, “You have asked my counsel in regard to this case. I would say that unless those who are burdened in reference to the matter have carefully studied a better arrangement, and can find places for these where they can be comfortable, they better not carry out their ideas of a separation. I hope to learn that this matter is not pressed, and that sympathy will not be withdrawn from the two whose interests have been united.

“I write this because I have seen so many cases of the kind, and persons would have great burden till everything was unsettled and uprooted, and then their interest and burden went no further. We should individually know that we have a zeal that is according to knowledge. We should not move hastily in such matters, but look on every side of the question. We should move very cautiously and with pitying tenderness, because we do not know all the circumstances which led to this course of action.

“I advise that these unfortunate ones be left to God and their own consciences, and that the church shall not treat them as sinners until they have evidence that they are such in the sight of the holy God. He reads hearts as an open book. He will not judge as man judgeth.” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery and Divorce, 218, 219.

Those statements have helped me a great deal. In an unscriptural marriage, the parties have created for themselves a dilemma that no church or prophet can solve. Only the Lord can solve such a dilemma, and we must leave such with Him. I believe that we are on the border of the kingdom, and Satan has successfully attacked God’s people. These unscriptural marriages greatly weaken the church.

Consequences

Everything that we do has consequences, and the unscriptural marriage will make it impossible for those involved to do what could otherwise have been done in God’s work.

Consider what is called “The Case of Brother G,” from which this principle is derived.

C. White wrote a letter explaining the situation: ” ‘Regarding Brother G, I can speak quite freely. About 1875 he married a very brilliant school teacher. . . . She was very talented, but after a number of years she became quarrelsome and made his life miserable. [That was probably according to his report.] At that time he was associated with a very brilliant young woman who was an accountant at X College, and formed a fondness for her. Sister White wrote him a very plain warning, which he promised to heed. Shortly after Sister White had gone to Europe, Brother G resigned his position at X College, went to Michigan to visit his sister, and offered no obstruction to his wife in getting a divorce.

” ‘Thus far, those who knew the case approved, but shortly after this he married the bookkeeper before mentioned; then all his friends were greatly grieved. He taught a while at _______, then settled near ________, and for many years worked very hard, his wife helping him to make a living on a little fruit and vegetable farm. They came to see the wickedness of the course they had taken. They repented of it very bitterly, and their brethren and sisters were satisfied that their repentance was genuine. They had three beautiful children growing up, and no one, as far as I know, encouraged them to separate. When the matter was put before Sister White, she did not encourage a separation, nor could she encourage any movement to exclude him from participation in the work of the third angel’s message. In his later life he labored in a humble way in self-supporting work in the South.

” ‘If persons living in the light of the third angel’s message purpose to leave one companion for the sake of uniting with someone else, it is our duty to warn and reprove and discipline.

” ‘If persons before embracing the message have entangled themselves, and afterward have repented, confessed their sins, received forgiveness of God, and won the confidence of their brethren, it is better for both ministers and laymen to leave them alone, enjoying the forgiveness and justification which have been wrought through Christ, without undertaking to tear up existing relations.’—February 21, 1927.” Ibid., 219–221.

Now we return to what Ellen White said about this man. Remember, he had married a schoolteacher, but he had developed a fondness for someone else. His wife got a divorce, and he immediately married the other person. “We had conversation after the meeting with Elder Starr. The question was in reference to a teacher of grammar for the advanced classes. There is no perplexity in regard to the first classes of grammar, but we need well-qualified teachers in all branches, and we hope Elder Olsen will find either a man or woman that can come to Australia as a thorough teacher. If only G had kept himself straight, he would be just the one to come. But the question is whether his record will not follow him. We scarcely dare venture the matter and run the risk. That the man has sincerely repented I have not a doubt, and I believe the Lord has forgiven him. But if obliged to make explanations it would not be an easy matter to do; so what shall we do with G? Leave him where he is, a prey to remorse, and to be useless the remainder of his life? I cannot see what can be done. [This is a prophet speaking.] Oh, for wisdom from on high! Oh, for the counsel of One who reads the heart as an open book! How Satan watches for souls to bind them with his hellish cords that they become lost to the work and almost helpless in his hands. ‘Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.’ [Mark 14:38.] —Letter 13, 1892. (Written five years after Brother G’s unscriptural marriage.)” Ibid., 221, 222.

Excuses

Unfortunately, people try to excuse what they have done by referring to David or to Solomon, or someone like them. In Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce (pages 92–97), Ellen White goes into a long discussion about David. As a result of David’s sin, even though he later confessed it, was forgiven, and will be in the kingdom of heaven, there were consequences. In the remainder of his life, he was embittered; he found out that what he had done resulted in a wretched evil. It caused unhappiness in his family, in discord, rivalry and jealousy. Not only that, he received reproof and heavy denunciation, and God visited him with judgments. He lost four of his sons, and each one of those was harder for him than if he had to die himself. If you are a father, it is harder to watch your son die than to die yourself, and David had to go through that four times. Ellen White said he was “made to feel the full weight of the injustice done.” Ibid, 97.

Example of Principle

Here is an example of this principle. In the Spirit of Prophecy this man is simply called William E. He was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1856. He attended Battle Creek College, and he labored as a minister or colporteur in several different states. He was married, but his first marriage ended in divorce. After that, he fathered a child by a second woman, without marrying her, and then in 1892 he married a third woman. He stayed married to her until he died in 1934. In 1901 this man’s father and brother insisted, since he was in an unscriptural marriage, that he should leave his wife. In other words, he should make things right.

About this, Ellen White said:
“I would gladly do something to help poor Will E to make things right, but this cannot be done as matters are now situated [notice, a prophet cannot make it right, the church cannot make it right; you just have to leave it with the Lord], without someone’s being wronged.” Ibid., 227. If you do this you are wrong, if you do that, you are wrong—you are in a dilemma that only God can solve and heal.

A Hard One

Even though we follow the given principles, great and perplexing problems occur for the church when the person who is in an unscriptural marriage decides that he is called to be a minister. This is not uncommon. You would probably be shocked, if you knew the personal history of ministers with whom you are acquainted. Brother E moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to the largest church in that conference. He was quite personable, a very good speaker, and he became quite popular in this church. He was active in the church work; became an elder, and started giving Bible studies and holding evangelistic meetings. The time came when he was working so hard in evangelism that the church talked to the conference and said, “This man needs to have some support. He’s working almost full time in evangelism, and he is successful.” So the conference started paying him $8 a week. Of course, he could not live on $8 a week, even in 1900! He was really interested in the restoration of his credentials and recognition as a minister again. The conference president wrote to Ellen White. After talking about the things just mentioned, he states, ” ‘His wife is a nervous wreck and her confidence has been so shaken that while she wants him to preach, there is constant danger that as he becomes popular and mingles with the people that she will become jealous, whether [there] is any cause or not [that is easy to understand in this situation], and herself bring on a scandal by talking and telling of the past which she is prone to do when she becomes suspicious of him. All would be greatly relieved if there is any definite counsel from the Lord.’ ” Ibid., 229. The people often went to Ellen White for counsel, and although we cannot go to her personally anymore, we can seek counsel through her inspired writings. People still get into these complicated situations.

Brother E was being successful in evangelism, but the people said, look at his past. What are we going to do? They received a letter from W. C. White in which he said that he had talked the situation over with his mother. Notice all of the “ifs” in this letter. He wrote: ” ‘Mother says that those who have dealt with the perplexities arising from his many transgressions in the past should take the responsibility of advising regarding our present duty toward him. Mother does not wish to take large responsibility in this matter, but she says regarding Elder E as she has said regarding other men in a somewhat similar position, if they have thoroughly repented, if they are living such lives as convince their brethren that they are thoroughly in earnest, do not cut them off from fellowship, do not forbid their working for Christ in a humble capacity, but do not elevate them to positions of responsibility.’ ” Ibid., 230. So the conference decided not to issue Brother E ministerial credentials, but he was allowed to work in evangelism. At the close of this letter by W. C. White, his mother penned in the following words; ” ‘This is correct advice in such cases. Let him walk humbly before God. I see no light in giving him responsibilities.’ ” Ibid., 231.

Things went on, and a few years later, because of his success in the church in Birmingham, Alabama, and his success in evangelism, some people in the church said, “This man should be made a minister of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.” He still thought that he should be made a minister again, too. The conference president decided to write Ellen White again. This time he said, “The church is disagreed upon the point in question [this was causing problems in the church], and it is having a bad influence upon the work in the city and a more or less deleterious effect throughout the conference. [The whole conference was being affected by this situation.] The majority think, because of his capabilities and his late work in the city . . . that he should be made elder of the church and act as its pastor, or leader, while others do not favor it because of his life record . . . .” The conference men met together and told him that he could do evangelism, but that they did not feel right about ordaining him and giving him ministerial credentials. Brother William E had been so successful in evangelism, he thought that the Adventist ministers were just too hard-hearted. He said, I have repented, I have reformed, and I am not like that anymore. So he decided he would leave Birmingham, Alabama, and go to St. Helena, California, to talk with Ellen White himself. He thought that when he talked to Ellen White she would see the situation and help him get everything cleared up. However, when he got to St. Helena, California, Ellen White refused to see him. So the decision stayed the same.

Learn to Get Along

You see from this story just how complicated these situations can get. You may say that the mistake was made many years ago. That may be, but the unscriptural marriage has consequences. If there are young people reading this, and you are thinking that you cannot get along with your spouse, you had better do some fasting and praying before you decide to separate. Ask the Lord for direction.

Ellen White, in writing to a couple who was having terrible trouble because their dispositions just did not blend at all, advised that they had made some promises to each other, so they needed to pray and ask the Lord to help them change their dispositions. (See The Adventist Home, 345.) You see, that is God’s plan. If we are going to go to heaven someday, and we are all going to get along there, we have to learn to get along here. The first place we learn to get along with other people is in our homes. The second place where we learn to get along with others is in the church. Think this through in your mind, friends. If we cannot get along, what does that mean about our prospects of going to heaven? Whether it is in the home or in the church—it is something very serious.

Friends, we need to understand the principles. We need to be sure that we do not become like the Pharisees and decide that we are going to tear everything up that is not right. If we tear it up, then how are we going to put it back together? On the other hand, we must not be like Babylon and just let anything happen, saying, We are against it, but you can be a member of this church no matter what you do. We cannot do that.

We are living in a time when the ministers, the teachers, the elders among God’s people have some very delicate and difficult questions with which to deal. These problems exist because the devil has been successful, just like he was with Israel before they entered the Promised Land, in getting God’s people involved in sensuous practices which have led to divorces and remarriages that are not scriptural. Friend, decide, before you get involved in an unscriptural marriage, that you are not going to get involved! Make a decision!

We are not saying that such people are lost. We want to see them saved. But they have gotten themselves in situations where they cannot do, in God’s work, what they could have done otherwise. We have young people, today, who have decided, just as did Daniel, Joseph, and Isaac, that they are going to follow God, no matter what the cost. We need more young people like this to finish God’s work. We need young people who will make the same decision, as did Timothy. Paul told him, “Do not be a partaker in other men’s sins, keep yourself pure.” 1 Timothy 5:22.

[All emphasis supplied. Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

To be concluded . . .

As We Near the End of Time, Part IV

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In this series, we have been dealing with unscriptural marriages. There are two or three other points that we need to consider as well. I apologize that these topics are so sensitive, but our God is a holy God, and we must come up to the standard that He has set for the way that we think, feel, act, and talk.

Fornication and Adultery

We should be balanced and look at all sides of an issue. How does the church deal with the sin of fornication and adultery? Ellen White wrote a number of statements about this. A few will be given in this article. She says: “We are nearing the judgment, and those who bear the message of warning to the world must have clean hands and pure hearts. They must have a living connection with God. The thoughts must be pure and holy, the soul untainted, the body, soul, and spirit [must] be a pure, clean offering to God, or He will not accept it. . . .

“The youth, for misdemeanors of a comparatively light character, are treated with much severity. But when men and women of large experience, who have been considered patterns of piety, are revealed in their true character—unsanctified, unholy, impure in thought, debased in conduct—then it is time for such to be dealt with in a decided manner. The greater forbearance that is exercised toward them has only had, as far as my knowledge extends, the influence to cause them to regard their fornication and adultery as a very light matter, and all their pretense has proved to be like morning dew when the sun shines upon it. . . .

“Cleanse the camp of this moral corruption, if it takes the highest men in the highest positions. God will not be trifled with. Fornication is in our ranks. I know it, for it has been shown me to be strengthening and extending its pollutions. There is much we will never know, but that which is revealed makes the church responsible and guilty unless they show a determined effort to eradicate the evil. Cleanse the camp for there is an accursed thing in it.” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce, 235–237. Friends, do not look at some other church, some other organization. This applies to us in the Historic Adventist movement. We have the problem!

Don’t be a Pharisee

Then she says this about people who have been ministers: “I have no real ground of hope for those who have stood as shepherds to the flock, and have for years been borne with by the merciful God, following them with reproof, with warnings, with entreaties, but who have hid their evil ways, and continued in them, thus defying the laws of the God of heaven by practicing fornication. We may leave them to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling [Philippians 2:12], after all has been done to reform them, but in no case entrust to them the guardianship of souls.” Ibid., 237. That is a strong statement, with which we must come into harmony. Notice she does not say they have committed the unpardonable sin. If we look at the context, she is not talking about someone who has been a repeat offender.

“I am compelled to deal plainly and rebuke sin, and then I have it in my heart, placed there by the Spirit of Christ, to labor in faith in tender sympathy and compassion for the erring. I will not let them alone.” Ibid., 241. She is talking about people who are in the situation she just described. They cannot serve as pastors anymore, she says, but she cannot let them alone. She did not have the heart of a Pharisee; she wanted the people involved in that degradation to be saved. We have to pray that the Lord will help us not to go into the ditch on either side of the road. In one ditch (Babylon) we just let things go, let them continue to happen, and in the other ditch (Phariseeism), we just cast the offenders away to be lost. “I will not leave them to become the sport of Satan’s temptations. I will not myself act the part of the adversary of souls, as is represented by Joshua and the Angel. Souls cost the price of my Redeemer’s blood.” Ibid.

When Jesus was here, He was successful in saving a lot of the people whom the Pharisees had totally given up on and said there was no hope of them ever having salvation. When we read The Desire of Ages, or other Ellen White books, she mentions the man in Matthew 9 who was paralyzed, the man who was healed by the pool of Bethesda (see John 5), and the woman taken in adultery (see John 8). Jesus saved a lot of these seemingly hopeless people. We have to pray and ask the Lord to help us to not be like Babylon and just let anything go, and at the same time to help us to bring salvation to all of the sinners we can.

Mrs. White continues: “Our probation is short at best. We have no time to spend in indulging corrupt impulses. The familiarity of married men with married women and young girls is disgusting in the sight of God and holy angels. The forwardness of young girls in placing themselves in the company of young men, hanging around where they are at work, entering into conversation with them, talking common, idle talk, is belittling to womanhood. It lowers them, even in the estimation of those who themselves do such things.

“There is a positive necessity for reform in all our institutions. All frivolity, all undue attention of men and women, must be condemned and discontinued. Some, even married men, who have indulged in this trifling familiarity, have endeavored to excuse themselves and escape censure by claiming that they have done no moral wrong. Was it no moral wrong to jest, joke, and pay flattering attentions to young women? Are you not starting in their minds a train of thought which it is impossible for you to change? Do you not by your levity and coquetry, sanction such conduct?” Ibid., 245, 246.

Church Action

Then she talks about the danger of the entire church, and this is something about which we need to study and pray—the danger of the entire church bringing the frown of God upon them because they will not act. “I saw that the seventh commandment [Exodus 20:14] has been violated by some who are now held in fellowship by the church. This has brought God’s frown upon them. This sin is awful in these last days, but the church [members] have brought God’s frown and curse upon them by regarding the sin so lightly. I saw that it was an enormous sin and there have not been as vigilant efforts made as there should have been to satisfy the displeasure of God and remove His frown by taking a strict, thorough course with the offender.

“It has had an awful, corrupting influence upon the young. They see how lightly the sin of breaking the seventh commandment is regarded, and the one who commits this horrid sin thinks that all he has to do is to confess that he was wrong and is sorry, and he is then to have all of the privileges of the house of God and be held in [the] embrace or fellowship of the church.

“They have thought it was not so great a sin, but have lightly esteemed the breaking of the seventh commandment. This has been sufficient to remove the ark of God from the camp, if there were no other sins to cause the ark to be taken away and weaken Israel. [See 1 Samuel 4:10, 11.]

“Those who break the seventh commandment should be suspended from the church, and not have its fellowship nor the privileges of the house of God. Said the angel, ‘This is not a sin of ignorance. It is a knowing sin and will receive the awful visitation of God, whether he who commits it be old or young.’

“Never was this sin regarded by God as being so exceedingly sinful as at the present time. Why? Because God is purifying unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. [Titus 2:14.] It is at the very time when God is purifying this peculiar people unto Himself that [unsanctified] individuals step in among us. Notwithstanding the straight truths they have heard—the terrors of the Word of God set before them, and all the blazing truth for these last days calculated to arouse Israel—they sin with a high hand, give way to all the loose passions of the carnal heart, gratify their animal propensities, disgrace the cause of God, and then confess they have sinned and are sorry!

“And the church receives them and says ‘Amen’ to their prayers and exhortations, which are a stink in the nostrils of God, and cause His wrath to come upon the camp. He will not dwell in their assemblies. [This sin in the camp will prevent us from receiving the Holy Spirit.] Those who move on thus heedlessly, plastering over these sins, will be left to their own ways, to be filled with their own doings.

“Those who anciently committed these sins were taken without the camp and stoned to death. Temporal and eternal death was their doom; and because the penalty of stoning to death is abolished, this sin is indulged in beyond measure and is thought to be a small offense.” Ibid., 248, 249. If we continue to allow such sin and do not act against it, then we are going to become a sister to Babylon.

More Than Discipline

Now let us look at the other side. We must do something more than just have strict discipline. How much farther must we go? First of all, after a person has been in this kind of situation, if they come to repentance and go straight for a period of time, demonstrating that their repentance is genuine, Mrs. White said that they could be restored.

“In regard to the case of the injured Sister A. G., we would say in reply to the questions of J. H. W., that it is a feature in the cases of most who have been overtaken in sin, as her husband has, that they have no real sense of their villainy. Some, however, do, and are restored to the church, but not till they have merited the confidence of the people of God by unqualified confessions, and a period of sincere repentance.” Ibid., 250. Some people actually do have sincere and genuine repentance, and it is demonstrated in their subsequent life.

If someone has a problem that we do not have, it is always easy for us, as human beings, to criticize them for their problem and not realize that we might have a different problem that is even worse. In Jesus’ day the Pharisees criticized the kinds of individuals about which we have just read. Jesus told the Pharisees that they were even worse. Concerning this, Ellen White wrote, in 1902, “Let those who condemn others take heed to themselves lest they be condemned by God for Phariseeism.” Ibid., 265.

There is Hope!

There will be some, as they read this, who will ask, Is there any hope for me? There is hope! Jesus can save the most hardened sinner, if that person is willing to come and submit and surrender to Him.

The Spirit of Prophecy gives us an example of a man who had long continued in sin. He was a married man, but he had a mistress for a very long time. He was growing old, and Ellen White told him he did not have very much longer to live. She wrote letters to both this man and to his mistress. The letter that she wrote to him shows that there is hope for people who have been trapped in the pit of sin by the devil’s temptations. She wrote: “You have a work to do for your own soul. Make haste, or it will be forever too late. God will now forgive the scarlet sin if you will do those things you ought to do to make your wrongs right. I do not say your case is hopeless, but you have certainly almost sinned away your day of grace; and yet Jesus is in the sanctuary. Jesus pleads in your behalf. Your brethren and your sisters have labored much for you; so much interest have they manifested for you that you have regarded crime and sins as a light matter. But Jesus loves you, and I present or lift up Jesus before you.

“Satan tells you that it is not best for you to cease sinning, you have gone so far in disobedience and transgression that it is no use for you to try to come back to God. While I feel that full disgrace of your sins is upon you, while I would have you see sin as it is, I would all the time present Jesus as a sin-pardoning Saviour.

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

“The robes of Christ’s righteousness never cover cherished sins. No one can enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb without the wedding garment on, which is the righteousness of Christ. Without holiness no man shall see God. God is waiting to give divine power to every soul to combine with human effort. ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.’ [Philippians 2:12.]” Ibid., 133, 134.

I do not know what happened in this case. Salvation involves our personal decision. There were people in Ellen White’s day that she said if they were saved, they would have to be saved alone. They could not be in the fellowship of the church because of what they had done; they would drag the reputation of the whole church down before the world. But they could still be saved. (See Ibid., 249, 250.) We serve a Saviour; we have a Mediator who is all powerful!

When people have fallen, we must not do what Babylon does. We must not just turn our head and pretend nothing is happening. On the other hand, we have to ask the Lord to teach us and show us what to do so that these people can be saved. They may have to be disfellowshipped from the church. Ellen White said that these people who have committed adultery have to be suspended from church fellowship.

Strive to Understand

“When one at fault becomes conscious of his error, be careful not to destroy his self-respect. Do not discourage him by indifference or distrust. Do not say, ‘Before giving him my confidence, I will wait to see whether he will hold out.’ Often this very distrust causes the tempted one to stumble.

“We should strive to understand the weakness of others. We know little of the heart trials of those who have been bound in chains of darkness and who lack resolution and moral power. Most pitiable is the condition of him who is suffering under remorse; he is as one stunned, staggering, sinking into the dust. He can see nothing clearly. The mind is beclouded; he knows not what steps to take. Many a poor soul is misunderstood, unappreciated, full of distress and agony—a lost, straying sheep. He cannot find God, yet he has an intense longing for pardon and peace.” Ibid., 260, 261.

That is what we need to understand. Have we not had chains of sins that we have had to go to the Lord and plead that He set us free? Others, in and out of the church, who are bound surround us, and we need to consider them as they really are. Someone may say, “It is their choice.” Yes, it is, but the devil has them bound in slavery from which they can never get free unless the Lord delivers them.

If we are going to stay on the narrow road and go all the way to the Holy City, we cannot fall off into the ditch on one side or the other. We have to ask the Lord to help us not go into the ditch on either side.

We are Weak

Whatever our natural weaknesses, Christ has made provision. “For all the natural weaknesses Jesus has made ample provision, that they may be overcome through His grace.” Ibid., 91. We are the weakest generation there has ever been. We are weak morally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Remember, the apostle Paul had an affliction. He thought this affliction would be taken away, if he would earnestly pray for its removal. (See 11 Corinthians 12.) Jesus told him to not talk to Him anymore about it. The Lord did not take it away, but He told the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” [Verse 9.] Although we are weak and sinful, there is grace sufficient for us, if we will come to Jesus, surrender to Him, and ask for it.

Jesus made a wonderful assertion to His disciples, just before His ascension: “All authority in heaven and upon the earth is given to Me.” Matthew 28:18. The devil does not want us to know that, because he knows, if we fully realize and recognize that we serve a Mediator who is all-powerful, that the bondage, the shackles of sin, will be broken in our lives. Whatever your weakness, however you have fallen, whatever your past has been, whatever situation you are in right now, Jesus says, ‘All authority is given to Me in heaven and earth.’ We serve an all-powerful Mediator, and in the situations in which we find ourselves today, we need that Mediator. We need His power and His grace in our personal lives, in our homes, and in the church.

Another wonderful promise, which I have pondered and claimed many times, is: “He is able to save perfectly those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession on their behalf.” Hebrews 7:25. If we are clear at the bottom, in a hopeless situation, there is Someone who is able to save us perfectly—to bring us to perfect holiness, to perfect purity! He is in the business of solving impossible problems.

Whatever our situations may be—in our church, in our marriage, in our family—they may be so complicated that we have to do as Mrs. White said and leave them to the Lord. But the Lord that we are going to leave them to is all-powerful, and He can solve the problem if we are willing to surrender all to Him.

For those of you who are suffering because of something you have done in the past or that your spouse has done in the past, I want you to remember the promise in Matthew 19:29. If you are suffering because you decided to stand for the right and your spouse decided to divorce you because you did that, remember this; Jesus told His followers: “Whatever you suffer, whatever you lose in this world for My sake, you will receive a hundred-fold, plus eternal life.” That is a promise to which you can cling. There is going to be a payday someday, and if you hang on, even if you are suffering, and you commit your life to Christ and choose to follow Him, He is going to reward you for your faithfulness to Him. Do not give up because you are suffering and let the devil trick you into going back out into the world. The Lord is a better paymaster; He is a better master all the way around. Stick to Him; give your life to Him, and ask Him to lead you through all the difficult experiences you may have.

Pastor Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life Ministry and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas.

Mother-Love, God-Love

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We equate mothers with active, giving love. We use the word mother as a verb, as in, “Look at that cat mothering her kittens.” Mothers who cease exhibiting active and giving love are unofficially stripped of that title by on-lookers, as in, “She’s not fit to be called a mother.” Fair or not, realistic or not, our expectations of mother-love are high and border on God-like quality.

Now, no human being can be God. Even the most loving mother will have her faults, but mothers have historically performed some act or made some sacrifice as to be an earthly example of divine love. Mother-love, in its ideal, can help us understand God-love.

A Personal Love

Mother-love is personal. There is an immediate bond between mother and child. There are stories from large hospitals with large nurseries that there may be eight or ten newborn babies crying and yet many a mother can recognize if her baby is one of them! Is that not like God-love? We are told that He will hear our cries. (Exodus 22:23.)

It has been reported that mothers could recognize their babies just by touching the back of their hands. A study was done with mothers who had been caring for their newborn babies for only one week. Blindfolded, they were asked to feel the backs of the hands of three infants. With 70 percent accuracy they were able to pick out their own baby!

There is no touch like a mother’s! In the family it is the mother who kisses a hurt to make it go away. It is her cool hand that soothes a fevered brow.

God-love is a very personal love also. With God we are more than a number, more than just another face in the crowd. Jesus told us, in Matthew 10:30, that He even knows the number of hairs on our head! Jesus’ touch healed the sick and the lame. His touch brought sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. When God-love touches you, it will affect eternally your life. “It is as the Spirit of God touches the soul that the powers of the soul are quickened and man becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 3, 1074.

Does Not Quit

Mother-love is a love that does not quit. A mother took her six-year-old boy into a doctor’s crowded waiting room. As they waited their turn, he began to ask her all kinds of questions. In half an hour he managed to cover almost every subject known to humanity. To the wonder of all the others sitting in the room, his mother answered each question carefully and patiently. Inevitably, he got around to God. As the other people listened to his relentless “hows” and “whys,” it was plain to see by the expressions on their faces that they wondered: “How does she stand it?” But when she answered her son’s next question, she answered theirs too. “Why,” he asked, “doesn’t God ever get tired and just stop?”

“Because,” she replied after a moment’s thought, “God is love; and love never gets tired.”

Witness the patient, tireless love of mother-love and you witness God-love. God-love never gets tired. God-love never quits.

Protector

“How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings . . . .” Matthew 23:37. The story is told of a man who was looking over the charred remains of his farm after a terrible fire. He noticed a lump of something in the barnyard that was still moving. He kicked it and from underneath came a little chick. That mother hen had faced the fire and had given her life to protect the chick. That is how God described Himself, “How often would I have gathered thy children . . . .”

One of the best-known examples of a mother’s desire to protect her child is given in Exodus 2:1–10. What mother-love was exhibited by the mother of Moses, that she would hide him away for three months to preserve his life then place him in an “ark of bulrushes,” trusting God to watch over him!

God-love is evidenced in His desire to protect us. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, [and] from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler.” Psalm 91:1–4.

Mom’s Law

In their mother-love, mothers seem to take on an extra-ordinary wisdom about many subjects. Surely many of us remember things we were told, such as:

  • Medicine: If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they’re going to stay that way!
  • Humor: When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.
  • Our Roots: Do you think you were born in a barn?
  • Anticipation: Just wait till your father gets home!
  • Receiving: You are going to get it when we get home.
  • Nutrition: If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.
  • Maturing: When you get my age, you’ll understand.

But more importantly, may we remember the godly admonitions given in mother-love. We are told, in Proverbs 6:20 to “forsake not the law of thy mother.”

Recently an essay called “The Meanest Mother in the World” caught my eye. In part, it read: “I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids had candy for breakfast, I had to eat my cereal and toast. While other kids had cakes and candy for lunch, I had a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different than other kids’ supper too. My mother was so mean that she insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we were in a prison or something. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing. I am ashamed to admit this, but my mother actually had the nerve to break the child labor laws. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make the beds, and learn how to cook and clean. I think my mother must have stayed awake at night thinking of things for us to do. And she insisted that we tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She never let me get away with anything. By the time we were teenagers, my mother was even wiser, and our lives became even more unbearable. She would embarrass us by insisting that our friends come to the door instead of honking the car horn for us to come running. And she always insisted that we be home early on school nights and never let us stay out late on weekends like all our friends. Mother was so mean that she would not let us date at the mature age of 13 or 14, like so many of our friends. She kept telling us that there was a lot of time, and that we needed to grow up a bit first. Mother really raised a bunch of squares. None of us was arrested for shoplifting or busted for dope. And who do we have to thank for this? You’re right, our mean, old mother.”

Oh, for more such “mean” mothers! To obey our mother’s godly teaching is to honor her as commanded in Exodus 20:12.

Just as the writer of the above essay benefited from following his mother’s instruction and laws, we will benefit from God-love as we daily obey His Law. “The principles of God’s law will dwell in the heart, and control the actions. It will then be as natural for us to seek purity and holiness, to shun the spirit and example of the world, and to seek to benefit all around us, as it is for the angels of glory to execute the mission of love assigned them.” Sons and Daughters of God, 51.

Sacrificial Love

“You have probably heard of the sad story of the mother who, with her husband and child, attempted to cross the Green Mountains in midwinter. Their progress was arrested by night and a storm. The husband went for help and lost his way in the darkness and the drifted snow, and was long in returning. The mother felt the chill of death coming upon her, and she bared her bosom to the freezing blast and the falling snow, that she might give all that remained of her own life to save that of her child. When the morning came, the living babe was found wrapped in the mother’s shawl, vainly striving with smiles and with a babe’s pretty art to arrest the attention of the mother’s fixed and frozen eye, and wondering why she did not awaken from her sleep.

“Here is seen love stronger than death, that binds the mother’s heart to her child.” This Day With God, 230.

Such mother-love is surpassed only by the God-love that sent His only Son that we may have life eternal. “We are not to entertain the idea that God loves us because Christ has died for us, but that He so loved us that He gave His only-begotten Son to die for us.” The Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895.

Welcome Home

The story is told of a godly mother in London whose daughter had run off into a life of sin. This mother went to her pastor with a burdened heart, not knowing what to do. Her pastor asked her to go home and get as many photographs of herself that she could find and bring them to him. When she returned with the photos, he wrote at the bottom of each one this simple message: “Come Home.” He then placed them all around the city in the places of sin where he thought the girl might go.

One night the wayward girl entered a bar only to find a picture of her mother and the message, “Come Home.” When she read the message, she knew her mother meant it. She knew her mother loved her and would forgive her.

She made her way back home, and as she opened the door, her mother greeted her with her arms outstretched. The girl’s mother cried out, “The door has never been locked. I have been looking for you, watching for you, and praying for you.” What unconditional mother-love!

God also desires us to “Come Home.” Ellen White wrote: “The great God, whose glory shines from the heavens, and whose divine hand upholds millions of worlds, is our Father. We have only to love Him, trust in Him, as little children in faith and confidence, and He will accept us as His sons and daughters, and we shall be heirs to all the inexpressible glory of the eternal world. All the meek will He guide in judgment, the meek will He teach His way. If we will walk in obedience to His will, learn cheerfully and diligently the lessons of His providence, by and by He will say: Child, come home to the heavenly mansions I have prepared for you.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 653. What marvelous God-love!

Essential

Mothers come in all different shapes and sizes, but they all come with mother-love! It is essential for us to recognize that this mother-love can give us a glimpse of God-love—love that is personal; love that never quits; love that is patient; love that protects; love that welcomes us home.

Anna Schultz writes from her home near Sedalia, Colorado. She may be contacted by e-mail at JSchu67410@aol.com.

What Is A Gentleman

by

Never imagine that the swaggering braggart can move the world; he is as feeble as he is loud. Jesus Christ was the strongest man who ever lived—and the gentlest. He would not have hurt the feelings of a child, and yet he could conquer hell. “He opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed . . . .” [Matthew 5:2, 3.] That was the keynote of his life.

He was always blessing somebody—healing the sick, comforting the sad, cheering the weary, raising the dead; his life was one long series of kindly, brotherly actions. And yet, how he could burn with moral indignation! The same Christ who was tender and gentle and forgiving to the sinners who were tired of the dreary heartache of their useless lives, and longed to be better and do better, could denounce the hypocrites of his day as “a generation of vipers.” [Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33.] We must rid ourselves of the popular delusion that tenderness denotes weakness. It does not. Bullies are weak. Gentlemen are strong. The braggart is impotent; the empty noise of his braying is quickly exhausted, and then he is used up and has nothing to go on with. The man who endures and overcomes is the man who follows Christ in his sweet reasonableness of temper and thought and action. . . .

Ladylikeness of exterior and a sort of “got-up-regardless-of-expense” appearance are not the outward and visible signs of gentlemanliness. Some of the roughest and most erratic men possess the truest hearts and the tenderest spirits. I shall always feel intensely grateful that the blind and blundering Peter was one of the disciples, for it shows that Jesus Christ can sympathize with men who are recklessly enthusiastic. Some of the most useful, genial, and delightful men I have ever met have been impetuous Peters,—true and honest disciples, but afflicted with the unhappy knack of occasionally doing the right thing in the wrong way. They seem to possess every other virtue except caution and prudence. And yet what a gentleman this erratic kind of fellow sometimes is! How sunny his smile! how loving his heart! how honest his voice! how firm the grip of his hand! See how he dries the falling tear; observe how readily he bears the bitterest inconvenience in order to do service for a man who is “down;” notice how he stints himself that he may help any prodigal who happens to be “hard-up;” see how the tiny children love this great-hearted, merry, boyish fellow, climbing all over him, caressing his rough face, and pulling his grizzly beard. Yes, this man knows something of the gentlemanly Carpenter of Nazareth, or he would not be so refreshingly frank, so transparently sincere, so sublimely unselfish. After all, I should rather have the rugged warmth of a firework than the prim and pompous frigidity of an iceberg.

You will always notice that a gentleman possesses a dexterous and most delightful tact. [For instance] at a certain breakfast a guest upset a cup, and its contents soiled the cloth. A neighbor quietly placed a vase of flowers over the stain, and thus hid the blot with beauty. . . .

If we imitate the gentlemanliness of Jesus, . . . we shall look for the good in men, we shall try to ignore their weaknesses, and our judgments will be very kind. We must remember that no man is utterly and irretrievably bad. We all have a good side to our characters—a Dr. Jekyll, who is generous and charitable and upright. And, alas! what life is not embittered and hampered by a ghostly Mr. Hyde, black with iniquity, terrible with hatred, scorched with hell! The evil spirit is part of us; it destroys our rest; it assails us at our weakest points; and when we would do good, there is the desperate and deadly temptation to be reckoned with, and sometimes we are swept along before the withering blast of our unrestrained passions. Life is a mixed quantity. We are bad for a time, then we rise up and declare that we will be Christ’s men. We pray with eager desire and intense earnestness, and immediately afterwards give both hands to the devil. One day we are cursed with hideous and soul-haunting thoughts, and the very next day blessed with all the calm of heaven’s peace. Our life is a maze, a tangled mystery, a grim tragedy. The great lesson to be learned from this duality of purpose is that no character is altogether bad. The worst part of a man’s nature may have caught our attention, and we instantly condemn him as a most hopeless and degraded sinner. What blind injustice! He may all the time be fighting a winning battle with a thousand temptations of which we know nothing. So we must cultivate a gentlemanly kindness in our criticisms, knowing that we shall often experience the pain of defeat ere we know the glory of ultimate victory.

Among other unmistakable indications of true gentlemanliness are chivalry and unselfishness. He is no gentleman, but the meanest and most contemptible of creatures, who is unclean in thought and unchaste in life. One of the most remarkable characteristics of gentlemanliness lies in the fact that it is not so very far removed from womanliness. It has a sacred modesty, a tender regard and respect for weakness and loneliness and inferiority, a deep and genuine reverence for the innocence and purity of womanhood. But, you say, how about manliness? I reply by asking another question, Do you know what manliness means? It signifies virtue. . . . Vice is no mark of cleverness or manliness. It is a shameful, devilish thing that scars the soul, wounds the heart, rends the whole life asunder, and turns the future into darkness.

There is one other mark of the highest Christian gentlemanliness: it absolutely prohibits sickening personalities in conversation. . . . The gentlemanly thing to do is to dwell as much as possible on the best side of human nature. Healthy men will not wish to dine at a dissecting table. Instead of retailing petty gossip about people, and criticizing small mistakes, and exaggerating trifling defects, rise higher, speak of nobler things, manlier thoughts, loftier objects, and try to keep the atmosphere pure and fragrant with charity and brotherly love. Perhaps it has not occurred to you that to ridicule or slander an absent man is the most vulgar and cowardly thing you can do. The apostle has told us that “the tongue is a fire,” [James 3:6] and we know it is so. Nothing stabs so deep as slanderous, resentment, subtle and base insinuations, and scorn to indulge in unwholesome gossip; for, . . . the true gentleman “has no ears for slander, never takes an unfair advantage, and interprets everything for the best.”

But let us come to close quarters, and inquire into some of the indispensable characteristics of a gentleman. In the first place, he is brimming over with brotherliness. Not only is this the first indication of gentlemanliness, it is the very essence and heart of true Christianity. The apostle John evidently thought so, for he said, in his frank, straightforward way, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar;” [1 John 4:20] and again, “Let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God;” [1 John 4:7] and then, in a burst of indignation, he declares that the man who hates his brother is a murderer. I firmly believe that the crowning necessity of the church today is not an austere and unbending Puritanism, but a large-hearted, cheerful spirit of Christian brotherliness. While we have been wasting our strength in drawing up resolutions, arranging our formulas, and throttling enthusiasm with red tape, the devil has been winning hosts of adherents by means of cheerful resorts, bright music, and good fellowship. The shallow critic cannot save the world—even the skillful theologian cannot do it. What we want is [brotherly love].

There are men who have fallen in the tragedy of life, and, bleeding and forlorn, they need the hearty hand grasp, the friendly help of brotherly men. We must cast away our supercilious self-conceit and our chilling cynicism. We must get hold of those who have been overcome of evil, and cheer them with words of hope, and encourage them to begin a better life. We must treat with infinite tenderness bewildered, misguided, unhappy souls who have blundered and fallen, and are gradually sinking into despair. Such men will be repulsed by a tract, they will resent an arrogant inquisition into their intellectual eccentricities. But we may love them to Christ. We may gently succor them from their evil selves, and show them the noble character, the mysterious self-sacrifice, and the resistless power of him who was the Friend and Saviour of thieves and harlots. All brotherliness must begin at the cross. Inspired by the supreme revelation of the Father’s love, we shall lose our unworthy pride, our reckless ambition, and our false notions of respectability, and learn the first lesson of gentlemanliness, which is to love our brother even as Christ has loved us.

Reprinted from Shams, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D.C., 1916, 43–54.