Question

Ask the Pastor – Grace and Works

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Question:

If we are saved by grace, which I am told is a gift from God, and not by our good works, what does it mean in Philippians 2:12 when it says “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”?

Answer:

This is a question that has been asked by many people. At first it seems that these two concepts are contradictive, but they actually harmonize very well.

Ephesians 2:8, 9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” [Emphasis supplied.] Yet the same author, the apostle Paul, writes to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12.

This quotation from Philippians is only part of the text of the verse. Important context and instruction is given just before the part of “working out your own salvation.” Notice what the first part of that text says: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out . . . .” Paul here sets the stage by telling the believers in Philippi that they are obedient Christians doing what is right all the time, not just when someone is watching them. They are being obedient even when he is gone from them.

Paul acknowledges them as doing a good work in the realm of salvation. They have been obedient, but they need to continue on in what they are doing. Anyone who thinks that the Christian life is doing your own thing and not being accountable to anyone is only fooling themselves. We are to be accountable to other Christians who make up the Lord’s body, the church. But more than that, we are to be accountable to the Lord himself. (See 1 Corinthians 4:2–5.)

So what Paul is doing here is urging them to work, not for the sake of approving themselves to their earthly teacher, but to think of their unseen Lord and to realize His presence all the more in Paul’s absence.

When he says, “work out your own salvation,” he is saying, “Complete it;” God has begun the work; carry it out to the end. The Greek word katergazomai translated as “work out” in Philippians 2:12, is, in Ephesians 6:13, translated as “having done all.” Christ’s work of atonement is finished; work from the cross; carry out the great work of sanctification by the help of the Holy Spirit.

The words “your own” are also important here. Please do not pass this by. Each man is to attend to his own work. No friend, no pastor, not even a parent can work it for him. He is the one who must respond to the Holy Spirit by obedience. No one else can do another’s work of bringing to completion the plan of salvation in the life. When the Bible says “with fear and trembling,” it means “with fear and trembling.” Salvation is not a light matter. It is very serious. Those who move through the sanctification process do so soberly and cautiously.

Verse 13 of Philippians 2 tells the conclusion of the whole matter. “For it is God which worketh in you.” If any good is going to come from bringing the work of God to a conclusion, it is because God has His hand in the matter. It is God who works in you.

This then brings us full circle. We are saved by grace, because grace is the unmerited favor of God working in us to bring us through the complete sanctification process. We are commanded by the apostle to move along in the process without any complaining or murmuring until the process is complete.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.

Ask the Pastor – Funerals and Weddings

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Question:

I would like to know how funerals and weddings were started in the church.

Answer:

The origin for both of these services is found in the days of Adam and Eve. The book of Genesis is the seedbed for every doctrine found in the rest of the Bible. It is the place of beginnings. There are many matters that will find a more developed maturity, which is related in the Bible at later times, but the beginnings of all things as pertaining to us are found in Genesis.

The first wedding is found in Genesis 2:21–25. The ceremony is short but complete in putting man and woman together as mates for life. This is the model that is still used today in modern ceremonies. I have quoted many times from this passage to provide the setting for the wedding service. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” The fact that God intended that this service should serve as a model for all marriages is found in these words. Adam and Eve did not have father or mother. They were created fully mature human beings right from the hand of God, yet the text helps us to understand the process of husband and wife coming together in a bond of matrimony unto themselves till the end of time. There are several other marriages spoken of in the Bible, but the one that captures our attention is found in the New Testament story of John 2.

Culturally, wedding ceremonies differ. But there is one thing that is acknowledged by all cultures and that is a recognition that two people are united in marriage to signify that they are not just living together in an adulterous lifestyle. Whether or not a piece of paper [marriage license] is present is not the issue. The issue is that the community has recognized that these two have left their homes of father and mother and are setting up their own home. So a wedding is a means of keeping law and order in the community. Otherwise chaos would result such as we see in society today where marriage laws are allowed to go unenforced.

A funeral takes place as a means of allowing grief to be processed. Grief is an emotion which, if not allowed to be expressed, can and does cause great mental distress. The process of dealing with the death of a friend or of a family member is important to the whole plan of salvation. Death is a reminder to what sin causes. (Romans 6:23.) But like the plan of salvation, God has a healing process in dealing with grief. Everyone who loves is vulnerable to the pain of grief, for love means attachment, and all human attachments are subject to loss. But grief need not, should not, be a destructive emotion of loss without hope.

Knowing this, we find that Jesus attended several funerals in the New Testament. The shortest text in the New Testament is John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” Funerals are for the purpose of getting the grief process started so that life for the living can go on.

Because marriages and funerals are an integral part of human life, they must also be a part of the life of church members. This is why these two issues are found in Scripture. For both weddings and funerals, the focus must be upon how God enters into the process. God as the center of the marriage and a funeral with God as the center provides hope for a sinful world. Never miss the fact that human emotions need to be expressed—joy in the wedding and sorrow in the loss of a loved one. Jesus has given us examples in both of these.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.

Ask the Pastor – How do you handle children and the communion service?

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Question:

How do you handle children and the communion service? Should children who are not baptized take of the bread and the wine? We are blessed with a lot of children in our home church, and they look longingly at the bread and the juice. Should it be offered to them?

Answer:

Seventh-day Adventists have historically never excluded anyone from the communion service. They have followed the Biblical example of Jesus, on the night of the Last Supper in the upper room. Matthew 26:20–25 tells the story of the disciples coming together with Jesus around the Passover table. Verse 21 tells us that Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him. In John’s gospel, we are told that while all the “Is it I?” questions were being asked, John is lying on Jesus’ bosom, and he is prompted to ask who it is. Jesus plainly reveals to them that Judas is the betrayer.

I bring all of this out for the reason that Judas was living a life and filling a role of a devil. In other words, the devil was in attendance at this Last Supper experience. That Last Supper served as a model of the present day communion service, and there was a devil present that ate the bread and drank the wine. This is why we never close communion service to anyone.

On the other side, there is a certain responsibility that comes with maturity. Judas was a grown man and could understand as a man. It was up to him to examine himself in the light to the truth, which was right before him.

The apostle Paul has been quoted as restricting this service with the words in 1 Corinthians 11:27. Many have taken this text and used it to exclude others or themselves from the communion service, because they felt that they were not worthy to partake. Friend, no body is worthy! Our most righteous righteousness is nothing but filthy rags. This text is not even talking about our worthiness. It is talking about how the communion service is being conducted. If there was ever a time when we should be at the communion service, it should be when we feel the most unworthy. That is when the grace of God is the most manifested. These people were acting in a manner unfitting a Christian. This counsel came to correct what they were doing, not to exclude them for who they were.

As far as children are concerned, there is nothing in the Word that forbids the taking of the bread and the juice. But there is a responsibility of the parents to guide them into an understanding and into a commitment as a follower of Jesus. If a child has the full grasp of what salvation and the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary are all about, as it concerns them, then let them partake. Many parents do not teach their children these important concepts. If these children do not understand, they should not participate, but the why needs to be explained to them.

While the communion service is a sacred and solemn service, it should not close out anyone. For those who can reason, they should be left alone. For children who cannot understand the plan of salvation, the parents should be their guides. The age of that understanding is usually the age of baptism.

That is why these two events are generally tied together. This should not be a divisive issue.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278

Ask The Pastor – Buying Lottery Tickets

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Question:

I would like to know what the Bible says about buying lottery tickets. Is it wrong to buy a ticket to see if I can win a lot of money?

Answer:

There are literally millions of dollars spent buying lottery tickets daily. Buying lottery tickets, however, is not a part of God’s plan for man in providing for himself or for his family. There is not a Bible text that deals specifically with buying lottery tickets, but there are Bible principles we can apply to this issue.

First, the Lord, knowing that man would need to have a certain lifestyle because of his fall into sin, told our first parent in the Garden of Eden that he would now have to earn his living by the sweat of his face. (Genesis 3:17–19.) This was prescriptive, not punitive. God knew what was best for man in his fallen condition. For a person to earn his keep by lawful labor has always been best for his character development.

Knowing this, the devil has been at work trying to make man think that God’s plan is too harsh. He encourages man to try to get money an easy way, but God says that work is the best answer for man’s general well being.

Second, gambling with money, trying to win a big return is throwing the money away. Gambling cities thrive on the fact that there are many more losers than there are winners. The statistics reveal the fact that your chances of winning a lottery are in the millions to one range.

A person who buys lottery tickets is supporting an industry that drains families of needed funds to help them survive. Isaiah 55:2 says, “Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread?” The money that a person earns should be used for the family and its needs, not to try to make life easier by short circuiting God’s plan in favor of the devil’s plan.

Many people become addicted to gambling, bringing them to poverty and unable to provide for their family’s basic needs. In 1 Timothy 5:8, we are told, “But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” These are serious words. If we are inclined to do anything that would bring us into such a situation as this, we need to pray to God to help us stay far away.

Third, if we gamble away money, which could be used for the welfare of the family, we have become guilty of theft. Exodus 20:15 warns, “Thou shalt not steal.”

Other Bible principles, which should govern our thinking on this matter of gambling to become rich, may be read in Proverbs 23:4, 5; 28:20 and 1 Timothy 6:10. The bottom line is that we need to seriously consider the principles about gain that is ill gotten.

The question for many people is, “How close to sin can I come and still be okay?” The Bible tells us that it is never safe to see how close we can come to sin. We need to see how far away we can be from it, and that means the farther away from sin we are, the closer we are to Jesus. I hope that you will continue to study this issue from biblical principles of Christian character. You will be blessed in the process.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.

Ask the Pastor – Make Peace and Create Evil

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Question:

I have been troubled for some time about Isaiah 45:7, which says, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these [things].” Can you help me understand what this is talking about?

Answer:

This is one of those texts that, if taken out of context, can be confusing. Isaiah 45 begins with God’s call to Cyrus. Cyrus was the king who invaded Babylon and took the empire from the control of Belshazzar. Although Cyrus was a heathen king, practicing a heathen religion, he was used of God to fulfill His Word. God used this king in spite of his belief structure to accomplish His will in overthrowing Babylon.

The heathen faith of Cyrus was centered in a concept called dualism. That is a belief in which two equal gods—one good, one evil—struggle for the supremacy of the world. This theory is still prevalent today, in many forms, around the world. Many non-Christians still practice the ying/yang, good/evil, and light/darkness as a religion. God, in addressing Cyrus, makes this statement (Isaiah 45:7) about light and darkness and good and evil to let him know that there were not two equal gods warring but that Jehovah was the only God, and He was in charge of the universe.

Jehovah God is responsible for everything that takes place, in the same way that a parent is responsible for what their child does. The parent does not do the evil that the child does, but the ultimate responsibility rests with the parent, by virtue of creation. God created all of His creatures with free will. It was a risk, but that is the only way that freedom could exist. When sin entered, through Adam’s disobedience, God took the responsibility and made possible a way of escape. (See John 3:16.)

As the plan of salvation is fulfilled, it will be shown that God is indeed love. He made Himself vulnerable by taking responsibility for the evil that came into the world. The mind of the Hebrew saw God in this way. Jehovah God was the power and force behind everything that happened.

In the process of all this, Cyrus needed to understand that the false gods of his kingdom were responsible for nothing. God was responsible for everything. The worlds hung in space by His Word. The light and the darkness were not the result of a war between rival gods, but God was responsible for it all. God took the blame for the evil as well as the good, but He was not the author of evil. Evil existed because of freedom gone awry.

God wanted Cyrus to understand that Someone greater than the gods of his kingdom was in control, and it was God’s plan that good should prevail, not evil. Notice verse 8 of this chapter: “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.”

The Bible holds all the answers, which will clarify any questions, if we will just study things through by first starting with the immediate context and then incorporating our understanding of the plan of salvation. I hope that this has helped you in your quest for greater understanding of God’s Word.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.

Ask the Pastor – Israel, No Longer a Nation?

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Question:

Could you please help me understand Jeremiah 31:36, which says, “If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, [then] the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.” I know we do not believe that the nation of Israel will play a part in the last days, but what does this mean?

Answer:

Jeremiah 31 is a communication from God to the children of Israel designed to create hope and confidence that nothing is going to interfere with His plan for complete restoration from the ravages of sin.

Verse 36 is an assurance from God that nothing will stop the promise of fulfillment from taking place. But we must remember that all promises of God are based on conditions. Exodus 19:5–6 tells us, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth [is] mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” Deuteronomy 11:26–28 comes to bear on this subject also.

God makes it very clear to Israel, from the very beginning of their existence, that His promises to them are based upon the condition of obedience. Having said all this, when we come to a passage which says that they will continue being a nation as long as the sun shines during the day and the moon and stars shine at night [Jeremiah 31:35], we see that this was said to let them know that nothing would stop God from keeping them from any mischief that the devil and all his host could bring against them—if they were living up to their end of the bargain. It was their part to be obedient to the commandments. If they failed in that, then they would become cursed and no longer be able to claim God’s protective care.

The interesting thing is that this whole passage is in the setting of the New Covenant. If only Israel would have understood that along with the promise of God to call them His people, He would make it possible for them to keep His commandments! Jeremiah 31:33 says: “But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Here God is promising that He would put things together in such a way that it would be entirely possible to keep His law. He would write it upon the tables of their hearts. That is, He would give them such a love for Him, that obedience would be second nature to them. Love would be the motivating factor.

But the children of Israel rejected the plan of God and did their own thing, rather than working with God and His plan. As a sure result, when He came, they crucified Him. While the sands of their probation were trickling through the glass of time, they stoned Stephen, and probation closed upon them as a nation, forever closing the door to their being a nation again.

The promise found in Jeremiah 31:36 now passes on to the church. What we do with it will determine our future with God also.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.

Ask the Pastor – Observing the Feast Days?

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Question:

Should Christians today be observing the feast days that were commanded in the Old Testament?

Answer:

It is indeed true that, as recorded in Leviticus 23, the Lord commanded that certain feast days and holy convocations should be kept. There were seven in all. Three of them were the great festivals of the year—the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

The two words used to denote “feasts” and “holy convocations” differ considerably in their meaning. Hag, which belongs especially to the three feasts named, means “a joyous occasion, a festival, a feast.” Mo‘ed has reference to appointed times, stated observances, holy convocations, or solemn meetings. An example of Mo‘ed would be the Day of Atonement, which was not a feast or festival in any sense of the word, but a holy convocation.

Do the commands of Leviticus 23 still apply to us today? No, they do not, because their fulfillments were met in an event in the past.

Although each of the feast days had its meaning, they related only to the ceremonial services of the sanctuary. The feast days were not kept before the time of Moses, yet animal sacrifices were offered before Moses’ time. This tells us something very important: The feast days were introduced for the purpose of helping corporate Israel focus on the work of redemption, which had its center in the Lamb of God.

These services went on for hundreds and hundreds of years. Each time the children of Israel kept these days, it was to prepare them for the plan of redemption made possible by Jesus. During this period of time, the feast days were an integral part of Israel’s life. They looked with a great deal of affection on the celebration of these feast days. Many considered them much as we in the United States view our holidays of Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Rather than teaching the people the lessons that they needed to prepare them for Jesus, the feast days came to be observed by many from a traditional point of view, much as we see the fun rather than the meaning in the observance of our holidays now.

Colossians 2:16 gives us some good insight as to how we should relate to these days: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days].”

Paul made it very clear to the new Christians, upon whom judaizing teachers were attempting to impose the yoke of the ceremonial law, that these things—all the offerings and the observances of feast days (which were called sabbath days)—should not come under anyone’s criticism for nonobservance, because they were shadows of Christ to come. All these had been nailed to the cross and were no longer of moral obligation. With the cross of Christ came the passing away of the commands to keep these days.

It is the record, however, that the pressure to keep the ceremonial laws continued to be used to stir up strife and contention. The devil will use certain tactics to sidetrack God’s people. If one tactic works well, he will use it again to his best advantage. This is true concerning the feast days. It stirred up the early church and worked to separate brethren, so he brings this same idea around again. It is working to separate brethren today instead of binding them together, as God would want to have happen. We need to rise above these elementary arguments, unite on the truth, and spread that to the ends of the earth, not those factors that separate.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.

Ask the Pastor – Power on Her Head

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Question:

In the Bible, 1 Corinthians 11:10 says, “For this cause ought the woman to have power on [her] head because of the angels.” What is this text talking about?

Answer:

First of all, remember that no text is to be looked at without its context. This guideline especially applies with this text. Every chapter of 1 Corinthians is dealing with problems with which the church at Corinth was involved. The apostle Paul is here trying to straighten out factions and difficulties into which this church had fallen.

Many people see the New Testament as a whole new set of teachings, but this is not so. The writers of the New Testament dealt with problems from the benefit of correction given in Old Testament Scripture. We must also take into consideration that customs and traditions of society were reflected in these issues. The Old Testament established the chain of command between a man and a woman right from the Garden of Eden. Paul was facing all these things at the time he gave the direction that he did in this passage.

This chapter begins with Paul stating the fact that the head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man. (Verse 3.) This is what is called the chain of command in the Bible. Because the definition is given immediately in this passage, many people get clear off the track if they do not follow the definition of head. There also is a play on words concerning the word head.

It was a custom for the Jewish worshipper, while praying, to always cover his head with his tallith. The Jews, as some cultures generally do, uncovered their feet in the place of worship because they were standing on holy ground; but they covered their heads by way of humility, even as the angels veil their faces with their wings when in the presence of God. On the other hand, the Greek custom was to pray with the head uncovered. In dealing with this problem, Paul decided in favor of the Greek custom, on the basis that Christ, by His incarnation, became man, and therefore the Christian, who is “in Christ,” may stand with unveiled head in the presence of His Father.

For a woman to do this in a public assembly, however, was, at that time, against the national custom of all communities and could lead to serious misconceptions. As a rule, modest women covered their heads with the peplum or with a veil when they worshipped or were in public. Christian women at Corinth should not have acted with such boldness as to adopt a custom identified with the character of immodest women.

The woman was to be in subjection to the man as the man was in subjection to Christ. This was the reverent and the modest position for the women to take. Submissiveness always needs to be the attitude on the part of worshippers of God.

We also know that there is order in heaven among the heavenly angels. They are in submission the same as the man and the woman are in submission. Angels are always present when we worship. Even though we do not worship angels, we need to understand that they have a part to play in our salvation. (See Hebrews 1:13, 14.)

Out of respect and reverence for the holy angels, who are always invisibly present in the Christian assemblies, we need to conduct ourselves in such a way that heaven and earth are in submissive harmony with the will of God and no offense is offered on any front. We need to always have modesty of dress. That does not necessarily require that women wear a head covering when in public or in a place of worship, but the outward demeanor and dress should be indicative of that inward humility which angels know to be most pleasing to the Lord.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.

Ask the Pastor – Musical Instruments in Church

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Question:

Our neighbors believe that instruments of any kind, including piano and organ, are not to be played in church. They sing without instrumental music of any kind in their church services. They say that the New Testament does not permit instrumental music. What does the Bible really say about this?

Answer:

This indeed is an age-old question that needs an answer. While church music has gone through a great change in the last decade or so, using all kinds of music and instruments that are offensive to the ears and hearts of many believers, we cannot throw out the baby with the bath water.

There are churches that believe that no musical instruments should be played in the church, but in doing this they are extremely inconsistent with what they claim the Bible teaches. They claim if the New Testament does not mention musical instruments for the worship of God or in the church, then this is evidence enough that no one should use them.

Just because something is not mentioned in the New Testament does not override that which has already been stated in the Old Testament. The whole of the New Testament is founded upon the Old Testament. If we are claiming that we are only to use the New Testament for our doctrine and standards, then chances are we will miss the very point God would want us to understand. This is narrow mindedness in the first order!

These same people, who would not want to use musical instruments in the church, would be the first to condemn anyone for the violation of the instruction given in Leviticus 18:23, which deals with bestiality. You will not find any references forbidding such an act in the New Testament. Why? The subject has already been covered in the Old Testament. It is strictly prohibited. These same people would, without any hesitation, tell you that such acts, as are mentioned only in the Old Testament, are morally wrong, and people who commit such acts will end up in hellfire. But, where in the New Testament do you find such prohibition? No place! However, since musical instruments are not mentioned in the New Testament, a different criterion arises. This is very inconsistent! We need to remember that the Bible is a complete whole.

Musical instruments were used in Old Testament times, and this is what sets the precedent. Read 11 Chronicles 5:11–14; 29:25–29; Revelation 5:6–9; 14:2–3. If God was worshipped in the Old Testament with musical instruments, and He is being worshipped in heaven with musical instruments, then why would we not worship Him with musical instruments?

We should keep in mind, however, that the use of musical instruments should not create a bedlam of noise that shocks the senses. This type of music is an invention of Satan to cover up his ingenious methods for making of none effect the pure, sincere, elevating, ennobling, sanctifying truth for this time.

Should we be so narrow as to say that, just because the subject is not mentioned concerning the early church, we are not to use musical instruments in our worship services now? No, instruction and examples have been provided in the Old Testament. Although musical instruments are not mentioned in New Testament times, they are not forbidden for use in worship.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life Ministry. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, Steps to Life Ministry, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.

Question & Answer – How does fine Gold Become Dim?

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“How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed” (Lamentations 4:1)!

“Bathsheba observed the customary days of mourning for her husband; and at their close ‘David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife’ (2 Samuel 11:27). He whose tender conscience and high sense of honor would not permit him, even when in peril of his life, to put forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, had so fallen that he could wrong and murder one of his most faithful and most valiant soldiers, and hope to enjoy undisturbed the reward of his sin. Alas! how had the fine gold become dim! how had the most fine gold changed!” Patriarchs and Prophets, 720.

“The standard of holiness is the same today as in the days of the apostles. Neither the promises nor the requirements of God have lost aught of their force. But what is the state of the Lord’s professed people as compared with the early church? Where is the Spirit and power of God which then attended the preaching of the gospel? Alas, ‘how is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed!’ ” Testimonies, vol. 5, 240.

“Human beings have degenerated. One after another they fall under the curse, because sin has entered the world, and death by sin. The truth is not made precious by practise [sic]. It does not sanctify the soul. It fades from the mind because the heart does not appreciate its value. In consequence, the mind becomes more and more darkened by the atmosphere, which is malarious because of the perpetuating of Adam’s sin. The conscience has lost its sensitiveness. Through a repetition of sin, the impression made on the conscience by sin has no longer force enough to arrest the transgressor, diseased, depraved, and dying. The voice no longer echoes the voice of God, or gives expression to the music of a soul sanctified through the truth. The heart, in which God should be enthroned, is a place from which come forth all kinds of abominations. How has the fine gold become dim! Man has lost the reflection of God’s character.” The Signs of the Times, June 27, 1900.

“The church is not now the separate and peculiar people she was when the fires of persecution were kindled against her. How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! I saw that if the church had always retained her peculiar, holy character, the power of the Holy Spirit which was imparted to the disciples would still be with her. The sick would be healed, devils would be rebuked and cast out, and she would be mighty and a terror to her enemies.” Early Writings, 227.