Editorial

Editorial – The Work in the Cities

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“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city” (Jonah 1:2).

“In every city the standard must be planted and a memorial for God established.

“It is God’s design that our people should locate outside the cities, and from these outposts warn the cities, and raise in them memorials for God. There must be a force of influence in the cities, that the message of warning shall be heard … .” Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, 80.

“Unmistakable evidences point to the nearness of the end. The warning is to be given in certain tones. The way must be prepared for the coming of the Prince of Peace in the clouds of heaven. There is much to be done in the cities that have not yet heard the truth for this time. We are not to establish institutions to rival in size and splendor the institutions of the world; but in the name of the Lord, with the untiring perseverance and unflagging zeal that Christ brought into His labors, we are to carry forward the work of the Lord.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 25.

“In every city in America the truth is to be proclaimed. In every country of the world the warning message is to be given.” General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903.

“The world is now reaching the boundary line in impenitence and disregard for the laws of the government of God. In every city of our world the warning must be proclaimed.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 32.

“Voices are to be heard in every city proclaiming the last message of mercy to the world.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, 220.

“I am very glad to hear that you have been led to understand for yourself the condition of the unworked cities. … If this work had been undertaken years ago, large numbers would have been brought to a knowledge of the truth. … I am intensely in earnest, and Oh, I beg of you to encourage our people to redeem the time.” Ibid., 223.

“The question is sometimes asked, ‘Why build schoolhouses, sanitariums, food stores, or churches, when time is so short?’ The Lord’s money is to be invested wisely. In many places where the work has been shamefully neglected plants must be established that will be producers as well as consumers. Memorials for God should be established in every place as an aid in the proclamation of the last message of mercy. Missionary work should be done in every city.” Ibid., 17, 287.

Editorial – Antichrist

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In the first epistle of John, he wrote, “Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (I John 2:18). Anti had the primitive meaning of something that was in the place of something else. Thus an antichrist is a person who stands before others in the place of Christ. The later secondary meaning of the Greek word anti is “against”—a person who claims to stand in the place of Christ is against Christ because the Bible says “My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 42:8). A few quotations about antichrist appear below.

“The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.” The Great Controversy, 593.

“Antichrist, meaning all who exalt themselves against the will and work of God, will at the appointed time feel the wrath of Him Who gave Himself that they might not perish but have eternal life. All who persevere in obedience, all who will not sell their souls for money or for the favor of men, God will register in the book of life.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 402.

“Those who become confused in their understanding of the Word, who fail to see the meaning of antichrist, will surely place themselves on the side of antichrist. There is no time now for us to assimilate with the world. Daniel is standing in his lot and in his place. …

“Many exalt human reason, idolize human wisdom, and set the opinions of men above the revealed wisdom of God. This affords opportunity for the working of Satan, and the spirit of antichrist is far more widespread than any of us imagine.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 949, 950.

“The spirit of antichrist is developing rapidly. Soon there will be a time when those who follow their own human nature, who manifest a love for supremacy, will be found to be on the losing side. The Lord has abased kings, and He will say to all who, while professing to serve Him … make a display and depart from His counsel: ‘What doest thou to declare My law, while thou thyself livest in transgression.’ ” The Upward Look, 293.

[All Emphasis added.]

Editorial – The Devil’s Fatal Sophistry

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Sophistry is deceptively subtle reasoning or argumentation, an argument correct in form or appearance but actually invalid and used to deceive. Something fatal is something that will cause death and is therefore deadly. The devil has a fatal sophistry which is believed today by millions of Christians. If you accept this belief, you will lose your soul and suffer eternal death.

“Through defects in the character, Satan works to gain control of the whole mind, and he knows that if these defects are cherished, he will succeed. Therefore he is constantly seeking to deceive the followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible for them to overcome.” The Great Controversy, 489.

(See Hebrews 5:9, Revelation 21:5-7, and Romans 8:13.)

“There are thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions, who are now making their decision for eternal life or eternal death. The man who is wholly absorbed in his counting room, the man who finds pleasure at the gaming table, the man who loves to indulge perverted appetite, the amusement lover, the frequenters of the theater and the ballroom, put eternity out of their reckoning. The whole burden of their life is: What shall we eat? what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall we be clothed? They are not in the procession that is moving heavenward. They are led by the great apostate, and with him will be destroyed.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 406, 407.

“Each one is required to understand the conditions upon which eternal life depends. We must know what saith the Lord, that we may be able to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord’ (Matthew 4:4). … We cannot afford to trust to the ministers, to follow idle traditions, to subject our souls to human authority, but we must know for ourselves what God has said. We are to be laborers together with God, and we must know, we must be determined to know, what are the conditions upon which we may become heirs of salvation. If we neglect this important duty, we shall die in our sins.” The Medical Missionary, May 1, 1892.

“Let us not lose sight of the fact that we are probationers here, on test and trial, and that everything is at stake, to be lost or won. Individually we are daily deciding our own destiny either for eternal life or eternal death. If we would have eternal life, we must cooperate with God, and thus reach the Bible standard, conforming our characters to the character of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Youth’s Instructor, September 7, 1893.

Editorial – The Need For Scriptural Unity

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“Press together, press together, that you may not be destroyed as were the inhabitants of Jerusalem….Persecution is coming, and God calls upon all to stand firm in Christian love, their hearts knit together, of one mind and one judgment. His people are to cleave to Him, and they are to love one another as He has loved them. Christ’s life is to be their example. In love, in meekness, in humility, they are to follow Him.” Signs of the Times, October 31, 1900

This inspired statement shows that we must press together or be destroyed as the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem is a symbol of what will happen to the whole world at the end. In spite of this inspired counsel, we see more division and unsanctified independence in Adventism today than ever before. The devil is determined that this unity will never be accomplished:

“Satan well knows that the combined strength of Satanic agencies with that of evil men is but weakness when opposed to a band of faithful, united servants of the great King, though in number they may be few. In order to overcome the people of God, Satan will work upon the elements in the character which have not been transformed by the grace of Christ, and through these unsanctified characteristics, he will seek to bring about disunion among the people of God. Unless these persons who become agents of Satan are converted, their own souls will be lost, and the souls of those who have looked up to them as men led of God will be destroyed with them, because they are partakers with them of their sins. Satan endeavors to create suspicion, envy, and jealousy, and thus lead men to question those things that it would be for their soul’s interest to believe. The suspicious ones will misconstrue everything….and if this spirit is allowed to prevail, it will demoralize our churches and institutions.” Review and Herald, May 14, 1895

Is not this prophecy fulfilled all around us? To fulfill the longing of Christ as expressed in John 17 that God’s people might not be totally destroyed, we must press together and come into perfect unity. We must unify in the way God has specified or we will never have true Christian unity: “We have a testing message to give, and I am instructed to say to our people, ‘Unify, unify.’ But we are not to unify with those who are departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. With our hearts sweet and kind and true, we are to go forth to proclaim the message, giving no heed to those who lead away from the truth.” Selected Messages, book 3, 412. ”

Christ calls for unity. But He does not call for us to unify on wrong practices.” Selected Messages, book 1, 175

“The God of heaven draws a sharp contrast between pure, elevating, ennobling truth and false, misleading doctrines. He calls sin and impenitence by the right name. He does not gloss over wrongdoing with a coat of untempered mortar. I urge our brethren to unity upon a true, scriptural basis.” Selected Messages, book, 175.

“We are to unify, but not on a platform of error.” Battle Creek Letters, 111.

“Unify, unify is the word from heaven. The work of bringing about perfect harmony cannot be done in a moment. It will take close examination and careful study on the part of those who bear responsibilities. Not a selfish thread is to be drawn into the web.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 19, 149

Because of this inspired counsel, a number of Historic Seventh-day Adventists met together for counsel and prayer on July 12 at Steps to Life. If we are humble and pray and receive the Holy Spirit, we will be drawn into a perfect unity because Christ is not divided. The universal longing of each was to come together in unity of spirit without compromising one principle of truth. The absence of any type of political spirit was refreshing. We make no claim to have perfect unity yet, but we are all praying about it and studying and looking forward to another meeting to pursue this goal. In order to have unity, several necessary items were studied, such as: What does an Historical Seventh-day Adventist believe—What are the historic tests of fellowship? I believe that God is leading us just as He led our spiritual forefathers in the 1840s to a perfect unity of spirit, thought, doctrine and faith.

We want to invite every Historic Seventh-day Adventist person and institution to pray for unity and to press together. This is no time for independence; it is time for the prayer of Jesus in John 17 to be fulfilled. It will never be fulfilled among those professed Adventists who have essentially rejected the Spirit of Prophecy and who do not believe and who do not believe in the investigative judgment and the other truths of the three angel’s messages. It will never happen to those who are willing to compromise with error or who are unwilling to protest the apostasy. It will never happen to those who reject the New Testament concept of the nature of the church. It can only happen among Historic Seventh-day Adventists. Will you be a part of it?

Editorial – Marked and Sealed

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The book of Revelation is very clear that in the final days of this earth’s history, everybody in the world will be marked or sealed. Some will be sealed with the seal of the living God and they will be saved. (See Revelation 7:1–8; 9:4; 14:1–5; 15:2, 3.) Unfortunately, the great majority of the world’s population will receive the mark of the beast, sometimes referred to as the mark of antichrist. (See Revelation 13:1–10.) The antichrist power is also described in Daniel 7 and in 2 Thessalonians 2. Those who receive this mark will lose their souls. (See Revelation 14:9–12; Revelation 15:1; 16:2; 19:20, 21.)

The words seal and sign are used interchangeably in the Bible. (See Romans 4:11.) The sign or seal of God has always been the fourth commandment—the Sabbath commandment. (See Exodus 31:12–18 and Ezekiel 20:12–20.)

Jesus said that not even part of a letter of the law can be changed. (See Luke 16:17.) Note that the Ten Commandments were spoken verbally by God to the human family and did not come through visions or dreams of prophets. (See Deuteronomy 5:22.) To attempt to change the Sabbath is to attempt to change the longest commandment in the Ten Commandment law and in this way to exalt oneself above the Lawgiver and thereby become an antichrist power. (Compare Daniel 7:25.)]

Has anyone attempted to change the Sabbath commandment? Yes.

“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. … From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.” Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1900.

“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. It could not have been otherwise as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything in matters spiritual and ecclesiastical and religious without her. And the act is a mark of ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.” James Cardinal Gibbons, in a letter to J. F. Snyder of Bloomington, Illinois, dated November 11, 1895, and signed by H. F. Thomas, Chancellor for the Cardinal.

“Protestants … accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change … But the Protestant’s mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible, in observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope.” Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950.

Editorial – The Secret of Christian Success

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Many people are striving to be or become successful. Although it is important to be successful, the most important success of all is to be successful in becoming fitted to receive the gift of eternal life. If you gain this, you will gain everything; but if you fail to obtain eternal life, Jesus said, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul” (Matthew 16:26)?

Like Naaman, some people think that success comes by some wonderful or dramatic action, but the truth is just the opposite of this. The secret of success is the faithful conscientious attention to what are called the little things—things that many people consider insignificant. (See John 20:6, 7 and The Desire of Ages, 789.) “Only by faithfulness in the little things can the soul be trained to act with fidelity under larger responsibilities.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 356.

Heaven is a place where each citizen is constantly seeking ways to be of service to others. This world on the other hand is a place where most people serve themselves first and only serve others after themselves. None of these people will be in the kingdom of heaven: “They consent to live for the service of self, and Satan is satisfied.” The Desire of Ages, 130.

“In the great judgment day those who have not worked for Christ, those who have drifted along, carrying no responsibility, thinking of themselves, pleasing themselves, will be placed by the Judge of all the earth with those who did evil. They receive the same condemnation.

“Many who profess to be Christians neglect the claims of God, and yet they do not feel that in this there is any wrong. They know that the blasphemer, the murderer, the adulterer, deserves punishment; but as for them, they enjoy the services of religion. They love to hear the gospel preached, and therefore they think themselves Christians. Though they have spent their lives in caring for themselves, they will be as much surprised as was the unfaithful servant in the parable to hear the sentence, ‘Take the talent from him.’ ” Christ’s Object Lessons, 365.

This is a major reason professed Christians do not receive the Holy Spirit even when they pray for it: “The continual misuse of their talents will effectually quench for them the Holy Spirit, which is the only light.” Ibid.

If we want to receive the Holy Spirit we must be seeking to be about our Master’s business.

Editorial – Unmasking the Master Mind

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The title for this editorial is copied from the title of chapter ten of the book Prophet of the End and is about the same subject. Ellen White received many visions, both public and private. Her public visions were accompanied with supernatural phenomena which forces any candid observer to the same conclusion that Ellen White made herself: “God is either teaching His church, reproving their wrongs and strengthening their faith, or He is not. This work is of God, or it is not. God does nothing in partnership with Satan. My work for the past thirty years bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God, or of the devil. In arraying yourself against the servants of God you are doing a work either for God or for the devil.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 230.

On Sunday afternoon, March 14, 1858, at Lovett’s Grove, Ohio, in a schoolhouse where religious meetings were being held, there was a funeral at which James White was invited to speak. After he had finished, Ellen White believed that she was being urged by the Spirit of the Lord to bear her testimony.

I believe it is always appropriate for a Christian to attempt to comfort those who are bereaved. We have a “blessed hope” (Titus 2). Ellen White began to speak about the coming of Christ, the resurrection and the cheering hope possessed by the Christian. During this time she was taken in vision for approximately two hours and was shown many things that she had been initially shown about ten years before about the great controversy of the ages between Christ and Satan. She was instructed in this vision to write out what had been revealed to her. She was also told that Satan would make strong efforts to hinder her from writing.

This vision and later visions on the same subject form the basis of the books in the Conflict of the Ages series and especially the last book of the set, The Great Controversy. For any person who wants to avoid being deceived in our time, this book, The Great Controversy between Christ and His Angels and Satan and his Angels, is a book that should be carefully studied.

“In The Great Controversy, the last message of warning to the world is given more distinctly than in any of my other books.” Letter 281, 1905.

Editorial – The Great Disappointment

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“And at midnight a cry was made, Behold the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet Him” (Matthew 25:6, literal translation).

In 1844 this midnight cry was heralded by thousands of believers and “like a tidal wave the movement swept over the land. From city to city, from village to village, and into remote country places it went.” The Great Controversy, 400.

Jesus, the bridegroom, was coming to engage in the last phase of His work as our great High Priest to receive His kingdom. (See Hebrews 3:1.)

“And as they heard these things, He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return” (Luke 19:11, 12 KJV).

In 1844 Jesus went before the Father to receive a kingdom. When the process is complete, then every case will have been decided for life or death. (See Acts 3:19–21.) The number of the subjects of Christ’s kingdom will be made up and it will then be too late for anybody to change sides in the great controversy—you will either be saved or lost and your destiny will be fixed by an unalterable decree. (See Revelation 22:11, 12.)

After He receives the kingdom, which is also likened to a marriage, He returns to this earth to take His people from here to the Father’s house. Jesus said, “And you be like men that wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding; that when He comes and knocks, they may open to Him immediately” (Luke 12:36, literal translation).

The believers in 1844 had the date for the fulfillment of the 2300 day prophecy (Daniel 8:14) right, but they misunderstood the important event that was to transpire and the result was what is called “The Great Disappointment.”

However, the greatest disappointment is yet in the future. Jesus predicted it in Matthew 7:21–23.

Ellen White described it as follows: “The great mass of professing Christians will meet with bitter disappointment in the day of God. They have not upon their foreheads the seal of the living God. Lukewarm and halfhearted, they dishonor God far more than the avowed unbeliever. They grope in darkness, when they might be walking in the noonday light of the Word, under the guidance of One who never errs.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 970.

May you not be part of the great disappointment that is coming.

Editorial – Are You Afraid to Sin?

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“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Romans 6:22

“… now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:26–28).

“It is submission to sin that brings the great unhappiness of the soul. It is not poverty, but disobedience, that lessens man’s hope of gaining eternal life, which the Saviour came to bring him. True riches, true peace, true content, enduring happiness—these are found only in entire surrender to God, in perfect reconciliation to His will.

“Christ came to our world to live a life of stainless purity, thus to show sinners that in His strength they, too, can obey God’s holy precepts, the laws of His kingdom.” The Review and Herald, July 4, 1912.

“Every sin, every unrighteous action, every transgression of the law of God, tells with a thousandfold more force upon the actor than the sufferer. Every time one of the glorious faculties with which God has enriched man is abused or misused, that faculty loses forever a portion of its vigor and will never be as it was before the abuse it suffered. Every abuse inflicted upon our moral nature in this life is felt not only for time but for eternity. Though God may forgive the sinner, yet eternity will not make up that voluntary loss sustained in this life.

“To go forth into the next, the future life, deprived of half the power which might be carried there is a terrible thought. The days of probation lost here in acquiring a fitness for heaven, is a loss which will never be recovered. The capacities of enjoyment will be less in the future life for the misdemeanors and abuse of moral powers in this life. However high we might attain in the future life, we might soar higher and still higher, if we had made the most of our God-given privileges and golden opportunities to improve our faculties here in this probationary existence … .” This Day With God, 350.

Editorial – Neglect of Health Reform and Delusions of Satan

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“The health reform, I was shown, is a part of the third angel’s message and is just as closely connected with it as are the arm and hand with the human body. I saw that we as a people must make an advance move in this great work. Ministers and people must act in concert. God’s people are not prepared for the loud cry of the third angel. They have a work to do for themselves which they should not leave for God to do for them. He has left this work for them to do. It is an individual work; one cannot do it for another.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 486.

“The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character.” Ibid., vol. 3, 491, 492.

“God’s purpose for His children is that they shall grow up to the full stature of men and women in Christ. In order to do this, they must use aright every power of mind, soul, and body. They cannot afford to waste any mental or physical strength.

“The question of how to preserve the health is one of primary importance. When we study this question in the fear of God we shall learn that it is best, for both our physical and our spiritual advancement, to observe simplicity in diet. … Nature’s laws are not to be resisted, but obeyed.” Ibid., vol. 9, 153.

“The voice of Satan is so disguised that it is accepted as the voice of God.” Ibid., vol. 5, 512.

“Do not forget that the most dangerous snares which Satan has prepared for the church will come through its own members who do not love God supremely or their neighbor as themselves.” Ibid., 477.

“God has placed it in our power to obtain a knowledge of the laws of health. He has made it our duty to preserve our physical powers in the best possible condition, that we may render to Him acceptable service. Those who refuse to improve the light and knowledge that has been mercifully placed within their reach are rejecting one of the means which God has granted them to promote spiritual as well as physical life. They are placing themselves where they will be exposed to the delusions of Satan.” Ibid., 193.