Doctrine

The Lord’s Day

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We know from the New Testament that God has a rest day, a special day of the week that He calls His own. John writes, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet.” Revelation 1:10. Long after the cross, it is evident from this verse that God does have a special day, a day that belongs to Him, a day that is called “the Lord’s Day.”

To find out the origin of this day we must go back to the beginning of the Bible, to the time of Creation, before there had ever been any transgression of God’s law and when there was no need for a plan of salvation. Genesis 2:1–3 says: “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

Genesis 1 and 2 say that God created this world in six days. The evening and the morning were the first day, the second day and so on. During each one of these days, in creation week, God created some aspect of the world or solar system. But at the end of Creation week, God created a special holy day to commemorate what He had made. This day He called a rest day or the Sabbath day and in that day God set an example for us by resting. The Bible says that He blessed the day and made it holy.

The book of Revelation teaches that only God is holy. (Revelation 15:4.) No man or group of men can make a holy day, because only a holy being can make a day holy. Thus only God could sanctify the Sabbath and make it a holy day.

 

The Sabbath Reviewed at Sinai

 

The moral duty of all mankind to keep the Sabbath was reviewed by God, for all of His people, when He came down on Mount Sinai and spoke His moral law (the Ten Commandments). He then wrote His Law down on tables of stone and He commanded His people to keep it through all generations.

At Sinai, the Sabbath was not introduced as a new day that the Israelites were to begin keeping. We can be sure of that fact when we read the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8. It says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” The Lord says, “Remember,” because His special day goes all the way back to the creation of the world.

It is interesting that the only commandment that people want to lose sight of is the only one that God said to, “Remember.” In the heart of God’s law, it says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man servant, nor your maid servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8–11.

 

The Origin of Our Week

 

The weekly cycle of seven days comes directly from Creation week. The heavenly bodies control all the other measurements of time. The year is dependent on the revolution of the earth around the sun. The month has to do with lunar cycles. The seasons have to do with the revolution and rotation of the earth. Only the weekly cycle has no natural origin, and so only can point back to the Creation week when the Sabbath was instituted.

Some people wonder if the seventh-day that God made holy is really the same day as the seventh-day in our weekly cycle, as we know it now. Has the weekly cycle been changed in the six thousand years since Creation? The answer is simple to find if we look at the Jewish people. They have been keeping the Sabbath from Christ’s day until the present time. Obviously, it is impossible that millions of people scattered all over the world could all of a sudden, in one week, forget which day of the week it was and all start keeping another day. The probability of that is far beyond impossible.

Another proof that shows that the weekly cycle has not been changed is the way that many of the languages name the seventh day of the week. Take for instance what the Italians call the seventh day. It is called “Sabato.” Similarly in Spain, it is called “Sabado.” In Russia, it is called “Subbota.” And in Poland it is called “Sobota.” All these names mean Sabbath or Rest Day. Except for those languages that have adopted the pagan names for the days of the week, the seventh day is still called “The Sabbath,” even today, just the way God named it in the beginning.

In addition to that, the crucifixion of Christ establishes, beyond any reasonable doubt, which day the Sabbath is according to the commandment. The account in Luke tells us this: “Now, behold, there was a man name Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.” Luke 23: 50–56.

So it was that as Friday, the preparation day ended and the Sabbath was drawing near, that they prepared the body of Jesus and put it in the tomb. After they did that, they rested the next day, the Sabbath, according to the commandment. Then it says, “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.” Luke 24:1. That day was resurrection Sunday, as the whole Christian world knows.

The Biblical record shows Good Friday, resurrection Sunday, and the Sabbath “according to the commandment,” which they kept, was the day in between. Since the whole Christian world acknowledges Good Friday and resurrection Sunday, it is impossible for any candid reader of the Bible to make a mistake as to which day is the Sabbath.

 

The Sabbath Changed?

 

However, some people ask, “In the New Covenant was not the Lord’s day changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week?” The Bible clearly answers. Jesus did not change it. The apostles did not change it. Nowhere does the Bible authorize a change. Jesus and the apostles kept the seventh day holy not only before, but also after the cross, and there is no record of its change in the Bible before or after Jesus’ death. Jesus said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle [a small part of a letter] of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17.

Father O’Brien, a Catholic author, in his book, The Faith of Millions, copyright 1974, says: “Let me address myself to my dear non-Catholic reader. You believe that the Bible alone is a safe guide in religious matters. You also believe that one of the fundamental duties enjoined upon you by your Christian faith is that of Sunday observance. But where does the Bible speak of such an obligation? I have read the Bible from the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Revelation and have found no reference to the duty of sanctifying the Sunday. The day mentioned in the Bible is not the Sunday, the first day of the week, but the Saturday, the last day of the week.” The first day of the week is mentioned in the Bible nine times, but nowhere is it mentioned as a Christian Sabbath or as a holy day or day of worship.

 

Nailed to the Cross?

 

Many have confused God’s holy Sabbath day with the yearly Sabbaths that were kept by the Israelites in the Old Covenant, and think that, somehow, it was also annulled when Jesus died. But a careful study of the Bible shows that, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath, the ceremonial sabbaths were added because of transgression and pointed forward to the life and ministry of Christ. One of those yearly Sabbaths was the Passover Sabbath. These ceremonies pointed forward to Christ’s ministry and death and were called “a shadow of things to come.” Colossians 2:17. The Passover Sabbath came on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year, the day that Jesus was crucified. The Bible says that “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” 1 Corinthians 5:7. When Jesus died, these ceremonial Sabbaths had no more significance because they had been fulfilled.

The seventh day Sabbath has nothing to do with Jewish ceremonies. It was established before there were any Jews or any Jewish ceremonies or before the plan of salvation had even been introduced. It was made before sin even came into the world. The Bible never calls it the Jewish Sabbath. Rather it calls it the seventh day Sabbath, the Lord’s day. Jesus acknowledged that the Sabbath that was kept by the Jews was the Lord’s day, His holy day, and it was made for all mankind—and not just for the Jews. “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man,and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.’ ” Mark 2:27, 28.

The Jews kept the Sabbath because they were God’s people, in those days, and, as God’s people, they kept God’s day. The Sabbath can be kept legalistically like the Pharisees did but when it is kept the way Jesus kept it, it is a great blessing to mankind. Calling Sunday the Lord’s day cannot make it holy or make it God’s rest day any more than calling a piece of cut glass a diamond can make it so, even if it looks just the same. Calling it such may confuse people, but it will never change the truth.

Adolph Hitler said that if you repeatedly tell a lie, especially a big one, eventually people will believe it. In this case he told the truth. God and man kept the Sabbath in Eden. It was kept by Abraham according to Genesis 26:5. It was kept by Christ according to Luke 4:16. All the apostles kept it. There is not one instance recorded in the New Testament of an apostle keeping Sunday nor is there one instance of an apostle not keeping the Sabbath. Instead, the Bible records over eighty Sabbaths that the apostle Paul kept.

Revelation tells us that there will be a day that will be kept by God’s people in the last days, and this is a distinguishing mark of those people who will not receive the mark of the beast. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.

The “saints” keep God’s commandments. No one can be described as a person who keeps God’s commandments if they break one, and the Sabbath is one of God’s commandments. James 2:10 says that if you keep the whole law and offend in one point, you are guilty of all. Therefore, God’s people in the last days, who will not receive the mark of the beast, will be Sabbathkeepers.

All of this evidence is sure to stimulate some questions; for example, “How then did the Christian world begin to keep Sunday instead of Sabbath?” The change came after the apostles death when the Christian church went into great apostasy and changed their religious practices contrary to Bible teachings. Students of religious history that have studied this subject know that it was in the city of Rome where Sunday appears to have been first kept, possibly just decades after the death of the apostles. (It was kept at an early date in Alexandria, Egypt, also.) At that time, it was decided that it would be a good idea to celebrate the festival of Ishtar with the pagans in Rome. This pagan holiday was held about the same time as the Passover (the time of the year when Christ died and was resurrected.) We now call this day Easter. You might recognize the resemblance in the names Ishtar and Easter.

The yearly Sunday observance was gradually followed by a weekly Sunday observance, also in honor of the resurrection. The pagan world already kept this day in honor of the Sun, so the Christians felt that it would be easier to make converts of the pagans if they too kept the day holy. So the Christian world had two holy days—Sabbath and Sunday. However, as time went on, fewer and fewer continued to keep the Sabbath, and more and more began to worship only on Sunday.

Finally, in A.D. 321, the Emperor Constantine passed a Sunday law, before he became a Christian. In this Sunday law, the “holy day” was not called a Sabbath but the “venerable day of the Sun.” (The Sun was the god of the pagan religion and Sunday was the day on which the Sun was worshipped.) From there the practice of Sunday keeping was spread throughout Christendom.

 

Protestants and Sunday-keeping

 

This history is not unknown to the Protestant leadership. Doctor Binney of the Methodist Church wrote, “It is true there is no positive command in the Bible for keeping holy the first day of the week.” Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of the Baptist Manual, said, “There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath was not Sunday. It will, however, be readily said and with some show of triumph that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week with all its duties, privileges, and sanctions.

“Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I asked,Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. There is no Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week. Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day as we learned from the Christian fathers and other sources. What a pity, that it comes branded with the mark of paganism and christened with the name of the Sun god.”

There is no evidence in the Bible for the change of the fourth commandment. That is purely a human invention that has no Biblical support whatsoever. The Lord has a day that He says is His. He is the Lord of the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week.

Many people today think that it is unimportant to obey God exactly. They think that His requirements can be adjusted or changed to suit their own thinking or the practices of society. But the Bible is very clear about our obligation to keep the whole law, and it predicts that in the last days a great controversy will occur over the Sabbath commandment.

Everyone must decide whether they will obey God exactly or whether they will seek to make human adjustments to divine commands. The final test in this world will involve Satan’s claim, “That the law which was spoken by God’s own voice is faulty, that some specification has been set aside . . . It is the last great deception that he will bring upon the world. He needs not to assail the whole law; if he can lead men to disregard one precept, his purpose is gained. For ‘whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.’ James 2:10. By consenting to break one precept, men are brought under Satan’s power. By substituting human law for God’s law, Satan will seek to control the world. This work is foretold in prophecy. Of the great apostate power which is the representative of Satan, it is declared, ‘He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand.’ Daniel 7:25.

“Men will surely set up their laws to counterwork the laws of God. They will seek to compel the consciences of others, and in their zeal to enforce these laws they will oppress their fellow men.

“The warfare against God’s law, which was begun in heaven, will be continued until the end of time. Every man will be tested. Obedience or disobedience is the question to be decided by the whole world. All will be called to choose between the law of God and the laws of men. Here the dividing line will be drawn. There will be but two classes. Every character will be fully developed; and all will show whether they have chosen the side of loyalty or that of rebellion.

“Then the end will come. God will vindicate His law and deliver His people. Satan and all who have joined him in rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners will perish, root and branch, (Malachi 4:1)— Satan the root, and his followers the branches. The word will be fulfilled to the prince of evil, ‘Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; . . . I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire . . . Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.’ Then ‘the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be;’ ‘they shall be as though they had not been.’ Ezekiel 28:6–19; Psalms 37:10; Obadiah 16.” The Desire of Ages, 763.

 

The New Theology, part 3

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The basic difference between the two gospels being taught in our church can be traced to the differing definitions of sin, as found in the Word of God and in the theories developed by men. The popular worldly gospel has crept into our church by, what theologians call, the “original sin” dogma. This false gospel teaches that sin is a part of our nature so therefore we are guilty of sin because we were born into this world. Under this false gospel, no one has the freedom to choose to sin or not to sin. This power of “sin guilt” is so great that when one tries to resist sin, in the power of God, it is impossible.

This devilish philosophy teaches that Jesus could not have had our nature, because He would have been guilty of sin at His birth. Furthermore, it teaches that no one can ever overcome sin until Jesus comes the second time and changes their human nature. It is impossible to become perfect, because it is impossible to follow God’s instructions since people were born with the corruption of sin within them.

If you accept this false gospel, the great sanctuary truth, the investigative judgment and the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14, all become insignificant. This New Theology teaches that everything was completed for man’s salvation at the cross, and that all that God now requires of us to be saved is that we receive justification and a covering of our sins. Sanctification, they say, is a slow growth process in one who has no power to overcome sin.

In the light of the truths of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, if you accept this false gospel you will be eternally lost. God is willing to share His divine power with all that ask for it, making it possible for you to overcome sin and enter heaven where there will be no sin.

 

Sin—An Action or Part of the Nature?

 

To get a clear understanding of the differences between these two gospels, we need to see how the Bible defines sin. 1 John 3:4 says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Therefore, sin is the breaking of God’s law, which is an action. Since sin is the result of an action, rather than a part of our nature, as taught in the false gospel, we begin to understand the harmony that is expressed by all Bible authors regarding sin.

James says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17. This Scripture states that sin comes by knowledge that brings individuals to the realization of their need to make a decision and use the power of free choice that God has given them.

What brings the knowledge of sin? Paul wrote: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Romans 7:7–9.

Guilt does not come until there is knowledge of the law, but willful ignorance is no excuse. Jesus taught this in John 15: “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.” John 15:22, 24.

“If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 116.

“None will be condemned for not heeding light and knowledge that they never had.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1145.

For over one hundred years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church consistently taught that sin was the result of the action of choice; that before we become guilty of sin, our mind must consent to the temptation. This teaching does not disregard the fact that we all have a sinful nature, but that this sinful nature can successfully resist temptation when we come to Jesus and experience a rebirth through the re-creating power of Christ working in and through us.

With a clear understanding of this, we can better understand how Jesus was born with the same flesh and blood that you and I possess, yet He never once sinned. He always made the right choice, through the power of the Holy Spirit, by fully surrendering to this divine agent.

Jesus came to this world as Adam was after his fall. He was born with our sinful flesh, but not our sinning flesh. Because of this, He is our great example and if we follow His pattern of success, we, too, may overcome through the divine power which He freely gives to the fully surrendered soul. To substantiate this, I present to you the following quotations:

“Jesus also told them [the angels] that . . . He should take man’s fallen nature, and His strength would not be even equal with theirs.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, 25.

“It was in the order of God that Christ should take upon Himself the form and nature of fallen man, that He might be made perfect through suffering, and endure Himself the strength of Satan’s temptations, that He might the better know how to succor those who should be tempted.” Ibid., vol. 4, 115.

“This was the reception the Saviour met as He came to a fallen world . . . And took upon Himself man’s nature that He might save the fallen race. Instead of men glorifying God for the honor He had conferred upon them in thus sending His son in the likeness of sinful flesh, by giving Him a place in their affections, there seemed to be no rest nor safety for the infant Saviour. Jehovah could not trust to the inhabitants of the world His Son, who came into the world that through His divine power He might redeem fallen man.” The Review and Herald, December 24, 1872.

“Through His humiliation and poverty Christ would identify with the weaknesses of the fallen race . . . The great work of redemption could be carried out only by the Redeemer taking the place of fallen Adam . . . The King of glory proposed to humble Himself to fallen humanity. He would take man’s fallen nature.” The Review and Herald, February 24, 1874.

“Christ stooped to take upon Himself human nature, that He might reach the fallen race and lift them up . . . [He] partook of our human nature, that He might reach humanity.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 746–747.

“But many say that Jesus was not like us, that He was not as we are in the world, that He was divine, and we cannot overcome as He overcame. But Paul writes, ‘Verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” The Review and Herald, March 1, 1892.

We see from these quotations that over many years the servant of the Lord was consistent, in her writings, that Christ took upon Himself the nature of Adam after his fall.

 

New Theology and the Antichrist

 

In an article written by J. B. Conley, he shows how the teaching that insists that Christ came in the nature of Adam before his fall is connected to the antichrist. He wrote: “The Scriptures have placed the identity of antichrist beyond either guesswork or confusion. The Bible has clearly named the guilty one. John says that he denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. 2 John 7. Let this be the first mark of antichrist by which his identity will be placed beyond dispute.

“Far from denying the existence of Christ, the text suggests that antichrist teaches that Christ has come but teaches a doctrine about His coming which denies that He has come in the flesh. If the Catholic Church is guilty as the Protestant Reformers claimed her to be, then her teaching concerning the nature of Jesus in His incarnation into this world as a babe will reveal it.

“Let us examine that teaching in the light of the text before us. The Bible teaches that Jesus was born into the world through Mary who was a direct descendent of Adam. By inheritance she partook of Adam’s nature. Adam’s nature was mortal and subject to death as a result of the transgression of God’s will in Eden. His flesh was by nature that of the children of wrath. Mary partook of this nature in all of its aspects. She was a representative of the whole human race and in no way different from others descendent from Adam’s line.

“She was favored among women only because she was the one chosen of God through whom the mystery of godliness was to be made manifest and through whom Jesus was to be brought from heaven where He had been one with the Father in the Godhead to be born into the human family, there to partake of all the temptations to which Adam’s race is subject. This was possible only as He would partake of the nature of Adam’s race. Of this Paul says, ‘For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;. . . Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.’ Hebrews 2:14–17.

“If further evidence were needed, this same writer supplied it. In 1 Timothy 3:16, he records, ‘Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.’ Here he says is the mystery of godliness. The ability of Jesus to come from heaven, suffer Himself to be manifest in human flesh and yet to live sinlessly. This latter fact antichrist was to deny. He was to deny that Jesus came in a divine manifestation which brought Him in all phases of His nature to partake of the weaknesses of Adam’s race. He would deny that Jesus came in the flesh, the same flesh as that of mortal men.

“On this first count, the denial that Jesus is come in the flesh, the Catholic Church stands convicted of guilt and thus is identified by the marks of antichrist. Through the teaching of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, that she was preserved from all original sin, they in theory provide a different flesh from that of the rest of Adam’s race to be the avenue through which Jesus was incarnated into the plan of salvation.

“To state their teaching with authority it will be best to quote our evidence from Catholic authors. Our first proof will be from the pen of Cardinal Gibbons in his book, Faith of our Fathers, 203, 204. He says, ‘We define that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first moment of her conception was preserved free from the taint of original sin. Unlike the rest of the children of Adam, the soul of Mary was never subject to sin.’

“Cardinal Gibbons has here clearly stated the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary. It is a teaching not taught in the Bible, but which has been introduced by Catholic teachers who claim to have authority even above that of the Scriptures in matters of doctrine. Here I would ask my readers, both Protestant and Catholic, to ponder carefully what this teaching does to the gospel plan. It means that if Mary were born without sin and was preserved from sin for the express purpose of bringing Jesus into the world, then Jesus was born of holy flesh which was different from that of the rest of Adam’s race.

“This means that He did not identify Himself with humanity. It means, too, that Paul was all wrong when he wrote the book of Hebrews in which he declares that Jesus also Himself likewise took part of the same flesh as the rest of Adam’s race and that in all things he was made like unto His brethren. Hebrews 2:14, 17. But above all this, if the Catholic teaching is true, then Jesus—not having come within reach of humanity by partaking of man’s nature—cannot be the one mediator between God and man.

“Nor can we ‘come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ Hebrews 4: 16. All this plays conveniently into the hands of the Catholic plan of salvation. It opens wide the door for the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the respective saints who form part of the Papal mediatorial system. And moreover, it places in the hands of the priesthood the power to usurp authority which God in the Scriptures has never delegated to them—that of being controllers of the approaches to the throne of mercy.

“In the Papal claim that Jesus was born of one who had been preserved from every taint of original sin and who, unlike the rest of the children of Adam, was never subject to sin, we find the first antichrist indelibly implanted. The papacy certainly teaches that Jesus did not come in the flesh.” Australian Signs of the Times, May 24, 1948, 46, by J. B. Conley.

This is a most alarming accusation with profound implications for the New Theology that is being preached in Adventism. This is a doctrine of the antichrist that Christ did not come in the flesh. “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 2 John 7.

Is it any wonder then that the servant of the Lord speaks of the Omega apostasy as being startling in its consequences? The New Theology links all of its believers with the antichrist. Dr. Ralph Larson wrote the following: “Since it is common knowledge that Augustine’s doctrine of original sin is now being recommended for addition to the theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church it would appear that a careful examination of that doctrine should be undertaken by all who share a concern for the purity of the Adventist faith. Major changes in our theology would be required by the addition of the doctrine of original sin because of the nature of God, the nature of the incarnate Christ, the nature of man and the nature of salvation itself are all involved in the Augustinian doctrine.

“Significant changes would be required in the cherished doctrine of righteousness by faith. The student may easily verify the close relationship between the concepts of original sin and the doctrine of righteousness by faith by asking advocates of the so-called ‘New Theology’ two questions:

  1. Why do you believe that it is impossible for Christians to stop sinning, even through the power of Christ?
  2. Why do you believe the incarnate Christ had to take the nature of the unfallen Adam rather than a nature like ours?

“The same answer will be given to both questions: Because of original sin. Since the corruption of original sin remains in all believers until they die, it is impossible for them to ever stop sinning, even through the power of Christ. And since the inherited guilt of original sin would have disqualified Christ from becoming the Saviour of the world, He had to be protected from original sin by assuming the nature of the unfallen Adam.” The Word Was Made Flesh, 330, by Dr. Ralph Larson.

We know that God’s true gospel has nothing to do with the antichrist. It assures us that absolute victory over sin is possible through divine power. “Abundant grace has been provided that the believing soul may be kept free from sin; for all heaven, with its limitless resources, has been placed at our command.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 394.

Ellen White explains how this can be done. “Christ is willing to take possession of the soul temple, if we will only let Him. He is represented as knocking at the door of our hearts for admission, but Jesus never forces Himself upon us; He will come in only as an invited guest . . . In order to let Jesus into our hearts, we must stop sinning. The only definition for sin that we have in the Bible is that it is the transgression of the law. The law is far reaching in its claims, and we must bring our hearts into harmony with it.’” Signs of the Times, vol. 2, 363.

Likewise Peter tells us to follow the example of Christ. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” 1 Peter 2:21, 22.

“Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us.” The Desire of Ages, 123.

“Humanity, combined with divinity, does not commit sin.” Ministry of Healing, 180.

We can be perfect in Christ. Christ commanded, ” ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ Matthew 5:48. This command is a promise.” The Desire of Ages, 311.

“None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us the example of Christ’s character. In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through co-operation with divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God’s assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory.” The Acts of the Apostles, 531.

And here is another precious thought. “The victory is not won without much earnest prayer, the humbling of self at every step. Our will is not to be forced into cooperation with divine agencies, but it must be voluntarily submitted . . . The will must be placed on the side of God’s will. You are not able, of yourself, to bring your purposes and desires and inclinations into submission to the will of God; but if you are ‘willing to be made willing,’ God will accomplish the work for you.” The Mount of Blessing, 142.

In view of such godly counsel, do not listen to any church leaders who would guide you into a path that leads to the antichrist. Keep your eyes and ears open and be on guard. Do not be surprised to find that this false theology is being promoted by men whom you once honored for their faithfulness to God’s last day message. The day is already here when we must stand alone in faithfulness to the pure gospel or follow the crowds to perdition. The true gospel teaches that:

  1. Men have the power of free choice. God took a risk, with His entire universe, to perfect a freedom of choice. This is why sin was permitted to exist. Forced obedience is worthless, and the gospel of Christ is built upon the foundation of free choice.
  2. Man is not born with the guilt of sin within him. We believe the gospel of Christ that states that sin is the transgression of the law. Not until we have joined our will in active opposition to God’s will, does sin exist in us. It is willful disobedience. The true gospel teaches that sin is our willful choice to exercise our fallen nature in opposition to God’s will.
  3. Christ took the nature of fallen Adam. Since sin is a choice we make, therefore Christ could inherit our fallen nature without becoming a sinner. He could remain sinless because Christ’s choice was always to obey God. Never did He allow His fallen nature to control His choice. At the time of Christ’s birth, man’s condition was not that of sinless Adam, for man had descended to the depths of sin after four thousand years. Christ could become man’s Saviour only by assuming his fallen condition so He could bridge the gap between God and fallen man. Thus He can mediate for us before the Father since He has identified Himself with us in our fallen nature.
  4. God loves to forgive and restore the sinner. The nature of God’s justification, given to the sinner, because of the mediation of Christ, makes it possible for us to stand righteous in the merits of Christ and to be restored to God’s image. But such justification can only take place when the sinner repents. There can be no repentance without conviction of sin, a sorrow for it and a turning away from it.
  5. An individual can be comfortable about Christian perfection, when he is willing to let God work within his heart to overcome sin. This is possible when we trust God’s power to overcome. The gospel of Christ makes it possible for sin to become repulsive so that we will have no desire to disobey God’s will. Perfection does not do away with our sinful nature, but perfection is possible by the subjection of our nature to Christ as He surrendered to His Father. Thus it is possible to have a sinless character with a sinful nature. Such an experience requires agonizing prayer and unquestioning faith in God’s promises.

I have chosen some thoughts to share with you, written by Dennis Preiebe. In this passage, he describes the New Theology, which seems to be an easy path to follow: “It is an escape route from the daily battle with Satan. You can sit back and relax to enjoy your newfound ease because there is no more hassle, no more struggle. All you have to do is just believe, for Jesus did it all for you on the cross. He kept the law for you; there are no more dos or don’ts. Feel the excitement of this glorious freedom, for you do not even have to think about your sins. You can sin until Jesus comes because He has already forgiven you in advance. Come, celebrate! Express your freedom with rock music. Let the drums beat in celebration of your new discovery. Do not even think of obedience as necessary anymore. Forget that you ever heard of a sanctuary in heaven where Jesus is conducting an investigative judgment. Do not pay any attention to that little old lady called Ellen White who pleads for you to be sanctified as a fitness for heaven. Ignore all those passages of Scripture that warn you of a narrow road to heaven and few there be that find it. Keep thinking every moment that you are saved in spite of your unconfessed sins.”

My friend, this is the road to eternal loss. If you follow it, you find in the end only misery and the loss of what you value most—eternal life with Jesus. I must point you to the Saviour of the real gospel of Christ. Look to Jesus as He struggled with human nature just like you and I do every day. Watch Him pray by the hour for the mighty power of God. See Him struggle until His sweat turns to great drops of blood. Hear Him overcome evil with the words, “It is written.” Stand in awe as you see Him die on the cross rather than commit one sin. Follow Him into the heavenly sanctuary as He stands before His Father, and tells how He died for you and your sins and justifies you as though you had never sinned. Watch as He sends the mighty Holy Spirit that you have asked for that you may be sanctified for heaven. Claim the victory that Jesus now offers as you read in Jude 24, “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

Choose you this day whom you will serve, as Joshua said in Joshua 24:15. Choose the gospel of the New Theology developed by Satan, which will end in death or choose the everlasting gospel of Christ that provides you with Christ’s victory over Satan now and for eternity.

 

The Saints Sitting in Judgment

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The coronation of Christ is for the execution of the judgment. Daniel 7:9–14; Psalm 110; 45:1–7; 2:6–9. Our Lord makes His people sharers with Him in the judgment work. That they may be such, He exalts them to participate with Him in His kingly dignity. Revelation 3:21; 2:26, 27. This exaltation is given them in the morning of the great day. Compare Psalm 49:14, 15; 110:3; 30:5; Isaiah 21:11, 12; Romans 13:11, 12.

They are to sit with Christ in the judgment, but not to determine who shall be saved or who lost. God the Father has already pronounced the decision of who shall have immortality, and the Son has executed that decision by immortalizing His saints. And thus all others are counted unworthy of eternal life, and must receive the second death as their portion. But there are degrees of punishment. Some shall receive greater damnation than others. Luke 20:47; Romans 2:6, 8, 9; Luke 12:47, 48.

Bear in mind, therefore, that the saints have not in their hands the determination of the salvation or damnation of anyone. The Father has decided this when He made them immortal and left all the others as unworthy. Also bear in mind that God keeps books of record (Isaiah 65:6, 7; Jeremiah 2:22; Daniel 7:9, 10; Revelation 20:12), and that He weighs men’s actions, so that they are set down for their true worth. (1 Samuel 2:3.) If the reader will do this, it will not seem strange to him to learn that the immortal saints, with Christ at their head, should be commissioned by the Father to determine the measure of punishment which each wicked man shall receive.

As we have already shown that the final perdition of the wicked is determined by the Father before He makes His saints immortal, if we now clearly prove that the glorified saints are to sit with Christ and determine the measure of guilt of each sinful man, it will be a most convincing proof that there is to be a resurrection of the unjust, that God may inflict the just penalty upon every soul of man that doeth evil. Romans 2:5–9.

When our Lord says to those at His right hand, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” He takes His saints into the presence of His Father (compare John 13:36; 14:1–3; 1 Thessalonians 4:14–17; Revelation 19:1–9), to the Paradise of God, once here upon earth (Genesis 2:8, 9; 3:22–24), now in the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2–4), within the heavenly Jerusalem itself (compare Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14). Here they sit down with Him at His table and eat the marriage supper. Revelation 19:1–9. These things being accomplished, the work of judgment is committed to the saints, a work so vast that we may well conceive the long period which lies between the two resurrections to be requisite for its accomplishment. Revelation 20:4–6. The sitting of the saints in judgment upon the wicked must begin after they have heard the words of Christ approving them in His Father’s name, and before the sentence, “Depart ye cursed,” is pronounced by the Saviour upon those who shall be thus judged. This judgment by the saints is thus presented in the Scriptures: “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 7:21, 22.

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise of God.” 1 Corinthians 4:5.

“Dare any of you having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?” 1 Corinthians 6:1–3.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again unto the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”Revelation 20:4–6.

According to the first of these texts, the saints of the Most High are to have the judgment work committed to them. But before this is placed in their hands, they are themselves to be judged by God the Father. And this very act of determining who are worthy to be saved, really determines that all the others are unworthy of eternal life. The judgment work of the saints cannot, therefore, relate to the salvation or damnation of those who are judged by them, but solely to the determination of the measure of their guilt. The second of these texts, in forbidding the work of judgment “before the time,” plainly implies that when that time does come, then this work is to be done by those who are at present forbidden to do it. And the time is fixed when this prohibition expires, for it is thus limited, “Until the Lord come.” That they will not err in the judgment which they will then perform is guaranteed in the further statement that the Lord shall bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart. And this will no doubt be accomplished by placing in their hands the books of record, which contain an accurate statement of the deeds of those to be judged by them. Barnes, in his notes on this text, makes this remark: ” ‘And then shall every man have praise of God.’ The word here rendered praise, epainos, denotes in this place reward, or that which is due to him; the just sentence which ought to be pronounced on his character. It does not mean, as our translation would imply, that every man will then receive the divine approbation—which will not be true; but that every man shall receive what is due to his character, whether good or evil.” So Bloomfield and Bretschneider explain it.

The third text states, in the most explicit manner, “that the saints shall judge the world.” As it occurs in the same epistle which forbids this judgment “before the time until the Lord come,” it is manifest that this is a work which the saints enter upon immediately after they have been exalted to reign with Christ. The nature of the judgment which the saints are to decide is clearly determined by two facts: 1. It is rendered by the saints after the Lord has brought to light the hidden works of darkness, and made manifest the counsels of the hearts. 2. It is said in this same passage, and in the same manner, that the saints “shall judge angels,” meaning, of course, those angels that have sinned whose cases are thus stated: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” 2 Peter 2:4.

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 6.

These two facts are decisive as to the nature of the judgment which the saints are to engage in when exalted at Christ’s right hand. They are not to be judges over men in a state of probation, something as the ancient judges of Israel were raised up to rule over God’s ancient people, but their judgment is to be rendered in the case of wicked men, when the Lord brings “to light the hidden things of darkness,” and it is to be exercised alike in the case of sinful men and fallen angels. It is not a judgment to determine the guilt or innocence of the parties to be judged; for the guilt of the angels was virtually pronounced to be unpardonable when they were cast out of heaven, and delivered to chains of darkness, i.e. to utter despair, and to the hopeless bondage of their own sins. And the last condition of wicked men has, before their judgment by the saints, already been determined by the resurrection and translation of the just, leaving all others as unworthy of eternal life. This judgment of the saints is, therefore, simply designed to determine the measure of the guilt of wicked men and fallen angels. As their rejection from the kingdom of God is determined by God the Father before they are thus judged by the saints, this judgment by them for the determination of the measure of each man’s guilt, is a most convincing proof that God designs, in rendering to every man according to his deeds, to inflict tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil. (Romans 2:5–9.)

Doctor Bloomfield says of 1 Corinthians 6:2: “Upon the whole, there is, after all, no interpretation that involves less difficulty than the common one, supported by some Latin Fathers, and, of modern divines, by Luther, Calvin, Erasmus, Beza, Cassaubon, Crellius, Wolf, Jeremy Taylor, Doddridge, Pearce, Newcome, Scott, and others, by which it is supposed that the faithful servants of God, after being accepted in Christ, shall be in a certain sense, assessores judicii, by concurrence, with Christ, and being partakers of the judgment to be held by Him over wicked men and apostate angels, who are, as we learn from 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6, reserved unto the judgement of the last day.”

And Doctor Barnes speaks thus: “Grotius supposes that it means that they shall be first judged by Christ, and then act as assessors to Him in the judgment, or join with Him in condemning the wicked.”

But the fourth text relative to this judgment by the saints is very remarkable. It shows that the resurrection by the just precedes the work of judgment by them. It elevates them to thrones of judgment, where they live and reign with Christ, during the period between their own resurrection and that of “the rest of the dead.” It assigns the space of time occupied in this vast work, viz., a thousand years, a period none too long for this examination of the books containing the deeds of all wicked men and fallen angels, even though all the saints engage in it, as we have learned that they do.

There is this statement respecting the thrones, an evident allusion to Daniel 7:9, which speaks of thrones being “cast down,” or, more correctly rendered, “were placed,” as many able critics inform us. These thrones were placed for the judgment work, when entered upon, as we have seen, in the second apartment of the heavenly temple of God the Father. And when the judgment is given to the immortal saints, and they are able to enter the temple after the outpouring of the plagues (Revelation 15:8), it appears that they sit upon the thrones thus placed for them, and with the Saviour at their head finish the work of the judgment as indicated in the text examined. They are, in this exalted state, priests to God and Christ, not as mediators with Them in behalf of wicked men, but as worshipers of God and the Lamb, even as Christians in their mortal state are a royal priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5, 9.

The reason why so vast a period as one thousand years intervenes between the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked, is now made very apparent. The work committed to the saints demands no less a period than that assigned it by the Holy Scriptures. It is that they examine the books of God’s records to determine the measure of guilt of each wicked man, and of every fallen angel. To this great exaltation the psalmist refers in these words: “For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people; He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written; this honor have all His saints. Praise ye the Lord.” Psalm 149:4–9.

The saints have no participation in the work of the judgment until the coming of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 4:5. The decision of every case is made by God the Father before He sends His Son to execute the judgment. Daniel 7:9–14, compared with Jude 14, 15. It is the execution of the judgment, therefore, that pertains to the Son. John 5:22, 27. And that work which is given to the Son, He shares with His saints. For when He sits in His throne, all His saints shall sit down with Him in it, as He once thus sat down with the Father. And that power which the Father gives Him over the nations when He receives His own throne, He shares with His saints when He exalts them to His right hand to unite with Him in the execution of the judgment. Compare Psalm 2:6–9; Revelation 2:26, 27. The most important part of this work is the determination of that measure of guilt which pertains to each individual of the lost. God the Father having pronounced them unworthy of eternal life, it is then the business of the saints to determine the measure of punishment which their respective lives of sin demand. This Psalm is worthy of careful study.

  1. When the meek are beautified with salvation, it will be by the change to immortality. They will bear the image of the second Adam, as in this life they bear that of the first. 1 Corinthians 15:47–49. Compare also Isaiah 33:17 with 1 John 3:2.
  2. This beautifying of the saints, and exalting them to glory, precede their participation in the judgment, mentioned in verses 7–9 of Psalm 149.
  3. The two-edged sword in their hand is doubtless the same as that which proceeded out of the mouth of Him whose name is called the Word of God. Revelation 19:11–15.
  4. And if we consider this Psalm from verse 6 to verse 9, we shall see that the work of the immortal saints in the judgment of the wicked is effected by the examination of the book of God, the sharp sword which they hold in their hands (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12), and the written record of their evil deeds; so that the record of their lives will be compared with the rule given them to govern their conduct, and the measure of their guilt thus determined.

A brief survey of Revelation 20 may now be in place. We understand the events of this chapter, as stated in verses 1–11, are given very nearly in strict chronological order, and that verses 12–15 cover some of the same ground, namely, that of the final judgment.

It has already been shown that God the Father sits in judgment before the advent of Christ, and that at this tribunal our Lord acts as advocate for His people, and closes His priesthood with securing their acquittal and the blotting out of their sins. He determines every case, deciding who shall have eternal life, and thus counting all others unworthy of it. Then He commits the execution of the judgment to the Son, who, in fulfillment of this work, makes His saints immortal, and associates them with Himself in the judgment of the wicked. When God thus commits the judgment to His Son, and the Son ceases forever His work of intercession, the words of Psalm 76:7–9 will be found true: “Thou, even Thou, art to be feared; and who may stand in Thy sight when once Thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.”

When the Son of God shall thus save all the meek of the earth, He will raise them up from the dust to inherit the throne of His own glory. 1 Samuel 2:8; Matthew 25:31–33; Revelation 3:21. But the adversaries of the Lord will be broken to pieces; out of heaven will He thunder upon them (Revelation 16:18); He will render decision in strict justice in the case of all men, and then clothe His anointed king with strength to execute that decision (1 Samuel 2:10). Indeed, it is because the Son loves righteousness, and hates iniquity, that He is anointed to do this work. Psalm 45:7; 2:6–9. His arrows will be sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies (Psalm 45:4,5), and none will escape His just infliction of wrath (Romans 2:6–9).

The session of the judgment by God the Father is to determine who shall have part in the resurrection of the just. The session of the Father’s judgment being an event that precedes the advent of His Son, the dead have their cases brought into the judgment in the books which are brought forth, and in particular the righteous dead appear in the person of their Advocate. They do not personally stand as dead men at the Father’s judgment seat, for that is in the heavenly temple; but they are judged by the Father while dead, as if they were personally present at His bar; and all who have secured the services of the only Advocate in the court of heaven, by obeying the gospel while they lived, will have decision rendered, that the Spirit of God shall quicken them to immortality. 1 Peter 4:6. This judgment work begins with the saints who render account through their High Priest; and if they are scarcely accounted worthy of eternal life when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, what will be the end of those who have no Advocate in the judgment, but who come up to it with all their sins standing against them in the book of God? 1 Peter 4:17, 18. Verily the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. Psalm 1:5.

When the Ancient of Days was shown to Daniel in vision, sitting in judgment, preparatory to the advent of His Son to execute that judgment, the words of the little horn, spoken at that very time, attracted the prophet’s attention: “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake.” Daniel 7:11. The Hebrew word rendered “then” is very emphatic in the signification of “at that time.” Gesenius renders it, “at that time, thereupon, then.” And it is specially worthy of notice that at this very time the head of the Romish apostasy had assembled at Rome the entire body of popish bishops, almost equal in number to Belshazzar’s lords (Daniel 5), and expected and required of them to pronounce him infallible! It is evident, indeed, that for this very purpose he assembled them, and they obeyed his behest. We have, therefore, heard the great words of the little horn, which even arrested the attention of the prophet while in vision he beheld the tribunal of the Father.

The binding of Satan precedes the resurrection of the just. This seems plain enough from Revelation 20, but it is very plainly taught in our Lord’s parable of binding the strong man and spoiling his house. Matthew 12:29; Mark 3:27; Luke 11:21, 22. He is evidently bound before the complete slaughter of the wicked in the battle of the great day.

Every mention of the bottomless pit, or deep, or abyss, both in the Old Testament and in the New, seems plainly to refer to our earth, or some part of it, in some form, or at some time. And in the most emphatic sense, after our earth has been turned upside down by the awful convulsions of the great day, and made utterly desolate, we understand it to be fully fitted to constitute the place of Satan’s confinement, termed in this prophecy the bottomless pit. A strong confirmation of this view is found in the fact that this expression is used in the Septuagint in Genesis 1:2, where the earth, while yet without form and voice, is spoken of as the deep; Greek, the bottomless pit. And the Hebrew original signifies the same. And it is predicted that our earth shall be reduced to this condition again. Jeremiah 4:23.

This binding of the devil is to be at the very time when, as the scapegoat, he receives the sins of the righteous. Leviticus 16. And our earth in its utter desolation is the land not inhabited, where he shall remain with this terrible load of guilt upon him, while the saints sit in judgment upon the fallen angels, and upon all the members of the human family who would go on still in their sins.

The judgment of wicked men, and of evil angels, by the saints, during the thousand years, will solve to their minds, by means of the examination of the books of God’s remembrance, the providence of God, which has seemed dark and mysterious; for God will then lay open the hidden springs of human conduct, and bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart. 1 Corinthians 4:5.

The course of those who have diligently used the comparatively small measure of light which has been granted them, will come up to condemn those who have been favored with great light and have neglected it. Matthew 12:41, 42; Luke 11:31, 32.

And in like manner those who have been cut off in their sins, as a warning to others, and who would have repented had as great light been granted them as those who have lived at a later time have enjoyed, will come up in this examination to condemn most fearfully those who have had the example of their fate, and had seen greater light then they, and yet have not repented. Matthew 11:21–23; Luke 10:13.

But even those wicked men who have been thus cut off by God’s judgments as an example to those that after should live ungodly, shall come up in the judgment for the complete punishment of their sins. But their case shall be more tolerable in the judgment than that of those who have had the example of their punishment, and have had far greater light than they were favored with, and yet have refused to repent. Matthew 10:15; 11:22, 24; Luke 10:12, 14. Thus, even the mitigating circumstances are taken into the account in the judgment of the wicked as certainly as are those of an aggravating character. Surely God is, in the highest sense, just and righteous.

The record of the righteous, as we have seen, is passed upon by the Father when He counts them worthy to have part in the resurrection to immortality, and by the Son when they stand before Him to receive according to their labors and sacrifices in the cause of God. And that record will show, in the case of everyone who is able to stand in the judgment, so perfect a work of repentance, and confession, and reparation of wrongs done toward others, that not one sinful man can rise up in the judgment against them. Isaiah 54:17.

The judgment, by the saints of Satan and his angels and of wicked men being accomplished, it appears that, just before the thousand years expire, the holy city, with its immortal inhabitants, descends upon our earth, upon a place prepared for it. See Zechariah 14:4, 5.

At the termination of the one thousand years all the wicked dead hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth (John 5:28, 29); the unjust have their resurrection (Acts 24:15); “The rest of the dead” live again (Revelation 20:5). They come forth from the depths of the ocean and from the caverns of earth; for the sea gives up the dead, and Hades gives them up also. And they come forth alive, for death itself gives them up. Revelation 20:13.

And now Satan is loosed for his final work. He begins it just where he left off. He had gathered the nations to the great battle, when he was bound and they were cut off. Revelation 19. Now, after they have been “many days” in the “prison,” the time comes for Satan to visit them as they are loosed from it for their execution. Isaiah 24:21, 22; Ezekiel 38:8, 9.

He resumes his work by inciting them to capture the city of God. Revelation 20:7–10. And thus, by the direct action of Satan, all the wicked, with himself and his angels at their head, stand in the presence of Christ, for the execution of the judgment.

As the righteous stand in Christ’s presence immediately after they are made immortal, that they may each receive according to their labor (2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 16:27), so do the wicked thus stand in His presence after the second resurrection. As the righteous cannot receive punishment for their sins after they have been blotted out, it follows that those who stand before him to receive for their evil deeds are the wicked, who stand thus in His presence, after the examination of their cases by His saints, during the one thousand years.

We may safely conclude that many who go down to their graves self-deceived, will come up in the second resurrection really expecting to be saved, and quite unaware that it is the resurrection of the unjust. We think this is the very time when our Lord’s words shall have their fulfillment: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22, 23.

And now, for the first time, all the members of the human family are congregated in one vast assembly. The wicked see the righteous in the kingdom of God, and realize that they themselves are thrust out. And when the wicked realize the mercy which they have slighted, and the infinite sacrifice made for their salvation in the death of God’s only Son, and remember their persistent continuance in sin till God could bear no longer, every knee will bow in deepest abasement, acknowledging that God is just, and that their ruin was caused by themselves alone, while the throne of God is forever clear.

And as both classes behold the final result of faithful obedience, and of persistent sins, they will, with one mind and voice, declare, “Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily He is a God that judgeth in the earth.” Psalm 58:11. And now the Son of God pronounces the awful sentence, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41.

And now, after the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. Revelation 20:9; 2 Peter 2:6; Genesis 19:24–28. It is the burning earth that constitutes the great lake of fire in which the wicked shall experience the second death. 2 Peter 3:7–12; Malachi 4:1–3; Proverbs 11:31. Satan and his angels shall share this furnace of fire with wicked men; for, indeed, it was originally prepared for them. Matthew 25:41; Isaiah 30:33.

Finally, the earth shall be not only melted, but also dissolved. 2 Peter 3:10, 11. Such shall be the intense action of the devouring fire, that the earth itself shall be reduced to a molten mass and changed by the power of Him that sitteth upon the great white throne. Hebrews 1:12. Then He that sitteth upon the throne shall say, “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21:5. And all the elements that were dissolved in the devouring fire shall unite again to form the earth. The New Jerusalem shall have place upon the new earth, and the glory of God shall fill the earth as the waters fill the sea. The saints shall bear the image of the second Adam, as now they bear that of the first, and shall live for endless ages. Sin, being thus struck out of existence, in the utter destruction of all evildoers, shall never rise up again to mar the handiwork of God. The universe shall be as clean as it was before the rebellion of Satan, and God shall be all in all.

 

The New Theology, part 2

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Editor’s Note: Last month we looked at the history of New Theology and compared statements by Desmond Ford, Jack Sequiera and Robert Folkenberg. We noted that the same line of false theology ran through the writings of all three.

Many find it difficult to believe that the very top leadership within God’s Remnant Church is teaching false doctrines, such as those referred to in the first article of this series. But the public statements by these leaders leave undeniable evidence. Statements such as this one by the General Conference President: “Our assurance of salvation is based on God’s grace by faith, not on our behavior or character development.” Called in Christ, 22. Sadly, this is not an isolated statement. This is the message of the New Theology that he consistently writes and preaches.

Some fifty-five years ago, when I was ordained to the ministry, I was admonished that I was to be a watchman on the walls of Zion. I have diligently tried to do this over the years. Along my course, I have noticed that there are always some who, when error is condemned, will say “That is criticism.” But I wish to make it clear that I am still a watchman on the walls of Zion pointing out error to alert our people that some of the books and articles written today, by Adventist authors, will lead you to apostasy.

Keeping this in mind, you will see why I am so alarmed as I read the outrageous falsification of the gospel, which Elder Folkenberg expressed in his closing prayer at the Hope, British Columbia, Camp Meeting in 1991. He prayed, “Lord, thank You for the assurance. Thank you for the promise that if I claim Your name and look up to the cross of Jesus, my name is written in the Book of Life. It has nothing to do with how good I am or how I live or anything else.”

This prayer gives a clear example of how this apostate New Theology embraces a Christ who died to keep us from the penalty of sin, but who will, at the same time, allow us to continue to live in sin with the assurance of eternal life. Such teachings are contrary to the Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy. Our General Conference President is in need of our prayers that he may awaken from the Omega of apostasy in which he is leading the flock of God.

The basis for this study is in Jude 3, 4, which says, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God unto lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

As we contend for the faith as delivered to the saints by the Holy Spirit, we need to heed the inspired counsels. Sister White wrote: “Few appreciate the importance of striving constantly to overcome. They relax their diligence and, as a result, become selfish and self-indulgent. Spiritual vigilance is not thought to be essential. Earnestness in human effort is not brought into the Christian life.

“There will be some terrible falls by those who think they stand firm because they have the truth, but they have it not as it is in Jesus. A moment’s carelessness may plunge a soul into irretrievable ruin. One sin leads to the second, and the second prepares the way for the third, and so on. We must, as faithful messengers of God, plead with Him constantly to be kept by His power. If we swerve a single inch from duty, we are in danger of following on in a course of sin that will end in perdition. There is hope for everyone of us, but only in one way, and that is by binding ourselves to Christ, and exerting every energy to attain to the perfection of His character.

“That religion which makes of sin a light matter, dwelling upon the love of God to the sinner regardless of his actions, only encourages the sinner to believe that God will receive him while he continues in that which he knows to be sin. This is what some are doing who profess to believe present truth. The truth is kept apart from the life, and that is the reason it has no power to convict and convert the soul.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 540.

There is no question in my mind that we are entering the Omega of apostasy. Compare how inspiration describes it to what we see today. “Be not deceived, many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now before us the Alpha of this danger. The Omega will be of a most startling nature.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 197.

Part of the Omega of apostasy will be the making of none effect the Spirit of Prophecy. “Satan is . . .constantly pressing in the spurious—to lead away from the truth. The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. ‘Where there is no vision the people of God perish.’ Proverbs 29:18. Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony.

“There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them, for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 48.

This, so called, New Theology is really nothing more than the old theology of Satan, for the devil has always tried to make void the law of God. In the days of the apostles, there was a group called the Nicolaitans who were teaching that the law of God could not be kept. Speaking about this false doctrine Sister White wrote: “The doctrine is now largely taught that the gospel of Christ has made the law of God of no effect; that by ‘believing’ we are released from the necessity of being doers of the word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned. To the church of Ephesus He says: ‘But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.’

“Those who are teaching this doctrine today have much to say in regard to faith and the righteousness of Christ; but they pervert the truth, and make it serve the cause of error. They declare that we have only to believe on Jesus Christ, and that faith is all sufficient; that the righteousness of Christ is to be the sinner’s credentials; that this imputed righteousness fulfills the law for us, and that we are under no obligation to obey the law of God. This class claims that Christ came to save sinners, and that He has saved them. ‘I am saved,’ they repeat over and over again. But are they saved while transgressing the law of Jehovah?—No; for the garments of Christ’s righteousness are not a cloak for iniquity.” Signs of the Times, vol. 3, 363.

Does the Holy Word make void the law of God through faith, as many claim? Paul answers unequivocally, “God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Romans 3:31. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Romans 6:12, 14, 18.

New Theology is so clearly denounced by the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, why then is it so common in Seventh-day Adventist churches? It is because there is a sinister plan, devised by the mastermind of evil, seeking the destruction of all who follow Christ. Inspiration has forewarned us of what the devil’s device will be. “Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands kindled from the hellish torch of Satan.” Testimonies to Ministers, 409, 410.

This New Theology, which I believe is called the Omega, is taking a dreadful toll in many of our churches. I will show you four areas where this is most apparent:

  1. In most churches only about half of the members are present in the Sabbath School. When you examine the church membership list, it is alarming to see that thousands upon thousands of those whose names are still listed as members never attend anymore.
  2. Another saddening statistic is the divorce rate among Seventh-day Adventists. You will find that it is nearly fifty percent—just like that of Babylon.
  3. The disaster signal that I find most alarming is the fact that over seventy percent of our youth are leaving the church. And why should they stay, when they have been taught at our colleges and universities to question many of the fundamental doctrines of Adventism, such as the Creation week.
  4. God’s standards are being pushed aside until it is difficult to discern by dress and jewelry the difference between the remnant church and Babylon.

These results of the New Theology are apparent to anyone who has his eyes open. Recently, I received an unsolicited letter of courage from one of our many faithful pastors. I have never met this pastor, but I praise God that he is awake to the results of the New Theology. He wrote:

“Dear Brother Nelson: “From time to time I have had someone give me one of your tapes or have read one of your articles in one of the independent magazines. I want to encourage you to keep up the good work of warning our people of what is coming and what is happening to our beloved church. I, too, have been a minister for many years and am appalled at what is transpiring today, and it seems it is nearly impossible to stop the tide. If one speaks out, he is labeled as a troublemaker and finds himself ostracized. The liberals have well nigh taken over our denomination. Standards have fallen by the wayside and Sabbath keeping is almost non-existent.

Your brother in the true faith, Pastor___” That is not the only letter that I have received from some of our pastors. This letter, from an active pastor, reveals that he knows what is taking place. Could this be the reason for the delay of Christ’s return?

“It was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be thus delayed. God did not design that His people, Israel, should wander forty years in the wilderness. He promised to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and establish them there a holy, healthy, happy people. But those to whom it was first preached went not in ‘because of unbelief.’ Their hearts were filled with murmuring, rebellion, and hatred, and He could not fulfill His covenant with them.

“For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord’s professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years. We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years as did the children of Israel; but for Christ’s sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequences of their own wrong course of action.” Evangelism, 696.

I believe that this Omega apostasy began in the mid-fifties when some of our leaders reached across the gulf to clasp hands with the evangelicals. This was followed by a compromise on the nature of Christ and the atonement, as agreed upon with Donald Barnhouse and Walter Martin. The pillars of our faith, which had been held sacred since our beginning and were the very heart of the precious message given by Ellen White, have been torn down. The results being that we no longer fearlessly preach the Three Angels’ Messages, as we should, with the power of the Holy Spirit, that could have finished the work long ago.

In 1977, Elder Robert Pierson, the General Conference President, explored the ramifications of Omega in ten points, which he took from Selected Messages, vol. 1, 193. Look at what he found would be coming into our church:

  1. The principles of truth that God in His wisdom had given to the Remnant Church would be discarded.
  2. It would make of none effect the truth of heavenly origin.
  3. Our religion would be changed.
  4. The Sabbath, of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it.
  5. There would be a supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists and this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith.
  6. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced.
  7. It would seek to weaken the preaching of the second advent by teaching that scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to be given special attention.
  8. Books of a new order would be written.
  9. A new organization would be established.
  10. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of this new movement.

God has promised that where the shepherds are not true, He will take charge of the flock Himself.

“Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who have rendered supreme homage to ‘science falsely so called’ will not be leaders then . . . Those who have proven themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock . . . They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking testing time will be disclosed to view.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 80.

We should take courage! God’s truth will triumph. Elder Ron Spear in his appeal to the General Conference President has correctly shown the parallel between the day of Christ and the time just before His return. “Helenism and Humanism had captured the church in Christ’s day. Helenism was operative in all the church’s activities. It infiltrated the Jewish educational system and was taught by Jewish schools. The Sadducees became the Helenistic party within the church and to a great degree the Helenistic philosophy was responsible for the crucifixion of Christ, the second power of the Godhead. The humanistic worldly system of education has crept into the educational system of the Adventist Church and today it must be held guilty for what has happened in the Omega apostasy. Humanism and Helenism are the same philosophy. This philosophy leads to a bootstrap religion. You can do anything your mind decides to do, which minimizes the power of God in the life to keep us from sinning and asserts that we cannot keep God’s law. In the great test to come, it will be Humanism to a great degree that will be responsible for the rejection of the third power of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, when the door is shut for unprepared Seventh-day Adventists.” Appeal to the General Conference President, 34, by Ron Spear.

Our present situation is well summed up in the following quotation from Testimonies, vol. 5, 210,211. “While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God’s honor and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Here we see that the church—the Lord’s sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their belief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit his people in judgment. Thus ‘peace and safety’ is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.”

According to Ezekiel 9, the only ones on whom the sealing angel can place the mark of God’s approval are those who are sighing and crying for the corruption that is taking place within the church. They are also the ones who are personally striving for perfection of character, as we are commanded, over and over, that we must do.

The following are just a few of these clear Bible commands:

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48.

“Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16.

“Therefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if we do these things we shall never fall.” 2 Peter 1:10.

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

“He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart; the will is merged in His will; the mind becomes one with His mind; the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him. We live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garments of His righteousness.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 312.

Praise God! We can overcome, fully and entirely. Jesus died to make a way of escape for us that we might overcome every sin and sit down with Him in His throne. Will you follow in His footsteps today?

 

Will Freedom Survive?

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Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:1: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” What a warning to every Seventh-day Adventist, that, in the last days, there will be those who have heard and proclaimed the faith, have been convicted by it, but who will allow themselves to be seduced by fables and will accept the doctrines of devils.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good.” 2 Timothy 3:1–3. Can you imagine Christians despising those who are good? But we know that they are not true Christians, but only professors of truth, because verse 5 tells us that they have “a form of godliness” but they deny the power thereof. They profess to be servants of Christ, but actually they are “traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” 2 Timothy 3:4.

How are we commanded to deal with people like this? God says, “From such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:5. We are not to have any part with those who do not practice their profession. God’s warning is very plain. If we socialize with these sort of people, we will eventually become like them. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3, 4.

What a pitiful representation of those who claim to be a part of the company that believes the truth. And yet, these prophecies are fulfilled in our ears. I hear so many people today in churches of every color and stripe that state, “Why do we worry about doctrine?” That is the cry of the ecumenical movement. They say, “Let us just preach the love of Jesus. The greatest doctrine in Scripture is Jesus’ love.” Every doctrine is vital; for the center of each doctrine is the love of Jesus. How can we preach the Sabbath if we do not love the One who is the Lord of the Sabbath? How can we believe in the state of the dead if we do not follow the One who is the resurrection and the life? How can we study the sanctuary message and that doctrine if we do not believe in our High Priest and Mediator?

Christ is the center of every doctrine. If we destroy the doctrines of Scripture, then we have destroyed our knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Doctrines are essential because the doctrines lead us to the foot of the cross, to Jesus Christ. It is the devil who would destroy the doctrines of Scripture. That is the reason why it is stated here that “they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” They will not endure sound doctrine.

We are living in extremely serious times and as Seventh-day Adventists, we need to be alert. Paul’s warning to the Thessalonians is very appropriate for us today: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4, 5. The signs of the times give us startling proof that the day of Christ’s return is very near. Multiple events make it daily more clear that the closing scenes of earth’s history are upon us.

The Pope’s Letter

On July 6, 1998, Pope John Paul II issued an official apostolic letter entitled, “Dies Domini” (The Day of the Lord). This letter, which received a great deal of media publicity, was a call by the Pope for Catholics to come back to faithful Sunday keeping.

The Pope’s letter began with these words, “The Lord’s day—as Sunday was called from apostolic times . . . ” (This is the first falsehood of a continual line that is found in this letter.) As proof for this supposition, the Pope refers us to Revelation 1:10, the only reference to “the Lord’s day,” in the Bible. It is the Pope’s contention that the Lord’s day spoken of here is Sunday. But the Bible never says that. The text simply states, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day . . . ”

We are on a weak and faulty foundation when we rely on the mind of man to decide a matter which is not clear to us, for God has commanded us that the Bible is its own interpreter. This verse is interpreted clearly for us in Luke 6:5. “And He [Jesus] said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Which day is the Lord’s day? It is plain and clear. The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath day, not the first day of the week, the devil’s counterfeit, Sunday. The only day that God hallowed is confirmed also in Matthew 18 and Matthew 12:8: “For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.”

Clearly, without any possibility of dispute, the Scripture testifies that the Sabbath is the Lord’s day. But here, in the very initial words of this apostolic letter, the Pope states that the Lord’s day was called Sunday from apostolic times. If that were true, we should be able to search the Scripture and find the evidence there, because many of the apostles authored Scripture. All of them were written decades after the death of Jesus Christ. Instead we find that in the eight brief mentions that are made of the first day of the week, in the New Testament, not once is it called the Lord’s day! The Sabbath is mentioned sixty times, and never once was it referred to as “the former Sabbath that we kept,” or “the old Sabbath.” It is always used in the setting of a sacred day which was still being observed. The apostles knew nothing of Sunday being the Lord’s day.

The Psalmist and Sunday

If that were not enough, at the commencement of the second paragraph, the Pope makes a statement that any elementary school child, reared in a Christian home, would not be so foolish as to make. He wrote, “Rightly then, the Psalmist cry is applied to Sunday. ‘This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ Psalm 118:24.”

Did the Psalmist ever conceive that the day on which he was rejoicing was Sunday? It never entered his mind. But here the Pope is saying, “Rightly, the Psalmist cry is applied to Sunday.” Wrongly it is applied to Sunday! It is astonishing to see that the Pope, who was considered a very fine Roman Catholic theologian before he became Pope, reaching to such lengths of elementary reasoning in an attempt to prove his point. And he was not working alone. This letter is a product of the best theological minds in the Vatican.

What a disgrace to see how the Pope has been applauded by Protestants around the world. The Anglicans said what a wonderful letter it was, and in England he received the same response. The South Pacific Division Record reported that one of the senior lecturers in theology at Avondale College commented on the “wonderful scholarship” of the Pope’s letter! There is only one reason I would give the Pope an “F” for his scholarship in this and that is because you cannot give him anything lower. There is no scholarship at all!

The Pope Explains Sunday Laws

There are other ominous matters in this apostolic letter which we need to give attention to. One such statement is: “Wherefore also in the particular circumstances of our times, Christians will naturally strive to insure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy.” What does he mean? Was he merely saying, “Every convicted Sunday keeper should have the right to follow his convictions?” If that were all that the Pope was saying, we would not contend with it. We believe that every man has the right of religious liberty. However, the Pope did not have religious liberty in mind at all.

Earlier on the same page, he tries to underestimate what happened in centuries past in the Roman Catholic Church. “When through the centuries she has made laws concerning Sunday rest, the church has had in mind above all the work of service and worship.” In other words, “Our laws were only made to give a time of rest for workers and families.” Then you ended at the stake if you did not obey! He forgets to mention the millions of people who lost their lives standing against the evil of the devil’s counterfeit “sabbath.”

He goes on to say, “In this matter, my predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Rerum Novarum, spoke of Sunday rest as a worker’s right, which the state must guarantee.” (Pope Leo XIII, was the Pope, at the end of the nineteenth century, who stated that it was diabolical doctrine to preach religious liberty.) From these statements it is clear—religious liberty is certainly not what the Pope has in mind.

Why an Apostolic Letter Now?

What was the atmosphere in which the Pope sent out this letter full of Biblical falsehoods and scholarship of the poorest type? Many people have been studying this letter, without seeing it in the context of his prior letter that was sent out on May 28, 1998. That letter was sent out in order to inject into the Roman Catholic Canon law some additional penance. Every one of these new laws deals with punishment! And that is the context in which this letter follows.

Those of us who are well acquainted with Revelation 13:15–17, know that the time is nigh when persecution will come to those who are faithful to the law of God, who desire to worship God in holiness on His holy day.

One of these new Canons, number 1436 states: “Whoever denies a truth which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith or who calls into doubt or who totally repudiates the Christian faith and does not retract after having been legitimately warned is to be punished as a heretic or an apostate with a major excommunication. A cleric moreover can be punished with other penalties not excluding these positions. In addition to these paces, whoever obstinately rejects the teaching that the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops exercising the authentic magisterium have set forth to be held definitively or who affirms what they have condemned as erroneous and does not retract after having been legitimately warned, is to be punished with an appropriate penalty.”

Why did the Roman Catholic Church have to create this new Canon law in May, 1998, just prior to the issuing of this apostolic letter on Sunday, which is calling for civil legislation in the matter of Sunday worship? It is time for us to WAKE UP! We are at the end of earth’s history. Prophecy is being fulfilled and everything is in place. In the United States everything is in place for the enactment of Sunday laws and penalties of a severe nature.

Another new Canon, which was enacted, was Canon 1371. It states: “The following are to be punished with a just penalty: [We know how much justice there was in the penalties meted out during the Dark Ages.] Apart from the case mentioned in Canon 1364, a person that teaches a doctrine condemned by the Roman Pontiff or by an ecumenical council or obstinately rejects the teachings mentioned in Canon 750 or in Canon 752 when warned by the apostolic See or by the ordinary, does not retract, a person who in any other way does not obey the lawful command or prohibition of the apostolic See or the ordinary or superior and after being warned persists in disobedience.”

Did you notice how vague was the designation of those who would be punished? Nowhere does it say, “Those who are faithful to the Catholic faith” or “members of the Roman Catholic Church.” It says only “whoever denies” or “a person” who does these things will receive these punishments. A person means any person. It has not defined that these laws and punishments are applicable to Roman Catholics and Roman Catholics alone.

And did you notice how vague the penalties were? Such words were used as: “punished as a heretic,” “punished with an appropriate penalty” and “punished with a just penalty.” There is no limit placed upon the punishments. However, we do not have to study very far into Catholic history to see what it means to be “punished as a heretic.” Just read the stories of the Waldenses or the Reformers, and you can clearly see what the Papacy calls “an appropriate penalty.” It is time to awake! These things are happening before our eyes and we need to know where we are.

A New View for Catholicism

In this letter, the Pope takes a new view on Sunday keeping that Catholicism has never taken before. In his first statement he asserted that Sunday has been known as the Lord’s day from apostolic times. The Roman Catholic Church has never before proclaimed that their sabbath, Sunday, commenced in apostolic times. That is an absolute denial of what, for For example read the Catechism of Catholic Doctrines, which has the primature of the Catholic Church and was edited by a Roman Catholic priest, Peter Greerman. There a question and answer dialogue is given about Sunday keeping.

“Question: What is the Sabbath day?

“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

“Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea 336 A.D., transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”

Another example from a different priest’s catechism asks the question, “Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals?”

“Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her. Here are Bible believing Protestants who claim to base their religion on the Bible and the Bible alone, sola Scriptura, and yet they are following that which the Roman Catholic Church has instituted. That is the pagan sabbath of Sunday. Had not she had such power she could not have done that which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”

Over two and a half centuries passed, beyond apostolic time, before the introduction, by the Roman Catholic Church, of Sunday observance. But now the Pope is taking a new route. He is appealing to those beguiled Protestants who believe that Sunday was kept by the apostles. He wants to have the Protestants of America concur with the Sunday legislation.

Christ, Our Only Safety

Reader, do you see the signs that Jesus is coming very soon? Is it now time for us to ponder what Jesus did to save us from our sins? It is only as we contemplate that amazing mystery that we can possibly be drawn so close to Jesus in love, that we will stand in the mighty test.

I know of no passage of Scripture, in either the Old Testament or New Testament, that so wonderfully brings home to me what Jesus did in order that I might be saved, than Psalm 22. As I read this chapter, I am drawn to Christ in love because of the love that He first had for me. Because of this love, I want to keep His commandments and be prepared to meet Him. (John 14:15.)

These are Christ’s words found in Psalms 22:1–19: “My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me? Why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring? “O My God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. “But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

“Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.

“They cried unto Thee, and were delivered: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded.

“But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted in the Lord that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.

“But Thou art He that took Me out of the womb: Thou didst make Me hope when I was upon My mother’s breasts.

“I was cast upon Thee from the womb: Thou art My God from My mother’s belly.

“Be not far from Me; for trouble is near: for there is none to help . . .

“I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels.

“My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death.

“For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet.

“I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me.

“They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

“But be not far from Me, O Lord: O my strength, haste Thee to help Me.”

Each time I read that passage I feel so ashamed, for it was my sins that caused His suffering. My heart goes out in love to my Savior. I just so much want to meet Him face to face and thank Him for His matchless gift. I know that anything that I say in gratitude will be very, very inconsequential compared with what I ought to say, but maybe throughout eternity, I will be able to add to my gratitude as I express it to my Savior.

Jesus is coming soon! What we have just studied in these two apostolic letters and the alteration of course the Papacy is now taking, is evidence beyond dispute that everything is coming to the climax of Scripture. I pray, dear reader, that you will be ready, with your family, to meet our dear Savior when He comes.

The Third Person of the Godhead in the Writings of Ellen G. White

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Everywhere we look, we see plenty of evidence that we are living in the last days of the earth’s history. As we look at the end-time period, we have to admit that this period is almost over, so we are living at the end of the end-time period. This is especially true if we recognize the signs of the times in the advent movement. There is not only apostasy of mainstream Adventism, but the increase of fanaticism we see everywhere shows us that we are in the time of shaking and sifting and that we are in a fierce battle with the archenemy of God. In Revelation 12, we find this war of Satan against the beloved church of God. In verse 17, it says: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

That makes it very simple for us. All we have to be aware of is that our feet stand upon the Ten Commandments and the Spirit of Prophecy (Revelation 19:10). Sometimes we may be confused when we listen to a debate on a question of doctrine, and we may not know which position is right. But if we view it in the light of Revelation 12:17, it usually gets very simple again. No matter how convincing any argument may seem to us, if it leads us away from or brings us in opposition to the Ten Commandments or the Spirit of Prophecy, we should know that this position is wrong.

The Very Last Deception

This is especially true for the third person of the Godhead. In recent years, an increasing number of Seventh-day Adventists have refused to believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. They argue with the Bible and sometimes quote the Spirit of Prophecy. But as soon as they are shown quotes from Ellen G. White in which she calls the Holy Spirit the third person of the Godhead, they have no other argument than, “This quote has been changed.”

That shows that the real issue is not the Godhead but the Spirit of Prophecy. If we read anything in the writings of Ellen G. White and come to the conclusion that she is wrong and we are right, we can be sure that Satan has succeeded in his warfare against the Spirit of Prophecy, and we have been separated from the remnant that have the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of Prophecy.

We have not been warned that the very last deception would be about the Godhead but about making the testimonies of none effect. “The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 29:18). Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony.—Letter 12, 1890.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 48.

This is what it is really all about. If you come to believe a lie that the testimonies concerning the third person of the Godhead have been changed, you are deceived by Satan. “The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them [the testimonies] . . . . —Letter 40, 1890.” Ibid.

These skeptics are comparable to soldiers believing that the commands of their general are a delusion of the enemy. If a pilot comes to believe that the commands he receives in his jet bomber come from the enemy, he will do the opposite of what he is told to do and will surely die. But you cannot be used in Christ’s army, if you do not do what He tells you. “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46.

“One thing is certain: Those Seventh-day Adventists who take their stand under Satan’s banner will first give up their faith in the warnings and reproofs contained in the Testimonies of God’s Spirit.” Ibid., Book 3, 84.

A Mystery not Clearly Revealed

In a letter from Brother Chapman, Ellen White was asked about his special view concerning the Holy Spirit. He believed that the Holy Ghost was not a person or a personality of the Godhead “but the angel Gabriel.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 175. In rejecting this view, she makes clear that the nature of the Holy Spirit is not fully revealed to us.

“Some are ever seeking to be original, to bring out something new and startling. . . .

“Your ideas of the two subjects you mention do not harmonize with the light which God has given me. The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery not clearly revealed, and you will never be able to explain it to others because the Lord has not revealed it to you. You may gather together scriptures and put your construction upon them, but the application is not correct. The expositions by which you sustain your position are not sound. You may lead some to accept your explanations, but you do them no good, nor are they, through accepting your views, enabled to do others good.

“It is not essential for you to know and be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, and the Comforter is the Holy Ghost . . . . [John 14:16, 17 quoted.]” Ibid., 178, 179. [Emphasis supplied.]

Ellen White points out that the nature of the Holy Spirit is a side issue and puts it into nice words that someone who believes the Holy Spirit is not a person who would serve the work of God more if he or she kept silent. She goes on: “There are many mysteries which I do not seek to understand or to explain; they are too high for me, and too high for you. On some of these points, silence is golden.” Ibid., 179. (See Deuteronomy 29:29.)

This thought is repeated in The Acts of the Apostles, 52: “The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.” [Emphasis supplied.]

People who think they have the burden to proclaim that the third person of the Godhead is a papal error should heed the closing words of Sister White to Brother Chapman: “Now, my brother, it is truth that we want and must have, but do not introduce error as new truth.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 180.

Quotations Altered?

Now, take a closer look at some quotes referring to the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Godhead. Often it is said that the quotes in the book Evangelism are a fake. This book was first published several years after Ellen White’s death, so it is said that these quotations were added without her approval. Look at the first one:

“The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ.—Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, pp. 62, 63. (1905)” Evangelism, 615. [Emphasis supplied.]

This quote was first printed in 1905 in Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, page 63.1 In this edition, you read exactly the same words as in the book Evangelism. If you do a research on that in the original files, you find the same words.2

 

When Ellen White was in Australia, she helped to found Avondale School. In 1899, she addressed the students of the school: “We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds.—Manuscript 66, 1899. (From a talk to the students at the Avondale School.)” Evangelism, 616.

You cannot put it more clearly. The Holy Spirit is as much a person as is God the Father a person. If you look at the original file, you find it indexed as Manuscript 66, March 25, 1899. A copy of the original is shown in the end notes.3

Holy Spirit person

You will also find that quote in Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, 137; Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 299; and The Faith I Live By, 52. If you take a closer look, you will notice that Ellen White read this text, as she was used to it, after it had been typed by her secretary, and she made some remarks. Sometimes she crossed out some words, but concerning the third person of the Godhead, she never did so. It was typed in exactly the way she wanted it to be. There is no fake at all.

Another quote we read in Evangelism, 617, is indexed as Manuscript 20, February 7, 1906. Ellen White had also read the original document, after it had been typed by her secretary. She gave her final approval by writing the words down: “I have read this carefully and accept it.”4

EGW read and accepted

In that document you find the words, “The Holy Spirit has a personality, else he could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else he could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. . . .” 5

divine person

In the same document, you find another quotation which has been published in Evangelism, 616. “The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.” These words may be read in Mrs. White’s own handwriting.6

Holy Spirit is a person

One famous quotation, that is available in many Seventh-day Adventist homes, may be found in the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1074: “The work is laid out before every soul that has acknowledged his faith in Jesus Christ by baptism, and has become a receiver of the pledge from the three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (MS 57, 1900).” The same statement, in Ellen G. White’s handwriting, is shown in the end notes.7

three person

Another handwritten statement was published in Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, 324: “The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, in Christ’s name. He personifies Christ, yet is a distinct personality.” 8

Holy Spirit personality

No Room for Doubt

I could go on showing statement after statement. Study the references shown in the end notes9 to realize how many quotations have been given on this subject, and assure yourself that they are all reliable. Notice that there are plenty of quotes from periodicals released during Ellen White’s lifetime. They were widely spread throughout Adventism in her days. You may also look up facsimile reprints of periodicals like the Review and Herald or The Signs of the Times, if they are available, to see the original printing authorized by Ellen White personally. They were printed during her lifetime. See it with your own eyes. There is no doubt about it at all.

To those who still cannot believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, I would like to ask: Why do you hesitate? Why do you doubt? Who put this doubt in your heart? Is it God who wants you to doubt His Word, or is it His enemy? God is displeased because you doubt the words of His prophet.

When you one day will stand before the throne of God, and He asks you why did you not believe the Holy Spirit to be the third person of the Godhead, you will have to admit that you did not trust His Word and believed it had been changed. God will then say to you, “You were the one who changed it for yourself. Could you not believe My words, ‘There has not failed one word . . .’ or ‘Thy testimonies are very
sure . . .’ ?” 1 Kings 8:56; Psalm 93:5.

No Diversions

Do you not believe that God is able to keep His Word unchanged for your and my salvation today? Has He told you to be the judge over His Word to decide what is true and what is not true?

Do not make this side issue a salvation topic. Ellen White says: “The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them.” The Acts of the Apostles, 52. By occupying your mind with this question, Satan diverts you from the Three Angels’ Messages.

“Here is your danger, of diverting minds from the real issues for this time.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 180. These words were written to Brother Chapman who had some special ideas about the Holy Spirit.

“We are to pray for divine enlightenment, but at the same time we should be careful how we receive everything termed new light. We must beware lest, under cover of searching for new truth, Satan shall divert our minds from Christ and the special truths for this time. I have been shown that it is the device of the enemy to lead minds to dwell upon some obscure or unimportant point, something that is not fully revealed or is not essential to our salvation. This is made the absorbing theme, the ‘present truth,’ when all their investigations and suppositions only serve to make matters more obscure than before, and to confuse the minds of some who ought to be seeking for oneness through sanctification of the truth.” Ibid., 178.

The Pioneers

You might say that the pioneers did not believe in the trinity. By the way, Ellen White never used the term “trinity,” but she wrote about the “heavenly trio.” It is true that we do not believe in the trinity as the Catholics might do when they refer to one God with three heads. But we believe in “three living persons of the heavenly trio . . .—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7a, 441. The pioneers rejected not only the Catholic view, but they also rejected the idea of the Holy Spirit being the third person of the Godhead. They also rejected the belief, as Ellen White put it, that “Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore.” Review and Herald, April 5, 1906.

James White, for example, referred to the trinity in 1846 as that “old unscriptural Trinitarian creed,” in 1852 as “the old Trinitarian absurdity that Jesus Christ is the very and Eternal God,” and in 1877 as the “inexplicable trinity” that was a less than helpful teaching. The Day-Star, January 24, 1846; Review and Herald, August 5, 1852; November 29, 1877.

Uriah Smith and J. N. Andrews also rejected the trinity. Smith did not only deny the personhood of the Holy Spirit, but also had an Arian or at least Semi-Arian view of Christ. In 1865, for example, he wrote, in his book, Thoughts on Revelation, that Christ was “the first created being, dating his existence far back before any other created being or thing.”

Ellen White did not openly discuss this issue with the leaders of the movement. This, some say, proves that Ellen White’s writings support the view of the pioneers. But they do not seem to be aware of the fact that Ellen White—unlike her husband and most other early Adventist leaders—did not make any explicit anti-Trinitarian or Semi-Arian statement. When she first touched this issue directly and clearly in the 1890s, she did not contradict her own previous writings.

Reaction to Inspiration

Ellen White is the Lord’s messenger, and the Lord knew when the time had come to reveal to His people the truth about the God-head, as He knew the right time not to touch this issue.

The important point is not what the pioneers believed before the 1890s but how they dealt with the revelation from the pen of Ellen White. This test came to the pioneers when The Desire of Ages was first published. Perhaps her most controversial and surprising statement for most Adventists in the 1890s was a sentence in her book on the life of Jesus in which she noted that “in Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived.” The Desire of Ages, 530. The forcefulness of that sentence caught many off guard. One was a young preacher by the name of M. L. Andreasen. He was convinced that she really had not written that statement, that her editors and assistants must have altered it. As a result, he asked to read her handwritten book manuscript. She gladly gave him access to her document files.

He later recalled: “ ‘I had with me a number of quotations that I wanted to see if they were in the original in her own handwriting. I remember how astonished we were when The Desire of Ages was first published, for it contained some things that we considered unbelievable, among others the doctrine of the Trinity which was not then generally accepted by the Adventists.’

“Staying in California for several months, Andreasen had adequate time to check out his suspicions. He was especially ‘interested in the statement in The Desire of Ages which at one time caused great concern to the denomination theologically: “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived.’’ . . . That statement may not seem very revolutionary to you,’ he told his audience in 1948, ‘but to us it was. We could hardly believe it. . . . I was sure Sister White had never written’ the passage. ‘But now I found it in her own handwriting just as it had been published’ (MLA MS, November 30, 1948).” 10 [Emphasis supplied.]

The evidence is clear. If her handwriting and the original files do not convince those who doubt, even an angel from heaven or God’s own voice could not convince them. So I close with a Bible text urging you to take your stand with those who have the “testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 12:17) which is the “Spirit of Prophecy” (Revelation 19:10): “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” 11 Chronicles 20:20.

9 “Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead.” The Desire of Ages, 671.

“He determined to give His representative, the third person of the Godhead.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1053; The Signs of the Times, December 12, 1898, par. 2; The Watchman, November 28, 1905, par. 2; My Life Today, 36.

“Evil had been accumulating for centuries and could only be restrained and resisted by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 392, (Cooranbong, Australia, February 6, 1896); The Upward Look, 51; Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers—No. 10, 25; Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, 34; vol. 4, 329; vol. 10, 63; The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 4, 1493.

“The eternal heavenly dignitaries—God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit—arming them [the disciples] with more than mortal energy, . . . would advance with them to the work and convince the world of sin.—Manuscript 145, 1901.” Evangelism, 616.

“The prince of the power of evil can only be held in check by the power of God in the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.”—Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 10, p. 37. (1897)” Ibid., 617.

“We are to co-operate with the three highest powers in heaven,—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,—and these powers will work through us, making us workers together with God.”—Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, p. 51. (1905)” Ibid.

“Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power.” The Desire of Ages, 671; Review and Herald, May 19, 1904, par. 3; November 19, 1908, par. 6. See also Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers—No. 10, 25; The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 4, 1493.

“The three powers of the Godhead have pledged their might to carry out the purpose that God had in mind when he gave to the world the unspeakable gift of his Son.” Review and Herald, July 18, 1907, par. 3.

“The three powers of the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are pledged to be their [those who have been baptized] strength and their efficiency in their new life in Christ Jesus.” Australasian Union Conference Record, October 7, 1907, par. 9.

“There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized and these powers will cooperate with the obedient.” In Heavenly Places, 336; Evangelism, 615.

“There are three living persons of the heavenly trio. In the name of these three powers,—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will cooperate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ.” Bible Training School, March 1, 1906, par. 2; Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, 63.

“The rite of baptism is administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. These three great powers of heaven pledge themselves . . . .” Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, 27.

10 George R. Knight, A Search for Identity: The Development of Seventh-day Adventist Beliefs, Review and Herald, Hagerstown, Maryland, 2000, 116, 117.

 

Dr. Hermann Kesten is a physician and elder of the Historic Seventh-day Adventist Church in Berlin, Germany. He may be contacted by e-mail at: hkesten@mefag.de. Check out his web sites at: http://www.historische-adventisten.de www.mefag.com

A Better Place

by

Why have our cities become so dangerous? Is it because of foreign terrorism, or does the fault lie a little closer to home? Why has the moral standard seen such a rapid decline? It was not so long ago when children could safely go to play on the playgrounds and women could walk city streets at night with little personal risk.

An elderly woman once reminisced on a friendlier time while growing up on the family ranch in Oklahoma. Doors were seldom locked. Indeed, people would leave their homes unlocked while traveling so others who may be passing through the area could make themselves at home. A note of thanks would be left, along with some money to pay for food and any other incurred expenses.

This describes the world in which we used to live. Unfortunately, a cloud of turmoil has passed over this lovely scene. We have beautified our buildings and our streets, upgraded our transportation and communication systems, and skyrocketed in the world of technology, yet we have regressed terribly in ethics. Because of this, people have become the most dangerous threats in our world.

In a civilized country, when driving on the road, each person depends on the other drivers to abide by laws of traffic. Disobedience to these rules endangers the lives of others on the road. A yellow traffic light warns a moving vehicle that it will have to stop, but what if there were no brakes? What if there were no yellow lights—nothing to indicate that it is time to stop?

This is the condition of today’s society. God gave humanity laws by which to abide and “yellow lights” of warning to assist us in walking in His path. God did not provide any disclaimers to the law, yet people have felt at liberty to add some themselves, teaching that it is okay not to keep the Ten Commandments under certain conditions. People who add ifs, ands, or buts to the law leave the law open to the interpretation of each person’s faulty conscience and perception of right and wrong. Thus the result is all around us in crime and chaos and fear.

What is the cause of the depravation that we hear so much of on the news and see all around us? The answer is plain and simple—ignoring God’s law of love. This disregard of divine guidance is not just found in the lives of individuals, but also in churches and schools. People discount the Ten Commandments and add their own disclaimers—a practice which is known as “situation ethics.” The effect on our society is that there is no more right or wrong. Since nothing is defined as absolutely wrong, or absolutely right, young people growing up today do not have a clear idea at all about standards.

When young people in high schools and colleges have been quizzed about subjects such as cheating, e.g. cheating on your taxes, or cheating at school, they define it as being right or wrong, depending on what kind of a situation you find yourself in because there are no absolute rules, and in short, you become your own god. In this sort of society, moral comforts are lost, there is no sense of moral direction, and there is nothing anymore that is absolute.

The Bible uses very strong language to describe people who try to figure out what is right and wrong on the basis of their own conscience: “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.” Proverbs 28:26. And yet society has turned over the decision of right and wrong to the sinful individual rather than trusting in the moral outline provided by a perfect God. God defined morality; something He would not have had to do were we able to do so on our own accord. Not once did He ever give human beings the right or the authority to decide what is right or wrong.

History demonstrates the result of people, churches, or a government deciding what is right or wrong. Some of the most awful crimes ever recorded are the result of human beings taking this authority.

Repeatedly, when church and state unite, the rights of the minority are trampled upon. In the early days of the United States of America, the citizens of this country were well acquainted with this because many people had fled to the United States of America to escape the religious persecution in Europe and other countries.

God Governs His Territory

The only dependable moral standard of right and wrong is found in God’s word. The word of God contains a simple and complete standard for determining ethics. This is what the Bible says about the commandments of God:

“The works of his hands [are] verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and [are] done in truth and uprightness.” Psalm 111:7, 8.

Notice in these two verses, that God’s commandments have the following characteristics:

They are sure. In other words, they are certain and solid. There is no guess work. It says that they are eternal. They will last forever—a million years from now the law of God will still be in force.

They are true. There is no deceit or falsehood.

They are right.

They have stood the test of time, having been given thousands of years ago. The effects of both obedience and disobedience to the commandments have been demonstrated repeatedly over the course of earth’s history.

“Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34.

The United States is one of the leading nations today, not because of natural resources but because people came here to find happiness and freedom to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience. This country, more than any other country on the earth, has the largest percentage of the population attempting to keep the law of God.

God’s Law Has No Flaws

God’s law is not of human composition. It was first given by God to His people. If they would obey, it would be a safeguard, a protection against all kinds of crime. “The law of the Lord [is] perfect.” Psalm 19:7. If something is perfect, can you improve on it?

God’s law is one law but it contains ten sections. It was written on two tables of stone by the finger of God and given to Moses. Remember, it was one law, it had ten sections, and it was written on two tables of stone.

Men make laws too and it is essential to have laws. Anyone who has been in a foreign, developing country that does not have enforced traffic laws and has gotten into a traffic jam where nobody keeps any kind of traffic laws will know what a terrible thing it is to not have law and order. However, it has been estimated that there have been 35 million laws to control human behavior. The Almighty has given us just ten, and these ten precepts in His law cover everything having to do with morality.

The Principles of God’s Law are Eternal

Nothing can be done morally wrong without breaking one of the Ten Commandments. God wrote them on two tables of stone with His own finger—they are immutable. “This covenant that I gave, I am not going to change it. And what’s gone out of my lips I won’t alter.” Psalm 89:34. His law is of imperishable obligation. It will be in effect as long as God exists, not only in this world, but throughout the universe for eternity. There will never be a time when this law is not in force.

God Writes His Law Himself

When God gave this law, He did not entrust it to be written down by a human being, even Moses. Moses did write the Pentateuch, and we have prophets who wrote the rest of the Old Testament, and apostles who wrote the New Testament, but God’s law is so holy and eternal, it was not entrusted to any human being to write it down. It was written with His own finger on tables of stone.

God has a government, and there is a territory over which He rules. The children of Israel were told: “All the world [is] mine.” Exodus 19:5. No government can exist without law. God has a government also, and His law is the basis of His heavenly government.

A War Broke Out in Heaven

There came a time though when an intelligent being decided that he did not need to be governed by God’s law and rebellion broke out in heaven. It was Satan’s claim that the angels did not need restriction—that they were wise enough to decide by their own intelligence, what was right and wrong. In Isaiah 14:12–14, it says that this rebellious angel wanted to be like God. This was the same as asking God to change the first commandment which says, “You shall not have any other gods beside me.” Exodus 20:3.

This angel was a leading angel and the highest of all the created beings. When he rebelled he attempted to deceive all the angels into rebelling with him. He succeeded in persuading one third of the angels to fight against the law of God. “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, But they did not prevail; nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world: he was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:7–9.

Rebellion Not Tolerated

This passage of Scripture gives us, in panoramic view, the history of the great controversy between Christ and His angels, and Satan and his angels. The dragon is Satan. God could not tolerate rebellion in heaven—it would threaten the happiness and peace of every being, thus they were cast out.

God is not going to tolerate rebellion in this earth anymore than He tolerated a rebellion against His government in heaven. The rebellion on this earth is temporary and is going to be brought to an end. If we rebel against the authority of the law of God, we rebel against the government of God. It is the same as if one was to rebel against the laws of the United States, they would be rebelling against the government.

When the devil was cast into this world, not only was he successful in the destruction of one third of heaven’s angels, he also succeeded in deceiving the human race and beginning a rebellion on the earth. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, God visited them in the Garden of Eden saying that because they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, they would die and return to dust.

Satan Claims His Own Territory

Adam and Eve had to leave their beautiful home, but before they left the Garden of Eden, God gave them the single most wonderful promise in the Bible. He promised them that a descendant of Eve would destroy the serpent that had deceived her. (Genesis 3:15.)

Although this was foremost in their minds, Adam and Eve had a divided family. Their two sons, Cain and Abel were very different in character. Abel worshipped God in the way that God had told them, through the sacrifice of a perfect lamb. The lamb represented the coming Lamb of God, the Son of God who would come and offer His life for the sins of the world. It was necessary for mankind to keep in focus the coming Redeemer who would give His life to save them from their sins. The way to keep this in mind was by offering animal sacrifices. At that time they had no idea it would take another four thousand years for that promise to be realized.

Cain worshipped the Lord too, but he did so in a way that a lot of people worship the Lord today, according to his own rules and beliefs of what was right. He did not bring a lamb, but a bloodless offering. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22, “That without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.” God did not have respect for Cain and his offering. The elder brother became so irate over the favor shown to Abel for his obedience that Cain killed him.

God’s Law Eternal

There are some people who are very confused and say that the law did not exist until Mt. Sinai. However, it says in Romans 4:15, “Where there is no law, [there is] no transgression.” If there had been no law, there could be no transgression for Adam and Eve or Cain. I John 3:4 says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.”

Adam and Eve broke the first, the fifth, and the tenth commandment in the Garden of Eden. In addition to that, Cain broke the sixth commandment. Had there been no law to break, there would have been no sin. It is clear here that the law existed from the time of creation. It was formally given to the children of Israel from Mt. Sinai when they had forgotten it. However, it has existed for eternity. The angels followed God’s commandments out of love and devotion until one angel questioned them and rebelled. Had there been no law, Satan would have nothing to rebel against.

A careful study of the book of Genesis will find every one of the principles of the Ten Commandments before it was written in stone.

In the Bible, Abraham is called the father of the faithful. The reason is given in Genesis 26:5:

“Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” He is a prototype of all sinners who find salvation. If you are accounted as a descendant of Abraham, then according to the New Testament, you will be an heir of the world.

God’s law has always been the standard of right and wrong. Adam and Eve broke the first, the fifth and the tenth commandment in Eden. Cain broke the sixth. Joseph refused to break the seventh commandment. Joseph also knew about the eighth and ninth commandment as shown when you read in Genesis 44 about the cup he had placed in his brother Benjamin’s sack in Egypt. Adam and Eve also knew about the fourth commandment according to Genesis 2:1–3. Jacob knew about the second commandment. All of these people knew and understood all of the Ten Commandments. Joseph knew that it was wrong to commit adultery and because he refused the advances of Potipher’s wife, he was put into prison for many years. Jacob knew that it was wrong to worship idols (Genesis 35:2), referring to the second commandment.

God’s servants know His law and abide by it. They know that His law, His word, is the same yesterday, today and forever. Yet people today argue against this, saying that we are not living in Old Testament times now but in New Testament times. However, in response, Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law, or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly I say to you that till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle (a jot is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and a tittle is just part of a letter) will by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17, 18.

Actually, Jesus stated it even stronger in Luke 16:17: “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear, than for the least stroke of the pen to drop out of the law.”

Think about that and remember Who is talking. The One who the Bible says created everything in the universe, and Who upholds everything by the word of His power. He has the authority to make it pass away. He could decide to destroy the whole universe and there is nothing anybody could do to stop it. And He said that it would be easier for the whole universe to pass away than for a part of a letter of the Law to fail. This leaves no doubt in the immutability of His commandments.

Jesus Fulfilled the Law

Did you ever wonder why Jesus had to die on the cross? He said to His Father in the garden of Gethsemane, “All things are possible with you, so if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39.)

God the Father said, “No. You have to go to the cross.” In I Corinthians 15:3 we are told that Christ died for our sins. If He had not gone to the cross of Calvary, there would be no hope for you and me and we would face eternal death.

Some may argue that the law was abolished at the cross using Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:15 as support for their claim: “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances; so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.”

Here it talks about “the commandments contained in ordinances.” What commandments were those? At the cross, the ceremonial system of sacrifices came to an end. There is no more need for ceremonial sacrifices or the Levitical priesthood since there is no more earthly sanctuary. God’s sanctuary today is in heaven, not on earth.

But did the moral law come to an end at that time also? Absolutely not! The handwritten ordinances came to an end but the moral law remained intact in its entirety. Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.” John 8:11. [If the moral law had been abolished, there would be no definition of sin.]

“Go and sin no more”

If Jesus says, “Go and sin no more,” that means, go and abide by the law.

Some say that they cannot do that. We live in a pessimistic age, but the Bible says. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” II Corinthians 12:9.

Everyone who is struggling with sin in their life, can say, “Lord, I want to go and sin no more, but I am helpless.” And in response, the Lord says, “I have enough grace for you. The weaker you are, the more grace you are going to receive.” (II Corinthians 12:9.)

The devil is still in opposition to God’s law though. He is trying with all his might to lead every descendant of Adam and Eve to eternal destruction. A powerful method by which to do this is through discounting the same law that he rebelled against in heaven. Rebellion against God’s commandments does not happen just by deliberate action against them, but also in taking the unwarranted authority to change any single precept of His divine commands.

Jesus always leads people to obedience. He never ever told anybody to go and sin another day. He never said to go and try to work on it and see if you can slowly quit. Jesus said, “Go, and don’t sin any more.” The Lord can give strength to live a new life. You don’t have to wait and go through some program for months or years. Jesus said to the woman, “Go, and don’t sin any more.” That experience was the beginning of her new life of purity.

Jesus offers new life today. He says go and sin no m ore and He has enough grace to give you the power so that you will not have to sin anymore. He says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15. According to Jesus, keeping the commandments is a test of love and faith to Him. “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” John 15:10.

A question was sent to Billy Graham asking which of the Ten Commandments still apply to us today. The answer: “The Ten Commandments are never out of date. They express the unchanging will of God for our lives, regardless of changes in human society. If you look at them closely, you will see that the first few commandments deal with our relationship with God. [That’s the first four.] The other commandments deal with our relationship with other people and with things. Our lives would be much happier if we followed God’s commandments.” The Ten Commandments are never out of date; they are eternal. The law of God and the love of God are not two separate things. This is love for God—to obey His commandments.

The Commandments Are About Relationships

Many people today do not understand the relationship between the law and love that the Bible teaches.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37, 38.

Everything in the Bible, everything in the law and the prophets hang on those two principles. You see, love always leads to obedience—never leads to disobedience. We cannot be saved if we persist in disobeying God’s law and live lawless and rebellious lives. If we refuse to keep God’s law, we are placing ourselves on the devil’s side of the great controversy.

This is not to be mistaken for the law being the basis of our salvation. If you could earn salvation by keeping the law, then Jesus would not have needed to come and die on the cross. “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9. These are the merits that give you the gift of eternal life. Salvation is by grace alone and grace always leads to obedience, never to disobedience.

Consider what the apostle Paul says: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? Certainly not.” Romans 6:15.

There are many who read this verse and do not get the main point. Notice what it says: “You are not under the law but under grace.” Then it says, “What then, shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace?” Who would take the gift of grace without showing due gratitude through the obedience of the law also? For if it were not for the transgression of the law, there would be no need for grace and the price that grace cost heaven.

To be under the law means to be under the law as a system of salvation. Since I have broken God’s law, this means death. How can I escape that?

“Now, we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God, therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:19, 20.

This verse says that the whole world was under the law, and we are all guilty before God. The law condemns and “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23.

The only way to pay the price for your sins is to die. The death of Jesus upon the cross, however, can forgive you of your past sins, but it does not give you the license to sin in the future. That is not the purpose of the death on the cross.

Forsaking the law of God is the root cause of the loss of law and order in the world today. Jesus died in the sinner’s place on the cross of Calvary so that by His blood our sins can be forgiven and we have the opportunity to live in Paradise. To be under grace means to accept God’s grace as a means of salvation. By faith I accept Christ’s death in the place of my sins.

Being under grace, does not do away with the law, meaning that I do not have to keep it. Notice what Paul says: “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not, on the contrary, we establish the law.” Romans 3:31.

If the law could have been changed, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. If the law could have just been suspended for a few minutes, or a few hours, in the Garden of Eden, then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. But the law is of eternal, imperishable obligation. That is why Jesus had to die on the cross. The law is so sacred and holy, that even the penalty for breaking the law cannot be remitted. The penalty had to be paid and Jesus paid that penalty so the human race would not have to.

“But the person who says, I know God, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him.” I John 2:4.

On the Isle of Patmos, John the beloved disciple was given visions that are written down in the book of Revelation. He was shown things that would happen from that time until the end of the world. Concerning the time of the end he writes:

“And the dragon, (the devil) was enraged with the woman (the church, a harlot woman is symbol of a corrupt church, and a pure woman is symbol of a true and faithful church.) The dragon was enraged with the woman,” (a pure woman, Revelation 12, first part; in other words, the devil was enraged with the church) and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring. He went to make war with the last people on the face of the earth who were following God.

Who would these people be? The last of the woman’s offspring would be the Christians who would be alive at the close of the age, when Jesus comes back to this world and takes His people to be with Him. This last generation of Christians will be those “who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. They will not be part of the lawless element in society. They will not be a part of the terrorists and the violence in society. They will be people who will be keeping God’s commandments, and people who have the testimony of Jesus.

Again in Revelation 14:12, John says, “Here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

Our purpose on earth is to get ready for Jesus’ second coming. For what good is our life if we cannot go home with our Creator in the end? Acceptance of God’s grace in our lives is the starting point from which we prepare ourselves for His arrival. We must be a part of the people who keep God’s commandments and have the faith of Jesus. Jesus died to pay the price of our sins. If we love Him, our love for Him will compel us to obey Him. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

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

Romans 7, part 2

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Editor’s Note: Last month we looked at the first two symbols that Paul uses in Romans 7 to illustrate the conversion process. This month we will look at the last two which will further clarify what Paul meant in Romans 7:15.

 

“Until Death Do Us Part”

 

For the third time, Paul asks: “Know ye not, brethren . . . how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband . . . Wherefore, my brethren ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” Romans 7:1–4.

In this third parallel, freedom from the bondage of sin is likened to marriage which continues until the spouse dies. The surviving spouse is then free to enter a marriage relationship with another. It is the same with one’s obligation to the law of sin; after his death to the law of sin, the Christian is free to follow God’s law. In another place Paul says that even if he is still harassed for a time by his sinful nature, it is crucified and has lost its power to One who is all powerful: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20.

These three parallels show that Paul was not “sold under sin” and did what he hated when he wrote to the Romans and clarified salvation in Christ, but referred to an earlier experience—an earlier experience without an alternative, which we shall look at more closely.

 

An Earlier Experience

 

What Paul deals with, in the seventh chapter of Romans, is a time in his life when he was the Pharisee, Saul, and lived according to the letter of the law. (See Philippians 3:4–9.) After his conversion, he called it a time “without the law.” Although physically blinded by the light from heaven on the road to Damascus, his spiritual eyes were opened and he realized his true relationship with respect to the demands of the law. He said: “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Romans 7:9.

Conversion is more than an outward fulfilling of the law. It reaches our innermost thoughts and imagination. It is here that temptation comes, and if allowed to develop in the thoughts gives birth to sin, finally expressing itself in speech and actions. Therefore, God says: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23.

Jesus explained the law’s demands to His disciples and said that everyone who is angry with his brother breaks the sixth commandment and that only a look of desire, at a woman, means adultery. The disciples wondered who then could be saved. Christ answered that it is impossible with man, but with God everything is possible. A power outside of mankind is necessary, and Paul establishes that. “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:14.

But after this experience of despair, Paul also experienced reconciliation and became redeemed through God’s Lamb. As a conclusion for the third parallel, he talks about “bondage in the flesh” in times past, and says: “For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:5, 6.

Paul talks about former times, “when we were in the flesh,” which is positive proof that he did not write about his converted life in Romans 7:14–23, but about his earlier, unconverted life, for the purpose of teaching the Romans how to adjust to the Christian life. Paul was no longer a slave to his inherited “fleshly” nature. What did he think about the law; was it sinful? No, the law with the commandment is “holy, and just and good.”

Romans 7:12. There was nothing wrong with the law, it was only a curse when compared with his earlier life. The law’s function, among other things, is to teach us what sin is. Because, where there is no law, there is nothing to sin against. Romans 7:7, 8; 4:15.

The law expresses life’s principles and is a reflection of God’s character. The difference between Paul’s relationship to the law, before and after his conversion, is that he was under the curse of the law, before, when he tried to earn his salvation through his own works. Through his conversion, he became agreeable to the law and followed it with gladness because of salvation through the power he received from God. He says: “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4.

 

What is “The Flesh”?

 

“The flesh” is a Biblical term which signifies Adam’s fallen nature which we automatically inherit through ancestry. Therefore, we also have a natural inclination to do evil and soil our characters; the impurity of which then shuts us out of God’s kingdom. However, in Roman Catholic theology, a “sinful nature” in itself is sin. They teach that the guilt of their ancestors is automatically passed on to succeeding generations. In other words, each baby born into the world is automatically guilty, at birth, of the “original sin” of mankind’s first parents. Therefore, Roman Catholics are forced to hold the doctrine that Jesus was born without a sinful nature. He was, they say, as Adam was before the fall, seeing that He was without inherited guilt, but was also as Adam after the fall, seeing that He took upon Himself fallen man’s physical body. Christ could feel hunger, thirst, sorrow and pain—but nothing more.

Roman Catholics say, and Desmond Ford claims: “To teach that Christ was possessed of sinful propensities [is to teach that] He Himself was a sinner in need of a Saviour!” (Desmond Ford, Palmdale Conference on Righteousness by Faith, 39.) But the only definition that the Bible has of sin is that it is “the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. The doctrine of original sin comes from heathendom and was given birth into Roman Catholic theology by Aurelius Augustine (354–430 A.D.) who was strongly influenced by his father’s Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, during his upbringing. The doctrine of original sin was passed on to Protestantism by the Reformers (who were obviously unaware of its hellish implications). God said, however, to the Jews who also fell for such heathenish fables: “Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father . . .? No! The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father . . . the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” Ezekiel 18:19, 20.

“The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” Deuteronomy 24:16.

Paul said that “in all things it behoved [it was necessary for] Him to be made like unto His brethren, [so] that . . . He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:17, 18. Paul also explains that: “God [sent] his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh . . .” Romans 8:3. John reveals to us that those who deny that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” have the spirit of Antichrist. (1 John 4:1–3; 2 John 7.)

To understand what the “nature of the flesh” is, as opposed to what the “Spirit’s new nature” is, Paul shows in his letter to the Galatians what the “works” of each are. “For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh . . . This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I told you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:13, 16–25.

Paul therefore exhorts the Romans, and us, to live a victorious life through God’s infinite power, of which we may partake to live righteous lives.

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:12–14.

John makes it even clearer and adds savor to his expression. He says: “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He [Christ] is righteous. He that commiteth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born ofGod.” 1 John 3:7–9.

This means that so long as we are under the control of the Holy Spirit we cannot sin, seeing that the Spirit, of course, does not sin. If we fall, we have left the Spirit’s leading and have let ourselves be led by the devil who has tempted us through our flesh, that is to say our sinful nature. Then must we flee back to God to be reconciled with Him and receive new strength to conquer.

“Those who are in connection with God are channels for the power of the Holy Spirit. If one who daily communes with God errs from the path, if he turns a moment from looking steadfastly unto Jesus, it is not because he sins willfully; for when he sees his mistake, he turns again, and fastens his eyes upon Jesus, and the fact that he has erred does not make him less dear to the heart of God. He knows that he has communion with the Saviour; and when reproved for his mistake in some matter of judgment, he does not walk sullenly, and complain of God, but turns the mistake into a victory. He learns a lesson from the words of the Master, and takes heed that he be not again deceived.” Review and Herald, May 12, 1896.

The token for victory is that God’s Spirit itself bears witness with our Spirit, that we are the children of God. (Romans 8:16.) This is the Bible’s joyful message. Everything else is a false gospel.

 

Nature and Character

 

The “New Theology,” with belief in the doctrine of “original” sin, means that we through our inherited nature bear the guilt for sin even after our conversion. Sin is, according to that belief, even in “the good” which Paul wants to do, yes, as well as in his victory over sin. It also means that even the best that we do is defiled with egotistical motivation, and even our weaknesses are reckoned as sin. Therefore, the “New Theology” focuses only on forgiveness—not on sanctification of the character. The “New Theology” does not make a distinction between our inherited nature and our character, which we form during our life. We are afflicted with our nature until the Second Coming of Christ, at which time He glorifies us in the same way that His own body was glorified on the resurrection morning. With His return He shall “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body . . .” Philippians 3:21.

When it applies to the character, there is a difference between Jesus and us. Seeing that we have stained our character through our passions and transgressions of the commandments, we have therefore, over and above our sinful nature, even a fallen character with its own acquired customs, to resist. Christ, on the other hand, never sullied His character. He kept it pure and never succumbed to temptation because of the power which He constantly requested of His Father; a power to which we also have full access. “To the consecrated worker there is wonderful consolation in the knowledge that even Christ during His life on earth sought His Father daily for fresh supplies of needed grace.” The Acts of the Apostles, 56. As God helped Jesus to keep His character unspotted, He can recreate our character—and keep it unspotted.

Our fallen nature is not changed until the Second Coming of Jesus, but our character must be transformed and sanctified here and now through God’s power, if we are to be saved at all! Jesus will not perform some miracle with our character when He comes, neither when He pours out “the latter rain.” That would be against our will, seeing that we had not developed the correct attitude to its reception beforehand.

A pure character is a prerequisite for the ability to receive “the latter rain,” the Holy Spirit’s last great outpouring, which shall bear the “Loud Cry” to the whole world before the return of Christ.

Conclusion

To be saved is not, in and of itself, to come to a better world. There is only one purpose in the plan of salvation—to enable human beings to stop committing transgression of the principles of life, because salvation is to be saved from sin. (Matthew 1:21.) Nobody will be saved in his sin (Rev 21:8, 27), because if that were so, the new earth, which God will establish, would be destroyed just as this world has been. However, God has done everything He can for us so that we can conquer sin. The Spirit of Prophecy says encouragingly: “Those who put their trust in Christ are not to be enslaved by any hereditary or cultivated habit or tendency. Instead of being held in bondage to the lower nature, they are to rule every appetite and passion. God has not left us to battle with evil in our own finite strength . . . we can overcome through the power that He is ready to impart.” The Ministry of Healing, 175, 176.

In response to the “Holy Flesh” Movement of 1900, in Indiana, which taught that mankind’s physical sinful nature could be holy now, Ellen White wrote that through the reception of Christ’s sacrifice and the bending of our will to His: “All may obtain holy hearts, but it is not correct to claim in this life to have holy flesh. The apostle Paul declares, ‘I know that in me [that is, in my flesh,] dwelleth no good thing:’ Romans 7:18.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 32.

“As faith thus receives and assimilates the principles of truth, they become a part of the being, and the motive power of the life. The word of God, received into the soul, moulds the thoughts, and enters into the development of character.” The Desire of Ages, 391.

“Through faith in Christ, every deficiency of character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed.” Education, 257.

“I saw how this grace could be obtained. Go to your closet, and there alone plead with God: ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.’ Be in earnest, be sincere. Fervent prayer availeth much. Jacob-like, wrestle in prayer. Agonize. Jesus, in the garden, sweat great drops of blood; you must make an effort. Do not leave your closet until you feel strong in God; then watch, and just as long as you watch and pray you can keep these evil besetments under, and the grace of God can and will appear in you.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 158.

 

The Coronation of Christ

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We have established the fact by many indubitable proofs that the investigation and decision of the cases of the righteous precede their resurrection in the likeness of Christ. In establishing the fact that the cases of the righteous are thus decided before the sounding of the trumpet of God, we do really establish the fact that the cases of the wicked are also virtually decided at the same time. For when we have shown that all who are to have immortality are accounted worthy of it before their resurrection, it necessarily follows that though the actions of the wicked are not examined in detail until the saints sit with Christ in the judgment during the one thousand years, yet the wicked are, by the decision in the case of the righteous, left, as worthless and noxious, to the resurrection of the unjust and to the devouring fire.

The next event in the great day of God is the destruction of the living wicked by the seven last plagues. As these do not come until the wicked are accounted unworthy of the kingdom of God, their destruction comes as a part of the judgment work, and after the virtual decision of their cases. The fact is many times revealed in the Bible that before the final deliverance of the saints there comes a time of trouble such as never was. This is plainly marked as lying between the decision in the case of the righteous at the close of their probation, and the event of their deliverance.

Thus, according to Daniel, the deliverance of the saints does not take place until the existence of a time of trouble such as never was. And this time of trouble comes in consequence of the close of our Lord’s intercession and the assumption of His kingly office. (Daniel 12:1.) The wrath of God against sin is neither stayed nor mitigated after the Son of God ceases to plead for sinful man.

The closing work of Christ’s priesthood is in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. This is opened under the sounding of the seventh trumpet. (Revelation 11:19.) It is after the temple is thus opened in heaven that the seven angels pour out the seven last plagues. (Revelation 15:5–8.) But these plagues fill up the wrath of God, which is threatened by the third angel. (Revelation 15:1 compared with 14:10.) And the third angel gives the final message of mercy and warning to mankind before the Son of man sits upon the white cloud. (Revelation 14:6–14.) So it is apparent that while Christ is finishing His work in the sanctuary, and while the third angel is giving the last message of mercy to man, the seven last plagues are withheld, though pending ready to be poured out. But when the work of probation is closed, and the intercession of Christ in heaven, and the voice of warning upon earth, are ended, then men drink from the cup of His indignation the wine of God’s wrath without any mixture.

That which constitutes this wrath is the seven last plagues. They are by this term distinguished from those plagues inflicted under the six trumpets. (Revelation 9:20, 21.) They are represented as the wrath of God without mixture, i.e., they have no element of mercy mingled with them. They are poured out into the cup of God’s indignation. This is an awful expression to indicate that men at that time fall into the hands of the living God. This fearful execution of God’s judgment is witnessed before the deliverance of the saints; for not less than six of the plagues are poured out prior to the advent of Christ. (Revelation 16:12–15.)

This same period of trouble is brought to view in Revelation 7, and located between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals. Before the four winds are loosed, the servants of God are sealed. The seal is placed upon them, that the destroying angel may not cut them down. (Compare Ezekiel 9 with Revelation 7.) This is a plain proof that the saints must continue upon the earth for a certain space after the time of trouble commences. The fact that all who are sealed at the commencement of this time of trouble are afterward seen standing upon Mount Zion with the Lamb, is proof that their probation closes with the commencement of this scene of trouble. Compare Revelation 7:4; 14:1.) In other words, they are then accounted worthy to escape the things that are to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36.) The very time when they are thus accounted worthy to stand before the Saviour, is at the close of our Lord’s priesthood; and the time of trouble itself comes when that priesthood is exchanged for His kingly office.

Probation does therefore close before the entrance of the people of God upon this great time of trouble. One of those events immediately following the close of probation, and therefore constituting a feature of the time of trouble, is what the Bible calls “the hour of temptation.” Thus we read: “Because thou has kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Revelation 3:10, 11.

The keeping of the word of Christ’s patience especially pertained to the period of the third angel. (Revelation 14:12.) Those who keep this word are to be kept from the hour of temptation, while all others are to be taken captive by it. This shows that the saints are upon the earth during this period; and that when it commences, those who are unprepared are hopelessly lost.

But this season of unrestrained temptation is also brought to view by Paul, when describing the state of things existing just before our Lord’s return. Thus he says: “Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9–12.

When God sends men strong delusion to believe a lie that they all might be damned, it must be after the righteous have accomplished their work of overcoming, and after the Saviour has ceased to plead. The only way that God sends this strong delusion is by withdrawing His Spirit when men have sinned away the day of grace, thus leaving them a prey to the unrestrained power of the devil.

Now it is remarkable that the third angel brings to view this same period of Satan’s mighty working. It is the work of the third angel to give warning of the things that are to come to pass upon the earth at the close of human probation.

When he warns us against the worship of the image, and the reception of his mark, it is in direct reference to the fact that the two-horned beast is to make such an image and to require men to worship it on pain of death. (Revelation 14:9–12; 13:11–16.) And we do learn that this image is made in consequence of the miracles that are to be wrought. (Compare Revelation 13:13, 14; 16:13.) One of these miracles will be the bringing down of fire from heaven. This lies before us in the time of trouble. It is no wonder that those who are not kept by the power of God should be deceived by this fearful delusion.

It is at the close of the work of intercession that the Lord is represented as putting on the garments of vengeance for the destruction of His enemies. (Isaiah 59:16–18.) “And when the enemy [Satan] shall come in like a flood, in the strong delusion, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Verse 19. “It is also at the close of our Lord’s priestly work that the prophecy of Amos meets its fulfillment:

Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine in bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord; and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:11, 12.

The third woe comes by reason of the voice of the seventh angel. (Revelation 8:13.) The seven last plagues come under the seventh trumpet. (Revelation 11:15–19; 15:5–8.) The seven plagues, which fill up the wrath of God, do therefore constitute the third woe. The people of God will not be removed from the earth till after six of the plagues have been poured out. They must witness the fearful scenes of the time of trouble. But the seal of the living God will be their protection, so that though a thousand fall at their side and ten thousand at their right hand, it will not come nigh them. (Psalm 91:1–10.) The situation of the saints during the outpouring of the plagues will be like that of Israel during the plagues upon Egypt.

These dreadful calamities which will come upon our earth before the people of God are taken from it may be mentioned as the loosing of the four winds, the pouring out of the vials of God’s wrath in pestilence, famine, and earthquake, and in the battle of the great day of God Almighty. It will be the hour of temptation for all the wicked world, when Satan shall exert his utmost power. To the wicked it will be the time of trouble such as never was; to the righteous it will be the time of Jacob’s trouble, at which, in answer to their cry day and night, like the importunate widow, they will be delivered. (Jeremiah 30:5–7; Genesis 32; Luke 18:7, 8.)

In view of this awful scene which must be witnessed by the people of God, Zephaniah calls upon all the meek of the earth to seek righteousness and meekness. And he adds, “It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zephaniah 2:1–3. If they do their best in seeking God, it is but barely possible that they will escape. And our Lord beseeches His people to watch and pray always, that they may be accounted worthy to escape the things coming on the earth, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36.) If, therefore, this great time of trouble is to come upon our world after the close of Christ’s intercession and before the deliverance of the saints, of what vast consequence is that final message of warning which reveals these great facts?

The fact that the resurrection of the righteous is declarative of their acceptance in the sight of God, and, therefore, proof that the investigation and decision of their cases precede that event, has been very distinctly stated by some of the clearest minds in the Advent ranks. The late Sylvester Bliss, for many years editor of the Advent Herald, thus states the case: “We are inclined to the opinion that the judgment is after death and before the resurrection; and that before that event the acts of all men will be adjudicated; so that the resurrection of the righteous is their full acquittal and redemption—their sins being blotted out when the times of refreshing shall have come (Acts 3:19); while the fact that the wicked are not raised [for one thousand years], proves that they were previously condemned.” Advent Shield, 4, 366 (published in 1845.)

He saw the fact perfectly distinct that there can be no trial of the righteous after they have been made immortal. But it is very evident that he did not well understand when and how the examination of their cases should take place. Elder Josiah Litch, one of the ablest writers in the early history of the Advent movement, states this subject even more distinctly than Mr. Bliss. In his Prophetic Expositions, written in 1842, on pages 49–54 he uses the following language:

 

The Meaning of the Term “Judge”

“1. It is used in the Bible in the sense of a trial according to law and evidence, the idea being drawn from a civil or criminal court . . .

“2. It signifies a penal judgment; or the execution of judgment.

“The terms are both used in reference to the judgment of the human race. All men will be brought to trial, or into judgment, and all their deeds and their moral characters will be examined, and their everlasting states will be determined by the evidence produced from God’s books, including the book of life, which will decide the moral character and everlasting destiny of each individual of Adam’s race. If their names are found in ‘the book of life,’ they will be saved; and if not found there, they will be cast into the lake of fire, the second death. But the degree of reward or punishment will be graduated by what each one has done . . .

 

The Trial Must Precede the Execution

 

“This is so clear a proposition that it is sufficient to state it. No human tribunal would think of executing judgment on a prisoner until after his trial; much less will God. He will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing whether it be good or evil.

“But the resurrection is the retribution or execution of judgment; for they that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life. ‘We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.’ ‘In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’ Here is clearly a retribution in the resurrection. It will be administered when the saints are raised. But no more certainly than they that have done evil will come forth damned, or ‘to the resurrection of damnation.’ They will come forth to shame and everlasting contempt. The saints will be raised and be caught up at once to meet the Lord in the air, to be forever with the Lord. There can be no general judgment or trial after the resurrection. The resurrection is the separating process, and they will never be commingled again, after the saints are raised, no matter how long or short the period to elapse between the two resurrections; it is all the same so far as the separation which the resurrection produces is concerned. If there is no more than a second which elapses between the two resurrections, the separation it makes is final.

 

God, the Ancient of Days Will Preside In the Trial

 

“1. Daniel 7:9, 10, presents the Ancient of Days coming on His throne of fiery flame; the judgment is set and the books opened. He is distinct from the Son of man, spoken of in verse 13, when He comes to the Ancient of Days. “2. Revelation 20:12 tells us it is God, before whom the dead stand and are judged.

 

The Son of Man Will Execute the Judgment

 

Thus the Saviour declares (John 5:27): ‘And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man.’ Also 2 Corinthians 5:10: ‘For we shall all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.’

“Also Paul’s testimony in the Acts of the Apostles: God ‘hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.’ What we are assured of by the resurrection of Christ, is the execution, in the resurrection, of a righteous judgment on all men.

 

The Time of the Trial of the Dead

 

“It is under the opening of the sixth seal of Revelation 6, where the servants of God are sealed. . . And under the seventh seal (chapter 8:1) when there is silence in heaven about the space of half an hour; when the great Mediator ceases to plead for sinners, the day of grace ends; then the judgment or trial will proceed on the living inhabitants of the earth. That done, Christ will appear in the clouds of heaven, and come to the Ancient of Days and the scene of trial, and, with a shout, to announce the verdict and deliver all His saints as soon as they are declared innocent, or justified, and raise them to eternal life in the twinkling of an eye. We are now justified by faith; we must, however, be declared justified at the day of judgment, before the effects of the fall will be taken away, and the saints be restored to God’s perfect image and glory.

 

The Twenty-Fifth Chapter of Matthew

 

“This chapter does not, as has been supposed, describe the great trial, but the separation between the righteous and wicked, which will be accomplished by the resurrection of the just. And when the separation is accomplished; Christ will address each party, and show why He has made this separation. But through the whole scene, He acts the part of the executor of judgment.” Query: Did the judgment, or trial of the dead, begin to sit when they took away the papal dominion in 1798? (See Daniel 7:26, compared with Daniel 7:9, 10.)

The reader cannot fail to be deeply interested in these extracts from Bliss and Litch. We do not indorse every idea. Indeed, there is a degree of confusion in the language, which shows that the subject was not wholly clear. Thus, while Elder Litch teaches that the session of the judgment must be before Christ comes, and even though it might have commenced at the end of the twelve hundred sixty days, he seems also to teach that Christ comes to this tribunal when He descends to earth. This cannot be, as has been fully shown in a former article.

But this reasoning of Elder Litch relative to the investigation and decision of the cases of the righteous before the resurrection, is weighty and conclusive. It is worthy of notice that he places this judgment of the righteous at the tribunal of the Father, as presented in Daniel 7. He believed that this part of the judgment work was to be fulfilled while the living were yet in probation; for he suggested that it commenced in 1798, with the ending of the twelve hundred sixty years. These able writers saw the fact that this work must take place before the resurrection of the just, but they did not see the time and place for the work. They did not see the heavenly sanctuary, and therefore had no clear ideal of the concluding work of human probation, as presented to us in the Saviour’s ministration before the ark of God’s testament. The temple of God in heaven reveals the very nature of this work, and the prophetic periods mark its time. The proclamation of the angel that the hour of His judgment is come, and His solemn oath to the time, gives to mankind the knowledge of this great work, and the certainty that the present is the time of the dead that they should be judged. This doctrine is of the highest practical importance. It shows that we are now in the antitype of the great Day of Atonement. Our business should be the affliction of our souls and the confession of our sins.

At the ascension of our Lord, He entered the heavenly temple and sat down upon His Father’s throne, a great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:1, 4; Hebrews 8:1, 2.) But when He returns in His infinite majesty as King of kings, He sits upon His own throne, and not upon that of His Father. He speaks thus of His descent from heaven: “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.” Matthew 25:31.

It is evident, therefore, that there is a space of time at the conclusion of our Lord’s work in the temple in heaven, in which His priestly office is exchanged for His kingly dignity; and this transition is marked by His relinquishing His place upon the throne of His Father, and assuming His own throne. The judgment session of Daniel 7:9–14 is the time and place of this transition. Our Lord plainly distinguishes these two thrones: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in MY throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.” Revelation 3:21.

The Saviour’s reception of His own throne preparatory to His Second Advent is described in Psalm 45. As Psalm 110 makes prominent His priestly office upon His Father’s throne, so Psalm 45 describes His kingly office and work upon His own throne: My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy lips; therefore God hath blessed Thee forever. Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O most mighty, with Thy glory and Thy majesty. And in Thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under Thee. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of Thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” Psalm 45:1–7.

This personage who is fairer than the sons of men, can be no other than the King in His beauty (Isaiah 33:17), who is to be admired in the day of His advent by all them that believe. (2 Thessalonians 1:10.) The time when He rides forth for the destruction of His enemies is presented in Revelation 19:11–21.

The words of Paul establish the fact that this psalm relates to Christ, some of its words being addressed to Him by His Father when He invests Him with His kingly office and throne. Thus Paul quotes and comments: “But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” Hebrews 1:8, 9.

The relation of these two thrones to the work of our Lord is very important to be understood. As a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was both priest and king (Genesis 14:18–20; Psalm 110:1, 4; Hebrews 7:1–3), the Saviour has had a joint rule with His Father upon the throne of the universe. (Zechariah 6:12, 13.) His office of Priest-King continues till His Father makes His enemies His footstool. Then He delivers up the kingdom, which He has shared with His Father to Him alone, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24–28.) His reign upon the throne of His Father ends with all His enemies being given to Him for destruction.

The throne given Him when His priesthood ends is that which He inherits as David’s heir. On that throne, He shall reign over the immortal saints for endless ages. (Luke 1:32, 33; Isaiah 9: 6, 7 Upon the throne of the Father, He had a joint rule as Priest-King; upon His own throne His people have a joint rule with Him. The first ends, that God may be all in all; the second is a reign that shall continue forever.

 

Sanctification of the Life and Body

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The life also must be sanctified. “The word of God,” says Paul, “is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul (life) and spirit.” Hebrews 4:12. The life should be spent in the service of God, and we should be willing to lay it down for the sake of the truth, if the cause of God demands it. But we should avoid rashness, and see to it that we wear not our strength and energies, and sacrifice not our lives unnecessarily. Out lives are precious, and we are responsible to God for the use that we make of them. We should not sin against God by suffering and sacrificing our lives when the truth and the glory of God do not require it. There is much suffering that is in vain and worse than lost, that is not for God and his truth. Many lives have been squandered in the cause of error. Many lives have been sacrificed to vain and trifling objects, to other gods besides the true God.

Christ willingly spent his strength and energies, suffered and laid down His life. But this was not in vain. The redemption of a fallen world was at stake. And He says, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” Matthew 16:24, 25.

He that sets out to walk in the path of holiness, must make up his mind to deny himself, and suffer for Christ’s sake. He that saves his life and ease at the sacrifice of the truth, shall lose eternal life; but he that loses his life and ease for the sake of Christ, shall find it; i.e., shall find eternal life. “For what,” says our Saviour, “is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul (life)? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul (life)?” Verse 26.

We should not count our lives dear when the truth, the glory of God, and eternal life, are at stake. These should be dearer to us than life, and we should gladly suffer for the sake of Christ who has suffered so much for us. This did the early Christians.

Says Paul, “For thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” “I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh! For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” “In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” “Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Romans 8:36; 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 4:9; 11:23-28; Acts 20:24; 21:13.

Millions of saints have shown that their lives were sanctified by laying them down for God and His truth; and though we may not now be tested as they were, yet we may know how far our lives are sanctified by our willingness to suffer in the cause of truth. If we are unwilling to deny ourselves and suffer for God now, we certainly would be unwilling to lay down our lives for His sake.

While looking over his sufferings, Paul said, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.” Philippians 1:12.

Paul was confident that Christ would be magnified “whether by life or death.” He believed that if he lived, he should glorify God and advance his cause through suffering. He also believed that if he died, his death would be gain to the cause of Christ. He looked not for his own ease, and did not feel free to choose life or death.

It was so with the holy martyrs. They knew that the grace and courage they showed here while suffering would strengthen the saints, and induce others to enlist in the cause they loved, and were willing to sacrifice their lives, knowing that they should find them again, reign with Christ, and have a rich reward in his kingdom.

 

Sanctification of The Body

 

We have now come to an interesting and important branch of the subject; to a branch which has been neglected by those who make sanctification a hidden and mysterious work, a work which is shut up in the heart, and which no man can recognize only as it is displayed in boastings or peculiar raptures.

From what we have said on the mind, it can be readily seen that we do not overlook heart work or the sanctification of the mind. But how may we know whether a genuine work is performed in the heart? How may we know whether the mind is sanctified or now? Says the great Teacher; “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. . . .Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:16-18 .

It is the fruit that a tree bears that determines whether it is good or evil, and it is by the fruits or works of men that we are to judge whether they are good or evil, sanctified or unsanctified. The fruits or works of men indicate the condition of their hearts, and these fruits or works cannot be wrought and brought to light without the exercise of the physical faculties.

But says one; We are sanctified by faith. Answer. We admit that we are sanctified by faith; but what is the nature of genuine faith? Does faith confine sanctification to the heart, and exclude good works? The simple definition of Bible faith is confidence in the word of God. Faith takes hold of the truths of God’s word. Now the Scriptures are very explicit on the necessity of being rich in good works. They teach us that Christ gave himself for us that He might purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, and that we should let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works, and be led to glorify our Father who is in Heaven. Titus 2:14; Matthew 5:16.

The candid and consistent will acknowledge sanctification as they see it carried out in the lives of men. They look at the works, and so does the Lord. To the seven churches, representing the seven different stages of the Christian church, Jesus says, “I know thy works.” Revelation 1-3. The works of men are recorded in Heaven, and it is according to these works that they shall be judged. Revelation 20:12.

Genuine faith is operative, and is made perfect by works. James 2:22; Galatians 5:6. It is a Bible declaration “that faith without works is dead.” James 2:20. And a dead faith will not sanctify a man. To the Romans Paul writes, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Romans 12:1. Here is an exhortation for the brethren at Rome to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, etc. A living sacrifice will show signs of life.

To the Corinthians Paul writes, “I therefore so run not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 1 Corinthians 9:26, 27. In this text we see the necessity of keeping the body under, and bringing it into subjection, i.e., into obedience to God and His truth. If Paul failed to do this, he would run as uncertainly, fight as one that beateth the air, and be a castaway.

But to come more directly to the subject, we will consider the principal parts and faculties of the body, beginning with the senses, which are five in number, and which are commonly designated as follows: hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling and feeling. It is through the senses that ideas are conveyed to the mind. The senses are, as it were, roads through which ideas travel to reach the mind. The sanctification of the senses consists in closing them against sinful impressions and ideas and in opening them to useful and holy impressions and thoughts. Close your senses against unholy impressions and thoughts, and they will not be so apt to invade your mind, and you will better resist the temptations of the enemy. Shut your windows and thieves will not so easily enter your dwelling.

Job made a covenant with his eyes that he might not sin. Job 31:1-3, and David prayed, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken Thou me in the way.” Psalm 119:37. He also said, “Mine eyes fail for Thy word.” “Mine eyes fail for Thy salvation, and for the word of Thy righteousness.” “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.” Verses 82, 123; 101:3.

“The ear of the wise,” says Solomon, “seeketh knowledge.” Proverbs 18:15. It is attentive to the word of God. But those whose hearts are opposed to God’s ways do not love to listen to the truth. They love to hear smooth things, and will not hear the law of the Lord. Isaiah 30:8-11. Paul speaks of some who “shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:4. But the wise man says, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Proverbs 28:9.

Christians should set a guard on all their senses. By doing this it will be easier to fix the attention on holy thoughts, and keep the mind from wandering. The mind is often in danger of being diverted from proper thoughts by the senses; and Christians cannot keep the Sabbath aright while they carelessly open their senses to those secular objects and impressions which have interested them during the six laboring days.

Especially should inexperienced children and youth be taught with regard to the right use of the senses, and see the necessity of receiving right impressions. It often becomes necessary for children as well as older persons to shut their eyes and stop their ears against sin. The ears were not made to feast on error and the foolish and simple conversation of the wicked; neither were the eyes designed to behold and feast on vanity. Christ often said to his hearers, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Again he said, “Blessed are your eyes; for they see; and your ears, for they hear.” Matthew 11, 12. It was indeed blessed to see Christ and the works that He performed, and to hear His rich instructions. But is it not also blessed to see the glorious work that is now going on under the last message of mercy? And to hear the messengers of truth speak in reference to our whereabouts and the necessary preparation to stand amid the perils of the last days, and to meet the Son of man at His coming? God grant that we may duly appreciate our privileges, and realize the blessedness resulting from a proper use of all the senses.

 

The Appetites

 

The all-wise Creator has implanted in our natures certain appetites, and it is evident that they were designed to help in perpetuating our existence, in promoting our well-being, and in carrying out the great object for which we were made.

As the appetites are peculiar to the body, it is clear that they were made to be governed by reason. Their very nature forbids the idea of their leading the man, and shows that they should be in subjection to the higher faculties of our being. But in consequence of the fall and the inroads that sin has made in the children of men, the appetites are naturally inclined to go beyond the limits assigned unto them, and usurp the authority of the higher faculties. Sanctification brings the appetites within their proper limits—under the direction and control of enlightened reason.

Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we should do all to the glory of God. Now to do this we must, as far as possible, eat and drink that which is sanitary, and avoid intemperance. We should consult the stomach and the state of the health more than the appetites; for it is not always what suits the appetites the best, that is most conducive to the health of the body. We should select for the appetites and cultivate and cherish a taste for healthy food.

We should eat and drink more for need than for pleasure. If pleasure is the great end we have in view, then we do not eat and drink to the glory of God, but to the glory of our appetites. Then eating and drinking becomes an inordinate action, because it is not in the way to the end for which it was designed. In view of these principles what shall we conclude concerning those parents who are almost constantly humoring their children in satisfying their appetites with so many niceties which injure the health and undermine the constitution? Are they not guilty of creating in them unsanctified appetites? Would it not be better for those parents to select good,plain, wholesome food for their children, and feed them only when they really need food, though it may not suit the taste so well at first?

And what shall we say of the appetite for spirituous liquors which dethrones reason, degrades the body and the mind, and has brought so many to an untimely grave? Are those who possess this appetite sanctified?

And shall we overlook the appetites for tea and tobacco? Were these articles made to be used as they are now used? No candid person who has given this subject a careful perusal will say that they were.

These herbs, like all other stimulants, nerve up the system and leave a depression behind. Besides, tobacco is a rank poison, as it has often been proved; and the poisonous ingredients with which tea is often prepared, add to the impropriety of using it as a beverage.

But we are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, as we have seen, and if the common use of tobacco does not produce filthiness of the flesh, what does? But if the appetites for tea, tobacco and spirituous liquors should be overcome because they injure the health, should not the appetites for unhealthy meats or other hurtful articles be overcome for the same reason?

The Saviour, while giving a description of the last days, says. “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:26, 27. It was not wrong for the Antediluvians to eat and drink to maintain their existence; and marriage was as sacred and honorable in the days of Noah as it was when God instituted it in Eden. The great sin of the Antediluvians consisted in going to excess in these things. And is it not so with the masses at the present times? Look at the excess in eating and drinking. Look at those persons of good health whose exquisite taste accepts only the nicest of food, and often causes much perplexity to those who are called upon to satisfy it. Look at the pains taken, and the means expended, and worse than thrown away, to suit the taste and palate, as though the great object of life was to eat and drink and enjoy the pleasures of the appetites.

The Scriptures are very clear on the importance of governing the appetites. Our first parents fell, in lusting after and eating the forbidden fruit. The Israelites were not satisfied with the plain, wholesome manna; they loathed this bread from Heaven, longed for flesh, and murmured against God, and awful consequences followed. And we are told that “these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.” 1 Corinthians 10:6.

The sons of Eli were not satisfied with sodden or boiled flesh; they wanted raw flesh, that they might roast it with fire. It was not unlawful to desire meat roasted, but when it was appointed to be boiled, they refused it, thus evincing intemperance and a nice palate. “Wherefore,” says the record, “the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord; for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.” 1 Samuel 2:12–17.

Proverbs 23:1, 2. “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee; and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite;” or as the French translation reads, “else thou shalt put a knife to thy throat, if thy appetite rules thee.” And what can be the meaning of this wonderful proverb, unless it is this, that he who sits to eat with a ruler (before “dainties” or “deceitful meat,” verse 3), and suffers an unsanctified appetite to control him, is guilty of the same crime that he would be if he literally cut his throat with his knife? That is, he is a self-murderer. He must feel the effects of his excess sooner or later.

Some followed Christ for the loaves and fishes; but he said unto them, “Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.” John 6:26. We are admonished to not be like Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Hebrews 12:16. We should take heed lest we lose eternal life and the rich blessings connected with it, for the gratification of unsanctified appetites.

Christ is a pattern of self-denial. “When He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungered.” And the tempter came to Him and said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” How trying this must have been to the Son of God. How refreshing a morsel of bread would have been to Him in His exhausted condition. But did He yield? No. It was forbidden fruit. He answered, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4.

When famine comes on the earth according to the word of the Lord, Joel 1:14-20, many articles that are now used will have to be dispensed with, and is it not consistent to deny ourselves now and overcome those appetites that injure the body and the mind, and prevent many from desiring and appreciating the lasting pleasures enjoyed in the service of God? Shall we be prepared to meet the Lord if we are slaves to lust?