Editorial

Editorial – What If?

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What would happen if every professed Christian decided today that following Jesus Christ in faithful discipleship and willing obedience to His instruction, would be the number one priority in life?

Many people who profess to be Christians are afraid to make this decision although it is a prerequisite to being one of Jesus’ followers. The reason is because of the devil’s lies. The devil tempts people to distrust God when they are perplexed by circumstances or dealing with poverty or sickness because God has allowed such conditions to exist.

A more enticing temptation is the offer of the kingdom of this world. It was this that caused the fall of the early church in the first few hundred years after Christ. It works like this: “By the one who had revolted in heaven the kingdoms of this world were offered Christ, to buy His homage to the principles of evil; but He would not be bought; He had come to establish a kingdom of righteousness, and He would not abandon His purpose. With the same temptation Satan approaches men, and here he has better success than with Christ. To men he offers the kingdom of this world on condition that they will acknowledge his supremacy. He requires that they sacrifice integrity, disregard conscience, indulge selfishness. … While he allures them with the hope of worldly dominion, he gains dominion over the soul.” The Desire of Ages, 130

But amid all the pretense and false professions by millions of Christians, God has always had a remnant, for whom following Christ in faithful discipleship and in obedience to His word is the first priority in life.

“Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word.” The Great Controversy, 464

Editorial – Tyranny and Tyrants

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When the fathers of the United States signed the Declaration of Independence, they stated that their reason for making this declaration was that “[t]he history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. …” They then listed over thirty complaints among which were, making judges subject to his will alone, creating a police state, depriving citizens of trial by jury and sending armies of mercenaries to support his tyranny. They concluded by saying, “… In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

Notice their repeated charge was that King George was a tyrant, and they had decided to free themselves from his tyranny. All these excesses, and more, could happen again in the United States or in any nation, but what is more important is to know that the devil is the real tyrant. Human beings become tyrants because they are under his control.

“The time of trouble is the crucible that is to bring out Christlike characters. It is designed to lead the people of God to renounce Satan and his temptations. The last conflict will reveal Satan … [as] a cruel tyrant, and it will do for them what nothing else could do, uproot him entirely from their affections. …

“The work of the enemy is not abrupt … it is a secret undermining of the strongholds of principle. It commences in small things—the neglect to be true to God and to rely upon Him wholly … . Our only safety is in searching the Scriptures and in being much on our knees before God, entreating Him to imbue us with His Spirit, that when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall for us lift up a standard against him.” The Review and Herald, August 12, 1884

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:11, 12

Editorial – Seekest Thou Great Things for Thyself? Seek Them Not.

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John Harvey Kellogg was a visionary who also had the ability to get the entire Adventist denomination deeply in debt with his propositions for many medical buildings in the United States and Mexico for which there was not adequate funding. At the turn of the twentieth century the Adventist institutional indebtedness was approximately half a million dollars. To give some perspective regarding the size of this debt, physicians and ministers working for the denomination were only paid $12-$15 per week. Dr. Kellogg had a vision for Battle Creek to be the worldwide headquarters for the Adventist medical work.

At the same time, the leaders in the Adventist publishing work wanted to make Battle Creek a worldwide publishing center with the publishing house in Oakland, California, and the publishing work in Nashville, Tennessee, simply subsidiaries directed and controlled from Battle Creek.

Many reproofs and cautions against centralization were delivered, apparently in vain. But on February 18, 1902, the Battle Creek Sanitarium burned to the ground. On December 30, 1902, the Review and Herald building burned to the ground. God’s word does not return to Him void. If men will not listen to warning or reproof, He has other ways of speaking.

What happened in Battle Creek at the turn of the twentieth century is a warning to the whole world today. God gives warnings, reproofs, and rebukes. For 177 years, He has sent messengers all over the world with the three angels’ messages, the last message of warning and available mercy for the repentant. If we do not listen, what is going to happen?

“We are warned that the Lord will come suddenly, surprising the world in their idolatrous wickedness.” Letter 243, 1903

“The solemn fact is to be kept not only before the people of the world, but before our own churches also, that the day of the Lord will come suddenly, unexpectedly. The fearful warning of the prophecy is addressed to every soul. Let no one feel that he is secure from the danger of being surprised.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 336

Editorial – What Is Your Attitude Toward Sin?

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Sin is the breaking of God’s law and your attitude toward sin is a revelation: (1) whether you are converted, (2) whether you are getting ready to go to heaven or hell, and (3) whether or not you are sanctified (Hebrews 12; 1 Peter 1).

“The world loves sin, and hates righteousness, and this was the cause of its hostility to Jesus. All who refuse His infinite love will find Christianity a disturbing element. … While those who yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit begin war with themselves, those who cling to sin war against the truth and its representatives.” The Desire of Ages, 306

“Christ hated one thing only, and that was sin. But although He represented in His spotless character the character of His Father, yet the world hated and refused Him. … The atmosphere that surrounded His soul was so pure, so elevated, that it placed the hypocritical rabbis, priests, and rulers in their true position, and revealed them in their real character as claiming sanctity, while misrepresenting God and His truth. … when He reproved sin, made open war upon selfishness, oppression, hypocrisy, pride, covetousness, and lust, they hunted Him down as a malefactor.” The Bible Echo, April 9, 1894

“We are never alone. Whether we choose Him or not, we have a companion. Remember that wherever you are, whatever you do, God is there. Nothing that is said or done or thought can escape His attention. To your every word or deed you have a witness—the holy, sin-hating God. Before you speak or act, always think of this.” The Ministry of Healing, 490

“A sin-hating God calls upon those who claim to keep His law to depart from all iniquity. A neglect to repent and to render willing obedience will bring upon men and women today as serious consequences as came upon ancient Israel.” Prophets and Kings, 416

“Do you see the defects in your character, and are you compelled to admit that you have made no decided advance in overcoming these unholy traits? Remember that if not overcome, these will surely separate you from the presence of a pure, holy, sin-hating God, and close the doors of the heavenly mansions against you.” The Signs of the Times, January 4, 1883

Editorial – The Future of Babylon and Jerusalem

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The destruction of the ancient city of Babylon is a symbol of the coming destruction of the entire world. The destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its stately temple is also a symbol of the destruction of the world. In the New Testament, Jerusalem and the Jews are used as a symbol of the professed Christian church and Babylon is used as a symbol of the entire religious world. And yet both of these—Babylon and Jerusalem—are portrayed as objects that will be totally destroyed (see for example The Desire of Ages, 743, 816; The Youth’s Instructor, December 29, 1890).

Why is the world going to be destroyed at the end?—because of its wickedness. “The destruction of Babylon pictures to some degree the final destruction of the world [see Isaiah 13]. Babylon is a symbol of the world at large. … When the doom of a nation is fixed, it seems that all the energy, wisdom, and discretion of its former time of prosperity, deserts its men of position, and they hasten the evil they would avert. Outside enemies are not the greatest peril to an individual or a nation. The overthrow of a nation results, under the providence of God, from some unwise or evil course of its own. But the people who fear God, who are loyal to His laws, who carry out the principles of righteousness in their lives, have a sure defense; God will be the refuge of those who trust in Him.” The Signs of the Times, December 29, 1890

“Could the curtain be rolled back before the youth who have never given their hearts to God, with others who are Christians in name, but who are unrenewed in heart and unsanctified in temper, they would see that God’s eye is ever upon them, and they would feel as disturbed as did the king of Babylon. …” The Youth’s Instructor, May 26, 1898

“We are never alone. We have a Companion, whether we choose Him or not. … Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, God is there. To your every word and action you have a witness,—the holy, sin-hating God. Nothing that is said or done or thought can escape His infinite eye. … In the deepest darkness and solitude He is there. No one can deceive God; none can escape from their accountability to Him.” Ibid

Editorial – Look to Me and Be Saved

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Even before Christ came to our world incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth, the Redeemer of this fallen world, it was God’s plan for His chosen people, the children of Israel, to take the message of salvation to all the world. The prophet wrote, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:7).

But we have an even more wonderful message than could be proclaimed in Old Testament times. We are to tell the world that our crucified and risen Saviour is now an all-powerful mediator seated upon a mediatorial throne in heaven, still giving audience to the people of this world.

The devil knows the almighty power that is in the message we bear to an apostate world. “Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds, that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to be best acquainted. … Those who would share the benefits of the Saviour’s mediation should permit nothing to interfere with their duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God. The precious hours, instead of being given to pleasure, to display, or to gain seeking, should be devoted to an earnest, prayerful study of the word of truth.” The Great Controversy, 488.

“Christ said. ‘Go, teach, bring into discipleship, all nations. Give them the knowledge of the truth of My gospel, which is founded on truth. Lead them to understand that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are heaven’s loving, powerful agencies for the accomplishment of the work of representing God in the world. Lo, I am with you in this work … . I will be with you and all who succeed you, till the end of time, in the work of preaching the gospel.’ ” Manuscript Releases, vol. 16, 15.

This explains why God’s people must be organized in order for God’s work to be done and finished in this world. “God has given the most sacred, solemn message of warning to His appointed agencies. … [They were to be] separate from the idolatrous nations that were deep in apostasy and idolatry, and present a character for excellence and entire obedience, teaching the highest standard of spirituality, far, far above all worldly policy and all idolatry.” Ibid., 188.

Editorial – Laboring to Give Birth

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“Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale” (Jeremiah 30:6)?

“Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. … She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne” (Revelation 12:2, 5).

“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).

“And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel… .  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:21-23, 27, 28).

All four of these diverse passages of scripture are talking about the same subject. Before anyone can be taken out of this world to live forever in heaven, all their sins must be forgiven and blotted out. And by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, a new heart and life must also be created within, their character a reflection of the character of Jesus Christ. Have you been born again?

“The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. As the Son of man was perfect in His life, so His followers are to be perfect in their life. … He bids us by faith in Him attain to the glory of the character of God.” The Faith I Live By, 44.

“A well-balanced character is formed by single acts well performed. One defect, cultivated instead of being overcome, makes the man imperfect, and closes against him the gate of the Holy City. … In all the redeemed host not one defect will be seen.” The Youth’s Instructor, January 17, 1901.

Editorial – You Also Be Ready

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What is involved in being ready for the second coming of Jesus? There are many inspired statements that tell us exactly what we are to do and the condition that we are to be in to be ready for the second coming of Jesus. Following are a few of the specifications for being ready:

  1. Psalm 15 lists eleven
  2. Psalm 24 lists four
  3. Isaiah 33:15 lists six
  4. Matthew 5:3–10 lists eight
  5. Titus 2:11–14 lists nine
  6. 2 Peter 1:3–7 lists nine
  7. Revelation 14:12 lists two

Here are a few more:

“Only those who receive the seal of the living God will have the passport through the gates of the Holy City. But there are many who take upon themselves responsibilities in connection with the work of God who are not wholehearted believers, and while they remain thus cannot receive the seal of the living God. They trust in their own righteousness, which the Lord accounts as foolishness.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 970.

“Those who would have the seal of God in their foreheads must keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. This is what distinguishes them from the disloyal, who have accepted a man-made institution in the place of the true Sabbath. The observance of God’s rest day is the mark of distinction between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.” Ibid.

“The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in character.” The Faith I Live By, 287.

“There is not one inactive in heaven, and no one will enter the mansions of bliss who has failed to show love for Christ, who has put forth no efforts for the salvation of others.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 207.

“Put away all discontent, all murmuring, all disagreeable words. We do not honor Christ when we dispute and quarrel one with another. No one will enter heaven with a spirit of fault-finding, and we desire to have a foretaste of the principles of heaven manifested here below.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 49.

“Christ’s rule of life by which every one of us must stand or fall in the judgment is, ‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them’ (Matthew 7:12).” The Ministry of Healing, 104.

Editorial – The Everlasting Gospel

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God’s remnant people have been commissioned to take a message to the world. Outlined below are the elements of that message:

The everlasting gospel is the good news that the Son of God paid an infinite price for man’s redemption and all who will repent of their sins and unreservedly commit their lives and be baptized will be forgiven and will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In 1844, angel messengers connected earth with heaven and all the deeds of man, good or evil, were opened before the eye of Infinite Justice. The hour of God’s judgment had come.

God, our Creator, is to be worshiped by man (see Exodus 20:8–11).

We are to forsake all worship, religious systems and philosophies which cause us to break any of the Ten Commandments.

We are not to worship the beast power of Revelation 13:1–10. “It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the development of the papacy—the beast. … So apostasy in the church will prepare the way for the image to the beast.” The Great Controversy, 443.

We are not to worship the image to the beast power described in Revelation 13:11–17. “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” Ibid., 445.

We are not to accept the mark of the beast. This special mark is the deliberate attempt to change the times in the law of God (see Daniel 7:25).

“As the sign of the authority of the Catholic Church, papist writers cite ‘the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; … because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin.’ ” — Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, page 58.

We are to keep all the commandments of God (Revelation 14:12; James 2:10–12).

We are to have the same faith that Jesus had. “Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours He had relied upon the evidence of His Father’s acceptance heretofore given Him. He was acquainted with the character of His Father; He understood His justice, His mercy, and His great love. ” The Desire of Ages, 756.

Editorial – The Future of Our Great Cities

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What has happened in the past is soon to happen again in the future. What happened to Sodom in Abraham’s day, what happened to Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day is going to happen again in the cities of our world.

LOT

“Then the men said unto Lot, ‘Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.’ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, ‘Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!’ But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking” (Genesis 19:12–14).

JEREMIAH

“The word of the Lord also came to me, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.’ For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them and their fathers who begot them in this land: ‘They shall die gruesome deaths; they shall not be lamented nor shall they be buried, but they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘Do not enter the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people,’ says the Lord, ‘lovingkindness and mercies’ ” (Jeremiah 16:1–5).

TODAY

“When God’s restraining hand is removed, the destroyer begins his work. Then in our cities the greatest calamities will come.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, 314.

“The end is near, and every city is to be turned upside down every way. There will be confusion in every city. Everything that can be shaken is to be shaken, and we do not know what will come next. The judgments will be according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they have had.” Ibid., vol. 1, 248, 249.

“O that God’s people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry.” Evangelism, 29.