Evangelism

A Finished Work—The Method

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A very special promise for our time is given in Romans 9:28: “For he will finish the work, and cut [it] short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.”

The Lord is going to finish His work. In the first article of this series, you may remember that our study concerned the challenge that this presents to us today—the giants and the fortified cities that are in the land even now. In this article, let us look again at the challenge and also at a finished work—the method.

Entering the Promised Land

In the first chapter of the Book of Joshua, we find, in our study of the conquest of the Promised Land, that the children of Israel, having journeyed in the wilderness for 39 additional years, were to enter at last into the Promised Land. God presented the method by which they would finish the work that was given to them.

Notice the Lord’s introduction to Joshua: “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, [even] to the children of Israel.” Joshua 1:1, 2.

This is the first recorded time that the Lord communicated directly to Joshua. Previously, when the Lord communicated to Moses, Joshua was a minister—a servant or co-worker—with Moses, and had not had that privilege. But now the Lord was communicating directly to Joshua and giving him the methodology he was to follow.

Crossing Jordan

The Lord’s introduction to Joshua was, “Arise, and go over Jordan.” Did the Lord tell him how this was to be done? We do not find it recorded here; we are only given the instruction that the Lord gave: “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, and I will be with you.”

Now, humanly speaking, did this make a lot of sense? Was it a good time to ford the Jordan? No! It was flood season! It was springtime, and the Jordan was a raging torrent. Raging torrents are not what someone would want to venture into, yet this was the direction that God gave to Joshua. He did not tell him how it was going to take place; He did not tell him to build a bridge; He did not tell him to go by another route and bypass the Jordan. He said, “Arise, go over this Jordan.”

The Lord expected Joshua to explicitly follow His directions, even when they made no sense. And they did not make any sense! How could a person cross Jordan at this time? The Lord did not try to explain all of the details of how it was going to happen. He wanted Joshua and the children of Israel to manifest faith that if God gave the directions, He would also supply the means for how the task could be accomplished.

In Joshua 3, we read of the children of Israel marching down into Jordan. The priests advanced first, and we may wonder what they were thinking as they started marching down the banks of the Jordan, far in advance of the rest of the congregation, carrying the symbol of the presence of the Lord. As they drew closer and closer to the raging water, what might have been the thoughts going through their minds? Then, as their feet dipped into the torrent, the waters were cut off. (See Joshua 3:13–17.) God called them to explicitly obey His directions and instructions, and they followed His command.

Another Sign of Obedience

“At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.” Joshua 5:2.

After they obeyed the directions to arise and go over this Jordan, the Lord came to Joshua and said, “Now I want you to again circumcise the children of Israel.” Since their rebellion, 39 years before, circumcision had been stopped—postponed to indicate the withdrawal of God’s favor and blessing. God now asked Joshua to obey Him, to follow His directions—not just when they did not make sense but when they hurt as well.

A Battle Plan

“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, [Art] thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but [as] captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy. And Joshua did so.” Joshua 5:13–15.

His directions are recorded in verses 2 and 3 of chapter 6: “And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, [and] the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all [ye] men of war, [and] go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.”

March Around It

Here we learn that even when it does not make sense to us and even when it hurts, the directions which God gives are to be followed, for the Lord Jesus, Captain of the Lord’s host, directs the battle plan. What was the battle plan for the children of Israel to take Jericho? March around it!

Humanly speaking, is it possible to conquer a city by marching around it? Of course it is not. But here we see God asking Joshua and the children of Israel to explicitly obey His directions even when it seemed impossible. Even when it made no sense, He asked them to explicitly obey His directions. Even when it hurt, He asked them to obey His directions, and even when it seemed like an impossibility, He asked that His directions be obeyed.

The children of Israel could have done a number of other things. They could have taken an alternate course. They could have patterned after what the other contemporary armies were doing at the time, but God said, “In order to conquer Canaan, you have to be operating on a different principle than the Canaanites. To conquer Canaan, you have to operate by explicitly following the directions that I give to you.”

Still Applies Today

If the work is going to be finished today, we have to learn the same lessons as they did. We have to learn that the only way the work of God is going to be finished upon the earth today is by explicitly following the directions that He has given in His Word and in the Spirit of Prophecy.

I recently listened to an audiotape of a sermon that was recorded about 30 years ago. The minister who was speaking said that if God could have finished the work by using a plan other than the blueprint He has given, He would have already done it. The only way that the work is going to be finished today is by explicitly following the directions that God has given.

Forget the Side Issues

The devil brings about many traps. In Ellen White’s day, when she was urging and appealing for the church leaders and members to work the cities, a theological issue arose which resulted in a theological debate. There were prominent men on both sides of the question, debating this issue back and forth, and she counseled, “Do not speak about it. Do not worry about it. Work the cities!”

She said, “Wherever we go, we shall find men ready with some side issue.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, 245. She continued in telling of a man who had come to her with the message that the world was flat. She did not try to show from the Bible that the earth was round. She did not try to show from science that the earth was round; she referred him to Matthew 28:16–20.

Forget the side issues! Forget those minor theological issues. That is not our work. Those are not the directions God has given to us. God has directed for us to work the cities, to look those giants in the face, and advance as quickly and as aggressively as possible.

Worldly Pattern

Are we following the directions today? Are we studying the directions that God has given for the finishing of His work? A wealth of material is available for our use. There are people who tell us that we need new methods and new ideas, but those new methods and those new ideas need to be based solidly on the directions that God has already given us in His Word and in the Spirit of Prophecy.

We see many around us implementing contemporary methods. They look to other churches and pattern after the world, but the work will never be finished by patterning after the world. Joshua could not pattern after the world. If Joshua had patterned after the world, Jericho would still be standing. Are we patterning after the world today? Are we patterning after the world in our work? Are we patterning after the world in our own lives?

This has been one of the problems throughout the history of God’s people. They pattern after the world, without realizing it, because it is so prevalent around them. For example, consider when Sarah encouraged Abraham to lay with her handmaid, Hagar. It did not seem like such a wrong thing to them, because everyone else was doing it. They were just using then known contemporary methods. But, in doing so, they were not following God’s pattern.

There is nothing wrong with contemporary methods—just as long as they are based upon the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. The only way God’s work is going to be finished is if we look at the directions—at the blueprint that God has given—and follow that blueprint. Anything short of this will fail.

Directions Given

Consider briefly some of the directions that God has given to us. In the Book of Colossians, a time is recorded when the work was finished. Paul said that the gospel had been “preached to every creature which is under heaven.” Colossians 1:23. The gospel had been preached to every creature under heaven in a day when there was no Internet, no satellites, no television or radio; there was not even a postal service per se.

Interestingly, when I was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I noticed that none of those things—electricity, postal service, etc.—existed there. It was amazing, however, when there were no modern methods of communication, how quickly news traveled. When my travel companions and I arrived in a village, a number of hours away from a larger city, it was only 10 or 20 minutes before a secret service agent was right there to get our names, to register us, and to check out what we were doing. Even though they had no telephone service or other modern modes of communication, notification occurred very rapidly. The “bush telegraph” worked better than some e-mails work today!

“And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles. . . . Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” Acts 8:1, 4. The believers were scattered abroad, and they were preaching the Word. Not just the apostles were preaching the Word, but the believers also were preaching.

The Entire Membership

Sometimes it is easy for us to look to ministers or ministries to finish the work, but it is not going to be ministers and ministries alone that are going to finish it. They have a part to play, yes, and they need to be focused on finishing the work and laying broader and more aggressive evangelistic plans, but what finished the work in the days of the apostles, what took the gospel to the entire world at that time was not just the preaching of the apostles, but the sharing of the Word of God by every believer as well. It was people such as Aquila and Priscilla who, ministering at their workplace, led one of their co-workers, Apollos, into a more perfect way. (See Acts 18.)

“The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 117.

Are the ministers and the church officers going to finish the work? The work will be finished by the entire membership rallying together, each one playing his or her part to complete the task. If we do not do it, God will use other means to finish the work, and He will finish it without us. The entire membership—that is you and me.

I read a statement recently that said, “I am just a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody who can save anybody!” That is what we need to do! We need to be nobodies trying to tell everybody about Somebody who can save anybody. We have a work to do, but until we unite and do what we can—not just in giving out literature, not just in sending our money to those who are doing big projects, but by ourselves personally taking up the work that lies nearest us—we will never finish the work. God will finish it, but He will pass us by.

A Personal Work

“Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given.” The Great Controversy, 612. [Emphasis supplied.] How many voices? Thousands of voices. It will not just be one or three or ten major evangelists. There will be thousands of voices—the voices of God’s people.

“In visions of the night, representations passed before me [Ellen White] of a great reformatory movement among God’s people. Many were praising God. The sick were healed, and other miracles were wrought. A spirit of intercession was seen, even as was manifested before the great Day of Pentecost. Hundreds and thousands were seen visiting families and opening before them the word of God. Hearts were convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, and a spirit of genuine conversion was manifest.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 126. [Emphasis supplied.]

This will be personal work. It will be personal voices. All of these other mechanisms—the Internet, television, radio, and satellite—are good, and they play a part in finishing the work, but the work is not going to be finished solely through them. It has to be finished by personal voices, by your voice and by mine.

The work will be finished by personal work. As quoted above, hundreds and thousands will be visiting families and opening the Word of God to them. This means we will be going to our neighbors, to our co-workers, and to our friends, giving them Bible studies.

You and I have a work to do. The only way that the work is going to be finished is if we look those giants in the face, if we look at those challenges and are not diverted by the difficulties. We must study and pray to learn what God’s methods are, what the instructions are that He has given for finishing the work. Then, as the Lord leads us to the area of ministry that He has for each of us and as we do our personal work, His work is going to be finished.

When a fire is lit, not just under the ministers but also under the entire church, God’s work is going to be finished. We need to listen, as did Joshua, for the Captain of the hosts’ voice. Listen to His voice; study the directions He has given, and lift up and do the part that God has given to us to perform. May we be faithful in that work.

Cody Francis is currently engaged in public evangelism for Mission Projects International. He also pastors the Remnant Church of Seventh-day Adventist Believers in Renton, Washington. He may be contacted by e-mail at: cody@missionspro.org.

How Will God Finish His Work? Part I

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A most vital and important subject to discuss is the title of this article—“How Will God Finish His Work?” We are Seventh-day Adventists. Whether we are in a self-supporting work, an independent ministry, denominational work, or a home church, as long as we believe and follow the foundational principle beliefs of true, original, historic Seventh-day Adventism, then we are true Seventh-day Adventists.

One thing of which we may be sure is that God is going to take the reins into His own hands. Ellen White penned: “There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 299. She continued, “The workers will be surprised by the simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness.” Ibid.

Personally, I believe the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached to all of the parts of the world already. Does this shock you? Allow me to repeat that: I believe with all my personal convictions that the gospel of the kingdom of God, as Jesus Christ promised, has been already preached in all the parts of the world. The next thing to come is the end!

I believe that. Do you know why I believe that? I want to tell you why through this article. Jesus Christ is coming soon. There is no doubt about that whatsoever. God is doing something tremendous nowadays, and many Adventists are not really aware of it.

How will God finish His work? From the November 22, 1906, Review and Herald, we read:

“Earthquakes, tempests, tidal waves, pestilence, and famine have multiplied. The most awful destructions, by fire and flood, are following one another in quick succession. The terrible disasters that are taking place from week to week speak to us in earnest tones of warning, declaring that the end is near, that something great and decisive will soon of necessity take place.” The increase of natural disasters is well-known to each one of us.

Statistics

Recent statistics have reported that the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church has raised up one church in every four days of the last decade. Approximately 2,700 baptisms have occurred every day throughout the world. I do not know whether or not those 2,700 individuals are all truly converted people. Only God knows, but according to some reports, probably they are not.

Interestingly enough, after relating those statistics, the mission department at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, has said that Jesus will not come within 500 years if the evangelistic efforts continue at the pace it is going now. Do you understand what they are saying? They are absolutely right. If we continue our evangelistic efforts at the current pace, Jesus Christ cannot come soon. How can we prepare for and hasten His Second Coming at the slow pace we are moving, as far as evangelism is concerned?

They are saying that the church has been baptizing 2,700 souls every day. Oh, big deal! More than 350,000 babies are coming into the world every day. We cannot even keep up with the natural growth of the population of the world.

Do you understand that about which I am talking? This is the situation we are in, but God has a different way to spread His gospel and to finish His work. Praise His name for His plan!

Time Past

In Mrs. White’s time, which was 100 or 150 years ago, the church had a small number of missionaries reaching out to fewer regions of the world than we do now. However, the Spirit of Prophecy has always been proclaiming that the Lord’s coming is at hand. Upon what basis does she say that?

“At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the ‘latter rain,’ or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out.” Early Writings, 85, 86.

It is very obvious that the reason Mrs. White said that was because of the power of the latter rain, the loud cry. That is the only hope for you and me to see Jesus Christ coming in the sky. This is the only hope that we have as the church of God.

“I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. . . . I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.’ ” Ibid., 271.

When that time comes, we will be surprised how simple will be the methodology God is using—very simple means and simple people. He is going to finish His work, and we will go home.

Holy Spirit Outpouring

“The world seemed to be lightened with the heavenly influence. Great blessings were received by the true and humble people of God. I heard voices of thanksgiving and praise, and there seemed to be a reformation such as we witnessed in 1844.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 126. The phenomena we heard about 1844 are going to be repeated, even more, even better, even more powerful by the Holy Spirit.

“Before the work is closed up and the sealing of God’s people is finished, we shall receive the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Angels from heaven will be in our midst. The present is a fitting-up time for heaven when we must walk in full obedience to all the commands of God.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 111.

Before the outpouring of the latter rain, the Holy Spirit, you and I must walk in full, not partial, obedience to all of the commands of God. She did not even say commandments, but she says commands. That includes some other admonitions of God.

Not Our Own Power

Is our standard such a high standard? Yes, it is. It is possible to reach the standard, but only through the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ dwelling within us. We need to be rescued every day from our own sinful natures. We need to be delivered from our own weaknesses every day; otherwise we cannot do it. We must possess the heart and the mind of Jesus Christ. Without the mind of Jesus Christ, how can we exercise the faith of Jesus—the faith that Jesus Christ lived when He was here for 33 years?

Two Seals

Read Revelation 7:1–4: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”

There are two different kinds of seals in the Bible. The seal of the Holy Spirit is a seal for the conversion experience. Everyone must have the seal of God, which is the Holy Spirit seal. But this passage is talking about the seal of the living God. The seal of the living God is only for the last generation. When we go through the Sunday law crisis, then God is going to give us the seal of the living God. It has to do with the observing and keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath.

Sabbath Experience

What is the Sabbath keeping experience? Many people think when they come to the church on the seventh-day Sabbath that they are keeping the Sabbath. That is far from the truth! Many Adventists who are keeping the seventh-day Sabbath will receive the mark of the beast at the end.

Keeping the Sabbath is an experience; it is not only keeping the Saturday. Many people are keeping the Saturday, not the Sabbath. Sabbath is our outward seal, the outward appearance for the inward righteous experience, as the circumcision was the outward sign for the inward experience of faith in Abraham. God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised, so circumcision was only an outward expression of his obedience to all that God said.

Seventh-day Sabbath keeping is only an outward sign that we obey God’s Word. It is a sign that we obey and follow His commandments in our hearts. It is not just attending church, sitting and listening to the sermon, and singing and praying. It is far from that.

When we go into the Sabbath experience we must stop sinning. We must rest in God’s power of creation, and then we rest in Him. God’s people must have a rest experience in Jesus Christ; then we will have a true Sabbath keeping experience. When we have that and the Sunday law comes, there is no fear. We are going to go through and show an outward sign of what we have inside. We have faith in Jesus Christ.

When you walk into church on the seventh-day Sabbath, which is Saturday, you are declaring to the world two things:

  1. You are saying to the world that you believe God is the Creator and that He created this world in six literal days. That is one thing you are proclaiming.
  2. You are also stating that if God has that kind of power, He is able to change you and re-create you as a new person, so that you can obey His commandments.

We are silently declaring these two things to the world as we go to church on the seventh-day Sabbath. Friends, that is the seal of the living God in our foreheads. It is very important to understand.

Now, if you have that Sabbath experience, you are not going to discuss politics or business on Sabbath. You will not want to—not because you are restraining yourself from it, but because you do not want to. You want to honor God. You love Him; you want to serve Him and please Him. That should be your motivation for celebrating the Sabbath. He is delivering you from your sins. That is the celebration of the Sabbath experience.

Firstfruits

The seal of God is going to be placed on the 144,000, the Bible says—on all the tribes of the children of Israel. Revelation 14:4, 5 says, “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”

This is the Day of Atonement experience. Simply stated, our sins are going to be blotted out. When we stand before the Commandments of God, those commandments will not find any fault in our lives, not because we have not sinned, but because we have confessed and have forsaken our sins. We forsook them by the grace of God, and we do not repeat them anymore, because we hate sin. We must stand before God without a mediator, and that time is going to come very soon, whether you believe it or not. It is coming.

“Angels are holding the four winds, represented as an angry horse seeking to break loose, and rush over the face of the whole earth, bearing destruction and death in its path. . . .

“I tell you in the name of the Lord God of Israel that all injurious, discouraging influences are held in control by unseen angel hands, until everyone that works in the fear and love of God is sealed in his forehead.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 409.

To be continued . . .

Pastor David Kang is Director of Light for Life Ministry operating out of Hartwell, Georgia. His sermons are broadcast weekly on New York and Virginia Korean television stations. Pastor Kang also frequently travels to Asia where he trains pastors who often work “underground.” Pastor Kang may be contacted by telephone at: 706-377-1004.

How Will God Finish His Work? Part II

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Angels are holding the four winds, represented as an angry horse seeking to break loose, and rush over the face of the whole earth, bearing destruction and death in its path. . . .

“I tell you in the name of the Lord God of Israel that all injurious, discouraging influences are held in control by unseen angel hands, until everyone that works in the fear and love of God is sealed in his forehead.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 409.

If you study this carefully, Ellen White is talking about firstfruits. You may read about firstfruits in Revelation 14. The 144,000 are called firstfruits. Why? In the Old Testament, the Levitical feast days and customs were observed. When the harvest was ready, the farmers would not harvest their crops until a sheaf of the firstfriuts had been waved before the Lord by the High Priest. (Leviticus 23:10, 11.)

“From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain were gathered, and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of firstfruits was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves.” The Desire of Ages, 786.

That offering was waved up and down, up and down, as the Lord’s acceptance of the firstfruits was sought. The firstfruits offering was brought with the query, Lord, are they ripened correctly? Are these firstfruits acceptable unto Thee? When God accepted that firstfruits offering, the harvest could then proceed.

So it is that the harvest must have one condition: the firstfruits must be approved. Spiritually speaking, that has to do with the understanding of the truth and sanctification by the truth. One must not only know the truth intellectually but also spiritually. That is why Mrs. White said that the sealing experience is a settling into the truth in two ways, intellectually and spiritually, so that we will not be moved anymore.

“Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads—it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved—just as soon as God’s people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1161.

The Harvest

We must understand the truth and know what it is. We must be deeply grounded spiritually. We must experience the truth. When we experience the truth, we will then be sealed in our foreheads. Then, God is going to ready the firstfruits, bundled up, offered, and accepted. The High Priest will direct the harvest to commence. All of the tares will be taken out and burned, and the wheat will be taken into the storage.

Jesus Christ is still lingering and waiting in the heavenly sanctuary because the firstfruits are not ready. The Bible says the 144,000 are the firstfruits. As you study history, Jesus Christ was the firstfruits, was He not? Twelve disciples were the firstfruits. About 120 people in the upper room were the firstfruits, and, as you continue down through the ages, other firstfruits may be identified, but at the end, God must have 144,000 who are sealed with the seal of the living God, who have the true Sabbath-keeping experience.

No Fakes Accepted

If you truly keep the Sabbath, you can keep all of the other nine commandments. How can you keep the Sabbath while you are coveting? How can you keep the Sabbath while you are committing adultery? How can you keep the Sabbath when you hate someone? How can you truly keep the Sabbath while you are not obeying the other commandments, while you have idols in your heart? How can you keep the Sabbath, let alone go to church and pretend that you love Jesus Christ? Oh, you can pretend it; you can fake it, but faking cannot be accepted by God.

The seal of the living God is the Sabbath-keeping experience, because that is the outward sign for our inner experience with Jesus. We must become firstfruits, and then Jesus will let the four winds loose. This life then will soon be finished, and we will go home.

Winds Loosed

“The restraining Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, fire and flood, disasters by sea and land, follow each other in quick succession. Science seeks to explain all these. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause. Men cannot discern the sentinel angels restraining the four winds that they shall not blow until the servants of God are sealed.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 408.

“The work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity she will have to do in a terrible crisis under most discouraging, forbidding circumstances.” Ibid., vol. 5, 463.

I tell you, Adventist churches are boasting about their growth, but in many, many of their programs, they are following the growth programs of Babylonian churches, which is devastating. To follow and implement those programs, the churches must lower the standard of righteousness and truth in order to accommodate the people who are not ready to come in. Many times we are increasing our future persecutors within the church.

I say this because I love God’s people, and I pray that someone may read my article or hear a sermon I preach and maybe think again.

Happenings of Our Time

Sometimes I receive Signs and Wonders for Our Times, a Catholic magazine. (Signs and Wonders for Our Times, Herndon, Virginia.) It features articles about all the signs of Jesus’ coming, keeping God’s Commandments, miracles of supernatural power of the Virgin Mary, and even about Satan talking about Jesus’ coming and about his keeping God’s Commandments. Interesting!

Recently, some conservative groups have started saying that God’s judgment day is 2007!

Recently we have heard and seen a great controversy over the display of the Ten Commandments in public places, especially in government buildings. Tremendous things are happening.

Even though the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments being displayed says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” when someone in the secular world refers to this, they are talking about the Sunday.

Have you ever heard about Christian Churches Together (C.C.T.)? This ecumenical movement states on its web site that, “34 churches and national Christian organizations, representing over 100 million Americans, have officially formed the broadest, most inclusive fellowship of Christian churches and traditions in the U.S.A.” Formed in January 2003, it is a significant force now. It is pushing for the Sunday law. Incidentally, this organization was initiated by a Catholic priest.

To All The World

Matthew 24:14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

I do believe this gospel of the kingdom has been preached to all the world already. Why do I believe this? In Colossians 1:23, the apostle Paul said, “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”

He said, very plainly, “The gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached.” That is already past tense, right? “Was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” Is that not clear? This gospel has been preached to everybody under heaven once before.

Upon what basis did he say this? He did not say, “The gospel of the kingdom of God persuaded everyone.” Nor did he say, “The gospel of the kingdom of God convinced everyone.” What he did say is, “This gospel of the kingdom has been scattered so widely in the world, at this time, that if there is anyone, even on an island or on a mountainside, who is really sincerely seeking for the truth, he can look around and find it.”

So the gospel and truth have been scattered that much! That is what he was talking about. In the same sense, the same principle, I tell you that I believe that the Three Angels’ Messages have been preached to all the parts of the world. Any person who is sincerely seeking for the truth and prays to God can look around and find it. Those living in any country in the world can do this.

If you do not understand this, you do not understand that God is doing wondrous things in the world. He is making sure that this gospel of the kingdom is being made ready, so, as the firstfruits appear, He can seal them and say, “Let us go and harvest.”

Read Leviticus 23:10, 11: “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

“Genuine conversion is needed, not once in years, but daily. . . . Divine grace must be received daily, or no man will stay converted.” Our High Calling, 215. There are those who will say, “Oh, I was converted and born again two years ago.” You must be converted every day, by the grace of God.

“Excitement is not sanctification. Entire conformity to the will of our Father which is in heaven is alone sanctification, and the will of God is expressed in His holy law. The keeping of all the commandments of God is sanctification. Proving yourselves obedient children to God’s Word is sanctification. The Word of God is to be our guide, not the opinions or ideas of men.” Review and Herald, March 25, 1902.

A Finished Work

But, how will God finish this work?

  1. By simple methods.

“God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands. The workers will be surprised by the simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 300.

  1. By wonderful workings of divine providence.

“Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works, with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.” The Great Controversy, 612.

“While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he [Satan] will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence.” Ibid., 589, 590.

Allow me to illustrate. Suppose that there is a tremendous earthquake in your area today. It registers as a 9.5 earthquake on the Richter scale. Every building is collapsed, and many, many people are killed, yet you are safe. Do you know what would happen? All of the media would surround you; helicopters would swarm above you. They will come from every direction and will start to ask you questions: “What kind of person are you? What kind of God are you worshipping? What do you believe? There is tremendous devastation all around this area. What is happening?”

Do you think you would be a testimony? Yes, you definitely would be. Do you think all of the world would watch you? Just think, your testimony would receive free airtime throughout the world. God is going to use very wonderful workings of divine providence that His truth will be known to the people.

  1. With the help of the holy angels.

In the Book of Acts, you may read about the assistance of holy angels. The same thing is going to take place in our time. Angels are going to come to us in the form of humanity to aid us.

“When divine power is combined with human effort, the work will spread like fire in the stubble. God will employ agencies whose origin man will be unable to discern; angels will do a work which men might have had the blessing of accomplishing, had they not neglected to answer the claims of God.” Review and Herald, December 15, 1885.

God is going to finish this work in His own way.

  1. With the help of the eleventh hour workers. This is very important.

“God has children, many of them, in the Protestant churches, and a large number in the Catholic churches, who are more true to obey the light and to do [to] the very best of their knowledge than a large number among Sabbathkeeping Adventists who do not walk in the light. The Lord will have the message of truth proclaimed, that Protestants may be warned and awakened to the true state of things, and consider the worth of the privilege of religious freedom which they have long enjoyed.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 386. Do you need to read this paragraph again?

“There are many souls to come out of the ranks of the world, out of the churches—even the Catholic Church—whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank and file to proclaim the truth heretofore. For this reason the eleventh hour laborers will receive their penny.” Ibid., 386, 387.

Eleventh hour workers are the people who are going to come out from the Babylonian churches. In Matthew 20, Jesus Christ said that this work is going to be finished by the eleventh hour workers in the vineyard. Eleventh hour workers are going to come in to help us.

“These will see the battle coming and will give the trumpet a certain sound. When the crisis is upon us, when the season of calamity shall come, they will come to the front, gird themselves with the whole armor of God, and exalt His law, adhere to the faith of Jesus [another expression of keeping God’s Commandments and having the faith of Jesus], and maintain the cause of religious liberty which reformers defended with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives.” Ibid., 387.

Eleventh hour workers are outside right now, and God is going to bring them to the harvest to finish the work so that we can go home. When God takes the reins into His own hands, He is going to use simple people and simple methods, and it is going to take no time at all. He has to finish the work, and we have to let Him. How? You and I must become firstfruits.

Pastor David Kang is Director of Light for Life Ministry operating out of Hartwell, Georgia. His sermons are broadcast weekly on New York and Virginia Korean television stations. Pastor Kang also frequently travels to Asia where he trains pastors who often work “underground.” Pastor Kang may be contacted by telephone at: 706-377-1004.

Fellow Workers With God

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“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, [you are] God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:9.

This was a favorite text of Ellen White. To her way of thinking, it was an incomprehensible privilege to think that we could be fellow workers with God. To be considered a fellow worker with the President of the United States would be considered a high privilege, but here we are told that we are called to be fellow workers—not with some human dignitary, but with God!

Some people think the minister is paid to do this, but we are all called to be fellow workers with God. We all have to make a living, but our primary work is to be fellow workers with God in His work. “Christ has given to the church a sacred charge. Every member should be a channel through which God can communicate to the world the treasures of His grace . . . .” The Acts of the Apostles, 600. We must realize that every day we are meeting people whom we may never meet again, and we have a saving gospel that must be presented to them.

No one is converted without a burden for souls. Part of the gospel is that we are called to be missionaries for the Lord. Jesus told the demoniac, when he was healed, “Go home to your friends, and tell them the great things the Lord has done for you.” Mark 5:19. And that is what we must do.

To Grow Spiritually, We Must Be Witnessing

It is absolutely necessary for spiritual growth to spend time witnessing. If we are feeding only ourselves, we are going to grow fat, sluggish, and critical. “The great outpouring of the Spirit of God, which lightens the whole earth with His glory, will not come until we have an enlightened people, that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God.” Christian Service, 253.

“The Lord desires that His word of grace shall be brought home to every soul.

“To a great degree this must be accomplished by personal labor. This was Christ’s method. His work was largely made up of personal interviews. He had a faithful regard for the one-soul audience.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 229. We might think that most of Jesus’ work was public teaching and healing, but most of His work was one-to-one. Much of what Jesus did is not recorded, but we know by inspiration that He was in people’s homes and spent time teaching the disciples how to reach individuals.

Teaching Others How to Witness

We are told that the greatest help which can be given to church members is to teach them to work for God, not for the church or pastor. “Just as soon as a church is organized, let the minister set the members at work. They will need to be taught how to labor successfully. Let the minister devote more of his time to educating than to preaching. Let him teach the people how to give to others the knowledge they have received.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 20. When I read this statement, our church met together and began to plan teaching weekends. We began to try to make the church a learning center instead of just a preaching center. In the process of studying, we found that the Holy Spirit will never be poured out unless we are working to win souls, so we said, “We better start doing this.” Then we began to study how to win souls, and the Lord blessed.

“Every Christian should be a missionary, working for the salvation of souls.” Review and Herald, November 29, 1906.

Our young people in school need to learn the science of soul winning also. To do this, they must learn about true psychology, how the mind works, how to meet people, and how to reach them. They ought to know the Bible and the prophecies. If, in first grade, they had simply begun learning one verse a day, then by the time they finished academy, they would have the whole New Testament memorized!

To be effective in our witnessing, we need to be storing our minds with the truths of God’s Word. We may say, “I wish I had started when I was five years old, but now I am 45.” We are never going to be younger than we are today. If we are ever going to do it, we must start right now. If we cannot memorize the whole Bible, we can memorize a whole chapter such as Romans 8 or 1 John 3.

“Our work has been marked out for us by our heavenly Father. We are to take our Bibles and go forth to warn the world. We are to be God’s helping hands in saving souls.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 150. “A great work can be done by presenting to the people the Bible just as it reads. Carry the Word of God to every man’s door.” Ibid., vol. 5, 388.

God established this church on a firm basis. That firm basis was made because of a great shaking within the early movement. In the early Advent movement, the number of believers went from approximately 100,000 down to just a few hundred people, but at least these few hundred people were solid. They had given their souls and their lives and all that they had to the Lord. They went out and spread the message and preached. The Lord blessed, and the church began to grow.

N. Haskell’s Camp Meeting

In the State of California, S. N. Haskell held a camp meeting at which Ellen White and her son Willie helped. His concerns were centered on the winning of souls, so for their camp meeting, they invited non-Adventists to the evening meetings. During the daytime the people were taught how to win souls and other things that were more specifically for Adventists, but the evening meeting was always geared for non-Adventists, as well as Adventists, and was evangelistic in nature. During the day, many of the Adventists would hand out fliers in the community inviting people to come to the evening meeting. The result was that several hundred non-Adventists were in attendance at the evening meetings.

On one occasion, S. N. Haskell was ready to preach, and there were a number of non-Adventists present to hear the message. It began to rain and thunder, and since there were no microphones, people could not hear. It was a terrible catastrophe in any evangelist’s mind. He did not want to send people away; they might never come again. But our extremities are God’s opportunities! S. N. Haskell prayed earnestly, and an idea came to him to write texts on slips of paper and distribute them to the people. Then he went out into the middle of the auditorium, stood up on a table, and had everyone gather around him as close as they could—very unconventional. He would call out a question and then have the answer read from the Bible. The people might miss a few words that were read when the thunder cracked, but they could follow the text in the Bible. So it was question, answer, question, answer—all Elder Haskell was doing was reading the questions, and the people were reading the Bible.

Willie White was very impressed. He could see the people being moved as they found the answers to questions from the Bible. He later told his mother about this meeting. Shortly after this event, the Lord gave Ellen White a vision and showed her that this storm was from the Lord. He was trying to teach people how to give Bible studies, and this was His method. Up to that point, no one in the church had ever, as far as we know, given a real Bible study; rather, truth had been presented in sermon form.

A New Type of Bible Studies

Here was something so simple and so different, but very effective. S. N. Haskell was not telling people the truth; he was asking them questions and simply telling them where to find the answers in the Bible. Elder Haskell began to train people right there at the camp meeting how to use this method. Very soon the church began to develop a missionary society in the General Conference to train people. A paper was made just for that purpose. People would write Bible studies and send them in to this paper, and they would publish these studies. A number of these were gathered together and published in what became known as Bible Readings for the Home Circle.

During the 1890s, this system became fully established in the church as the method of giving Bible studies, and the church grew the most it has ever grown—almost ten percent every single year—because the laymen were out witnessing.

Bible studies have gone through various developments over the years. About 1930, we developed the first filmstrip. Nine years later, a Bible study correspondence school was developed, and the Voice of Prophecy became the main headquarters for Bible study through correspondence. When I was growing up in the 1950s, my father, my brother, and I used the 20th Century Bible studies on filmstrip.

While pastoring in the Washington D.C. area, we were training people how to give Bible studies. We were using materials we had, but we found they were not working well. I discovered the materials were written for the purpose of leaving them in the home as a correspondence course, not for a Bible worker to use in giving a Bible study. Through a year of experimenting, writing, and testing, the Steps to Life Bible studies were developed.

We had some interesting experiences! I remember a young lady who had never given studies. She said, “I cannot give a Bible study.”

I replied, “Yes, you can. Let me give you a few principles. Next week I cannot be here to give studies to this lady.” I reviewed the principles of asking questions and letting people answer them from the Bible. We gave her the Bible studies we had written. I never went back. She gave all the rest of the studies to this lady, and the lady was baptized. That so excited her that she gave them to another and another and another. In a little over a year before I left, she had given Bible studies to four young ladies, and all of them were baptized.

This work is going to be finished with laymen who are witnessing to their neighbors, and the Lord expects us to qualify ourselves for this work. There is a human element involved. In Fundamentals of Christian Education, 217, Ellen White says, “The Lord does nothing for the salvation of the soul without the cooperation of man.” She goes on to say, in spite of this, how few have qualified themselves in the work of soul winning.

Personal Bible Study

I would like to encourage you to, first of all, have Bible study every day for your own spiritual growth. I may be one of the weakest Christians in the world, so I need a lot of special help. I find that I need at least an hour a day with the Word and on my knees in order to survive. Personal Bible study is essential for personal witnessing. We must realize that every one of us is God’s fellow worker, and we are called to be active witnesses for the Lord.

There are two things that are required in order to be successful workers for the Lord. One is personal effort, using all the intelligence God has given to us, learning how to do it, not stumbling and making the same mistakes time after time. If we learn that something does not work, let us do it differently. Let us learn from one another. Let us learn all the methods that we can learn to share our faith. Let us give out literature. Like Jesus with the woman at the well, let us learn to approach people without offending them, learn different ways to share the Sabbath and various other truths. Along with that, we must realize that not one of us will ever win a single soul in our own power or with our own strength.

The Holy Spirit

The other requirement is that we must have the Holy Spirit in our lives. To have the Holy Spirit in our lives requires that we be cleansed from sin.

“The latter rain will come, and the blessing of God will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement.” Evangelism, 702. “Without the presence of the Spirit of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner won to Christ.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 21. Now, you see, the work of gaining the victory over sin becomes important, not only so we can get to heaven, but so we can be used by God to help others to be in heaven. You will never be an effective soul winner as long as you are retaining known sins in your life. The greatest reason, the greatest purpose for a holy life is not just so you can be saved, but so you can be used to be an instrument to help others to be saved—your children, your family, your neighbors, and members of the church.

When I fly on the airlines, I always like to get a seat by myself so I can study. I tell the Lord, “If I cannot have that, put someone here to whom I can witness.” In every situation, we should be looking for someone, somewhere, to whom we can witness. There are many wonderful books that can be given away, such as the book Somebody Cares. [Available through Steps to Life, this book was written by Marshall J. Grosboll.] This and other books can be given everywhere as a witness.

“There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.” The Ministry of Healing, 159.

Starting today, would you like to dedicate yourself to become a fellow worker with God for the work of winning souls?

Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life. In July 1991, Pastor Marshall and his family met with tragedy as they were returning home from a camp meeting in Washington state, when the airplane he was piloting went down, killing all on board. This article was first published in the October 1995 LandMarks.

My Work in Historic Adventism

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[Editor’s Note: Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Ralph Larson, often regarded as the patriarch of historic Adventism, we reprint this article that was first published in the July 1996 LandMarks and which presents his view of his work.]

What we do is closely related to what we are. It is said of Christ that His nature and His work are inseparably intertwined and interwoven with each other, and the same is true to a lesser degree of all of us. We are what we do and we do what we are.

Consider my life span. I became a Seventh-day Adventist in the year 1936, when I was sixteen years old. Although I did not realize it at the time, I was a very fortunate and privileged person, because being baptized at this particular time gave me the privilege of living some thirty years during the Golden Age of Adventism, from 1936 to 1966. The tragic book Questions On Doctrine, [Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C., 1957] which brought the Golden Age of Adventism to an end, was published in 1957. It took about ten years for it to really have much influence upon the church. But by 1966 the dire influence of that fateful volume had become widespread, the precious unity and harmony of the church had been destroyed, and the Dark Ages of Adventism had begun, and have continued for thirty years (until 1996). Thus my Christian life has consisted of thirty years in the Golden Age of Adventism and thirty years in the Dark Ages of Adventism. I am able to make comparisons.

What were the characteristics of the Golden Age of Adventism that I experienced from 1936 until 1966? Not the absence of problems. We had our share of them. Not the favor of the world. The world and the worldly churches cordially hated us and maliciously lied about us. Not wealth. The depression was still in force. But we had something far more precious than any of these things. We had unity and harmony throughout the entire church. We were one in faith and doctrine.

During those years you could travel to any foreign country, find the local Seventh-day Adventist church, walk in through the front door and say, “I am home. I have never seen these people before, but I know them. I know their beliefs and I know their lifestyle. On all of the important matters of life, their hearts beat as mine.” This was especially true of church workers. When two of them met, anywhere, there was an instant bonding and a fullness of fellowship. How precious were those days, now known only as they are held in sweet remembrance. We would have treasured them even more had we known what was ahead.

Fidelity to the Bible and to the Spirit of Prophecy was taken for granted. Infidelity was neither glossed over nor excused. Not long after my baptism in 1936 I enrolled as a freshman at Walla Walla College [Walla Walla, Washington]. By the time a few weeks of the school year had passed, it had become apparent that three of the Bible teachers, including the chairman of the Bible department, were undercutting the Spirit of Prophecy. Careful investigations were conducted, and by the end of the first quarter, all three of these teachers were gone from the campus. Two quickly found their places in Sunday keeping churches, where they belonged, and the third retired to his hog ranch. Yes, his hog ranch. But none of the three were undercutting the Spirit of Prophecy nearly as much as is being done in many of our college Bible classes today, while church administrators look on indifferently or benignly.

Our week of prayer speakers ministered to our needs in a careful and conscientious way, always teaching us the joys of victorious Christian living. If any of them had announced to us that it is impossible to stop sinning, we would have heard him no further. And the administration would have replaced him, even before the week was over.

So that is where I am coming from, and that is who I am. I listen in astonishment to earnest young Calvinists among us describing those years as the “age of legalism.” They can’t kid me. I was there.

I was taught our faith and doctrines by dedicated men who were one hundred percent Seventh-day Adventists. I spent fifteen years of my ministry in full-time evangelism. (The other years were divided between pastoring and teaching in college and seminary classrooms.) In my evangelistic work I was required to closely examine the false reasoning, the sophistry, and the casuistry in the writings of the “Evangelical” ministers who were desperately opposing our message, and show their tricks to the new converts. You can imagine the pain I feel when I see the same sort of material being set forth by some Seventh-day Adventist ministers now. When they proclaim that “We are Evangelicals!” my response is, “You really didn’t need to tell me. I knew that already. The methodology of your writings makes it abundantly clear.”

So my present work is preaching to and teaching the historic Seventh-day Adventists in camp meetings and seminars. I am in the pulpit virtually every Sabbath, either near my place of abode, or in some other state. I answer innumerable theological questions, by mail or by telephone. For want of a better place to go, ministry leaders often come to me for counsel. And in between these activities, I try to find time for writing. I feel guilty because I am not writing more, but I run out of time.

But in it all, I am happy. I know that I am defending God’s pure and holy truth, and I have no moments of anxious foreboding such as the Calvinists among us must certainly have. The shaking time is moving in on us. By God’s grace, I will survive it, and live again in the happy fellowship of a purified church.

Faces Lighted Up

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Sometimes when we study a topic and do what we believe to be sufficient research, we think that we have the subject matter down pat, perfectly understood. Then the Lord will tell us to get back to that subject, and He shows us other angles from which that same topic can be viewed, and we begin to realize that God’s truth is much deeper than we can ever imagine. Every aspect of truth about which we may be aware today has a much deeper depth to it than our simple minds are capable of grasping. But we do thank God for His mercy, and, in His goodness, He allows us to get glimpses of the depth of His mind by the little things He allows us to see.

1 Corinthians 10:11 tells us that certain things happen as examples: “They are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Experiences pertaining to ancient Israel, both the good and the bad, were meant to be examples for us. Lessons were wrapped up in those things from which we can learn. Many times we talk about the bad things that took place with ancient Israel and their journey to the land of Canaan, but there were good things too. There were good things as well as bad things involving the leaders. Consider the good leaders such as Joshua, Moses, and the prophets. They did some marvelous things. God used them in certain ways and made Himself manifest through them in ways we do not often stop to study. Are these examples unto us too?

Good Examples Too

For example, when Moses returned from Mount Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments, his face was lighted up! Is it possible that this is an example? Or are we just to consider the fact that when he came down to the camp the noise from the Israelites sounded to Joshua as though they were in war, but to Moses as though they were in apostasy. Is it possible that it is not just the bad that God wants us to see, but also the good?

Let us look in our Bibles at the incidence involving Moses’ face being lit up.

“And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And [till] Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel [that] which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” Exodus 34:28–35.

The Scriptures make it quite clear; this was not just a light on Moses’ face, but Moses’ skin, the skin of his face, shined. Can you imagine that? It was as though you were looking straight at the sun when you were looking on another human being’s face, and the light was emanating from his or her skin. This meant that the glory of God, with which Moses came in contact, basically penetrated his skin, and it remained there to the extent that, the Scriptures tell us, when the children of Israel came to meet him they were afraid of him. Moses knew nothing; he had no idea why they would not approach him, until they revealed to him the problem. Then, in his compassion and meekness, he took action to cover his face, so he could communicate with them and give them the information that God so graciously had imparted for them.

What is the meaning of this for us? What I want to share with you is that, both symbolically and literally, there is a message for us today wrapped up in Moses’ example.

Wonderful Possibilities

We often take for granted all the wonderful things the Lord has in store for us at the end time. Because we have been so exposed to the sins and folly of our age, we tend to bypass the fact that marvelous things await us in the Word of God. Ellen White put it this way: “Wonderful possibilities are open to those who lay hold of the divine assurances of God’s word. There are glorious truths to come before the people of God. Privileges and duties which they do not even suspect to be in the Bible will be laid open before them. As they follow on in the path of humble obedience, doing His will, they will know more and more of the oracles of God.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 322.

One of these wonderful possibilities is that some, if not all of us, will one day have the experience of Moses. Can you imagine that? The skin will be shining. The faces of the children will appear as bright stars to their friends. The adults may be looking like the sun or the moon to their families, friends, and even enemies. Remember what we are told in Exodus about Moses—his friends were afraid. They were pained by what they saw and could not look upon his face. It was too bright to them.

The Book of Corinthians reveals what was symbolically wrapped up in all of this: “But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?” 11 Corinthians 3:7, 8.

Before we read on, just consider for a moment. We are being told that there are two different manifestations of the glory. What Moses had portrayed was basically in connection with the glory pertaining to the Lord.

“For if the ministration of condemnation [be] glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away [was] glorious, much more that which remaineth [is] glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Verses 9–18.

What message is the Lord trying to convey to us? That what happened in the time of Moses was basically the type or an example of what is going to happen in the New Testament era. That which took place in the Old Testament was only a measure of the manifestation of the glory of God—a measure when compared with what will happen later on, which will exceed what happened in the past. What we need to understand, with the help of the Spirit of Prophecy, is that the phenomena of Moses’ lighted face is not going to be limited to the Law of God transferring from stone to the flesh. This same law, which God made personally available to His people anciently with His personal presence, enabled this man Moses to be lit up. His own skin shone, and the Scripture is telling us that in the New Testament era something more is going to happen, because that same law is not going to be in stone but will be inside the hearts of human beings with the help of the Holy Spirit. When that happens, do you not think that it is going to make itself manifest in the features of those who have the law now placed inside?

Experience of Pioneers

An illustration from the past is given to us by Ellen White, which reveals that the early Adventists under the Millerite movement had their faces lit up! It is an example of what will happen in the end of time. “Those who were obedient to the message stood out free and united. A holy light shone upon them. They renounced the world, sacrificed their earthly interests, gave up their earthly treasures, and directed their anxious gaze to heaven, expecting to see their loved Deliverer. A holy light beamed upon their countenances, telling of the peace and joy which reigned within.” Early Writings, 249, 250.

Were you aware that Adventists had this experience in the early, historical days? And why did they have this experience? Inspiration tells us why; each person had made a total surrender. They were not playing church. They had an experience with God that far surpassed what we claim to have. Because God was pleased with them, He made his glory shine forth from their countenances.

They were just under the former rain, and we are preparing for something more than that, the Latter Rain. Is it possible that the glory that shall shine forth from us will exceed what the early pioneers had? Is it possible that when the enemies of God look upon His people who have made a total surrender to Him, they will be able to see such brightness as to find themselves in pain to look upon these people, because they themselves may not be willing to make a surrender? Is it possible?

From Joel 2, we may begin to understand the possibility of what can really happen and what can cause it to happen: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.” Verses 1–6.

I wondered, Why? The only time I could correlate to this situation was what happened to the children of Israel in the time of Moses. Somehow the glory of Moses caused his brethren to be very uncomfortable. I believe Joel is prophesying that when God gets His real army together, they will bring discomfort. By their appearance, by God manifesting Himself through them, the wicked will be caused discomfort.

Relating what she had been shown in vision, Ellen White penned: “When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses’ did when he came down from Mount Sinai.” Early Writings, 15. [Emphasis added.] History will be repeated. What happened in Moses’ day, will happen again. What we saw prophesied in the Book of Corinthians happened in the time of the Millerite movement, and that prophecy will find itself repeated even in the end time. Notice, however, that only those who have made a total surrender to God will hear the voice of the Master revealing the day and hour.

The Character of God

“The Ten Commandments are called in the New Testament the royal law of liberty. In obeying the divine precepts, men will assimilate to the divine character; for the character of God is expressed in his holy law.” The Signs of the Times, October 17, 1895.

“The ten holy precepts spoken by Christ upon Sinai’s mount were the revelation of the character of God.” Sons and Daughters of God, 53.

The Ten Commandments reveal God’s character. If God gets a people, therefore, who have made a total surrender—they are not afraid to make the kind of changes that the rest of the world does not want to make; they are not afraid to give up the things of this world; they are not afraid to commit themselves to the requirements of God’s Law and the Testimony of Jesus—then what they have ahead of them are marvelous blessings from God, things that we cannot even imagine.

We are only skimming the surface. Yes, we know we will have power, but have we known that our faces, the skin of our faces, will shine? Yes, we know the day will come when we will be changed, and we will be like Him, but this is speaking in the context of having incorruptible bodies. We are dealing with time before that occurs, because when the voice of the Lord reveals to His people the day and the hour, that is before Jesus comes!

The world will have a perfect replica of the Master in His people before He comes. They will not only see Him in the words and works, but they will also see Him in the glory that will rest upon them, the glory of God. “When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses’ did when he came down from Mount Sinai.”

Ellen White leaves no room to doubt that there will be a repetition of what transpired on Mount Sinai with Moses. What a privilege! I cannot imagine anyone who would not want to have a part in this experience, who would not want to know that the glory of God will rest on them on this side of the heavenly border.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1, 2. Rejoice in the hope of the glory of God! Whenever we read verses such as these, we generally place the time at the Second Coming. But based upon what we have seen thus far, it is going to be made available to people even before Jesus bursts through the clouds. This glory of God will be made available to us even before Christ comes. What a privilege! What an opportunity! No wonder the devil has caused so much havoc in the Adventist world.

We just read about peace in Romans; now read Colossians 3:15: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” Why is this so important to us? What did Ellen White say concerning the Millerites when the light of Christ or the glory of God rested upon them? She said that a holy light beamed upon their countenances telling of the peace and joy which reigned within.

Inner Peace

We do not have peace unless we have Christ. Every Adventist who was involved in the Millerite movement had Christ within. It was not just by word or theory; it was an experience. The very same thing will be the case of those who will have the glory of God rest upon them in these last days. They will have the peace and the joy of the Lord in their hearts. Not only that, but the Law of God will be perfectly reflected, because they will have the character of God fully established within them. So, the glory of God will basically be a reflection of God through the presence of His Spirit within His people who have made a total surrender to Him.

Ellen White made this statement: “Happiness drawn from earthly sources is as changeable as varying circumstances can make it; but the peace of Christ is a constant and abiding peace. It does not depend upon any circumstances in life, on the amount of worldly goods or the number of earthly friends. Christ is the fountain of living water, and happiness drawn from Him can never fail.” Reflecting Christ, 263.

So, we have either a temporary happiness or a permanent happiness. We are assured of permanent happiness if we do God’s will, because Christ will come and live in us. We talk about how much we love Jesus and how we have Jesus in our hearts, but do we have peace and joy? Why is the glory of God not reflecting from us? It is because we have not made a total surrender. God has many gifts and blessings reserved just for us, if only we would totally surrender our lives to Him.

Experience of the Saints

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” Matthew 17:1, 2. This very thing will be the experience of the saints. Their faces will be shining, as did Moses’. You see, Jesus had it, but Jesus’ shining face was described “as the sun.” How could it have been described any other way, when He is the source of peace, the source of joy, the source of light, the source of life? He is the fullness of the manifestation of the character of God.

“Servants of God, endowed with power from on high with their faces lighted up, and shining with holy consecration, went forth to proclaim the message from heaven.” Early Writings, 278, 279. This will be the experience of those in the last days who will be going forward to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages. With faces lighted up, they will proclaim the Law of God. No wonder Joel said, “Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.” The people cannot deny that these are not ordinary people. They have met Somebody!

Continuing with the quote: “Souls that were scattered all through the religious bodies answered to the call, and the precious were hurried out of the doomed churches, as Lot was hurried out of Sodom before her destruction.” Ibid., 279.

Can you see that this quote is referring to the Loud Cry? Note that the first part of the reference says the “servants of God,” not every member of the church. Only those who have qualified will have “their faces lighted up.” It amazes me to hear churches proclaiming that the Loud Cry is now being given. Their faces are not lighted up! Those lighted up faces in the time of the early Advent movement Ellen White said indicated that the people had experienced the peace and joy, because they had made a total surrender.

Like Him

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2. Does this verse not now take on a whole new meaning for us? We shall be like Him. We shall be like Him not only in character, but also in appearance. And then we will go a step further than just having our faces lit up; we shall be transformed. Oh, how much we shall be like Him!

Pastor Patrick Herbert is the senior pastor of the Tucker-Norcross Adventist Church and Director of the Gilead Institute of America, a medical missionary evangelistic training institution located in Norcross, Georgia. He holds a Doctorate in religion and speaks and writes on a wide range of religious and health topics. He may be contacted by e-mail at: gilead.net@usa.net.

Behold the Bridegroom Cometh

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Behold, the bridegroom cometh.” Matthew 25:6. Christ, with his disciples, is seated upon the Mount of Olives. The sun has set behind the mountains, and the heavens are curtained with the shades of evening. In full view is a dwelling house lighted up brilliantly as if for some festive occasion. An expectant company mill about, indicating that a marriage procession is soon to appear.

In many parts of the East, wedding festivities are held in the evening. The bridegroom goes forth to meet his bride and bring her to his home. By torchlight the bridal party proceeds from the house of the bride’s father to the bridegroom’s house where a feast is provided for the invited guests. In the scene upon which Christ looks, a company is awaiting the parents of the bridal party, intending to join the procession. Lingering near the bride’s house are ten young women robed in white. Each carries a lighted lamp and a small flagon for oil. All are anxiously waiting for the appearance of the bridegroom, but there is a delay. Hour after hour passes; the watchers become weary, and they fall asleep. At midnight the cry is heard, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”

The sleepers suddenly awake and spring to their feet. They see the procession moving on, bright with torches and glad music. They hear the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. The ten maidens seize their lamps and begin to trim them in haste to go forth, but five have neglected to fill their flasks with oil. They did not anticipate so long a delay, and they have not prepared for the emergency. In distress, they appeal to their wiser companions, saying, “Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” Matthew 25:8. But the waiting five with their freshly trimmed lamps have emptied their flagons. They have no oil to spare, and they answered, “[Not so]; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” Verse 9. While they went to buy, the procession moved on and left them behind. The five with lighted lamps joined the throng and entered the house with the bridal party, and the door was shut. When the foolish virgins reached the banqueting hall, they received an unexpected denial. The master of the feast declared, “I know you not.” They were left standing in the empty street in the blackness of the night.

Christ’s Coming

As Christ sat looking upon the party that waited for the bridegroom, He told His disciples the story of the ten virgins, by their experience illustrating the experience of the church that shall live just before His Second Coming. The disciple Matthew is the only one of the four gospel writers to record the account of the parable of the ten virgins. Having been a Jew who was converted to Christianity, perhaps his focus was now centered on his fellow countrymen, many of whom had embraced the Christian religion.

The parable of the ten virgins is focusing on the coming of the Son of man. The common motif that runs through this parable is readiness for His coming. The parable brings to full view the visible church. It is clear that all who attend church are termed Christians. All who went out to meet the bridegroom were virgins. They all had lamps. They all looked alike. The difference in their character was proved by the results. The folly of the foolish virgins is seen in the fact that at the time of action they were unable to do the work assigned to them.

The story is told of a watchman who was employed at a railway crossing to wave the lantern during the night when the train was coming so the oncoming vehicles could stop. However, one night, unfortunately, the watchman fell asleep. While asleep he heard the train coming. Awaking, he grabbed his lantern and rushed out into the street to wave it before the oncoming vehicles. But the vehicles did not stop. He had to jump out of the roadway, and the vehicles and the train collided.

The watchman was accused of negligence and taken to court. When the judge asked him, “Did you hear the train coming?” He replied, “Yes.” Then the judge asked him, “Did you wave the lantern?” The watchman again said, “Yes,” then continued, “but because I was sleeping while the train was coming, I had no time to light it.” That is why there was a crash.

Jesus spoke this parable of the ten virgins just after concluding the signs that would signal His glorious return. In Matthew 24, in answer to the question of His disciples concerning the signs of His coming and of the end of the world, Christ had pointed out some of the most important events in the history of the world and of the church from His first to His second advent—namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, the great tribulation of the church on the pagan and papal execution, the darkening of the sun, and the falling of the stars. After this, He spoke of His coming and His kingdom, and related the parable described in the two classes of servants who looked for His appearing.

The Shut Door

Chapter 25 of the Book of Matthew opens with, “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.” Here is brought to view the church living in the last days, the same that is pointed out in the close of chapter 24. There is a striking parallelism that exists between the early Adventist expectancy imbedded in the Millerite movement and the end time church, and as it relates to the parable of the ten virgins. What do I mean by that? There were the signs, the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom, the midnight cry, the tarrying, the expectancy, the delay, the apostasy. There was also the shut door and the open door experience.

We are told that in 1844 Christ had shut the door of the holy place at the end of His ministration in that apartment, also signifying that some human beings’ probation had been closed as a consequence of their rejection of the present truth then proclaimed. The open door in 1844 by Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, was the opening of the door of the most holy place. Based upon the early Adventist belief, they thought that in 1844 the door of mercy was forever shut. That is how the theory about the shut door was developed, but clearer light came with the investigation of the sanctuary question. While it was true that the door of hope and mercy by which men had found access to God was closed, another door was opened, and forgiveness of sins was offered to men through the intercession of Christ in the most holy place.

One part of His ministration had closed only to give place to another. There was still an open door to the heavenly sanctuary where Christ was ministering in the sinner’s behalf. The parable of the ten virgins is specifically applicable to God’s professed people living on the earth just before the return of Jesus. So what we need to understand is that the ten virgins’ parable is specifically referring to Seventh-day Adventists. It is our parable. It is our message. It is our warning.

Read again Matthew 25:1–13. Note verse 13, which says: “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

The Procession

If I were to ask you which group of followers or which group of virgins you would like to be among—the wise or the foolish—I suspect most people, if not all, would say the wise. That is a very noble response. No one wants to be numbered with the foolish virgins.

However, there is another group associated with the bridegroom that many people have overlooked. I would prefer to be a part of it, and that group is the procession. According to Matthew, the five wise virgins joined the procession at midnight. The procession, however, came at the eleventh hour, while the five wise virgins along with the five foolish virgins were sleeping. At midnight a cry was made, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” Who made that cry? It was not the five wise virgins, nor was it the five foolish virgins. I would submit to you that it was the procession that made the cry, the cry that awoke the virgins.

So, the question is, Who is the procession? To answer this question, let us address briefly the time of the latter rain and the loud cry.

The Latter Rain

Concerning the time of trouble and the latter rain, Ellen White stated: “I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers and that the Sabbath is the great question to unite the hearts of God’s dear, waiting saints.

“I saw that God had children who do not see and keep the Sabbath. They have not rejected the light upon it. And at the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.” Early Writings, 33.

“This view was given in 1847 when there were but very few of the Advent brethren observing the Sabbath, and of these but few supposed that its observance was of sufficient importance to draw a line between the people of God and unbelievers. Now the fulfilment of that view is beginning to be seen. ‘The commencement of that time of trouble,’ here mentioned, does not refer to the time when the plagues shall begin to be poured out, but to a short period just before they are poured out, while Christ is in the sanctuary. At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the ‘latter rain,’ or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out.” Ibid., 85, 86.

Now, that is the time of the latter rain. Let us connect a few passages with that to give an answer to the question and to show what is the result of the latter rain.

Result of Latter Rain

“I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound; some wives by their husbands, and some children by their parents. The honest who had been prevented from hearing the truth now eagerly laid hold upon it. All fear of their relatives was gone, and the truth alone was exalted to them. They had been hungering and thirsting for truth; it was dearer and more precious than life. I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.’ ” Ibid., 271.

“But I speak not my own words when I say that God’s Spirit will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity, but who have not distinguished the voice of God or appreciated the movings of His Spirit. Then thousands in the eleventh hour will see and acknowledge the truth.

“ ‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed’ (Amos 9:13).

“These conversions to truth will be made with a rapidity that will surprise the church, and God’s name alone will be glorified.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 16.

“The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience.” The Great Controversy (1888), 612.

Eleventh Hour Workers

Sometimes we give our loved ones or our friends literature to read, but their friends, pastors, or family members discourage them from reading it and may, consequently, prevent them from accepting the truth. We become troubled, but we do not need to become troubled, because the Holy Spirit is doing His work.

“Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord’s side.” Ibid. This is referring to the period of the latter rain.

Who comprised the procession? “There are diligent students of the word of prophecy in all parts of the world, who are obtaining light and still greater light from searching the Scriptures. This is true of all nations, of all tribes, and of all peoples. These will come from the grossest error, and will take the place of those who have had opportunities and privileges and have not prized them. These have worked out their own salvation with fear and trembling, lest they should become deficient in doing the ways and will of God, while those who have had great light, through the perversity of their own natural heart, turned away from Christ because they were displeased with his requirements. But God will not be left without witnesses. The one-hour laborers will be brought in at the eleventh hour, and will consecrate their ability and all their entrusted means to advance the work. These will receive the reward for their faithfulness, because they are true to principle, and shun not their duty to declare the whole counsel of God. When those who have had abundance of light throw off the restraint which the word of God imposes, and make void his law, others will come in to fill their places and take their crown.” Review and Herald, June 15, 1897.

It is good to have been in the church a long time, but the question is, Has the truth been in you a long time? What have you done with the truth?

“There will be those who will come in at the eleventh hour, and they will receive an equal reward with those who have long known the truth.” Ibid., July 2, 1889.

Why is this? It is because they will use all their talents to the utmost of their abilities, and bring all their powers to bear on the work of advancing the light of the truth. They come in one hour before the work is over and, realizing the time is short, they put everything into the work. When the truth is brought to their attention, they accept it with joy. They are part of the procession!

Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at: 718-882-3900.

From Rebel to Redeemed

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“Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” II Corinthians 5:17.

South Side (Jeremiah 1:5.)

I was the eighth and last child born, as some would say, out of season! Ophelia, my older sister, was the “last child,” or so they thought, for 12 years! Then I came, the last and fourth son of Daisy, who raised me single-handedly, with occasional help from my older sisters. My father was not a part of my life till I sought him out later in my adult years and put a closure to years of questions and bitterness.

The rough side of Chicago is what I called home, growing up on welfare, but this fact did not stop my young mind and heart from dreaming and aspiring. From an early age I showed potential to the makings of a professional basketball player, and my coaches drove me to passionate depths for this sport. This passion paid off in the form of a scholarship to one of the best private colleges in the state of Iowa.

Black and White (I Samuel 16:7.)

Prior to my college life, my interaction with the white population was minimal, and only out of necessity. I had read little on the slavery and subjugation of the black population, so my opinions and values were based on what was handed down to me by my people. The college that sponsored me was an all-white school, with only three black enrollments prior to my enrollment. Here I was again seemingly out of place; I say seemingly, because it would be realized later that it was part of a plan.

As is often the case, young people are formidable forces when energies are channeled right, and very destructive when the opposite is true. While attending this college, I began to take note of some obvious disturbing observations. This led me to a search that would have been disastrous had not intervention stepped in. My college years were years of an intense internal struggle. I was driven by a desire to excel, not I alone, but with my black kindred. Marxism, Socialism, Zaoism, Taoism, Confucianism, Black Panther(ism), Pan-Africanism and most every other -ism began to run my life.

At about this time, racial tension was rife in the air, and my passions were right there with it. I had two driving passions:

  1. to make it “big” in professional basketball, and
  2. to free the black population from the stigma that had followed it for hundreds of years. I saw issues through “black and white” glasses, black being right and white being wrong.

It begs to be mentioned that Christianity was coupled right along with the ills of the white man’s world. I saw it (Christianity) as a tool to subjugate and oppress the black man, conclusions I drew after reading writers who perpetuated this theorem.

Scouts were out as usual looking for draftees, and the NBA was not the only agency looking. The Vietnam War was brooding in the horizon, and some young patriots were needed. The former I gladly anticipated, but the army was not a part of my plans at that time. I was a young man with hot blood flowing through my arteries, ready to conquer it all. My health was good, apart from an irritating annoyance of some painful knees I had had from the age of 17. The pains intensified, and the doctors might as well have given me a death sentence when they told me that I was suffering from the number one crippling disease in America—arthritis! They also told me that there was no known cure. However devastating that unwelcome news was, I knew of one thing. I was determined to beat the pain, so I did all that I could to control the pain. I even used various nonprescription drugs so that I could play. The condition was so debilitating that I received the highest rejection from the army: four F. Through the pain and the struggle, I watched as, one by one, my dreams faded away to a land beyond my reach! With my pro basketball career prematurely halted, I slipped into depression for a time.

Absent God (Proverbs 22:6.)

A mother’s words and pleadings may appear forgotten for a season, but they have a way of showing up when needed the most. Raised in a Baptist home, my mother often talked about God and His power. All along, I actually believed that He existed, but He was not interested in the plight of black people. I picked up an old Bible and began to thumb through it. What began as a casual perusal led to some life-changing choices. Hope revived, and I started back on my other dream of elevating my down-trodden people—blacks. I sought to do this by establishing centers that would lift the black man socially, mentally and economically to a sense of independence and self-sufficiency. Once again my vision was black, for blacks, by blacks.

The word of God has power to change a person. As I continued to study it for answers to life’s problems, I surprisingly found out that man’s health questions have their answers in the same book! I was in for a spiritual as well as a physical journey. My battle with arthritis was about to find its answers—physical as well as spiritual arthritis, the calcification of the heart and joints.

Ballot, Bullet, Basketball, or Gospel (Romans 1:16.)

While listening to preachers is important and most assuredly needed, every individual must possess a “Berean spirit.” Up to this point, most of my values and beliefs were formed from mob and sometimes prejudiced mentalities. As I read the Bible for myself and had the Holy Spirit for its expositor, my ten-year battle with crippling arthritis came to an end by simply adhering to health principles taught in the word of God! I also came across overwhelming truths that really shook some wrong foundations that needed tearing down anyway.

God was no longer a white man’s God. One story in particular that left a deep softening and change of heart was that of Jesus and Barabbas, as found in the four gospels of the Bible. (See John 18:39, 40.) Briefly recounted, here was Jesus before a people for whom He had done nothing but good to elevate. His hands had daily fed, healed, soothed and touched even the untouchables, yet the cry that came out of their mouths at His time of need was not “Have mercy,” but “Crucify Him.” On the flip, here was Barabbas, a hardened criminal who thought to liberate by stealing, killing, and lying. He performed some of the most heinous crimes. His hands were stained with blood from all the evil done, and the response of, “Release him!” to the question, “Whom shall I release?” is enough to tear at the most calloused of hearts! To my now changing heart, this scenario is unfathomable.

I saw in these two men, both revolutionists, the thing that I was trying to bring about to my own society: a revolution. One sought it (revolution) through the language of love; the other through force. From this story, I gleaned one principle. Love is the only power that could bring about true change, heart change. Love is the revolutionary power that works at the heart. Man’s problem is not a skin problem but a sin problem. Love was and is the conquering force that brings about any lasting positive change. The Gospel, as Romans 1:16 states, is the power that changes the heart. It is not the ballot, the bullet or basketball, but the Gospel as it is in Jesus. That power changed my life.

A Home and a Divine Appointment (John 1:6.)

1977 rolled in, and with it more changes. It saw my lovely wife and me go through three American states, north to south, in our quest for what we thought God wanted us to do. This journey finally ended in the state of Tennessee.

In Huntsville, Alabama, a blueprint was laid down. A training school was in its beginning stages when a man, an ordinary man, came knocking on my door one day. He was interested in our home, which happened to be among some of the best homes in the city of Huntsville. His visits continued, and a friendship developed that led to a series of exciting changes.

What began as a business interest from one end turned out to be a divine appointment on the other end. God sent a man, Richard Bland, the founder and president of United Prison Ministries International (UPMI). Richard took me under his wing and gently but purposefully led me into the Seventh-day Adventist faith through the reading material he gave me and by watching his lifestyle. True are the inspired words that “a well-ordered life will have a powerful influence for good.” Spalding and Magan’s Unpublished Testimonies, 114. He became a father-figure to me, and showed me the love of God in the flesh.

Having been born into a Baptist home, educated in a Catholic school, ordained as a lay Lutheran minister, and having directed a Methodist community organization, a pattern can be observed here, a common thread. I had been searching after and for truth. The things I was studying and learning under Richard were truly strange, yet true. I could not argue with the truth as it stared me straight in the face. With this new awakening, tough decisions needed to be made. I knew what I was studying was the truth, and so I wanted to share these wonderful truths with my queen. I excitedly told her of what I was learning and embracing. LaVerne, who today is my bride of 36 years, did not share in my enthusiasm and what she termed “strange beliefs.”

Is This It? (Joshua 24:15.)

She had begun to mark the changes, and she was sure I was losing my mind, but when I announced to her that I was going to profess my faith by the sign of baptism, she put out an ultimatum. “If you go ahead with these crazy ideas, then I will divorce you!” Those words shook me to the core because I loved my wife, and so I sought the Lord in prayer, and He gave me courage to stand for Him. It is then that I knew that my heart and priorities had changed. With fear and trepidation I made my choice. For, you see, I knew that a marriage without God would fail. I had grown to love Jesus, and I wanted to do all that He asked of me.

I prayed earnestly for my wife, and the God who made the ear heard my strong supplications and brought about change in my wife’s heart! Praise God! One warm Alabama spring morning, my wife and I were buried in the watery grave and rose up new creatures in Christ. That was a glorious day. That was 31 years ago, and the journey grows sweeter with each new year. As I meditated on the love of God, it suddenly dawned on me that I had a debt that I owed. “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” Psalm 107:8. It was not the sin debt, because I could never pay for that one—Jesus did it for me—but a service debt. I’ll put it this way: “I owe, I owe, and off to the mission field I go.”

3 (Dis) Appointments to (His) Appointments (Romans 8:28.)

It’s been 20 years now. God has been with us in the mission field. He founded M.E.E.T. Ministry (1988) on what may have looked like a poor man with a passion to point others to the Helper, but in truth He established it on His shoulders, and for these many years He has steered it aright. My wife and I have been entrusted as stewards of M.E.E.T. Ministry (Missionary Education and Evangelistic Training) where many (young and old) have had encounters with the Gospel through the medical missionary training and work. What may have seemed to be disappointments earlier on in my life, crippling arthritis, premature ending of a professional basketball career, and nonstarter for black empowerment schools were really God’s appointments to lead me on to the path of truth and righteousness. Many more chapters could be written telling how He has led us, but for now, this, I pray, will suffice.

All my previous energies and passions, and that which I still have, have been channeled to loving and serving my Savior for over 30 years. I have traded a basketball for a Bible, and instead of going up and down a basketball court, God has allowed my wife and me the privilege of going up and down the earth’s court to spread the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the retirement is out of this world. With the hymn writer [Fanny J. Crosby] I end with these words:

This is my story,

This is my song,

Praising my Savior …

Because of His Blessed Assurance!

Thomas Jackson is a Health Evangelist and Director of Missionary Education and Evangelistic Training (M.E.E.T.) Ministry in Huntingdon, Tennessee. He may be contacted by e-mail at: godsplan@meetministry.org or by telephone at: 731-986-3518.

To Streets of glory

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Isaiah 42:7 says, “To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”

Mine is a testimony of being set free from both spiritual and literal prisons. Yet many who have never been behind iron bars have been prisoners to shame and guilt through sin, which is transgression of God’s laws. (See I John 3:4.) Except we should take advantage of the redemption provided for us through the death, resurrection and intercession of Jesus Christ, we all would sit hopelessly on death row, awaiting the just penalty for our sins. (See Ezekiel 18:24; Romans 6:23.) I pray that this testimony will encourage some, who have gone to the depths of sin, to answer the Lord’s call, to become and remain free through the abiding gift of God’s Son.

I was born 1960, in Southern California and raised in a basically non-religious family. There was no Bible around nor Biblical instruction. The closest we got to Christianity was Christmas trees, Santa, and Easter egg hunts. I was the last addition to a family of one sister, Mary, and two brothers, Rob and Phil. I’m the result of my parents’ violation of the 7th commandment and their marriage vows. My mom is 5’ 2” and married to an easygoing man named Jack, whom I call “Dad” to this day. Jack was 5’ 6” with black hair, and worked in aviation. His rival, “Jim,” was 6’8”, a reddish blond police officer, womanizer and husband to mom’s 2nd cousin. Mom worried for nine months that I’d look like Jack’s rival. I was born 10 lbs., 11 oz. with red hair; clearly not Jack’s son. If my mom would have known or taken to heart Numbers 32:23, “Behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out,” I might not be writing this. Anyway, the secret of my origin was kept from me till I was about 13 years old.

Some of my earliest memories, before my folks’ separation and divorce in 1965–1966, are of people saying, “He sure does not look like the others.” How out of place that made me feel. I’m sure it affected Mom and Jack, too. Another memory was going out alone, lying in the grass in our back yard, and looking through the clouds trying to see God. (John 1:9.) He is the light that comes to every child, but we have to cherish that light, or the world (and its god) will eclipse it. I clearly remember people crying over Kennedy’s assassination and racial tension from the Watts riots a few miles away. I also remember that Dad managed my cousins’ rock band, “The Rubber Band,” and how, when they practiced in our garage, it would attract the neighborhood. I used to get as close to the drums or amplifiers as I could, as I liked how it changed the rhythms of my heart. “Rock” and “acid rock,” which evolved into “heavy metal,” profoundly affected my life. (See I Corinthians 15:33.)

  1. The divorce split us all up. We were all given the choice to live with whichever parent we wanted. My sister and I chose Mom. However, my brothers and I still attended the same school. Then, one day, I went to meet them in the park, as we always did after school, and they were not there. Dad and his new wife Hilda had taken them out of state. I never saw or heard from them for several years during which, due to a number of circumstances, I was bounced around to different homes and schools. All this compounded that “out of place” feeling, which grew into a sense of rejection and abandonment. Over time, I found these emotions easier to deal with if channeled or transformed into anger or hate and pointed outward. Pretty soon I did not have to try hard to do it. I vented it on others in attacks or fights.

The one stability I had during that time was Grandpa. (Grandma was a Christian, but had advanced Alzheimer’s before that name was given to it.) Grandpa was not a professing Christian, but while I lived with him, he set fair and firm boundaries and made sure my grades stayed up. He was brutally honest, bitingly sarcastic, and a bit racist; all of which rubbed off on me. He also used tobacco, and I started smoking “like Grandpa” when I was eight.

My mom remarried, and in 1971 I moved back with them. It was not long before her new husband told her, “It’s the brat or me!” Mom chose the brat. Mom became very permissive and acted more like a friend than a parent. Her change in behavior and values seemed to be tied to her becoming depressed and anorexic in addition to the valium, barbiturates and codeine that doctors gave her. Under the influence of these, it seemed not to bother her when I cussed, smoked in front of her, grew my hair long, shoplifted, or got in fights with “the jocks.” I was a manipulative, rebellious child, and I pushed to see where my boundaries were. But, there were no laws, limits, or punishment.

Within a year or so, my brothers ran away from Dad and Hilda, and were in and out of our house before joining the military. It was during a family fallout that my oldest brother let out the family secret and the identity of my true father. As a father and police officer, my biological father was to represent love, law, authority, and integrity. Due to his representation, I rejected them all. (Those are all attributes of God, and they were so distorted in my mind that God had a hard time reaching me.) Satan knows our weak spots and how to time things. He saw to it that somebody showed me a Bible text: Deuteronomy 23:2: “A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord.” That was the ultimate rejection. But, here was (to me) Bible proof that the God I sought as a child had consigned me and any offspring from me to eternal flames. I did not choose to be born this way. I had no affinity for Satan, but I figured I was going to burn with him, so I might as well get what I could from life right then. This may seem simplistic of me, but misapplied Scripture can do serious harm in one not trained to study correctly.

I was 13 years old and there was nobody around I could speak to about spiritual things, at least Christian spirituality. I had some serious voids in my life left by this misunderstanding of God and the lack of a father or brothers. Around that time, my sister’s new husband introduced me to Dexedrine, an amphetamine. I liked it, as it changed the way I felt about everything. I started trying other drugs and liked them better than marijuana and alcohol. However, I continued to use them all. I found that I could chemically alter those feelings of not belonging, insecurity, etc., and I was determined to stay in those altered states. A Vietnam vet moved in next door at that time, bringing all his crazy biker buddies, and I was attracted to the Harley Davidsons, the heavy metal music, and the wild parties. They seemed to like having the wild kid around, who could take as much LSD as they could. They took the place of family to me, and I’d do anything to impress them and spend time with them. My girlfriend Kim used to baby-sit for them, so that also gave us time, unobserved, we should not have had. We were both way ahead of our time.

Amidst all that, I remember the Lord knocking hard at my heart’s door that year. I was confronted by a Christian youth group on my way into a rock concert. You could see joy in their eyes, and I needed that, but in my pocket I had the keys to a ’65 Mustang Mom had turned over to me, money, drugs, and I was surrounded with friends. I quickly reasoned that I was young, and Christian life would take away my fun and friends. Besides, I reasoned further, God’s word already showed me I could have no part with His congregation. So I ignored the knock and sent the Lord away. This brings a passage and a principle to mind: Proverbs 13:12 states, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

It was many years before I sensed the call of the Lord like that again. During those years I dropped out of school, began using the needle and committing serious, even gun crimes to supply the large sums needed for drugs. I became more hateful and embraced Nazism. And, of course, I was having run-ins with the law. Though I’d get arrested, for the most part through technicalities or leniency, charges would drop or I’d never get more than 11 months, even for felonies. Ecclesiastes 8:11 reads, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”

By my twenties many of my contemporaries were dying of overdoses, being murdered, killing others, or in prison; Subconsciously, I had a death wish. On occasion I’d rob armed drug dealers, knowing they could not call police, they could only kill me. In 1986 I got in close with a bunch of witches. And that is when God intervened. Early in 1987 my fiancée, Jerianna, and I were arrested in La Paz County, Arizona, for a string of crimes committed on both the California and Arizona sides of the Colorado River. One of the charges in Arizona carried a 20-year minimum, mandatory sentence. Jerianna got scared and made a deal with both states. She would tell them everything if they’d let her go but bury me, as she was afraid I’d kill her if I ever got out.

This was the best thing God could do for me. While I was being tried, God used a police officer named Troy to put a King James Bible through the bars into my hands. Troy’s kindness took me off guard, as I had not treated him with much respect. I sat down and admitted that “doing it my way” had caused a lot of hurt, and that I would try God’s way if He’d help me read and understand His Word. I started with Psalm 64. Part of it fit my situation, but He needed to answer my problem with Deuteronomy 23:2, the quote about the bastard not being allowed into the congregation. God did answer that problem with two key passages. John 3:3, 6, 7 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. … That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” The second text was John 1:12, 13. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” All of us are offered the privilege of being children of God, if we receive it. But it doesn’t end there. Colossians 2:6 promises, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.”

As I began turning my life over to God, He began overruling in my legal situation. Even after I confessed my crimes, I got roughly 1/10 of the mandatory 20-year sentence in Arizona. I see that as a miracle. I accepted prison as part of God’s way of setting me free spiritually. (See John 8:31, 34.) God taught me that in Christ there can be no racism. In I John 4:20 we are instructed, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Cutting loose from Nazism was like a huge weight lifting from me. I learned to pray for my enemies. I also learned that God’s forgiveness does not always clear away earthly penalties for our sins. Galatians 6:7 clearly says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” I knew I still had felony charges in California that carried four to ten years.

While going through extradition hearings, I continually studied the Bible and got nicknamed “the preacher.” I was under heavy conviction for my countless sins, and my need for baptism. I was taught that eternal torments in hellfire awaited the unsaved, and the charismatic ministry volunteers taught that speaking in tongues was the evidence that God accepted you. For months they laid hands on me, but it never happened. At my baptism, unintelligible words came out, but nobody could interpret. I reasoned that the Holy Spirit didn’t forget what He inspired Paul to write in I Corinthians 14:27, 28, and this did not match what was taught there or in Acts 2. So I apologized to God for demanding a certain gift as proof that He accepted me, and asked that if that was not His Spirit speaking through me, that it not happen again. It never has. God overruled again, and California courts counted some of my time in Arizona as “time served,” leaving only five months to serve in Chino, California. It was there in 1989 that I became acquainted with “Flying Prison Ministries.”

These men had a thinking man’s faith, not all clapping and emotionalism. They had joy, yet their message carried reproof and called for serious study and continual surrender. The head chaplain was a fallen away Seventh-day Adventist, and he restricted their messages and the literature they brought in. I knew they were different, but did not know they were Seventh-day Adventists till they invited me to attend their church on release. I had a SR-22 driver’s restriction. A Sunday church within walking distance from where I was paroled had already placed me with a good job with one of their elders. Still, God compelled me to call on the Adventists one Saturday, and in minutes I had a ride to church. The prison minister, a former gang member, was the church librarian. When I asked him for the best books to define the SDA church, Bobby handed me Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith and The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White. In about a week, I read The Great Controversy, and it helped me see Christ more clearly, as well as remove Satanic mists of false prophecy and traditions that exalted the authority of the Roman Catholic Church over Divine authority, i.e. the Laws of God and Scripture. I never really knew what it meant to be a Protestant or Catholic till I read that book. That book multiplied the worth of my Bible to me more than words can describe.

I wish I could tell you I fully submitted to God right then. But an intellectual assent to even the greatest truths is not enough to break the grip of Satan. I was fired from my job with the Sunday church and became a Sabbath keeper, as God helped me establish a painting business. He helped me leave off unclean foods. I got off parole and got engaged to a Pathfinder leader. Outwardly, I looked good, but deep inside, the missing element that earlier made drugs an option left me with a weakness that needed only the right opportunity to show itself. It was the same weakness that after walking 3 1/2 years with Jesus, Peter had when he denied Jesus in that judgment hall. Self-will was enthroned where God should reign, and like Peter, who went back to fishing in his great disappointment, I went back to my old ways. Compare Matthew 12:43–47. I lost my fiancée, business, home, all but a van that I pit-stopped in. What made my fall worse is that people knew I had been involved with Seventh-day Adventism. I became a false witness who gave room for Satan to reproach Christ, His cause and His Church.

God leaves it to us to surrender our will in exchange for His. That can be our greatest struggle. Many times I asked to be delivered from temptation and sin, in my case, methamphetamines. And one day, in prayer, I finally came to the point where I admitted to God that I loved drugs more than I loved Christ. But I knew Christ loved me more than His own life, and if I would accept that love, and overcome, even as He overcame, He would assure me a place with Him in His eternal throne. (See Revelation 3:19–21.) I asked Him to take my will and what I loved and replace it with His will. This is exactly what Jesus did when He was tempted to give up at Gethsemane. He admitted that His flesh was weak, and surrendered His will for His Father’s will. Three times He did this. (See Matthew 26:39–44.) He overcame, giving us an example of how to overcome while in the likeness of sinful flesh.

God moved decisively, and my friends and drug connections closed up to me. My church had been going toward the celebration style of worship, to the point where a youth leader/elder rode his Harley Davidson motorcycle into the sanctuary on Sabbath, October 22, and told a children’s story about how Harleys got named “Hog.” That was my cue, after making a protest, to wipe my feet and leave to look for fellowship and study among people who respect God and the mission of His church. In 1995 I was told of a Hope International camp meeting in Angeles Oaks, CA. I had seen Our Firm Foundation and LandMarks magazines while I was in Fiji in 1993–1994. I needed strong fellowship when I got back from Fiji, but that was not easily found in my old church. Anyway, I was impressed that I’d find serious Adventists at the camp meeting. Although God had just delivered me from meth and alcohol weeks before, I still smoked. I prayed all the way from Los Angeles to the mountains where the camp meeting was being held that I would not come down those mountains still hooked. God answered. On sight, Ron Spear told me, “God wants to use you right now, but He can’t till you can tell people about victory!” The next question was “where are you your cigarettes?”

He and several others took time to pray with me all through that camp meeting. I found people who really loved the Lord and respected the mission and message of the remnant movement of God. Ron and Betty Spear took a chance with me and pulled out a bundle of cash for gas. Ron said, “If you let the Lord keep you in victory, drive up to Hope and volunteer for a while. God willing, the staff will watch and pray, and maybe you will fit in there.” Of course, there was resistance from my church friends to working with an “independent ministry.”

But Hope was what I needed. I had heart, kidney, liver, brain, and, even worse, soul damage from 20 years of injecting drugs. Overnight, I became a vegan, and in two weeks I was over the slump, retraining taste buds and having remarkable recoveries. I could remember what I studied. I needed strong fellowship, study, country living and a purpose in the Everlasting Gospel Commission. God helped me to find it.

Nearly two years later, I wanted to try something more along the lines of mission field, and went to Mexico to CMS, a training School for health, agricultural and Bible workers, to assist in a small press operation being set up there. It was in this place that I became further convicted to do more to advance the Three Angels’ Messages, and I knew I needed to be better equipped.

Reuben and Jean Teske suggested earlier that I look into Black Hills, a school for evangelism led by Louis and Carol Torres, that had good placement with the churches. Through several miracles the Lord opened the way, even the door the Torres’s meant to keep closed to me due to my “ultra conservative” background. Despite a few doctrinal differences, we became friends, and after graduating from Black hills I was called to Plymouth Sorrento Church in Florida where I met and married my wife Blanca.

After working in Florida for a year, Ron Goss called us to work in Virginia, assisting him so he could further develop Project Restore, a publishing and revival ministry. Ron sent us to the Philippines in 2000, where, with the help of the Holy Spirit and good ground workers, God blessed with over 170 precious souls coming out of Roman Catholic Babylon into Christ and His remnant church. It was the encouragement we needed. God granted us some success in the rural “Bible belt” in the United States, but in comparison, Americans are gospel hardened.

On another occasion, during the day before our main evening city crusade, I remember preaching in a hot, sweaty Filipino jail, with the whole cell block in the aisle with their Bibles, note pads and markers. It was near the end of the series, and out of 220 inmates, 80 men and 11 women stopped coming out for mass and requested baptism. The Lord impressed me to share a message called, “Saved to Serve.” We came to Matthew 28:18–20 which says, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” A depth of meaning to that passage and rays of hope came to me such as I’d not sensed in it before.

As I looked at these men sitting on the floor of that jail, I thought of the first time I had read Matthew 28:18–20. I was in a jail, not seeing further than a prison yard, not knowing when I’d get out and so not really applying it personally. As I looked into their eyes, it came over me that by God’s grace and that commission, here I was, in the end of the world, both geographically and in time, teaching them to observe all that the Lord commanded, and that He was with me, as He was promising to be with them. It brought tears of gratitude to my eyes, and hope for these men as well! It was a hope that God could turn away their captivity and send them also to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Because they were seeking to obey God, already the key of David and the doors of heaven’s blessings were opening for them, as God was doing for me at that moment.

There have been many other soul-winning opportunities and hundreds of baptisms as the fruit of serving God since then. I don’t have seminary training or church ordination, but since 1999 my wife and I have been Bible instructors, and from late 2004 till last May, we were also lay-pastoring. Oh, how wrong I was when I turned the Lord away at 13, thinking Christian life would be boring or bondage. We look forward to where God will send us next, to use the everlasting Gospel keys He has given us “to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” Isaiah 42:7. May God also set you free to set others free in Christ.

Dean Ferrell has served as a Bible worker, a pastor, and an evangelist in a variety of locations. He and his wife, Blanca, make a powerful team in ministry. Dean is currently helping his spiritual mentor, Elder Ron Spear, in Kettle Falls, Washington.

My Conversion Story

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There was a song I heard in my childhood years that had a verse that said, “If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side, where would I be?” This verse expresses the theme of my heart when I think of the goodness of God and all He has done for me. If it had not been for a God who loves His enemies, where would I be? And if it had not been for a God who looked upon me with pity and acted upon me with grace, then where would I be? Only God truly knows where I would be, but because I know where I was, I magnify Jehovah for where I am today. I stand and testify of a heart-changing God who has delivered my soul from the chains of darkness and joined it to the Son of light. The Almighty Father has proved His love to me in ways that have left me so convinced that there is no greater love. And as I reflect upon the saving grace that has produced my conversion, my heart is overwhelmed with a great debt that is due to His name. At a time when I thought that all hope was lost, the hands of God were directing the events of my life in order for His power to be seen.

The incidents that brought about my conversion are living monuments that bear witness to the patience, mercy, and forgiveness of the God who is as powerful today as He was in the days of Moses. On the ninth of June, 2000, a day that is far from being forgotten, an event occurred that would eventually change my life forever. On this day I decided to engage in a criminal act which I had never done before. I was barely eighteen years old, and a high school graduate for only nine days. Young and full of worldly aspirations, my reasons for participating in this crime were a combination of greed, pride, and the fear of rejection. I had little concern about the consequences of my actions, but not enough to restrain my ambitions. So there I was, even in the brightness of the morning, endeavoring to experience a new dimension of the criminal life in an attempt to gain not only wealth, but also a higher degree of honor within my social group.

As I proceeded to engage in this crime, something suddenly occurred that was not part of the plan. It just so happened that while I was leaving the scene, an officer was driving down the same street, headed directly toward the scene. By the time I noticed him, it was too late to get into my vehicle. Therefore, I walked along the city street, hoping that he would just drive by, but he did not. To my surprise and dismay, he stopped right beside me and stepped out of his car. After a short investigation, a foot pursuit transpired, after which I was arrested. So there I was, detained in the county jail. This was my first time incarcerated as an adult. The only other time I spent incarcerated was when I was sixteen years old. And even that was not a true incarceration because it lasted for only a few hours until my father arrived to get me. However, this time was different; hours turned into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months. But little did I know that the hands of God were directing the events in order for His power to be seen.

Prior to my trial, the District Attorney offered me a plea bargain that I did not accept because prison was included. At eighteen years old and weighting a mere 120 pounds, prison was the last place I wanted to be. I thought that if I were sent to prison, I would definitely come face to face with death. Not only did my body size influence my reasoning, but the fact that I had made many enemies throughout this entire process also strengthened my fears. Therefore, I decided to disregard the plea and place my life instead into the hands of the jury. Now this was undoubtedly an unwise decision. The amount of time offered in the plea bargain was no match to the amount of time I could have received if found guilty of all eleven charges. But the hands of God were directing the events in order for His power to be seen.

After the selection of the jury, the trial was in full session. Evidence was brought forward, witnesses bore their testimonies, and arguments were exchanged between the District Attorney and my lawyer. After a two-day trial, the process of deliberation finally began. Before the jury began to deliberate, there was no doubt that I was guilty of all charges. Not only did the evidence prove my guilt, but the fact that I refused to testify on my own behalf also provided solid evidence of my guilt. So there I was, awaiting my fate. Now, if I had been convicted of all eleven charges, I would have been incarcerated for the rest of my life. But the hands of God were directing the events in order for His power to be seen. And it just so happened on the day before the deliberation that the uncle of one of the jurors died. As a result of this, the juror was overwhelmed with grief that would not allow her to continue in the deliberation process. Therefore, she asked to be excused from the process and dismissed from her jury duties. After investigating the validity of the claim of her uncle’s death, it was determined that his death had indeed occurred. So, according to certain regulations, she was granted her request.

Now that this juror was dismissed, there were only eleven jurors remaining to decide my case. By law, at least twelve jurors must be present to deliberate and decide a verdict. Now that there were only eleven, I was given an option to either allow them to render a verdict or declare a mistrial. Well, considering the fact that all evidence was against me, and my guilt was apparent, I immediately declared a mistrial. As a result of this declaration, the District Attorney had several options to choose from; he could have dismissed my charges, filed a motion for a retrial, or offered me another plea agreement. As time passed, I prepared myself to face another trial. I knew that my charges would not be dismissed, and I thought that no better plea would be offered than the one that I had refused. But the hands of God were directing the events in order for His power to be seen.

Around a month after the trial, my attorney visited me with news regarding the status of my case. The report he brought was far beyond my expectations. Previously, the District Attorney had attempted to provide the Labette Correctional Conservation Camp (boot camp) for me as an alternative to prison. But boot camp did not accept me because of the severity of my crimes. Following my trial, however, the Lord put it upon the heart of the judge to write a letter to the administrators of boot camp requesting that they accept me into their program. This resulted in great success, and as a result of their acceptance of me, the District Attorney revised his plea bargain, which granted me community probation upon the completion of the boot camp program. This was the news that my attorney presented. Out of exceeding joy I immediately accepted the plea agreement. And after spending six months in boot camp, I was released back into the community. This amounted to a total of fourteen months of incarceration.

Though I learned many life-improving methods in boot camp, it was not enough to change my evil conduct. I did not learn the discipline needed to keep me out of the streets. And most importantly, I did not learn the reality of where a life of sin would end. Upon my release, I continued to travel the path to destruction. Even though I was given a three years’ probation period, I did not abide by the terms laid out in the agreement. I continued to associate with the same social group, and I got heavily involved with alcohol. The motivation I gained from boot camp was applied to my endeavors to become rich. And due to my involvement with illegal drugs, I was slowly gaining wealth. So there I was, living free and prospering in many ways. But even though I was gaining the desires of my heart, deep down I was afraid. I did not want to live in fear for the rest of my life, yet my fears were not capable of restraining my egotistic ways. But the hands of God were directing the events in order for His power to be seen.

A wise king once said, “He who covers his sins will not prosper.” Proverbs 28:13. Fourteen months after my release, this proverb was proved true in my life. As a result of my continual engagement in illegal activities, I found myself sitting in the county jail again. This was the second time I had been arrested as an adult. The crimes that I committed this time were not as severe as the former crimes, but the amount of time I was facing was still great. However, the effects of this latter incarceration were different from the former. Immediately after my incarceration, I began to question myself and ponder the course of my life. Most disturbing to me was the thought of leaving my little girl, who was only two months old, in a world too large for her to live in without her father. I could not believe that I abandoned her. For this and other reasons, my heart was severely broken, and I wept for many nights. “What am I doing?” “Is there a better way to live?” “Where will I end up in life?” These were some of the various questions I asked myself as I sought the meaning of my life.

As I mentioned earlier, my second incarceration was in many ways different from the first. Since I was still on probation when I was arrested, my probation was revoked, and I was immediately transported to the Department of Corrections. Before my transportation, however, the Lord began to thoroughly impress my heart. While still in the county jail, I began to read the Scriptures with an earnest desire for change. I began to cry out to God in desperation for help. I began to realize that it was my own selfish desires that were ruining my life. No longer could I blame others for my problems; I knew that I was my worst enemy. As I read the Word, revelations filled my mind. I began to confess my sins and exercise trust in Jesus Christ. Little concern was given to the amount of time I was facing. I had experienced the peace of God that expelled many worries. I had come to realize that the hands of God were directing the events in order for His power to be seen.

Upon my arrival to prison, I was comforted with the assurance that God was with me. I did not know what to expect, but I knew that I was determined to continue in His Word. After about a month, I received a visit from my attorney during which he informed me about the status of my new case. You see, somehow my new charges were dropped, even before I was sent to the Department of Corrections. The only reason I was sent was to finish the time appointed from my previous case. But while I was in prison, my new charges were refiled. During his visit, my attorney related to me the amount of time I was facing. He informed me that I could receive at least fifteen years in prison if convicted. But little did he know that the hands of God were directing the events in order for His power to be seen.

After my attorney’s visit, I remained calm and peaceful. I related the news to some of my street associates who were also serving prison sentences. They were amazed that I was facing such a large amount of time. And they were even more amazed at how I remained happy and unconcerned. They thought I was strange because of my change of conduct, and our association grew further and further apart until they finally recognized my sincerity. I was determined to live right, and I could not allow any man to persuade me to do otherwise. I had experienced the touch of God’s love, so neither life nor death could steal the joy that I had in my heart. Even with the thought of facing fifteen years, I concluded that nothing could separate me from the love of God.

As time passed, I was transported back to the county jail to face the new charges that had been refiled. I wasn’t there very long until my attorney visited me with news regarding the position of my case. To this day I am amazed at the power of God and how He continually intervened in my life. To my surprise, two of the original three charges were not refiled. It seemed as if my attorney was not fully aware of this when he visited me in prison. What we thought was a fifteen years prospect was drastically decreased. Furthermore, my attorney informed me that the District Attorney was extending a plea agreement that consisted of only a 34-month prison term consecutive to my prior case. After pondering over the pros and cons, I eventually accepted the offer. I had already experienced the prison environment and was not troubled over the thought of serving a little more time. The peace of God was ruling in my heart, and I knew that nothing would happen to me aside from His will. I knew that the hands of God were directing the events in order for His power to be seen.

In the second half of Proverbs 28:13, King Solomon says, “… whoever confesses and forsakes [his sins] will have mercy.” Just as the former half of this proverb was proved true to me, so was the latter. I was eventually transported back to prison to complete both prison sentences. For the entire forty months of my incarceration, I spent my time developing a close relationship with the Father and His Son. Hours upon hours were devoted to studying, praying, and meditating. I began to see life in a very different way. I knew that all the recent events of my life were a part of God’s plan to gain my attention. If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side, I would be either permanently incarcerated or six feet underground. But Jehovah’s love is immeasurable, and His judgments cannot be overturned. The Father is actively engaged in the administration of His saving grace. He is earnestly stretching out His arms to the lost sheep that are still wandering in the mountains and deserts of this world. And because of the fact that He has patiently labored for my deliverance, I am determined to labor with Him for the deliverance of others. By the grace of God, I will fight the good fight until the end. By His might, I will run with endurance. And until the day that my breath departs, I will earnestly work to let the world know that the hands of God are directing the events in order for His power to be seen.

A member of Steps to Life staff, Demario Carter works in the Mail Order Services Department. He can be contacted by e-mail at: landmarks@stepstolife.org or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.